candidates. >> host: biden campaign and reference on polls, the biden campaign says if the economy does improve they see a reflection of that come polls as we reflect on the year. what's the possibility but the expectation of that happening? >> guest: there's a big disconnect between macroeconomic outlook, recession, it doesn't look like, the good news is the economy if anything is going against a lot of only expectation. unemployment is low. inflation is contained. the stock market if you look at the 401(k) for those of 401(k)s are doing quite well. but the challenges n still higher or the still the price you pay -- >> the senate has been in recess but is now gaveling back into session. we take you there live here on c-span2. goffman, cruz and mehalchick ripen at 4:00 p.m. and resume

consideration of the rodriguez nomination. the clerk: department of laib labor, jose javier lopez to be assistant secretary of labor. the presiding officer: the senator from carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to honor the service and sacrifice of greensboro police officer sergeant philip drape, sergeant philip dale nix. before the start of the new year he was off duty at a local gas station when he witnessed three individuals had stolen alcohol. of course we know there's no such thing for being off duty for a brave law enforcement

officer. he took the duty to serve, and his instincts kicked in immediately, he approached the suspects as the crime was taking place and they responded by shooting him. another offduty officer, a gilford county par medic -- paramedic tried to render him aid. his wounds were fatal and he passed away at the hospital. sergeant nix emboded the -- embodied the best of law enforcement and was loved by the community of greensboro. it should come as no surprise that sergeant nix comes from a family with a long legacy of public service, in this case, it included public service of the greensboro fire department where his father was a captain, his uncle was assistant chief and

his brother currently serves as a firefighter. sergeant nix worked for the greensboro police department for 22 years and had a distinguished record of service. he worked as a criminal investigation division detective, patrol corporal, financial crimes detective, and most recently, as a supervisor of the family victims unit. as one detective of greensboro police department noted, sergeant nix was the family works -- he protected innocent people unmatched. for as impressive as sergeant nix for his work in uniform, it was his job as a family man, loving husband, father and son that made him the man he was. as the green sps boro city

council member put it, sergeant nix loved his community and his family ten times more than his community. i hope they can feel his arms wrapped around them. sergeant nix upheld his oath to protect and serve even when he wasn't in uniform. he exemplified what it means to be an exceptional law enforcement officer. and he made the ultimate sacrifice. my deepest condolences go out to sergeant nix's family for their tremendous loss. and my condolences go out to the community of greensboro, which lost one of their finest and most decent public servants.

we should never, and i will never, forget a servant service. but, mr. president, as sad as another example of a senseless killing of a law enforcement officer is, i want to take a moment to discuss on this floor congress's role in supporting law enforcement. in 2023, 59 officers were killed by criminals. 379 officers were shot in the line of duty. which the national fraternal order of police justly calls a stain on our society. unfortunately, this outcome should not be surprising. we have shamefully seen a rise in law enforcement, anti-law enforcement sentiment from fringe voices who espouse

radical concept like abolishing the police. if you go on a website today, ladies and gentlemen, and you query all cops are bastards, give now, you will go to a website will they are encouraging you to make a 1312 run, it translates to acab, which translates into all cops are bastards. and there is a website where you can give money and support this effort today. it is sickening to hear this kind of hatred toward law enforcement. not because it's wrong and unfair, but because it's flat out dangerous. it's fueled distress and disdain for our brave men and women in blue. this in turn has made their job to protect and serve even harder and more dangerous.

we must do better. we must protect law enforcement. that is the reason i introduced the protect and serve act last congress. it makes it a federal crime to knowingly or attempt to cause bodily injury to a law enforcement officer. i plan to reintroduce this bill this congress, and i hope to do so with strong bipartisan support. congress must also enhance penalties for law enforcement who -- this would create a criminal penalty for the murder of a local state or federal law enforcement officer punishable with the death penalty or life imprisonment and life without parole. i encourage you to call or write your senators and congresswomen. the men and women in blue are heros, we have to have their back, and like officer nix, i

want every single officer to know i'm going to do everything i can to help protect them. thank you. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, this is a new year, and we are now halfway through the 118th congress. for those who are not familiar with the way congress operates,

we call congress really a two-year period and obviously -- and so far we've completed the first half of that 118th congress. but the sad news is we have an embarrassingly little to show for what congress has done so far in the 118th congress. under democratic leadership, we've drifted from one crisis to the next, doing just enough to avoid catastrophe without addressing the biggest problems that our country faces. those failures are evidenced by the fact that the senate is set to spend the first four months of this year working on the backlog of things we should have done last year. first is funding the government, keeping the lights on, paying the border patrol, paying our

military, making sure that government services are available to all citizens. we're a quarter of the way through the current fiscal year and congress has not passed a single funding bill. not one. now we have until january 19, that's our first deadline, to advance four of the 12 annual spending bills other-wise we'll find our -- otherwise we'll find ourselves in a partial government government shutdown or a continuing resolution of uncertain duration. it seems unevident -- inevitable because of the timing and then we have two weeks until the next deadline arrives when departments and agencies will run out of money. several weeks later, the third

deadline will arrive. the federal aviation administration must be reauthorized by march 8. failure to do so would result in complete chaos for air travellers. the next deadline is april 19. that's when the authorities of our intelligence community under the foreign intelligence surveillance act section 702 expire. now, this is what i've called the most important law that the american people have never heard of. but this literally allows the intelligence community to identify and track threats to our national security.

it doesn't involve american citizens or anybody here on u.s. soil, but it will expire on april 19 unless we act. of course these are just the most obvious tasks ahead in the weeks that come that have hard and fast deadlines. there are countless other items we can and should be doing and deserve the senate's attention, chief among those are the national security supplemental that has been requested by the biden administration. around the world conflicts are raging that have a major impact or will have a major impact on our own national security. there's a war in the middle east, there's a war in europe, and growing threats by

the chinese communist party in china against its neighbors, most notably day juan. -- taiwan. despite the fact this conflict is thousands of miles away, the outcome of this is in some measure or another important to our national security. for example, if hamas, a designated terrorist organization emerges from the war against israel with nothing more than a black eye, it will send a message to iran, its principal sponsor as well to its other terrorist sponsors like the shia militias in iraq and syria, it will send a message that their war has been successful and a resounding success and they can not only continue but accelerate their attacks against israel and the

west, including american interests. then there's the -- russian invasion of ukraine. if russia wins its war against ukraine, president putin will be emboldened to continue his quest to rebuild the soviet empire. he's called the failure of the soviet empire back in the early 1990's as the single biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. if russia is successful in ukraine, it will not stop there. it could well continue on into the rest of europe, involving the north atlantic treaty organization or nato. if that happens, then the u.s. and our allies will no longer be able to stand on the sidelines of this conflict, we will be on the field by virtue of our

treaty obligations under article 5 of the north atlantic treaty organization treaty. in the indo-pacific, if china's aggression goes unchecked, it will threaten, intimidate and ultimately invade its neighbors. it's threatened to do so, we just don't know what the timing is going to be. but the chinese communist party will escalate its economic war against the united states by blackballing us from the biggest market in the world and starving our country of critical technology like advanced semiconductors that operate everything from your cell phone to the avionics on the f-35 strike fire the. -- fighter. our adversaries are watching very closely. our friends are watching very closely. they've asked is -- we still rely on america's help.

can we still rely on america's leadership? there is no country. we might wish it were so but there is no country in the world that can do what the united states of america can do because of our leadership, because of our values, because of our strength. we might wish somebody would take our place so we didn't have to do it, but that is just wishful thinking. our adversaries are seeing how far they can push the boundaries of international norms before members of the rules-based international order react. that's us and our fellow democracies who actually believe in a rules-based international order. our adversaries do not. they believe in raw power and dominion. america cannot stand on the sidelines in the face of attacks

on freedom-loving people, whether those attacks occur in israel, in ukraine, or the indo-pacific. and this is not just for them. we're not doing this as a favor for these countries. we're doing it for us because invariably the threat will continue to spread. i know for years before the tragedy of 9/11 we thought we were protected by the two oceans, the pacific and the atlantic, but we learned a sad lesson on september 11, 2001, that the terrorist attacks occurring overseas came home to america when 3,000 americans were killed as a result of those attacks. so we might wish that this did not involve us. this is their problem, not our problem. but it simply is not borne out by the facts or by our hard

experience. so the united states must continue to defend democracy against growing attempts to tear it down, and i hope we can do our duty through a security supplemental appropriation in the coming weeks. of course, our support for our friends and allies around the world can't come at the expense of the threats we are facing here at home. the southern border which the presiding officer represents a border state, i represent a border state. we have a 2,000-mile southern border, 1200 miles of it happens to be in texas. and it's been on fire for the last three years during the biden administration. the united states has logged more than 6.7 million illegal

border encounters during the biden administration. and that doesn't count the 1.7 million got-aways, people who are evading law enforcement, and you can imagine why. it doesn't take much imagination. in three years we've experienced more illegal migration than we did throughout the entire obama and trump administrations combined. three years we've seen more than we saw in 12 years. given the stress this places on our people and on our resources. the refusal to simply enforce the law by the biden administration has created this welcome mat or this green light.

pick the metaphor you'd like saying if you come to the border, you're going to be released into the united states. and that's been a magnet for more and more and more people to c come. according to "the washington post," the biden administration's released more than 2.3 million migrants into the country in the last three years, 2.3 million. that's higher than the total number of border crossings at this point in the previous administration. and when the numbers are this high, it creates serious security and humanitarian risks. if law enforcement and detention facilities are overwhelmed, it creates an openingfor dangerous people -- opening for dangerous people and drugs to slip through the cracks, and there are plenty of people out there who want to exploit these vulnerabilities, not the least of whom are the organized crime organizations,

sometimes called transnational criminal organizations, sometimes they're called the cartels, but these are criminals who get rich and are getting richer by the day because of the open border policies of the biden administration. they care nothing about anything or anyone. all they care about is the money. and they're getting richer by the day as a result of the biden open border policies. but it's dangerous to our national security. last year the border patrol encountered 169 people who matched entries on the terror watch list. 19 people participated in a terrorist attack against americans on september 11, 2001, killed 3,000 americans. so far 169 people on the terror

watch list were encountered just last year, 169. that doesn't count the number of people on the watch list that we don't know about because they were part of the 1.7 million got- got-aways. that 169 people on the terror watch list this last fiscal year is more than the previous six years combined. on top of that the border patrols arrested 600 known gang members and customs and border protection personnel have seized roughly 550 pounds of illegal drugs, including more than 27,000 pounds of fentanyl, one of the most potent and dangerous drugs on the planet. strangely enough, sometimes i hear people say, well, good, they got it all. they didn't get it all. we lost 108,000 americans to

drug overdoses last year, including 71,000 from fentanyl. a fwaer of a young woman -- a father of a young woman at the carrollton farmers branch independent school district gave me this rubber operationlet in the memory of -- bracelet in memory of his daughter, sienna, who took what she thought was an innocuous drug like percocet, relatively innocuous, or xanax, but it was actually a counterfeit pill made to look like a pharmaceutical, like something you'd buy at a drugstore, but in fact it was a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl and it killed her. that's happened 71,000 times last year in america as a result of drugs coming across the -- across the southern border. president biden has simply opened the border for anyone and

everyone creating a massive security gap at our doorstep. it's absolutely critical that the united states invest in our preferred outcome in each of these situations. the border, israel where hamas and iran want to wipe israel off the face of the earth, ukraine against this invasion of this sovereign country by russia, by vladimir putin, and the indo-pacific. all are vital to our security in one way or another. in october president biden asked congress to provide funding for each of these priorities. but it is us to -- it is up to us to go through this request and prioritize the funding and make sure the tax dollars that we will be spending are spent efficiently and with a purpose.

