what we discovered looking at the likelihood of being sued, the likelihood that, records were involved in those lawsuits, let me finish this piece, we found only 168 reported cases. we used lexus of verdicts and settlements for this. of that we have found 78 cases with the plaintiff, or the was a settlement. from the 168 cases we whittled

it down to 78 cases where there was a real case negligent hiring. not just a one of the lawyers threw up against the wall like spaghetti to see what would stick. we found 41 cases and all those years that were true that legit hiring. we whittled down even further to see if it was a primary claim, the primary claim was in 28 cases, 19 plaintiffs and nine settlements. we then wanted to know how many of those involved the criminal records. what we discovered was only 11 out of the 28 involved the criminal record. so the fear of being sued for negligent hiring was really, should not be a great fear. especially when you think about new york which there are so many various employers. to our 588,115 reporting employers for over 8 million employees. when you look at the number and you see it's negligible. the last thing i'll say as my time is up is that when we did

this study one of the things we were not able to see is whether, in fact, any of the employers took into account the requirements of our law, what we call 23a which requires an analysis if someone has a criminal record and you've done your due diligence in the criminal record, the presumption is it will not be admitted into evidence in a negligent hiring lawsuit. so the 23a factors are very much like the eeoc guidelines which i'm sure we will talk about later. thank you. >> thank you, esta. [applause] >> scott, do you want to get a little prosecutors perspective on this issue of collateral consequences? >> thank you. thank you for inviting me. general suthers, always a pleasure when you're here. i don't know if your debut back

east but on the west side of the country, he's a big deal. a u.s. attorney -- >> take all the time you want, scott. [laughter] but i'm just, i'm mad at teleprompters are gone because we were at dinner last night with two of my heroes, william fitzpatrick of syracuse and dan donovan of staten island and we're talking the running for office. burns, didn't he run for attorney general? how did that go? i can trace it back to where i lost. it was 1996 when bob dole was running for president and he came to salt lake city. i drove up from mayberry, the little town i lived up to mount pilot. i was standing there, so excited i was going to meet bob dole. i found out later he was not doing welcome to orrin hatch bailed on him. he was supposed to introduce them. senator bennet, got busy with the constituent issue. i love it.

governor, big deal, well spoken. they go he couldn't make it. you get stuck in traffic. in salt lake city got stuck in traffic? they said it burns, you're running for attorney general, you need to introduce him. i'm going to introduce bob dole? there's like 500 people there. no shit. i walked up there. what should i say? this is easy. it's on a helicopter. just read what orrin hatch was going to say. i said oh, that's what it is? i once saw the state of union -- i thought it was just to keep the president from getting shot. i thought as a kid i could never be president, abraham lincoln said -- how did he remember that? they were reading it. imac and to just as i'm going up, greg who knew me, orrin hatch is advanc advance kentucky grabbing and he said burns, look, don't blow this.

don't ad lib., don't go off. i said i won't. he said i'm serious. this is bob dole. read it word for word. so now i'm nervous. he came up, sat next to me. bob dole, how's it going? good. how is your campaign going? i said not too well. [laughter] you either, buddy here to the words came up and i said, welcome to salt lake international airport, pots. today it is my distinct pleasure, positive -- [laughter] to introduce to you a son of kansas, oz. the next president of the united states, bob dole, applause. [laughter] and he said who are you? [laughter] it didn't go that well but i read it word for word. i wanted to try it. collateral consequences was first introduced me on a panel maybe a year, year and the year

-- get a half ago, i googled it, to deep research, read about it, tried to plug in my life as a prosecutor for 15 years and the world that we live in. i was on the panel. i sat at the end. it was called padilla. aclu, amnesty international and then sure richard jerome and they talked about how terrible it was in padilla, going to be deported and he wasn't told about it. it should've been in the plea agreement and it's a big deal. i think everybody agreed if you're going to be deported it's a big deal. as they went on the panel i thought, i must have gotten the wrong case. he didn't fill out some paperwork. he'd been in this country 30 years, family man, a good man and they didn't even tell him. i had to go back. because when they got to me, i'm like i must have the wrong padilla. this guy was in kentucky and he had over a ton of marijuana in the back of a tractor-trailer and got arrested.

