[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1278]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               TRAVEL BAN

  Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, in just a few weeks, our great country 
will mark the 75th anniversary of President Roosevelt's Executive order 
authorizing the internment of hundreds of thousands of Japanese, 
German, and Italian Americans during World War II. They were rounded up 
with their families and held behind barbed wire like war criminals. But 
they had done nothing wrong; their crime was being Japanese, German, or 
Italian. They were labeled ``enemy aliens.''
  Mark Twain reportedly said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it 
does rhyme, and this seems to be the path the President has pursued 
with his Muslim ban. This ban has already harmed green card holders, 
students, business people, and those fleeing violence and persecution. 
Remember, these are the people fleeing the violence, not the 
perpetrators of the violence. They are the victims, not the criminals. 
They have been pulled from their flights, left stranded in the 
airports. They have been detained without the ability to talk with a 
lawyer. And they are wondering if the United States of America is still 
the beacon of hope, the lamp by the golden door, the shining city on 
the hill.
  Iraqis who risked their lives to serve our country as translators saw 
their visas revoked. An 11-month-old baby was detained. That is 
disgusting. It is un-American. It is contrary to everything we stand 
for.
  We stand for providing refuge for those who want to escape their own 
awful circumstances and live in freedom and opportunity. It is my 
grandparents escaping Ukraine. It is my wife's grandparents leaving 
China. It is the Schatzes. It is the Binders. It is the Kwoks. It is 
Albert Einstein. It is Madeleine Albright. This is who we are. We are 
people from all over the world. We are united not by our ethnic 
extraction or religious affiliation but tied together by our love for 
America.
  Here is the thing: It is not even as though we are trading liberty 
for security. We are getting no additional security. This is all about 
being cruel to Muslims because it is good politics for some people.
  This isn't just morally wrong, it is also guaranteed not to work. 
This ban is ridiculous as a homeland security measure.
  First, zero people from the countries on the ban list have been 
involved in terrorist attacks in America. Zero people from the 
countries on the ban list have been involved in terrorist attacks on 
America. It is almost as though the criteria for picking the countries 
is something other than the threat of terrorism.
  Second, this ban has the potential to strengthen violent extremist 
groups by playing right into their hands. It encourages everyone to be 
afraid of people we don't know from other places. That is not America, 
and it will not work.
  When President Gerald Ford repealed the Executive order interning 
Japanese Americans, he asked citizens across the country to make a 
pledge. He said: ``I call upon the American people to affirm with me 
this American promise--that we have learned from the tragedy of that 
long-ago experience forever to treasure liberty and justice for each 
individual American, and resolve that this kind of action shall never 
again be repeated.''
  That promise is being broken. It is broken for the American who came 
to this country as a lost boy from Sudan and who now cannot see his 
family. It is broken for the American married to an Iranian, whom the 
government is splitting from her husband. It is broken for the millions 
of Americans, the majority of us, who want us always to have the moral 
high ground.
  The world is watching. History is watching. We have to ask ourselves: 
What do they see? Do they see Lady Liberty or do they see something 
darker? The choice is ours. We can fix this.
  We start by following the wise words of Fred Korematsu, an outspoken 
voice against Japanese internment and an American hero who was born 98 
years ago today.
  He said: ``Protest, but not with violence, and don't be afraid to 
speak up.''
  Today I call on every Member of the Senate to follow Mr. Korematsu's 
advice. Speak up, stand against this ban, and fight chaos and paranoia 
as official government policy.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The remarks of Mrs. Capito pertaining to the introduction of S.J. 
Res. 10 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

                          ____________________