in some places the president's request was bloated. in others it was wholly insufficient. and large portions of the bill, especially those related to the border, would actually make the problem worse. so the senate cannot and will not rubber stamp the president's supplemental funding request. there's no chance. instead, what we need to be in the process of working through a bill that can deliver real, actionable results. as we know, the biggest sticking point in the negotiations on the border bill is the biggest remaining challenge. immigration and border security are among the thorniest issues that we face here on capitol hill. but it's absolutely essential that we get this piece of the bill done correctly so that it makes a difference. i appreciate our colleague,

senator lankford, the senator from oklahoma, who's leading the charge on our side of the aisle in those negotiations. the good news is he understands these policies in and out, and i appreciate his willingness to lead throughout this process. i hope that he and our democratic colleagues and the white house are able to reach a deal that will actually have an impact on the flow of illegal immigration across our border and finally restore a sense of lawfulliness -- lawfulness on the southern border. i believe that legal immigration has been one of the great strengths of our country during our country's history, legal immigration. safe, orderly, lawful immigration. we naturalize about a million people a year that become american citizens who want what we have by virtue of the fact we were lucky enough to be born here. but illegal immigration has been

an unmitigated disaster, and president biden's outsourcing our immigration policy to the cartels has been the main reason foe that -- reason for that unmitigated disaster. well, as we know there's a lot on the line here, which is why it's important that any security supplemental be done right. we can't pass something and simply check the box and move on. i hope we can reach an agreement on a strong security supplemental that addresses the range of security issues we're facing, both abroad and here at home on our border. i know that negotiations are ongoing, but at some point you have to vote. and i hope we get a chance to see what those negotiations produce, give the members of the house and the senate an

opportunity to debate and hopefully improve those negotiated products by virtue of the amendment process on the floor, but ultimately do what nobody else in the country can do. only the 450 members of the house and the 100 members of the senate. those 550 people are the only ones in the nation who can actually change the law by passing a bill and sending it to the president for his signature. so there's no one else who is going to fill the gap, no one else we can turn to and say this is too hard for us. will you please do it for us. there's no one else to do it. that's why we were elected. that's why we serve. that's why we take an oath to uphold and defend the laws of the united states. so it's important, mr. president, we do our job. unfortunately, we're going to be

bogged down by playing catchup and handling the backlog of last year, but the world continues to spin on its axis. we have challenges that emerge on a daily basis. and this is not going to get any easier. so we need to act and to act as expeditiously as we can to do our duty as difficult as it is. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i'd note the absence of a quorum the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

quorum call:

when they lose, the loser he said for mother emanuel ame church and a stork black church killed nine worshipers in a shooting back in 2015. president biden also pointing to the dozens of failed gop backed legal challenges to the election results during the speech accusing election tonight of not having quote respect for knowing people voted for him. and then this adding the statement all similar criticism form present trump during a a rally that took place in valley

forge pennsylvania last rider to mark the third anniversary. this speech took place yesterday in south carolina. you can find whole speech at our website at c-span.org and our app at c-span now but here's a portion from president biden yesterday in south carolina. >> in the sense to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence, let me say what we can. we must reject political violence in america always. always. several appropriate. violence again or six was an extension of an old playbook from the threats and violence and intimidation. atlanta, georgia, two brave black women mother and daughter ruby and shea -- [applause] they had allies ended just doing their jobs. menacing calls, death threats, forcing them to literally flee their home. those pushing a big lie and

conspiracy theory upon conspiracy theories that -- but here's the fact. there's what we don't have facts come has no facts come has no truth, has no evidence. that's why they lost every court and law shown to result 60 losses court of america. there's one thing they don't have. they don't have respect for the 81 million people who voted the other way, voted for my candidacy. who voted -- [applause] to end the presidency. in their world these americans including you don't count. but that's not the real world. that's not democracy. that's not america for in america we all count. in america we witness to serve all those who, in fact, participate. and losers are taught to concede when they lose. and he's a loser.

[applause] >> that's president biden yesterday again you can see that whole speech at her website at c-span.org. you can also see that at our app at c-span now. the president addressing, also dressing, present trump as well. you can talk about the themes of this speech as campaign 2024 kicks into high gear and again 202-748-8000 democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. and independents, 202-748-8002. if you wanted to express your thoughts this morning you can do that at 202-748-8003. robert and baltimore, maryland, democrat's line first. what do you think about the speech yesterday and what the president addressed? >> the speech was okay but they've got to understand you have to think like donald trump. donald trump don't want to go to

jail. he knows he's going to jail. he will not be in the u.s. in november of 2024. he will be in saudi arabia. >> host: let's expand when you first started saying produced said the speech was okay. what did you mean by that? >> caller: well, what you think is okay. he sang donald trump is a dictator and a danger to the u.s. but donald trump, where he will stand -- [inaudible] he knows being got no way of winning in november. >> host: okay. robert in baltimore, maryland. we will hear from ray in north carolina. republican line. ray as well to you, what did you think of yesterday speech by president biden? >> caller: well, a lot of things. first of all, he didn't cover

what his, what he really wants to do if elected. he dunked on trump, okay, and it's the easy thing for the democrats to do, but we have national debt that is over $33 trillion, an open and open border, people come into our border and being released in the united states, many on the terror watch list. there's a lot more that he could talk about besides trump. now trump, okay, he did his job. i'd like a lot of things he says, but he did his job. america was secure. we went up to isis. we were energy independents. so it doesn't surprise me that biden's popularity in the polls are going down. people want answers.

they want answers and results. >> host: okay. brave republican mike talk about president biden speech yesterday, taking a look the speech and adding this to its covetous bordick saint mr. mr. biden's returned to south carolina is a bet on the black vote, a crucial pillar of democratic support. 92% of black voters backed mr. biden over trump. the white house and the last election but polling shows support may be faltering with as many as 22% of black voters leaning towards the republican ex-president. there was no sign of that on monday at the mother emanuel ame church were several hundred people packed into the warm wood panel building to hear from mr. biden, a mix of black and white supporters wearing biden-harris 2024 pins. lavished them with support. again that whole speech available online if you want to see it asking about the themes of the speech that will show you. you. this is vivian democrat's line from tennessee talking about president biden speech yesterday. vivian, good morning.

>> caller: good morning. i have a few quick points, please. can you understand me, i've had surgery. can you understand me? >> host: we can understand you. go right ahead. >> caller: one thing his speech was wonderful yesterday. everything he said was of the truth. and then trump deniers out there still saying that that man won this election. the whole world, other countries know he did not win. and i am sick and tired of them getting at the time you say that black vote is folly. they haven't called me and asked my opinion. that's a lie trembled when you say the president said was true, what you mean by that? >> caller: he said like trump lied. trump get out there and said tell a tell a lie that he won picky didn't win. trump ran up the deficits. trump did not give tax cuts to the regular people turkey gave it to the rich people. plus he set up and did all these things he's accused of. they are accusing trump of.

how can the people in the united states put somebody out there like that who the grades, the face women? talk about parts, , anatomy pars of women. while going up the senior citizens. going against the health care. it's a whole lot, talking against the military saying john mccain wasn't a hero. when he didn't go, he ran. >> host: john in california republican line. the president's speech yesterday, what did you think? >> caller: well, biden called trump loser but on calling biden the trader. and all the poor black people that were a target and undermined by illegal immigration, taking your jobs, and i've seen it. i lived in north and south central l.a. for a long time, and there come into your neighborhood and they're taking your jobs and your biden is up there telling you that they are not. what a traitor.

what a traitor. >> host: that john from california. again if you want to talk about the president's speech yesterday it is 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans, interdependence 202-748-8002. and if you want to text us you can do that at 202-748-8003. plus you can post on a social media site. that's at facebook and ask you one of the people respond in light of the speech yesterday was the senator from south carolina ten scott on his ex feed talking about the things that biden engaged in pictures apportion from senator scott. >> there is a a common denomir in politics. president biden's visit to charleston took fears as numbers are dropping amongst all minority groups is remarkable. but it's also indicative of the

fact that people of caller, americans all across this nation, are losing confidence in this president because the economy is volatile. crime is raging. education for the poorest kids in america seems elusive. and what does president biden do? comes to charleston for fear. for fear. you know what fearfully as? its false evidence appearing real. america is the greatest nation on the planet. let's unite this nation, not divide it. >> host: again that was some yesterday on senator scott's ex feed, the second speech of the present is given in this election cycle in 2024. that wasn't the place you will remember last beverages before the anniversary of january 6th.

yahoo! reporting after that speech when it comes to the reelection campaign of president biden, raising more than $1 million to online funding alone in the 24 hours four hours after the president's speech last friday where he give a full throated attack as described by yahoo! against the former president, this story also adding in response to destroy for our fundraising the biden campaign noted it sees preserving democracy as a political winner for the president in 2024. that made the one of the things you pick up on, the president's speech yesterday. you can call the lives and tells about it on our independent line. this is rockaway park new york, this is allen. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i just wanted to say that biden hit the nail on the head, you know? i mean, everything he said about trump was true and you know as a voter one thing that draws a red flag with me is, i don't want a

candidate to focus on how horrific his opponent is. i want a candidate who will a what kind of job, what he has in mind. and trump, that's his whole thing. it's putting names on people. what did he actually accomplish about healthcare? nothing. about climate change? nothing. i mean --, let me ask would come to the president's speech yesterday what did you learn specifically permit about what president biden wants to do should he get a second term? >> caller: well he was talking more about how a president should feel about his job, you know? get to work on things that matter. if a candidate is just going to vilify his opponent, , that's a red flag for me. and he didn't say anything new. >> host: but don't you think that happen at all in this speech but the previous speech

last friday? >> caller: you know, he's not the sizzler. trump is a sizzler. he has stake. he doesn't have that pizzazz, that charisma, but he's doing things. he's doing things that matter. he's a nice guy. trump is not a nice guy. thank you for listening. >> host: that is allen in rockaway park, new york. we will hear next from steve also on outline for independents in hudson, florida. hello. >> caller: good morning. mr., mr. biden had nothing but a campaign speech in there. he vilified everything he did, and for him to be doing it in a black church with his history of racism, it's hypocrisy at its best. >> host: okay. also on a line for independents in california. hello. >> caller: good morning.