that's not a minor offense, little deal, just fill out some paperwork and he was not a citizen of the united states. i don't know about you but if i'm in guatemala mexico, or in those with a ton of dope i figured it's going to be a lot of consequence and i would think mr. padilla would as well. i think there on the panel try to bring some common sense to the discussion with how far do we go. when i left i was shaking my head because some people were honestly talking about putting in a plea agreement, with each go back, you'd new york, candace, you take texas, and find out all of the consequences that are collateral to a conviction in your states. some of them came back with 385 collateral consequences that we're going to put a plea agreement? i don't know how many of you have been in a real courtroom trying a real case but can you imagine going to the plea agreement? you can't grill a dog in montana. you can play a harmonic in

maine. you can't, you know, and some of them we all know, possess again, that's a big deal to certain people by candace is head of our domestic violence program for the past 20 years and some guy pistol whips his wife for the third time and is convicted of domestic violence, they really do get upset. by god, under the second a minute i want my gun. don't say? they scream and they hollered, and so i think what we've tried to do as a national district attorneys association, i've had the pleasure of serving under great president is last year, henry garza of texas, is talk about collateral consequences and what reasonable -- and remind everyone that in the united states, some 40,000 prosecutors, 2500 elected, prosecute 97% of the criminal cases in this country. when general holder stands up and talks about is moving programs and addressing issues, it's good that mac is here, good

ndaa is here because in the city of philadelphia in six months they prosecute more felony cases and all the federal judges, all the federal prosecutors, dea, atf in an entire year. over 10 million felony level prosecutors. what we been trying to talk about in addition to collateral consequences, we need this, be concerned about defendants and that the botched execution in oklahoma. to hear about that? yes. where is -- taking over for me and will be great. i bet you got 20 calls. [inaudible] >> and i would always say my first question is before we get started was the victim's name? what do you mean? what did clinton docket due? no did clinton docket do? know, use execute -- i got that part. he said oh, man, what's going on? horrible. what he did is on june 3, 1999, abduct a 19 year old woman and a

little town in perry oklahoma. her parents just bought her a new truck. had a tasmanian devil sticker in it. she got personalized license plates and she was kind of a frumpy girl and it helped with the confidence in school. shed some friends over to show her the truck. this guy abducted her and her friend, drove them out into a rural area outside of perry oklahoma were which is already row, had a friend did a great, understand and agree. took a shotgun, shot her, she didn't die. she fell down, she went damn, i can get this -- went back to his truck while she is pleading, god, please god, no. takes the shotgun, went back and shot her again. she fell down. he and his codefendants were laughing. that is tough. she won't die. she was laying there in the great and he got a friend to then start covering her with the dirt. the friend said she's not dead. she still alive.

he said you buried or. so he buried her alive. i don't know, it's kind of hard for me to get into great detail when they call about the botched oklahoma and the combination of drugs and did he lean all the way up i wasn't more like a foot up, you know. i think what we need to do in this country, talk about collateral consequences, talk about defendants rights, what, some 20 or 25 carved up in the constitution recognize for criminal defendants. how many constitutional rights for victims? to we talk about collateral consequences for victims? they don't have a constitutional right to be president during a hearing. it doesn't say that anywhere nor is it interpreted by the supreme court or to be told when someone who raped and killed their daughter is getting out of prison on parole. there's no right for the. but here we are in washington, d.c. and do you know what? the race thing, that's not right. i think we all agree that an african-american applicant and a

white applicant doing a background check and they have similar criminal records and the white guy gets called back and the african-american doesn't, or the hispanic, that's not right. those are things we should change. i've got a buddy in atlanta who was probably one of the biggest philanthropists in the state of georgia. in 1980 to get a small amount of cocaine and it is called him all of his life. it's not right that he should -- but i don't know that we do it wholesale. i'm getting on a soapbox and also down. richard rahn and i at view, we have lively discussions about the whole clemency thing. i'm like, really? and honestly, i would be open to hear your comments later, but we have federal prosecutors, federal law enforcement, investigate, arrest people, charge them with crime. they go through the system either a jury trial, trial before judge or negotiate a plea

