[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18094-18095]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, 
which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of LaShann 
Moutique DeArcy Hall, of New York, to be United States District Judge 
for the Eastern District of New York.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 30 
minutes of debate prior to a vote on the Hall nomination.
  The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business for about 6 or 7 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


          Terrorist Attacks Against France And Syrian Refugees

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I want to express my deepest sympathies 
to the people of Paris and all those affected by the terrorist attacks 
of Islamic extremists. As we all know, hundreds of people were killed 
or injured in the attacks, including at least one American citizen. No 
one should be faced with horrific violence when attending a soccer game 
or concert or simply carrying out their daily lives. On behalf of 
Iowans, I stand with the people of France. I offer our support in 
recovering from and responding to those attacks.
  Unfortunately, there is fear that similar attacks could soon take 
place on U.S. soil. There is even a video that ISIS released earlier 
today threatening to attack America. Moreover, if we follow the 
administration's announced plans to bring in thousands of new Syrian 
refugees, we could very well be letting in similar extremists who want 
to harm Americans. That is because it appears that at least one of the 
ISIS terrorists in Paris had recently registered as a Syrian refugee in 
the country of Greece. Until last Friday, he appeared to all the world 
to be no different from any of the other thousands of people fleeing 
the chaos in Syria. This could happen here too.
  The No. 1 responsibility under the Constitution of our Federal 
Government is to protect the homeland and to secure the country against 
all threats. We must do all we can to prevent a terrorist style attack 
from happening here, but under the administration's proposed plan, we 
may not be able to stop such an attack. We cannot tell who among the 
thousands of Syrian refugees the administration wishes to resettle here 
are terrorists. One particularly alarming statement to this effect came 
from the Director of the FBI, James Comey. He was in a hearing before 
the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs just 
on October 8 of this year. Director Comey said ``there are certain gaps 
. . . in the data available to us'' in screening Syrian refugees. This 
data, which includes fingerprints, background and biographic 
information, is crucial for an adequate screening of potential refugees 
entering the United States. Director Comey continued in that hearing 
saying, ``There is risk associated with bringing anybody in from the 
outside, but especially from a conflict zone like that.''
  Director Comey has also previously acknowledged that despite a large 
pool of data on Iraqi refugees, our past program for admitting refugees 
from Iraq inadvertently allowed into our country ``a number of people 
who were of serious concern, including two that were charged when we 
found their fingerprints on improvised explosive devices from Iraq.''
  Our ability to screen individuals from war-torn Syria is extremely 
limited by comparison. Several States' Governors have recognized this 
difficulty and have accordingly moved to suspend cooperation with the 
administration in settling Syrian refugees in their States until those 
security concerns are addressed. I share such concerns for protecting 
our country against terrorists who have clearly infiltrated the Syrian 
refugee population. I recently wrote a letter to the leaders of the 
Senate Appropriations Committee. In that letter I asked that taxpayers' 
funds be used effectively to properly and securely screen refugees 
entering the United States. I also requested in the letter that as part 
of the appropriations legislation before the committee, it require a 
comprehensive plan on how security will be achieved. I requested this 
be a condition for any funding for refugee resettlement for Syrian 
refugees. I said then and I emphasize now that not one dollar should

[[Page 18095]]

be expended until stringent parameters for vetting these refugees are 
established.
  I would also suggest to President Obama that he reconsider his plan 
to admit Syrian refugees until the dust settles and we get to the 
bottom of the Paris attacks. We need to analyze what happened. We need 
to figure out how we can better screen these refugees and ensure that 
terrorists among them are not evading proper screenings. We need a 
timeout before we press forward.
  I stress that the United States remains an extremely generous country 
when it comes to refugees. This year alone we will allow 75,000 
refugees fleeing persecution around the world to enter our country, but 
we have to set our own citizens' security as a top priority. I call on 
Congress to act to ensure that this administration certifies that the 
most stringent security standards are in place before allowing any more 
of the Syrian refugees into our country. It is our responsibility to do 
everything we can to prevent Friday's attacks from happening here.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise to urge my colleagues to vote 
to confirm this qualified judge, LaShann DeArcy Hall, to the U.S. 
District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
  Ms. Hall is an outstanding choice to fill this position. After 
decades of service in both the public sector and the private sector, 
Ms. Hall's breadth of knowledge and depth of experience will guide her 
for any case that happens to come before her. In her current role at a 
major international law firm, Ms. Hall specializes in high-stakes, 
complex commercial litigation. During her years of public service, 
including her time serving as a commissioner with the New York State 
Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Ms. Hall has worked tirelessly to 
help make her community a more fair and just place.
  Ms. Hall's credentials are absolutely worthy of this position on the 
Federal bench, and we will be a stronger nation with more women like 
Ms. Hall serving as judges in our Federal court system.
  Ms. Hall is a graduate of Howard University School of Law and she 
served in the U.S. Air Force. She is a highly accomplished lawyer, and 
she has devoted her entire career to various forms of public service. 
She is dedicated to her community, and she cares deeply about this 
country. LaShann DeArcy Hall would make an excellent Federal judge and 
would add much needed diversity to the Federal bench.
  Mr. President, I urge all my colleagues to vote to confirm her.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coats). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all time 
remaining on this nomination be yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Hall 
nomination?
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. 
Cotton), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from South 
Carolina (Mr. Graham), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) is 
necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 93, nays 1, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 305 Ex.]

                                YEAS--93

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--1

       
     Perdue
       

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Blunt
     Cotton
     Cruz
     Graham
     Sanders
     Vitter
       
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lankford). Under the previous order, the 
motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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