i agreed with the last caller just said. i mean biden is being condescending the black america, of which i am one. i don't like biden's policies. i don't really like trump anymore. i don't think trump is guilty of insurrection. i do think he is guilty in the classified documents case and the financial fraud cases in new york. >> host: why do you frame it as condescending? >> caller: well, like the last card you said, democrats have a habit of doing this. they will go into an all-black church or an all-black city, you know, and they will say things, biden said in the last election that if you are black and you don't vote for biden, then you are not black. it's just condescending. ..

some of the things he wants to engage in. this morning on nine think the if voters give him a second term including resurrecting cheaper childcare, prescription drugs, tuition free college, weapons ban, higher taxes on which americans. it raises the state as democrats take the house and majority in the senate to enact those plans.

the courage of the iowa new hampshire iowa caucuses and new hampshire primaries which you can see on c-span. follow along on the app. republican line from maryland, we hear from david. hello. >> good morning america. i hope he gets smart the president to talk about the 2020 election given the amount of irregularities and that's one thing no matter what side of the fence you are on agree that there is a ton of irregularities compared to previous elections whether mail-in ballots, signature verification, donald trump, it puts forth many lawsuits, 60 or something but

zeroed judges were even here the evidence from my understanding. i'm just curing curious why even talk about considering we can't deep dive to even find out how it was. >> you think it will be either side is here? >> the 2020 election. >> they have the same process as they did in 2020, they look all these? come over again and be divided down the middle and we will have infinite arguments unless you really get into an investigation and find out what is going on in some of these counties that are red flags. when both sides want to know? what if it was your turn to get

the short end of the stick next time? >> democrat line, good morning. >> good morning. biden is a good man in black people will give trump 10% of the vote, are you out of your mind? we boat ride 9%, that's the way it's going to be. the plan right now, do you want to go back to that? america the way it used to be. >> aside from that speech yesterday from the present, what did you get from it? >> really trying to help people

but i need to take my belt off. >> hello. >> good morning. that is interesting response you're getting. it seems like in both speeches he gave to the opening of the campaign were nothing more than the same rhetoric around for the last two years so nothing of a speech that discussed plans for the future besides from the article you read, it didn't say you said but he proposals to do this and that. everything listed is the same thing for the last 12 years the assault rifle been. everything so there's nothing

new anywhere, no new ideas, nobody's of talking about housing market and kids growing up now will be able to buy the house. restaurants taking a huge dive. it would cost you $25. california right now, $18 an hour almost for any job and that will destroy the economy out there i'd like to hear some new ideas it was biden, here are some new ideas. i will tell you why we are not getting a fair election, democrat party walking anybody else's on the democrat side, who

is it that decides you can't run as president if you are a democrat? >> okay, let's hear from the next color. >> i really enjoyed the speech from yesterday, i like how hard he's going against trump and the importance of democracy in the election. this idea somehow biden hasn't talked about what he plans to do for the country, aside from a, are we going to act like trump's campaign 2016 and 2020 wasn't to attack hillary clinton can joe biden? i really like the speech yesterday how biden called trump loser because he is a loser.

he still acting like he one. a great speech. >> what did you learn new as far as what the campaign wants to do? >> is expressing the importance of marketing in this election. i like how he highlighted in this place in 2015 there was an attack making sure we get to the bottom, that is also very important to me. >> the speech yesterday, carolina as well with the civil war. >> after the civil war couldn't accept the verdict so they

embrace the civil war is not about slavery but dates rights. terrible consequences. let me don't seem to know me. i know where in the country trying to turn the loss into a lie, once again bring events to this country.

just two days ago one of the darkest days in american history january the sixth, today its capital for the first time the transfer mom has with the lives. slowing down statues, outside insurrection changing paying mike pence. chanting, where is music? we saw something we've never seen before and even during the civil war. insurrectionist inside the halls congress. mobs attacked black veterans

defending the name yet moderate republicans led by repeated president trying to steal his drink now now trying to steal history. a peaceful protest. >> that's the president from yesterday. this speech got a reaction from from governor of south carolina nikki haley herself republican presidential candidate in des moines iowa yesterday on fox news asked about the president's speech and her response to it and here's portion. >> it's a sacred place, we lost nine amazing souls that night and i will tell everybody those amazing people, all 12 of them when someone else showed up the didn't look like them or act

like them or sound like them, they didn't call the cops, they didn't. instead, they pull up a chair and prayed for an hour. when they bowed their heads on the last prayer, he began this. these people, she would go around mother emanuel church saint one day at time it's all i ask of you. our youngest victim had just graduated college in front of his head you don't work like model to give a little speech in itself. i don't need someone who house around with segregationist and

has said racist comments only through his career in south carolina abouthat it means to have slavery or sort. >> nikki haley herself through iowa will be in on if you were to get up with the court and works in three prisons. starting 9:30 a.m. can follow along and listen to that you

wish. the former president expects to attend the hearing today so watch out for that later today in the present speech yesterday. thank you for waiting. go ahead. >> i enjoyed biden's speech yesterday. will especially republicans said biden for democrat but the republican party, that's where they are no, the republican party did with got some gullible people following trump. just like jim jones.

>> you said he told the truth yesterday examples. >> what he said trump was trying to dismantle democracy. he is. people are just so gullible they follow him just like to follow jim jones. for cheney or chris christie, i am not a republican. i just tell it like it is. >> let's hear from leo in illinois, republican line. >> good morning. i would like to make a case about biden's speech and nikki haley's part. this question here, is not about competition, it's about what we

stand for as a nation. here is biden and nikki haley quoting jesus giving money to sinus it's nobody is talking about that. >> was stick to the speech itself which we are talking about, what did you get from it yesterday? >> i got there actions acceptance of what jesus commands us. >> washington democrat line, tom, hello. >> yes, hello. all i like the speech, i think it's the stump speech but compared to a trump speech which is the media -- i don't know what you would call it, it doesn't make sense. i can barely understand what he's talking about most of the time. maybe i just don't pay attention. >> what did you get from yesterday?

the mark well, i think most of it all -- i know all of the stuff so it was a good speech, i think it touched a lot of basis but i just think i want the husky football game last night and trump and the huskies remind me of the same thing, the smell of number two. >> seattle, washington, one of the stories the lead up to this beach and talking about the campaign overall publish on the washington post a few days ago. this story saying it was former president barack obama raising questions about the structure and the reelection campaign discussed directly with him following allies, the campaign

empowered without the three people in the conversation cap about decision-making the 200014 november election making the pain speech yesterday in the from it will independent to go

to. we will hear from wayne i am a republican and i'm beginning to wonder about this country. i was in vietnam to save lives. these two people running for president biden and the other republican, i don't think either of them should be in office. in the office missing, assuming

the right amount what makes you think either? about the that don't obey them can 20 president clinton more people always and i can assure

you will. let's to the president. >> about the economy, never spoke about inflation and never

spoke about the truth, democrat, republican or any president, these are things people are worried about. he spoke about america being great and "god bless america", we all know that. and enjoyed his beach. >> democrat line, presidents each from yesterday, what did you take away from it? >> it's supposed to be fiery, i expected it. it's just going to rent the closer to election time. the commercial and everything but it is expected. i didn't think too much of it,

it's what you expect to some of you texting and your thoughts, this is from michael new jersey saying president biden, i just don't understand if america will truly for him. in the speech was awesome. in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are. ms. duckworth: i ask that it be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. duckworth: thank you, mr. president. also, i thank my colleague, the senior senator from illinois for being here. i would like to just talk today about a dear, dear friends of ours, ed smith, who recently passed away. i'm going to try not to say too much about him, but ed and dick's relationship, but ed is a stalwart for working families in

illinois. the ed that i knew somewheres one who was always there for working families. he was a man who embodied the word solidarity, who paired compassion with passion, and who knew no company, no community, no country would be as strong as it could be if any of its workers were treated without the dignity and decency they deserved. ed had one central gravitational force throughout his life, working hard on behalf of those who worked hard for others. he joined a union at 13 years old. from that moment on, he stayed in the fight for labor rights with the rest of his life. he held title after title throughout his career. he was a laborer when he was young, then a manager, eventually a ceo. through it all, the title that undoubtedly described him best was champion. no matter how busy, no matter how high he climbed, there was nothing more important to him than looking out for all of those who signed up for the direless -- tireless but thank

less job that kept our nation running. those who clocked in without complaint, who deserveda good pay and steady benefit that comes with the sweat of a job well done. i know this firsthand. ed never hesitated to call me to keep me up to date on any issue i should be following up in the labor world. i knew that i could always, always count on him to give his honest opinion whenever i needed some advice. not only was he a mentor and friend, but he held each of us fortunate enough to hold elective office accountable he made sure we were doing right by working families, by rural illinoisans, by every workers, not just those in unions but all workers, and making sure every inch of illinois folks who earned dignified retirements are able to enjoy that retirement. one of my favorite stories about ed is that every night before bed, he asked himself who have i helped today? now it's my turn to answer that question for him. ed helped more people than he and i could ever meet in our

life times. he helped grandparents access the pensions they've earned. he helped green on-the-job 20-something's know and demand their worth. he set up the labor union in illinois to be the movement of the future, working towards that carbon-neutral future. he helped me remember that in public service we have one true north star, and that is to do what we can to bring about tomorrow what every worker, every american is treated with fairness, dignity and respect. thank you, ed, for all you have done for the rest of us. you will be dearly missed. i hope to live in a way that ensures when i get home at night i give a good answer when i follow your lead and ask who have i helped today. i know ed will be smiling down on me when i do so. i yield the floor. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: democratic whip, majority whip. mr. durbin: i'm honored to join my colleague, tammy duckworth to talk about ed smith. it's rare that senators come to

the floor and pay tribute to someone who passes away. it doesn't happen every day. to have two senators from the same state at the same time doing it speaks to the quality of the person that we're talking about. mr. president, you've been to chicago, but you may not have toured the whole state of illinois. it's a different state down south. about 400 miles south of chicago is alex ander county, the county seat is cairo, illinois. most students of geography say it's cairo. not to those in southern illinois. it's had quite a history, at the confluence of the ohio and mississippi rivers. it was a really hotbed of it economic activity for a century. it was a large, bustling town and a lot of river traffic made it a very successful town. over time, the economy started

to slump. interstate highways took over rivers and cairo was not where it should be virility i graduated highway school -- where it should be. i graduated law school in 19-69 and went to work for paul simon, brand-new lawyer, anxious to be successful and do the right thing, said to lieutenant governor simon what do you want me to do? he said go to cairo. that was quite an assignment in those days, because cairo was in big trouble. it was in trouble because, as the economy started to slump, a lot of the racial tensions started to emerge. there were terrible instances of violence and a loft division in the community -- a lot of division in the community. rallies and parades led to gunshots and arson, an evacuation of the white population from that town. cairo was not another illinois city. cairo was the south. it was said by paul simon himself that southern illinois is a land of grits and gospel

music. it's true. it is also the land where racial tensions had reached a fevered pitch by the late 1970's. the state's attorney for alexander county was a man named payton burbling. he could have come out of the cast of "to kill a mockingbird." he was part of the white hats, the thin imitation of the ku klux klan. he had his boys, quote-unquote, checking out the county every day to make sure a foreigner didn't lingerin his county -- didn't linger in his county. it was a terribly racially divided community. it led to violence and economic slump. 15 years later, i was in -- well, more than 15 years later, i was in a situation where a young state senator from chicago was coming down to cairo for the first time. i was bringing him down. as we traveled in the car the