agreement. gets sentenced, pursuant to a law that congress, equivalent of our state to pass these laws, and then they go to prison. now we have the executive branch saying we will have highly trained assistant u.s. attorneys coal through these. bill fitzpatrick had -- i'm a republican. a woman who was a democrat nominated to be a federal judge, i couldn't carry her purse to this woman was bright, brilliant, incredible background. she gets slapped down to be a federal judge to sentence these people because like nine years ago as part of her job as a prosecutor she argued x. instead of y. in a gant case. then the nra comes out, she's against against. she can't be a federal judge. but never going to u.s. attorneys wholesale by the thousands supplanting their judgment for criminal justice system under this thing called clemency. i think he should get out. i think he should get out. the new rules, they have to be over 10 years. whatever the conditions are in

my judgment, they are now saying the executive branch knows better. we are now coming in with these really smart assistant u.s. attorneys and we're going to let them out. we're going to give them a clemency and, i don't know, jerome said how i said it will suspend the? i always thought it was like tiffany's, you know when we fix horrible case, and now it's going to be like wal-mart. now we're going to bring in thousands of them and the president will exercise his right of clemency. to me nationwide it seems like our discussion has become a defendants rights, collateral consequences, let's figure out a way to help them a four they did in. help them while they're there and then when they get out, but we don't talk about victims, people that have been thrown in the trash. people that have been raped and burglarized. people who are family members of stephanie nyman of perry, oklahoma.

it doesn't come up. we need to start talking about the collateral consequences of the victims of crime in america. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, scott, for living up to all my expectations about what you would say. [laughter] >> i didn't swear that much. a little. >> general garrity. >> thank you for sugarcoating that, scott. i'm not a career prosecutor, though in my state i do have responsibility for all district attorneys and so it's been a bit of a learning experience and with something called the criminal justice working group which is over to what general dunn holland was describing, an interagency group. we have no funding but it is co-chaired by myself and the justice on the supreme court but the court system, corrections

involve community agencies that are involved in the process. a group of maybe 30 of us and we meet several times a year to talk of all these issues. i was struck by the fact, we throw rent statistics but the one that caught my attention was the uss boxer 5% of the worlds population yet we have 25% of the world's prisoners. and at least in the alaska 60% of our incarcerated individuals are nonviolent offenders. they are not the people that scott was referring to, vicious murderers and so one. and there is the cost associated with incarcerated. our state we just opened a new prison last year but before that we housed a number of prisoners in colorado and private

contracts. so we brought all those people back home. but it seems to mean there's a transition occurring and general holder refer to i think is happening in the sense that people, including and -- fiscal conservatives are realizing there is a cost to being tough on crime, and it's a cost not only to state government but to society as a whole. and so just in our state, which is very large, we have a small population, we tried to tackle this in one of the first things we did was to try to get an inventory. we heard about collateral consequences, and there's a project going on, a national inventory of collateral consequences of conviction project that i think it's funded by the apa and administered by the national institute of justice as i recall but we contacted them and we have some

legislators who are interested in a. i was interested in it. as a result the letters we sent, they moved us to the top of the list for some reason to try to get this information. so they did take a look at our state and lo and behold we have well over 500 collateral consequences in our statutes and in our regulations just in alaska. and that doesn't count all, a number at the federal level as well i would applaud obviously state prisons. there's a local game reduce, as it turned out, have their own little nuances on some of these consequences, whether would be getting a taxi cab license whatever the case may be. just stunning to me the scope of it. many of them are licensing anything that's licensed by the state, morticians, nutritionis nutritionists, and, hearing a dealers, whatever the case may be. there's a number of collateral

consequences i don't think that our material in the discussion were having here today that people, that coming out of the system, out of prison aren't going to be affected by them. they could if they happened to choose one of these more obscure professions, but by and large i don't think they are. by the same token people to work in liquor industry, cabaret licenses need to work to get a license to sell liquor or beer bartender or so when. that would be an area that could be affected. commercial driving license, commercial drivers licenses an area that people could end up trying to seek a new job in. commercial fishing is a big industry in our state, and need a license for the. and so these convictions could all of the the people's ability to get back to those jobs. and so we have been studying the issue. we've been taking a look at it

and i think it's symptomatic, probably typical of what other states have as well. but we look and we do have a very process, for example, and i think this is true for many states as well. the division of health and social services, licenses, the main licensing body in our state. and so they of the program subject to various and we learned about on average maybe 10 to 20 variance requests are received every month from people, on employers who want to honor somebody who is got a record that would otherwise be barred under the law or the applicable regulation, and they take about a month to process on average, and many times the time delay, not all the required paperwork has been turned into initially so they had to send back and get some additional information. take about a month to process and about 75% of them, the

applicants, applications are received are granted. so there's some progress there. we also learned that, for instance, a commercial driver's license, this is a little counterintuitive to me but we have maybe 35,000 individuals with commercial drivers licenses in alaska. the number of people, and they revoke less than 1% of licenses on an annual basis because of a criminal conviction. so again something i thought might be a higher number is actually in practice not that high. so you're kind of left wondering what is the impact? i think intuitively we know that it's important for people when they get out to have some options. in our state, i can't speak for the national average of other

states, but about 60% of our population is rearrested within three years after they get out. and so that is one of the main goals of our working group. is just trying to reduce the recidivism level. so we do think that creating opportunities that are reasonable, not for the vicious criminals and the vicious, violent felons and so on, those people will have to carry it around those, they'll have to carry around those convictions for ever and with good reason. but there's many, many, this large subset of nonviolent offenders, drug offenses and so on, those people can be violent, they can be bad people. i think we have to recognize that as well. but we are looking at trying to great opportunities for them. the other interesting thing is under federal drug felonies, for example, you can get, lifetime ban for food stamps and

temporary assistance under the federal program. states can opt out of that or they can minimize, moderate the ability of the person to be, eligible again. but in our state, we are one of 11 states that have not changed those. and so we still enforce the federal ban. these are federal monies, folks, and i think the feds also pay for administering the program in the states, or reverse the states. but think about it, you get out and get the family, get out of prison, and a fenced the bars you from getting those federal benefits. it can be hard. it can be harsh. and at the statistics i read that is between 1991-1998, the number of kids who had a parenting -- a parent incarcerated in a state or federal facility has increased over 100%. so kids, i mean families need a

way out and people getting out of the system need a way to support their families. but our state is for a conservative and we've not altered or changed that, the federal law. we have not opted out i should say and allowed people to regain those benefits if they meet certain conditions. we're taking a look at, the next step in what we'r we are doing anyways to try to come up with what we are calling a certificate of completion. there are over 500 statutes and regulations and it's really a patchwork, a process. there's hard to see any rhyme or reason when you go through it and it's just happen when laws were changed or enacted whenever that was and they created these consequences. so certificate of completion is intended to, and the details and

it's not legislation, we're still trying to work on it, but if you completed your sins and you completed your rehabilitation and judah paid any restitution, and maybe a certain period of time passes by you get this certificate which is issued by court, and then you have something that you can take to an employer, the employer hopefully would regardless of race would hopefully consider you as eligible and we give you a job if you're entitled to it, the background for it. so it's similar to what the other major effort out there is him was done by the uniform law commission called the national collateral consequences conviction act. it's the model act and it approaches this issue a number of levels. one is, first of all, coming up with an inventory of all these

consequences and part of the act tries to seek to establish some causal connection between the restriction, the collateral restriction, whatever it may be, and the offense. for example, looking at our state, commercial fishing licenses, if you were convicted of a theft or crime involving dishonesty you could have your license, commercial fishing license revoked. well, i mean, i don't know about the connection there between crimes of dishonesty and left and commercial fishing license, but this uniform act that we proposed would try to impose some kind of resource to, reasonable call the connection between the collateral consequence and the crime that the offender was guilty of the. so i think that's a step in the right direction. this national act, uniform act,

i don't think -- someone may have more recent information that a couple years ago had not been enacted anywhere in total, the one of the features we do like and it has what is called a certificate, there's another name for it but similar to what i'm talking about that if you finish the program and if you search her time and serve your sentence, you have a certificate that you can use and to show, you know, as proof that you've been through the system, you are worthy, you paid your debt to society, should be considered along with everybody else. but the numbers are getting so overwhelming. so we're working that direction. the other major thing that has happened in our state which is very topical retina is the expungement of records. we have something called courts do. in our state, i'm sure other states have similar systems but it records arrests, convictions,

acquittals and basically the record. this last session conservative senator got through a bill to require expungement of arrest records if you're simply arrested, there was no follow-up charge and acquittals. it's on the governor's desk now and it's gotten a fair amount of scrutiny. and i think with good reason. people who were acquitted just doesn't mean you're innocent. it means they are not guilty. the prosecutor and state did not meet its burden of proof. i, for one, have a few misgivings about expunging the records of acquittal arrests pick something else, i think it's a fair question but the idea being, and we've heard these instances already that these things follow you around once they get into court review for the rest of your life and many, it's a public, the public access is not that complicated.