380 miles, i told him the story of cairo and the economic problems and racial problems it had. as an african american, he said later, he didn't know what to expect when he got to cairo. our destination was the laborers' international union headquarters in cairo, illinois, and the president, ed smith. so, barack came to the scene, got out of the car, shocked to see a black and white crowd, men and women, members of the union, friends ever the union, african americans and white, sitting together, eating a sandwich, waiting for this canndidate fro chicago. barack he walked around to a hero ee welcome of those -- are hero who was welcoming him. not that many years later when barak was running for president, he pointed to that experience, he said i began to believe that the politics of hope could

overcome the politics of division. who invited us to that barbecue, who wanted to show us the success of his union. who wanted to show us the succession of dignity of work beyond quitting time? ed smith. he was devoted to the workers in that community and that state. it was his life. it was his father's life before him. they were legends in the labor movement, not just in illinois, but around the nation many but when i saw what ed had done in cairo and saw how much progress he made because of the power of his own values and the power of his own being, our friendship was submitted forever. he passed away last week. i would have to tell you that those in politics meet hundreds, if not thousands of people. it is rare to find someone who is consistently smiling, ed smith, consistently kind, ed smith, consistently fighting for working people, without exception, ed smith. time and again that defined his

time on earth, and like senator duckworth said, he really did keep the tally of what he had done for people, and it was a lot of work to do because he helped everyone in every direction. he became eventually not only successful in the illinois labor movement, but was recognized nationally. he came out here to washington to be the ceo of unico, which was the life insurance company for the lasher's -- laborer's union. ed noticed that many took the deposits from pensions and invested them in wall street projects. ed said we're going to invest in good ideas and projects that create good jobs for my workers. when it was all over he had $5 billion invested in his working fund invested so people could have a quality life. he was a wonderful man and i will miss him a lot because i

counted on him so much. he created a really idealistic vision of what you can do if you have a mission in life and live faithfully to it. he did that. and he also showed over and over again that he cared about everyone. no one was too small or insignificant. for him the labor movement was not just a movement, it was a way of life, and he proved it over and over. so betty, his wife, and his great family, thanks for share ed with us. he really made a difference in our lives, as senator duckworth and i have said today, and he made a difference in illinois and the lives of countless american families. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. i so would like to say about critical race theory. >> we will keep it there and we are talking about what happened yesterday and also nancy mays is south carolina yesterday. he could find her statement but

here is from yesterday. >> hey everyone, this is nancy bay and charleston, south carolina today. joe biden ran for president tonight our country and restore the souls of america. yet today he is literally using a church where tragedy took place in order to further divide our nation on race, gender and on politics and that's not what charleston is about. we unify in the face of challenges and we are not going to allow the president to come in here and divide us no matter what. joe biden is using the pulpit of the church to cover up but not talk about real campaign issues like the economy, like inflation, record high inflation the country hasn't seen and tickets. he wants to run away from the open border clause is created. we have an open border words costing american taxpayers for $50 billion a year annually for

his failures as a leader. he doesn't want to talk about foreign wars on the world stage for the evacuation and how much weaker we are on the world stage as a leader so today my message is, we are not going to take debate. it's time to go back home, joe biden. >> she's back from yesterday. next, shirley in pennsylvania, independent mine. >> biden needs to step out. i don't think they see what is free.

what's been done for the people worldwide. biden came out to the church to talk about race and time and time again about slavery. we have progress whether you realize it or not so we could talk more but we shall not provoke this into the lives of people. it put us backwards instead of putting us forward. back on history. >> rate in ohio, republican line. ray in cleveland, ohio.

>> how is everybody doing today? i just want to say, democrat, all they do is lie about everything and give all our money to other foreign countries when we have people here starving, homeless and everything it it's crazy. >> holland, you called because we are talking about the present speech from yesterday. let's hear from michael on our independent line. >> good morning. representative nancy pretty much clarified everything. i don't know where the world is lost but this translation we have a world leader wide open as the invasion happened, i don't

think they understand the damage has been done under this policy, it's time to change the new america. >> auto where these people are coming from, always speaking the truth. have you heard anything donald trump has said. and people calling them, they got a 4o1k. >> you said yesterday president

biden's speech you told the truth, give us an example. >> donald trump is divisive. why is it -- >> let's go back to the speech from yesterday. can you elaborate on things you got from the president as far as what he's talking about? >> the things compared to what donald trump has done -- administration versus the former president to macbeth things that he has to. >> andrew is next in maryland. >> i hear you trying to get back to the speech and my take away

is no one is paying attention to the speech try to get us to talk about it. what did you think? >> i think he's on the right messenger, not listening to him. as a challenger we haven't even heard of as a representative from minnesota, a democrat whose a challenger. maybe they need somebody saying it. >> it is hurting message is. >> alabama, public in my.

>> my background is in mental health and i looked at the tone and he looks serious. i am stunned people don't realize this. >> what did you think of a? >> clearly divisive, he doesn't really have a record. to brag about. in world war ii, he was a german and lutheran priest trying to figure out why people are buying

into hitler's propaganda and he said otherwise brilliant, smart people who can think for themselves suddenly came into groupthink and all of a sudden they kind of quit using their brain and repeat the mantras politicians try to use so i think that's what happened in america we are probably going to continue to be divisive and further split until the election is over. >> one more call in kansas city, democrat line. >> good morning. >> go ahead. >> i want to say i thought the president's speech was awesome. i think he's a great guy. he's been tempered. his age, i know the things he

said are true because i watch tv all day every day. >> what that he said was true and what do you define as awesome in your mind? >> i thought was excellent because of the things he woke on that really did happen as far as what they did in the white house when they stormed the white house like it didn't happen they are trying to convince our eyes are lying. i understand there are a lot of problems but he can only solve so many problems, the path he needs to build but as time goes on it would be better.

>> you are all looking at the presidency. c-span.org and you can follow along. quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the cloture motions with respect to the rodriguez and goffman nominations be withdrawn and the senate resume consideration of the hal chick nomination. further, cloture motions ripen at a time to be determined by the majority for the cruz and mehalchick nominations with

consultation of the majority leader and minority leaders on wednesday. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

welcome back, everyone. we're working very hard to come up with an agreement for the situation of the border is also important to remember world is literally up for it i decided to go over each. not only did we have 300,000 people across the border in december alone, with all got wars in the middle east and europe.

the who these. commerce and red sea. iranian proxies attacking our soldiers in iraq and syria. russia is stepping up in ukraine while we were on. china of course watching all of this and next year's election in title i. ...

we will have to pass the cr as well. i had no idea yet. it is up to the speaker and the majority to determine lengths of this bill. >> we all know now the border crisis, it is low point and by low point i mean the most ever people apprehended legally trying to come across the southern border. it was the worst month on record

in december had the worst day on record. the consecutive record years. it does not om tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. president. how we are. mrs. blackburn: thank you. i ask that we dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, karoline mehalchick of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the muddle district of -- for the middle district of pennsylvania. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. for several years we have known about financier jeffrey epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring that targeted young girls.

this is something that appears to have been quite a far-ranging international ring. what we know is that this was a large network of high-profile, high-dollar predators who abused untold numbers of minors. only one person has been prosecuted for these crimes, and that is julianne maxwell. what she did was to recruit and groom many of the victims and then bring them into the epstein orbit. but we know many more people were involved in this scheme in addition to julianne maxwell. what we do not know is the extent of that involvement. the recent release of documents by a federal judge exposing part

of epstein's potential client list is a step in the right direction to help bring some visibility and some accountability to these predators, and also to bring justice for the victims. mr. president, it is so important that as we look at this issue we keep in mind this is about justice for these victims. making certain that they are able to tell and share and see the fbi take action on the information they are giving them. these women deserve justice. now the court unsealed the names of more than 170 associates that were named in a lawsuit against maxwell by one of epstein's

alleged victims. the names are a mix. some of them are just reference. they are not accused of any wrongdoing. some of them are accused of wrongdoing. some of the names in this lawsuit have accused epstein and maxwell of wrongdoing. and some of these names are potentially people who were aware of wrongdoing but said nothing. the documents also revealed some details about epstein's alleged abuse, including that he and his associates would target underage girls in nightclubs. didn't pursue them, didn't recruit them, then groomed them, and as the pattern goes, bring them into the epstein orbit. the release of this information is just the first step to

uncovering the truth. the latest documents come from just one case with one victim, and it is 179. there are countless others that were targeted, trafficked and abused, and that's why i've repeatedly requested a subpoena for the complete unredacted epstein flight logs and gislaine maxwell's unredacted little black book of contacts and draetss along with records from the fbi regarding this case. we need to know who flew on epstein's plane and who potentially participated in his international sex trafficking ring. we need to know how far-reaching

this ring is. we need to have a better idea of those that also had sex trafficking rings that intercepted with jeffrey epstein's ring. now while judiciary chairman durbin, senator durbin previously had stonewalled my request, i'm encouraged that he has seemingly had a change of heart and expressed a willingness to work on a bipartisan basis to obtain records relevant to the epstein case. so i'm calling on chairman durbin to hold a vote this week, and i will be urging a vote on my subpoena whenever possible at our senate judiciary committee meetings so that the american people can get the whole full truth about jeffrey epstein, his sex trafficking ring, about every single person that

participated in these alleged crimes, and about all the horrific abuses suffered by his victims so that we can get justice for these women and children who were abused in this sex trafficking ring. one thing should be clear, and that is that i am not going to stop trying to get the complete and total transparency on this issue so that these innocent victims can receive the justice that they deserve. we know this issue goes beyond epstein and his associates. in america, according to the tennessee bureau of investigation, in this country right now a child is bought or sold for sex on average every two minutes. now think about this.