you go on your computer. so without more explanation, and employers, if you see someone with an arrest record, you don't know what it is, you don't know what the circumstances are, they could've been mistaken identity, could've been totally unfounded and if you a guy without an arrest record, an applicant, just think for myself being perfectly honest, it probably will go with the guy with no arrest record. so that's another front where progress is being made but not without controversy. a number of these measures have been vetoed. a number of states have tried to pass them have invaded. our state right now, the jury is still out as to what the governor will do ultimately. very important subject and look forward, appreciate the comments from other panelists and something we're just going to have to wrestle with as a society. >> thank you, all three of you, for your comments. general geraghty raise an issue i think at the heart of this, philosophically what are we

trying to accomplish with collateral consequences? i kind of posed probably a two or three part question. they are not intended to be punitive. they are not intended to be a punishment for the crime. they are supposed to accomplish some additional societal goal, public safety, deterrence. so i guess for all of you i would post the question, are there certain collateral consequences that you feel are more rationally related to public safety than others? some clearly are trying to garner public safety. and is there a different effect? because we know that collateral consequences increased dramatically in the '80s and '90s. guess what? crime decreased significantly in the '80s and '90s pashtun not in the '80s but the beginning of the '90s.

and so are people not engaging in some criminal behavior because gosh, i don't want to put my license at risk or something like that? so let's just kind of, all three of you, philosophically what are we trying to accomplish? are we accomplishing it? and you know, which collateral consequences make make sense to? esta, to want to start? [inaudible] >> not at all. absolutely not. i think the purpose of collateral consequences was for public safety. certainly if you know you're going to do something that violates the law you go to jail, this seems to be a much bigger deterrent than thinking i won't be able to be an animal breeder someplace, or i will be able to cut here or any of the other places where there is licensure requirement and if you have criminal record you can't perform that function. so i think it's supposed to be for public safety. that's the first step is to i

think that it indeed meets that goal? i think what we really need to have in terms of all the things we've been talking about is an individualized assessment. that you submit people, i don't want him out on the street either, people who have engaged in violent criminal activity, a rapist, a pedophile, et cetera. we would never want a pedophile working in a public school, private school, in any place where they will find children. but for most of these we are talking about is there a relationship between the job to be performed and the criminal act that the person was found guilty of and has served his or her time. so i don't think it's a deterrent at all. i think the public safety could only be met where, in fact, it is this relationship between the job and the license, or whether it's driving a car or anything else. >> you would have a problem if you are convicted of a sexual offense, you cannot be a

schoolteacher? >> absolutely not. of course. you want to protect our children. >> okay, scott, what are -- >> i concur. i think in reading some of these across the country, honestly some of them were humorous. i found no connection between the collateral sanction of somebody that was convicted, you know, there federal for driving that could not groom a dog. may be drunken grooming, i don't know last night understand and can -- i don't know. [laughter] spent the comments sense of purpose is to keep sex offenders from a boy scout leaders and keep people that are violent out of situations, socially and through employment where they ought not be. i think that's legitimate and i think all reasonable americans would support that. some of them are silly. >> i agree with the rest of the pam and i think, and i'm not an

expert answers experts here and i may just be totally stepping in it but i think in terms of reduction of crime that's been referred to i think a large part is demographics. i mean it's the people, you look at the 18 to 30 year-old age group and i think you can pretty much track criminal statistics with how, you know, the size of the publishing goes up and down in the baby boom that we had after the war, and as the group reached this prime age. so i think, but i agree with what scott and esta said. many very valid and make perfect sense but none of us would ever advocate getting away, but it's a juggernaut, it's gotten, in my state alone will over 500, and i don't think that's reasonable. >> the interesting thing about it is the legislation that created so many of these collateral consequences, one of my frustrations is, it's the

legislature wants to pass a bill suggesting that courts advice people of all faiths collateral consequences. why don't they just eliminate some of the collateral consequences? seems to me that would be a more appropriate way to address it. okay, esta, you've got to understand on the spam you got some state guys and local guys. we don't entirely trust the federal government, okay? >> i gathered that. >> and so i've got to chile some of us have an adverse reaction when the eeoc puts out a guidance suggesting that it's inappropriate for employers to ask about criminal convictions on initial job applications. because for those of us who are interested in the, you know, whose job it is to preserve public safety, we have a general sense that there is some relationship year.