think about the children that are harmed by this. when you see these stats, once every two minutes a child is bought or sold for sex. now the department of homeland security estimates that human traffickers make, get this number, $150 billion a year in profits. human traffickers, sex traffickers are making $150 billion a year in profits. that's not my number. that's not a think tank number. that's the number that comes from the department of homeland security. so, mr. president, we have to say why is more not being done to break apart these human trafficking rings. why are we not doubling down on

this? in 2019 the estimate of the profits made by human traffickers was $500 million a year. that's 2019. and now we're at $150 billion a year in estimated profits. and all of this is being done to women and children. much of the trafficking does occur at our southern border, where the biden administration appears to have lost track of 85,000 migrant children that came across our border into the custody of dhs who hands them off to health and human services and the office of refugee

resettlement. now i know that in the last couple of years the office of refugee resettlement changed the vetting procedures for these individuals who were going to take these children and be the foster parents, be the surrogates. they were tasked with taking care of them. so they loosened their vetting procedure for these individuals, and now 85,000 migrant children cannot be found. they do not know where they are. they do not know if they are alive or dead. they do not know if they are in a labor gang. they do not know if they're in a gang or if they're selling drugs or if they have been put in a sex trafficking ring.

they cannot find them. why is it they cannot find these children? because when they call the individual who has been given the responsibility of caring for these children, they don't answer the call. 85,000 children that can't be found. and these are children who are vulnerable for being preyed on by criminals and hhs and oor cannot give us an answer as to where these children are, who has them, what kind of conditions they're living in, and how they are spending their days. i would imagine many of them are spending their days in absolute

and total fear. this is certainly irresponsible and it is sickening. now one of the things that we have learned, and i've heard so much in tennessee about this, is this issue of human trafficking and sex trafficking, it affects every single county and every single community. here are some of the stats from tennessee. and we went to the stats because we found it so interesting. mr. president, i visit with every single county in my state each year. that's 95 counties. and i started that 95-county tour hast week. and what we heard from our law enforcement officers, from health care personnel, from individuals that are in charge of classrooms in schools was the

uptick in the number of sex trafficking reports that are taking place. in tennessee, in 2016 there were 60 reports of sex trafficking of minors in our state. now that's in 2016. by the time we got to the end of 2021, that number had jumped to 600. and by the time we got to november of this last year, 2023, by november we had already hit 700 reports of trafficking minors. now, mr. president, this is one state. these are our stats.

and you go from 60 reports of trafficking minors in 2016 to in 2 2023, in 11 months you're at 700 reports. see, this is something that is out of control. out of control. and this is why we've got to get all of this information and be sure law enforcement is apprehending traffickers. this is modern day slavery. this is what is happening to women and children in this country. they're being recruited, they're being groomed, they're being brought into the orbit of a trafficker. we have to have information that

is going to break this apart. we have to know who all is involved. and you know, when it comes to jeffrey epstein, i have somebody today say why do you want this information? i will tell you why. first of all, i can't believe you don't want this information, and secondly, this is not about celebrity or who done its, this is about criminal activity. this is about modern day slavery, this is about breaking apart human trafficking and sex trafficking rings and making certain these predators and these pedophiles are put in jail where they belong. we have to put some light on this criminal activity, and we

have to take steps to end it. now, as we get this information and as we look at this issue, as i've talked to law enforcement, one of the things they regularly say is, look, we need more tools in the toolbox. so the save girls act is legislation that i have that i brought forward, and i thank senator klobuchar, who has worked with me on this. what this legislation would do is provide states, local governments, nonprofits with resources that they need to train personnel, to conduct rescues and to help save some of these women and girls. there's another piece of legislation senator duckworth and i have.

it's the salon stories act. this replicates a program, cher haven, that is taking place in tennessee. senator duckworth's state also has a program. it trains he's that tigss -- it trains barbers and bu tigss -- bu tigss on domestic abuse and violence and what to hook for in human trafficking and then how to get people to the right resources for a rescue, for an intervention, for the help that they need. and last month the report act, which senator ossoff and i did in a bipartisan way, this will give ncmec and law enforcement the resources they need to crack

down on child trafficking and on-line child sexual abuse material. we are pleased that these are pieces of legislation that are moving forward. we are hopeful to get the subpoena on the epstein flight logs and further information of his associates. and we are clinging to the promise -- clinging to the promise of justice for these victims by this chamber paying close attention to what is happening with human trafficking in our country. i yield the floor. mr. ricketts: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. rikt ricketts thank you -- mr. ricketts: thank you, mr. president. one of the fernl's primary -- federal government's primary responsibilities mentioned in pt

preamble of the constitution is to keep america safe. right now america is a dangerous place. russia has launched an unprovoked war on ukraine. hamas, a terrorist organization backed by iran has attacked one of our strongest allies, israel. there have been 127 attacks on american servicemembers in iraq and syria. houthi rebels are attacking shipping and our u.s. navy in the red sea. the chinese communist party has its eye set on taiwan and are violating our sovereignty, with things like spy balloons and other forms of espionage. the responsibility for keeping america safe ultimately lies with the president of the united states, but he has a team of critical advisors that are essential to ensuring that americans are defended.

one of those advisors is secretary of with defense lloyd austin. the secretary links the chain of command between the president and the uniformled military. the -- uniformed military. the law is clear, if the secretary of defense cannot do their job, there are protocols in place to ensure the chain of command remains in tact. the law also requires that prior notifications be made. last week secretary austin went to intensive care at a hospital after complications from surgery. we wish him well in his recovery. yet, for three days the defense department failed to night the president -- to notify the president, the national security counsel -- national council and even secretary hicks that

secretary austin was in the hospital and unable to perform his duties. the secretary of defense is in the hospital is the deputy secretary is on vacation in puerto rico and nobody thinks to tell the president? are you kidding me? the chief of staff unable to do two notifications because she was sick does not hold water. americas's national security cannot be put on hold for a sick day. during ought tin's secret -- during austin's secret hospitalization, the u.s. military had a drone strike on baghdad and considered or military action in the middle east. given the potential implications of these actions, it goes without saying that we needed our secretary of defense at the lathem -- at the helm. i'm glad that the secretary's

improving and all of us wish him a speedy recovery from the infection and his fight from prostate cancer. the fact that the department did not inform congress or the president in contradiction to the law is unacceptable and put americans at risk. the shocking lack of transparency was more than just bad judgment, it was utter incompetence. but this is quick hi becoming -- quickly becoming a feature of the biden administration and how they run government. this administration failed to give the american people the facts about the chinese spy balloon. this administration failed to give the american people the facts about the catastrophic withdrawal from afghanistan. and biden's border policies have created a catastrophe at our southern border. now, we have a secretary of defense that went off the grid

for three days without the president or his team even knowing. all this at a time when our adversaries are threatening american lives both at home and abroad. americans need to be able to trust that their leaders are in charge. right now, we have more questions than we have answers. why was the law not followed? and who made that decision? was there actually a period of time when nobody was in charge of the defense department? there must be consequences for this stunning incompetence. americans deserve answers. congress deserves answers. mr. president, i yield back.

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ms. stabenow: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i assume we have a quorum call? the presiding officer: no ms. stabenow: we do not have a quorum call. all right. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan ms. stabenow: mr. president, as everyone knows, i am a proud graduate of michigan state university. if i accidentally cut my finger, i'm going to bleed green and white. but just for this week, i am setting aside my spartan

loyalties because how about those national champions, the university of michigan wolfer reens -- wolverines. go blue. we are so proud of this team. they are among the guest in -- the best in the school's history winning the big ten championship, the rose bowl, and the national championship last night. what a game. in fact, they won every game they played during their undefeated 15-0 season with a suffocating defense and a relentless, relentless ground game. they're the first team in school history to reach 15 wins in one season. and the first college football program in the nation to win 1,000 games.

1,000 games. like any team, they had their challenges, especially coming back from the 2020 covid season, but through it all, they remained focused and importantly supportive of one another. and that focus and support paid off in a big way last flight in houston. -- last night in houston. michigan nominated -- dominated the game under the quarterback j.j. m{l1}c{l0}carthy. amazing. blake quorum and donovan and defense back will johnson. and we can't forget that incredible late interception by mike sanderstill that sealed the deal. the final score? a decisive 34-13 victory against the university of washington team that was itself undefeated. i am definitely looking forward to collecting some wonderful

washington products thanks to the friendly wager i made with my dear friend and colleague, senator maria cantwell. we came into the senate together in 2000. usually on the same side fighting issues. last night on the opposite sides of the field. i am so very proud of this team, mr. president. congratulations to the national champion wolverines and go blue. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

in addition to shutting down. iranian proxies attacking us, our soldiers in iraq and in syria. stepping up, missile attacks in ukraine while we were gone. and china of course watching all of this. learning about next year's election in taiwan. make no mistake about it, this is the most serious international situation that we have faced. we need to pass supplemental,

and needs to be a strong order provision and i'm confident he is the best one to deal with this and he has been in addition to communicate with all of us efficiently involved for quite some time. our hope is there will be an outcome. basically we will have to pass acr as well. i have no idea the links of the cr. >> we all know now that in the month of december the biden border crisis, it is absolute all loan -- low point and it is the most ever people apprehended a legally trying to come across

the border. it was the worst month on record and in december had the worst day on record and now it has been three consecutive record years in terms of number of people apprehended. that does not count the hundreds of thousands of god always that are also part of that illegal surge, illegal immigration of our southern border. as you know, we have had a lot of discussions around this for a long time. senators langford, cotton put forward a set of policy proposals to deal with the southern border. and honestly was not until just recently that democrats realized that we were serious and willing to sit down and talk about it. i don't think the american people have any confidence that they can solve this. having the lead -- he has chosen opting not to do it.

it is 300,000 in the month of december. pretty much equivalent to the 2017 entire year. 300,000 in the entire year and 2017. we all know that that represents not just people coming here for a better life, but people that figured out getting to the united states and including record numbers for people on the terrorist watch list. obviously a lot of cartels trying to use our southern border as a way to get drugs and human trafficking and weapons into this country it has to be dealt with. it has to be dealt with now. it is under consideration. my hope would be that the

democrats will come to a conclusion that the only way you solve this is with serious meaningful policy changes that reduce the flow and regain operational control of the southern border. absent that there will not be a package that passes this year. doing a great job and our members stand united behind him in getting strong, meaningful, serious policy reforms that will get the southern border under control. >> there is only one word to describe what the democrats have done at the southern border. that is surrendered. they have surrendered to the cartels. do the drug dealers. to the terror suspects. this was from three weeks ago. the spec it is still wide open.

you need to turn on the evening news and you will see people continuing to flood across the border. families, communities not safe, not secured because of this surrender. it is a surrender to illegal immigrants coming from 150 different countries. 300,000 in the last month alone. record shattering numbers. weekly and monthly records. coming here illegally. free entry, three lane flights, free hotel rooms. these illegal immigrants coming in bringing the fentanyl that is killing hundreds of americans every single day. democrats won't lift a finger to help.

they send them back the way to do that is they have to stop the incentives which act like a magnet bringing people here. allowing the border patrol to do their job which is to secure the border and to keep the homeland safe. >> i just returned from a delegation trip overseas. the delegation and i traveled to egypt, to israel, to cut or and lorraine. my mission with this delegation was clear. bringing american hostages home. currently we have six americans being held in gaza by hamas. we must remember that they

killed over 30 american citizens during their october 7 terror attack in israel. so, our message was very clear to these leaders. they must work with the united states and israel to bring these hostages home. we were able to visit where i had visited in 2014. it was a stark contrast from the first time i visited. a community filled with activists. now a barren wasteland with burned-out homes and the remanence of shards of glass, doors blown in by grenades and by rpg. those americans were taken. they must come home. every second matters.

>> i would like to wish everybody a happy new year and hope 2024 is good for all of us and your families. the dispiriting thing about 2024 as we are back here for the first week and senator schumer has chosen to make 2020 for the first week the same way we ended 2023. doing nothing of substance we have so many waiting topics in front of us. certainly, 302,000 out the border, the highest month ever. something we could be dealing with right now today if we could get cooperation. james lankford is working hard and individually reaching out. i salute him and hope he is successful. we are hoping for that. we have fentanyl streaming into this country. i thought to myself, why did we have the highest month in december, because the cartels are paying attention.

they know we as republicans are taking a hard line on changing our immigration policies and that is causing them to flood in before the gates closed. i would also say the other thing in this new year that senator schumer could be dealing with as a member of the appropriations committee are our spending bills we are running out of time. senator collins reminded us this at once. july 27, the appropriations committee passed every single bill out of committee. the leader had time from that point of time to consider any of those without the first ones in june. november 1 was a day in which we passed the only three bills that we have passed and we had another two months then to be considered. he has not doing his job. he is not running the government on the spending front, really, on any front. particularly to make sure that we get back to regular order, that we control our spending.

we try to rein it in for what we have been advocating for. focusing on these things. there is not enough people here. we should be focusing on the things immigration and the supplemental and our spending bills. >> in october, i took a trip to the southern border. i was told by border patrol agents there were three men that were apprehended the night before. i asked to see them. then i asked a question of how did they get here. most likely, they flew from the middle east, somewhere in south america and came up through central america to mexico to our southern border.

in december, i visited with leaders from the country of columbia. they told me about a daily turkish airlines flight from istanbul to bogotá on. go on kayak yourself, do a quick search. you can get a flight. they have been tracking these flights and found that some of the passengers that arrived in bogotá are on the terror watch list. this is one way they are coming into our country. where many of those passengers headed? they are headed to our southern border, they are headed into our country. i met with the vice minister of t,defense of columbia. i stand here today to demand accountability on behalf of the american people for the worst border crisis we've ever seen. for the past three years americans have witnessed the negligence and gross

mismanagement of our southern border unfold each day worse than the day before. the consequences of this crisis has been fatal, killing 300 americans a day, 300,000 americans over the last three years due to drug trafficked into our homeland. it's been costly, putting an undue burden on american taxpayers to the tune of $500 billion per year. and it becomes more dangerous by the day as terrorists, chinese nationalists and over 1.7 million got-aways exploit our border at a rate higher than we've seen before. the biden administration has for all prabt cal purposes -- practical purposes erased our southern border and embraced a structure of complete lawlessness letting our national security hang in the balance. enough is enough. americans deserve better. i think everyone understands that when you're running a business, you look at the

numbers, you look at the goals. and when those aren't being met, you find the problem and you address it, which brings why my colleagues and i are here today. i rise today in support of a resolution expressing the sense of the senate that the department of homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas no longer holds the confidence of the senate and, more importantly, the confidence of the american people to carry out the duties of his office faithfully. secretary mayorkas is derelict in his duties and has failed to uphold his oath. over the past three years secretary mayorkas has refused to enforce immigration laws passed by congress, fueling the invasion at our border. he entered border policies like catch and release, remain in mexico and loopholes that allowed over 6 million migrants to live in the interior of our country without being vetted and with a court date nearly a

decade away. with over ten million illegal migrants entering our country under this administration's watch, not to mention the 1.7 million known got-aways, the crisis at our border is dire. yet mayorkas continues to lie to the american people, and even under toting congress -- under oath to congress when he says he has operational control of our borders. defining the act of 2006, operation control clearly means the prevention of all unlawful entries into the united states, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics and other contraband. that's the defense, the secure fence act of 2006. to claim that he has any control, better yet operational control as required by law, is not only disingenuous and insulting to the american people who are concerned for their safety and security, it's also

illegal. and that's why congress must step in and do the job that joe biden will not. secretary mayorkas has no control over the border. how can you when you have, again, fentanyl poisoning killing 300,000 americans under his watch? we've had 33 months with more than 150,000 illegal border crossings and 19 months with more than 200,000 illegal border crossings including a one-month record of over 300,000 this past december, a month that historically sees a decreased number of crossers. and according to his own dhs, they've admitted they have no way to determine if these individuals have a criminal history. and sadly, the stories that aren't being told enough is that right now secretary mayorkas has misplaced approximately 100,000 migrant children here in our country. i'm honored, i'm proud that so many of my colleagues would join me here today as we outline the many reasons why there's no time

to waste when it comes to firing secretary mayorkas. next i'd like to recognize the great, the senator from the great state of missouri. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. hawley: that you want. -- mr. schmitt: secretary mayorkas has failed to secure the border. every state is a border state. there is a humanitarian crisis at the border. there is a fentanyl crisis at the border. there's a national security crisis at the border all because secretary mayorkas has refused to enforce the law, refused to build a border wall. i'm joining my colleagues on the floor today to express the sense, the very sincere sense of the senate that secretary of homeland security mayorkas does not have the confidence of the senate and, more importantly, does not have the confidence of the american people to faithfully carry out his duties.

i'm sure we've all heard the statistics, but i'll reiterate a few toil straight how horrible the situation is right now at our southern border. since joe biden took office, there's been over 7.5 million encounters nationwide and 6.2 million encounters at the southern border in addition to 1.7 million got-aways. to put that in perspective, it's hard to put those numbers in superbing alternative -- i'm a st. louis baseball cardinal fan -- that's 160 bush stadiums. for the folks who watched the nationals championship game last night with a capacity of over 70,000, that's 116 of those stadiums. in f.y. 23, 169 individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watch list were stopped trying to cross the u.s.-mexico border before points of entry. in f.y. 23, cpb arrested over 35,000 aliens with criminal convicted and warrants including

598 known gang members, 178 of those being ms-13 members. in f.y. 23, including the air and marine operations to cease over 27,000 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border, enough to kill more than 6 billion, billion people. what gets lost in the numbers, however, is that mayorkas hasn't just presided over the worst crisis at our southern border in our history, he is directly responsible for it. he has refused to enforce real immigration law, the ones we have right now, not proposed language, he rescinded the migrant protocols, remain in mexico, which would require immigrants to await their asylum claims in mexico. this worked when i was attorney general, my previous job, we took the biden administration to court over this and we won, it was a temporary injunction,le it

was upheld at the fifth circuit court of appeals and the united states supreme court. because of the lawlessness-this administration, we to this go back to the district court to force them to abide by the law they were ordered to abide by. two, secretary mayorkas has similarly refused to build the border wall. again, i sued the biden administration and mayorkasor force them to build the wall as the money had already been appropriated for that purpose, and while that case was still pending, at the district court level, secretary mayorkas and the biden administration refused to do it and at the same time were selling the very materials to build that wall that were already bought. this should tell you all you need to know about how seriously they take the crisis and their willingness to follow the law. secretary mayorkas and joe biden have legally paroled thousands

of legal immigrants into the interior of the. they are to be admitted on a case by case basis, but secretary mayorkas and this president has mass paroled,000s -- 000s and thousands -- thousands of immigrants. that is illegal but they don't care. they would rather break the law to enforce it. while secretary mayorkas is refusing to enforce the law, he is lying to the congress in the process, and thumbing his nose to dare there is a crisis at the border. in april 2022, secretary mayorkas testified that the country had operational control of the border. that's a lie. in november of 2022, house homeland security hearing, secretary mayorkas testified

that the border is secure. that is a law. secretary mayorkas he's record has been shameful in his refusal to build a law, to enforce the law of the land, he has alone in his duty where he had the responsibility to do so has created a crisis at the southern border. and proved he is not fit for the job he currently has. he has been derelict in his duty to secure our southern border and protect our citizens, the people we represent, the people of this country and has completely lost the faith of the united states senate and the american people. mr. president, i yield back. mr. scott: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: mr. president, i'm sick and tired of joe biden and his administration pointing fingers at everyone but themselves for the crisis they created, and so are the american people. i visited the border five times and seen it for myself. the crisis at the border is a direct cause of biden's dangerous and intentional

policies. i heard it from the border patrol agents, they are overwhelmed and biden has abandoned them. it's sickening, president biden and secretary mayorkas swore an oath to protect our homeland, that means securing our border. did they do any of that? absolutely not. that's a fact that anyone that says it's not true is lying to you. people we don't know, including a shocking number of military-aged men from all over the world are legally crossing the border, countless amounts of drugs are crossing into our country and the administration says the border is secure. it's pathetic. think about that possible terrorists, murders, deadly drugs are coming to our country every single day. while the president of the united states and secretary of homeland security tell us the border is secured. have they lost their minds? do they think the american people are dumb and could don't see it on their local news each and every day?

i'm from an immigration state. florida is a beautiful melting pot with people from cultures all over the world. we love legal immigration. what we don't want is an insecure and unsecure border that allows criminals, drugs and dangerous individuals to come into our country unchecked. more than eight million migrants have been encountered nationwide under joe biden's watch. joe biden let's them in and then we have no idea where they are. secretary mayorkas is a pawn in joe biden's legal immigration agenda, but he is just as guilty because he has not done his job and he's doing at the express direction of president biden. millions of people crossing our border unvetted and with no information provided to state and local officials about who is entering their cities and states. they don't tell governance, law enforcement, or anyone where they are sending the migrants.