employers ought to have some idea of criminal backgrounds if they're going to hire someone. so what is the ceo seat trying to accomplish? >> okay, well first of all let me be clear the eeoc didn't say you couldn't inquire about someone's criminal background, conviction. that's not what eeoc guidelines talk about. first of all, the eeoc has protected classes, race, sex, national origin, religion, disability, criminal conviction is not a protected class. what they're looking at is a very of disparate impact when you have a neutral rule that has a disparate impact on a group but it could be a rule that you didn't at all intend to discriminate but indeed in sept is committing. the one that's easiest to think about and i'll get to your answer i promise, the easiest to think about his height and the police department. is used to be a height

requirement in new york and it had a disparate impact on women, latinos and asians getting positions in the police department because we couldn't meet the height requirement. so that's a sample of a neutral rule that had a disparate impact. what the eeoc is saying is there's a disparate impact on minorities, on african-americans, and on latinos but it doesn't say you can't do a background check. it doesn't say you can't ask that question on an application. what it does say is if you have a blanket neutral rule that you will not interview or you will not hire anyone with a criminal record, that's where the problem is. so they're really looking at an individualized assessment of the person. so not just saying you won't consider anybody with a criminal record but that you will look at that criminal record and analyze it just as you would anything else. their education, whether they meet the requirements of the job, making it, taking a look at

it but not a blanket rule. >> okay. either of you have comments about the eeoc guidelines? >> well, esta is much more adverse in this than i am. bandbox, she very knowledgeable about the number of states who tried -- not one of them but i think it's something that wouldn't surprise me if it comes up, but to ban employers from having a box on the application that says have you ever been convicted of a crime. so you couldn't do it at that stage. as a mentioned earlier that's whawhen many of these people are screened out. if you've got any group of applicants and somebody check that box, boom. that's the expedient thing to do, but bandbox legislation done, so this guy is made of been arrested, convicted, he is on your short list it at that time, and so this person had other qualities that made them

attractive for this job, and at that point you can't inquire but then it's in the context of a face-to-face interview. so it's not that these can never come up. it's when they come up and the bandbox legislation is to prohibit them from being right on the application but it is something and the content is much more from a but this is of what looked at in our state as well. i think target is one import that data on a voluntary basis i believe up in minnesota, so it's, those groups in retail industry, for example, and they may not be the only one but that's in the recent past that i recall. >> bed bath & beyond just signed an agreement with attorney general in new york state to take the box off. the box has nothing to do with eeoc guidelines to go to ban the box. it's by state and local legislation. >> does the attorney general in the state have a box of?

>> i don't know if. >> i would be shocked if he didn't. >> i can't answer that question. but the concept from ban the box comes out of the americans with disabilities act in which you're not allowed to ask someone in hiring situation until you're about to make a conditional offer of employment whether i need reasonable accommodation for a disability that i have. the concept is that you'll get to know me, you will like me, that you think i'm qualified and then you will do that individualized assessment because i have a criminal record. that's the concept behind ban the box. >> scott, where are we going with this? as you know, you see more and more movements to have greater advice about, you know, greater advice was about collateral consequences. do you think there's a notion that padilla could be extended and judges and prosecutors are going to have to be a lot more

focused and actually come up with lists? were over going on this whole thing? >> i think that's the real concern in the real world. i spent the last two days because i hadn't done in a long time sitting in the courtroom watching the real women and real men and real try cases in courtrooms in america. i was struck by the fact that we forget that 85% of prosecutors offices in this country have a for prosecutors or less. they are really small towns and small counties, and scott encountered in miami and they need alvarez in chicago and bonn in san diego and across the country, new york, are the rare exceptions. the vast majority of america and i know a lot of people shake their heads, you don't believe e me, epw find out, they knew their neighbors are. they know the smith kids. they're always in trouble, by god, bobby got arrested again. the collateral consequences in small communities are people