when you see texas he governor greg abbott doing what it takes to stop legal immigration in his state, the biden administration stops them from enforcing the law. you can't make this stuff stuff up. he has -- he's replaced the largest legal alien settlement -- resettlement program in the history of our country. it is purposeful, it is intentional. this is what the biden administration and democrats want. we are dealing with a lawless -- a lawless administration that is empowered by the members of the -- of the house and senate. fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 americans a year, until our border is secure, this battle will not stop, it will continue. that's 70,000 -- 70,000 families torn apart because our border is not secure. why would anybody do this? our priority must be to protect the mern families. we all -- american families. we all had an enough, it is time

for president biden to secure the border and it is time for secretary mayorkas to be im impeeped -- impeached. i don't have any confidence in secretary mayorkas to carry out his office in homeland security and protect our borders, that's why i join this resolution with many of my fellow colleagues and i thank the senator from kansas for starting this. we cannot allow the lawless administration to continue to do this without consequences. the american people deserve better. i yield the floor. lee lee mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, my remarks are not directed at mr. mayorkas's character. i don't know him other than in the context of home larnd security secretary. i do not comment his his life,

as a brother, son, husband, neighbor or anything else. but in in context we have to evaluate the job he is doing and he does not have the confidence of the united states senate or those we represent to continue to defend our border integrity and protect our country. the very job he's called to do. we have three branchs within our federal government many one that makes the laws. one that enforces the law or supposed to, and the third that is to interpret them. his role is narrowly focused on a narrow category of laws, including and especially those designed to protect our border security. he's simply refused to enforce the laws that he's charged with administering, under his watch we've had eight million people come into thb country legally -- into this country legally. over eight million are the ones that we know have come legally. we've been breaking all kinds of

records of the exact wrong records to break. we broke a record last month where there were 302,000 encounters. that's the highest number we have ever seen in recorded history. under the watch of secretary mayorkas, this admini administrahas incentivized parents across the globe to send their young children on a dangerous journey into the united states where they end up in the hands of traffickers, where many of them end up as indentured servants and many of them subjected to the sex trade. a substantial portion of them, a majority of them, according to some estimates are subjected to sexual abuse, rape, and other atrocities. more than 40,000 unaccompanied children have come into the united states legally under his watch. now, in the meantime, he has tried to paper over those to make lawful entries out of those

who have entered unlawfully, he has 13 separate legal parole programs to design -- trying to make legal immigration look legal when it is not. using this parole authority that is there for a specific purpose, it is there to serve a humanitarian or public need purpose and it has always been understood to be used on a case by case basis, not categorical. if you are aware of a humanitarian purpose, somebody's grandmother died and they need to attend a funeral in the united states, they may come in for a short period of time and leave. if they need certain medical treatment he'll only available here, they -- treatment only available here, they can come in for a short period of time and leave. somebody speaks an obscure language and we need an interpreter that can't be found in this country, they are brought in in a short period of

time and then they leave, always on a temporary basis. he has run afoul of those by running 13 of these legal parole programs. with these kinds of numbers, how can he claim to have the border under operational control. he can't. somehow he says he does so and to do so he has a made up definition of operational control. a definition without any connection to statutory or operational requirements. on his watch as cbp, they have decreased their vetting procedures, those designed to deal with people coming from china, including military aged chinese males who are crossing our southern border in unprecedented numbers. we have seen a dramatic increase in the known terrorists who have entered through the southern border. 279 have been caught at our southern border since biden took office. by election day of 2024, we will

have seen 10 million legal immigrants that will have crossed officer our southern border -- crossed over our southern border. on his watch the amount of deadly fentanyl coming into the country has increased dramatically. a report out in october of 2023, just a couple of months ago, indicates that there were six billion, with a b, lethal doses of fentanyl that entered our borders across our soern boundary -- southern boundary, that means you could kill three-fourths of the entire population of the world, you could kill americans 54 times with that. this is a weaponized tool that could kill americans and is killing americans in droves. this is not free. this is not a victimless crime. there are victims littered all over the western hemisphere, all over the world, but especially here in america, mr. president.

under his watch, the administration willfully ended the carefully negotiated and very effective remain in mexico program put in place by the previous administration which required those seeking asylum, crossing on land through our southern border to wait in mexico, to await final disposition of their asylum claims during the adjudication of those claims here in the united states. they just ended it. then they litigated it. then they were told by a court to reinstitute it, and then they've been drawing that out in a rope-a-dope fashion. on this administration's watch they have decreased its ability to detain those required by statute to be de-tabakaed tan -- detained. a recent cbs poll found that 75% of americans -- so the situation across the southern border is a crisis or at least very serious. the house judiciary committee report stated that between

january 20, 2021 and march 31 of last year, the biden administration removed from the united states 5,993 legal aliens placed in legal proceedings. in other words, let's think about what this means. of the at least 2.1 million ail ernst released -- aliens released into the united states since january 20, 2021, the biden administration has refused to remove through court proceedings the 9 -- 99% of those legal aliens. mr. president, it's a new day. it's 2024, and secretary mayorkas, just as he has all along, has the legal authority to enforce the border, but he still refuses to do so. the crisis at our southern border, mr. president, make no mistake, is not the consequence of inadequate statutory text, it

is not for want of legislative authority. he has that authority just as a previous president did but unlike the previous administration,sthis administration -- this administration refuses willfully to enforce it. i find it ironic that the united states government negotiates with secretary mayorkas on border security are issues, even though he has created this crisis and even though he is facing as a result of that impeachment proceedings in the house of representatives. we found him not to be capable of negotiating in good faith. why? because he refuses to enforce existing law if he did enforce it would bring this crisis to an end. americans are demanding accountability. we must fire secretary mayorkas. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president the presiding officer: the

senator from indiana. mr. braun: the laws on who can enter the country are some of the most important. those laws from the time president biden got elected have been completely ignored and his point person, secretary mayorkas has been the leading individual saying one thing, doing another. you've heard the statistics. eight million illegal immigrants, got-aways. not even a term a few years ago. up to around 60,000 per month. and in that crowd these are not people that are wanting to greet someone at the border. they pay the big fees to the cartels. they want to come into the country and they're doing so with some type of record that they don't want to be discussing it once they get here. who knows where that ends up.

i was down there in 2021, i think april, and it was not currently where most of the traffic is coming from, eagle pass. it was down a little bit east of there. and those numbers, 50,000, 60,000 per month are now dwarfed by 200,000 to 300,000 monthly plus the got-aways again that come in here not wanting to greet the border patrol. it is not secure. back then border patrol said their job is basically triage. they are so overwhelmed. we should today pass this no confidence measure because there's been plenty of time to adjust your policies. and when you only do it because you're paying the political consequences that will be meeted

out -- meted out here next november, i don't think that counts. that means you're doing it thinking you can maneuver beyond it politically when you've caused all that grief in the meantime. the leader of the band is president biden. he's the conductor. mayorkas has just been in the orchestra, but it's clearly been orchestrated where we're at. when you put up the welcome sign, come into our country with no consequences, sooner or later it adds up there will be consequences. even our northern border has got more illegal crossings than we've ever had before. down there a couple of years ago, 50 different nationalities were crossing. now it's up to over 150.

170 on the terror watch list have been confronted. how many others were not? this is a dire national security threat. those who are ignoring the problem for political reasons should bear that in mind. and most importantly, the american public should bear that in mind when they go to the ballot box next november. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank senator marshall for the work he has done on this resolution and i come to the floor today to support this resolution for a very simple reason. when you look at the job performance of secretary mayorkas, you have to say he indeed has failed. he is a secretary of homeland

security who clearly does not believe in securing the homeland because the border policy for the biden administration which he is implementing is for an open border. you can see it for yourself. you can look at the news reports. people are streaming across that open border between the ports of entry. they are coming into this country illegally. and this administration, this secretary of homeland security, they keep trying to be creative and find ways to make illegal legal. that is wrong. so the secretary has failed in his duty to secure that border.

and as he has failed in those duties, he has also failed our border patrol agents. when you go to the border, as many of us have, what you hear from border patrol agents, what you see on the ground is border patrol agents who are struggling to combat what is a crisis at our southern border. and it's all because of this administration's policies. in addition, secretary mayorkas has failed the communities across this country because they are suffering with record fentanyl overdoses, with drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and it is our local law enforcement that is having to address these issues. the secretary has failed them

because he failed in his job and he has failed the american people who trusted him to go in and secure the homeland. but, no, that is not what has happened. so house republicans are going to proceed with their impeachment against the secretary and hopefully that is going to be the first step toward ending this record of failure which is really costing the american people greatly. you've heard much about the numbers today. yes, indeed, you have eight and a half million illegal entrants into this country. now, 1.7 million of those are what we call known got-aways. that means they can see them on surveillance. they can't get to them. there is a category of unphone

gotaway -- unknown cot aways that they -- got aways that they found after the fact. we do not know who is entering this country. but what we do know is this population of illegal entry into this country is more than the population of 38 of our states. there are hundreds of individuals on the terror watch list who have been caught at our southern border. they walked in illegally and tried to claim asylum. so far this fiscal year, which began on october 1, we have had 30, 30 terrorists come to our border. why is it that they are doing this, mr. president? they're doing it because they think they can get away with it.

they think we're not going to do anything to them, that we're going to let them sashay right into this country and welcome them, give them a plane ticket to where they want to go, give them a cell phone, give them food, give them housing. that is what they're expecting because of this failed border policy. now, sometimes you hear some of my colleagues across the aisle say well, the border has been broken for years. it hasn't been this bad. you didn't have 302,000 people in a month. you didn't even have that in a year. you also didn't have terrorists by the hundreds. if you go back and look at how many terrorists tried to come up to our border between 2017 and

2020, there were 11. so far this fiscal year, we've had 30. we just heard my colleague give you the stat of 279 since joe biden raised his hand and took the oath of office. this is the reason that our fbi director christopher wray says everywhere he looks, not just some places but everywhere he lo looks. is he seeing peace and calm? no. he says he sees red lights flashing. think about that. red lights flashing. dozens of terrorists, hundreds of people from countries of interest. thousands of gang members and

criminals are walking into this country. they're not coming here for a job. they're coming here because crime is what they know. this is the reason that secretary mayorkas has failed at his job. we talked a little bit about fentanyl and since joe biden took office, we have had 50,000 pounds of fentanyl that has come into this country being seized at that border between the ports of entry. 50,000 pounds. and fentanyl death is now the leading cause of death for americans between the ages of 18 and 45. you know, mr. president, we could do something about this if

there was the political will in congress to do something about it. when you look at the fact that our federal agents tell us they think they're only catching 5% to 10% of the drugs that are coming into this country and we lost over 100,000 americans last year to drug overdoses, about 70% of that was fentanyl. some of it was opioids. we need to do something about this. securing that border would go a long way. supporting our border patrol instead of blaming them, that would go a long way. i thank the gentleman from kansas for bringing forward this resolution. it is time that alejandro

mayorkas be removed from his position as secretary of homeland security. a senator: mr. president the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: mr. president, i would like to thank my colleagues for joining me tonight to help me prosecute this case against secretary mayorkas. as we introduced this historic measure, i want to close with this. you have nothing, you have nothing if you don't have your word. as a physician i took an oath to above all else do no harm. in the military i took an oath to support and defend our constitution. in the senate i -- military oath to uphold the constitution of the united states. each one of these oaths i honored with my -- with the integrity and exercise to the best of my ability. on february 2, 2021, secretary

mayorkas swore an oath to -- and i quote -- well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which i'm about to enter and to protect our country from enemies, domestic and foreign. with that oath he promised the american people that he would defend our homeland and uphold our constitutions. tonight my colleagues and i have outlined numerous ways secretary mayorkas is derelict in his duty as secretary and failed to uphold this oath. mr. president, we're here today because we take our oath seriously and will not stand by idly while secretary mayorkas threatens our national security and our democracy. for the sake of america's safety and security, we need to impeach secretary mayorkas now and send a clear message to joe biden in 300 days we'll fire him, too. mr. president, as if in

legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the homeland security and governmental affairs committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to senate resolution 169. i further ask that the rouges be agreed to -- resolution be agreed to, the marshall amendment to the preamble which is at the desk be agreed to, the preamble as amended be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. carper: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: i want to thank my colleague joining me on the floor this evening for his service to our country. like him, i was just a pup, i was 17 years old when i raised my right hand and took an oath to defend our country and constitution as a midshipman in the navy. lots of midshipmen at the height of the vietnam war. i repeated that oath a dozen or

more times, active duty, reserve duty, through the heart of the cold war, right up to today and took the same oath here not too many years ago. it's an oath i take seriously, and i know my colleagues do as well. i have had the opportunity to travel to the borders of our country, south of us and any number of countries south of mexico, all the way to colombia. and i have a pretty good idea why people, especially from that part of the world, have come here or sought to come to this country in enormous numbers. among the reasons they come here is because we are addicted to drugs, drugs are in many cases trafficked through the countries to the south of us, and people end up living lives of misery because of our addiction to drugs.

illegal drugs. the folks who live down there, they just want to live in a place where they can have their children enjoy an education, have access to health care, freedom from crime and corruption. that's what they're interested in, and because of our addiction to drugs we help make the situation worse for them. on top of that, the poverty that is faced in a bunch of places in central america especially is made worse because of drought, drought which has caused in mo -- as our presiding officer knows, because of the reliance in this country of greenhouse gasses, creating greenhouse gasses that have put so many other places, including countries south of us, in harm's way. but the challenges on our border

are the result of any number of things -- global pandemic, increased violence, corruption, cor corruption, authoritarian government rule, and on and on. these are issues that we have sought to help address for as long as i can remember, under numerous secretaries of homeland security and administrations of both parties. i've had the privilege of serving on the committee on homeland security for the 22 years i've been in the senate. had the privilege of leading the committee as chairman of the committee for a number of years. and have led congressional delegations, bipartisan congressional delegations, to the areas south of us. this illegal immigration we're

seeing in the south of our country is unacceptable, and it's unsustainable, and anyone who says it's otherwise is i think mistaken. the question is what do we do about it. i've known ali my yorkas for -- mayorkas for more than a dozen years. he's a decent family man, with a wife and children, and he deserves our thanks not the back of our hand. none of us are perfect. god knows i'm not. certainly, he has made mistakes. if you talk to the people involved in the bipartisan negotiations trying to find a solution with respect to board as part of the supplemental appropriation legislation, if you talk to the people involved, democrats and republicans involved, ask them about how helpful or harmful is the involvement on ali mayorkas.

he's very much involved in the negotiations i have heard off the record, from colleagues, democrat and republicans, he played a constructive and helpful role and they hope he continues to do that. if i had a magic wand, mr. president, with one fell swoop, i'd do one thing to help address the illegal immigration -- i would enact immigration for comprehensive immigration reform. next monday i'll be one of the speakers at the annual state of delaware chamber of commerce dinner, something i've done for, gosh, dozens of years now. when i make customer calls to businesses large and small around our country, i ask three questions -- how are you doing? how are we doing, our congressional delegation? what can we do to help? you know what most people say, most businesses? my real challenge is just getting people to come to work. that's what i hear from all

kinds of businesses, large and small. we just need people to come to work, people with a work ethic, that are trainable and we can count on them to show up every day. a lot of people would like to come to this country and work. they don't necessarily want to stay here and live here or become citizens, but have the opportunity to provide a better life for the folks and make a contribution in this countries. rather than simply laying all this problems at the border at the foot of one person -- is the person responsible for it? sure. so are we. one of the things we can do is adopt comprehensive immigration reform, which the business community in my state asked us to do years, and across the country they've asked for that for years. that is one thing that would make a difference. if the department of -- the department of homeland security has a bunch of missions, some more critical than others. one of those is to protect our

nation from harm, whether the threat is a natural disaster or act of terror. this is a difficult mission under any circumstances and one that requires strong, principled leadership, and i think we get that from ali mayorkas. moreover, our border has seen comprehensive change with those seeking asylum. people trying to get into the country look a lot different from the first delegation i led down there as a junior senator in this body. ity changed a lot. from -- it has changed a lot. we need to change the ways we're trying to stem it. i'll close, as i think those of us -- most of us, including my colleague who is offering this unanimous consent request, we're people of faith. we might be democrats and republicans, but we're also people of faith, for the most part. might be protestant, catholic,

jew, muslim, hindu, whatever, but we're people of faith. i was raised in beckley, west virginia, little coal mining town, my mom took us to church every sunday morning, every sunday night, every wednesday night, most thursday nights, and she was interested in two things. one, making sure we understood the golden rule, treat other people the way we want to be treated. two, that we had actually read matthew 25, actuallily internal ipsed it, our -- internalized it, remember in the scripture, when i was hungry, did you feed me? when thirsty, did you give me drink? when i was naked, did you clothe me? it also says when i was a stranger in your land, did you welcome me? think about that. when i was a strangerin your land, did you -- a stranger in your land, did you welcome me? we don't have a moral obligation to let millions of people come into our country without

permission and to stay here. that's not part of matthew 25. there is a moral obligation to look out for the least of these. i hope we keep that in the back of our minds going forward. last thing, i've said this many times my colleagues are sick of hearing it, but the bipartisan solutions are lasting solutions. i'm a democrat raised by two republican parents. i've always believed the way to get things done is to work together across the aisle. i'm encouraged by the negotiations under way that involve several colleagues on democrat and republican side addressing what's going on at the border. i think, and i've talked to both democrats and republicans who have been part of those conversations and i'm encouraged progress is being made. i think rather than pointing fingers, but to build on that progress and hasten the day that we can actually begin in a serious way, comprehensive way, where it's all of this major challenge to our country.

with that, i object. mr. marshall: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: mr. president, i greatly appreciate -- the presiding officer: objection is heard. senator from kansas. mr. marshall: mr. president, i certainly greatly appreciate the senator from delaware's remarks. i agree with him on so many things he talked about. i agree that we are a land of opportunity, that we should help those in need. i've led humanitarian and medical mission trips around the world. the united states spends $80 billion a year through the usaid programs, food for peace, polio vaccinations. we promote economic trade. i'm afraid my friends across the aisle see this as an immigration issue. if we opened up the gates, 158

million people worldwide would like to come into the country right now, to come into our country. 158 million people, according to a 2018 gallup poll. 158 million people from around the world would flood our gates rights now, if given the opportunity. i've always supported legal immigration, legal immigration, but i see this today totally as a national security issue. that's what i'm afraid of. that's what i'm concerned about, when the fbi director says all the lights are blinking, when we see 100,000 people, americans, young americans mostly, dying from fentanyl poisoning every year, when we have 1.7 million gotaways, we don't know who they are or where they are, hundreds of known trovess -- terrorists,

aliens of interests, tens of thousands of aliens of interest. this is a national security interest to us. secretary mayorkas took an oath to enforce the laws of the land, to make sure we had a secure bo border, and we don't have that right now, mr. president. and that's why we need to fire secretary mayorkas today and we need to let the white house know we're going to have a new person in there as well. thank you, mr. president. i yield b

test.

thanks for giving us your time. a lot of people paying attention to it today but with that? >> we are respecting the hearing between donald trump's lawyers and federal prosecutors over whether he should be immune from the federal charges alleging election conspiracy over for basically what led to the january 6 rights of the capitol and trump is expected to deter himself so promises to be a dramatic morning where court will be hearing a case where there hasn't been a decision on this issue yet. >> were the people that will be involved and what's illegal question? >> well, trump's lawyers argue a president and even a former president can never be charged criminally because if you allow the other branches of government to interfere with the president

that would basically usurp his power and discourage him from acting. now course justice department special counsel jack smith the lead prosecutor in a couple of cases and federal cases against him argues if a president for former president couldn't be charge with a crime that potentially a president could commit murder and commit treason except bribes with no consequences whatsoever so it's a pretty high-stakes case dealing with an issue that the court have been designed specifically at this point. spam apart a brief from the presence lawyer. the president has immunity for asked clue simply vested in the presence powers and can never be examined normal eye the court to include his power under the clothes so also a criminal

judgment over them and policy supports this including -- and what's the legal underpinning for their case? been at the idea that 33 branches are separate so you wouldn't want basically lawmakers looking over your shoulder on how he executes the laws or the judiciary in this case judges basically being able to rule about how he carried out the duties of his office. he was still president of the time of the alleged actions between the election in and the january 6 riot and so the argument is if there was a disagreement over policy potentially he could be charged criminally for actions that are controversial and judges good way on basically his policy decisions so in a sense he's arguing that he was worried about election fraud and he was trying to carry out election laws and make sure the vote is counted correctly set to have

judges interfere with that they say is an infringement on his independent powers present. sprinters jack smith argument is first to bury this concern. for the first time in ancient history grand jury has charged a former president with committing crimes while in office to overturn an election that he lost in response claims the institution of the presidency must be closed with immunity.

the presiding officer: the majority leader. the presiding officer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. schumer: i have one request for a committee to meet today during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have t. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 375. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye.

all opposed no. the ayes appear to have t. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of labor, erika l. mcentarfer of the district of columbia to be commissioner of labor statistics. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 375, erika l. mcentarfer of the district of columbia to be commissioner of labor statistics, signed by 18 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, january 9, be

waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session, be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. # ten minutes each. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on wednesday, january 10, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, morning hour be deemed expired, that upon the conclusion of are moirn, the senate resume consideration of the mehalchick nomination. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered.. if there's no further objection for business to km before the

senate -- before the senate, i ask that it stand aissued under the previous order. -- adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the