know who committed the crime and who didn't and they have great faith in the criminal justice system and have a look at each individual case. they are award, their fear, honest to god, if some really smart person in washington passes this collateral consequence thing, and we have to have plea agreements that are two inches thick and with public defenders that don't make a lot of money, have to go out to the jail and sit there for an hour and a half, you can't do this, you can't do that. are you talking out of it? so i think we have to be very, very careful. i couldn't sit down here again, every time i see the attorney general, the last time we spoke, henry was kind enough to set that up, this whole thing about the criminal justice system is broken. too long, too many low-level offenders have been locked up. and we need to change that, and

collateral consequences is one of them. and reentry and -- really? because i would like to come to washington, d.c. once and just celebrate the fact that homicides are down 50%. rape, robbery, burglary down 40 and 30% since the willie horton and you couldn't walk safely in major cities in this country. we turned it around and nobody mentioned the national academy of science report, sometime today google bga, bureau of justice assistance recidivism. a study came out this week. i don't know if you saw it but it's really high, like 70% commit, balance commit a new offense within three years of being released. so what some would decide a long time ago, smart people in this room a, if they're going to continue, they have the audacity to commit crime after crime after crime, we are going to lock them up and lock them up for a long time. i know some people won't like

it. we are five times more than uganda. we will take it. crime is down dramatically. so with this issue and with other issues i just of good men and women would reflect and think about it and how we have two prosecutors here from new york that try cases every day. how does it affect their lives when they say that people are ready for the next case? >> general geraghty, i spent three of those interesting years of my life running a colorado prison system, and what i identified in that was, i think, one of the weakest areas of the criminal justice system is reentry and what we do trying to bring inmates back into society. does

task forces in our major communities, fairbanks, juneau i believe, at that level are doing something called ready for rent which is a workshop that affect our state people are now trying to do at this workshop, i mean, i'm not sure how many hours it takes but take people and teach them some basics about the landlord-tenant situation, what the expectations are from the landlord if they're going to rent the place from the.

how to do some housekeeping. very, very basic stuff of people who may been living in the streets or on couches before that. we are trying to do that. a lot of people are rearrested. i struggle with for violating, that's a huge part of, in terms of our population. the conditions are set when they are sentenced and into the time, but they violate. get drunk, get high, whatever the case may be. another program has been shown a lot of progress called pace which is project accountability certain enforcement. and again i'll give credit to hawaii. that passion this something called hope, a very similar system. people get out typically though will violate several times and the prosecutor may allow a certain level of violations to build up before they take the time to revoke, filed a

petition, stuff like that. pace is built on the idea that you violate the first time, primarily it's fail a drug test, failed to show up for a drug test or fail to show up for your regular meetings with your officer, bloom, you know, assemble the judge, 72 hours and you going to go to jail for two days for example. the idea is to show immediate consequences, and that has shown some progress. it's just been going the last couple of years. they implemented one in fairbanks which is aimed more at domestic violence offenders. the one in anchorage, the pace program, folks with drug offenses. palmer started one as well which is, you know, about 40 miles outside of anchorage. so things like that i think are important, you know, they have to be immediate consequences.

not severe but something to get their attention to let them know. again, that hopefully will reduce the size of the population because that is a constant, a revolving door people coming back. not just because they committed a new crime necessary but they violated. in any event we are just following trying to build on one of the people -- what other people have done. but showing promise. >> we have about 20 minutes. let's see if we have any questions from the audience. the fact that whether you're convicted felon or not you are free to ask questions, okay? [laughter] the first volunteer in the back. >> i just had a question about -- all. i mark levin with light on crime. i to question about what folks think about the idea of allowing prosecutors to wave -- i guess the judge could realistically, most cases are plea deals,

prosecutor would be able to waive certain collateral consequences? and i think there might be a fair amount of support in this room but interesting to see what licensing agencies and other bureaucracies think about that as well. thank you. >> great question. >> that is a great question. i don't know that prosecutors have the authority to waive them necessarily. that isn't to say that they couldn't if they did have that authority. that would be a question i've had in my mind as to whether they could wave them right in at the time of sensing but i don't know, -- but how much time judges spend with them either, but it's an interesting concept. i think it would be worth studying to find out if there's something that they could do at that level but i think the statues, given that authority to different agency in state

government, as i said, they due process them and most of them are approved. i was puzzled and surprised to learn that, but it could be done by the prosecutor. may be made, you know, that would be better, but i don't know of the legality of it. >> i think real prosecutors could correct me, but in some sense every single day when you're engaged in plea negotiations there is some waving of collateral consequences by, if you plead to a am not going to have you plead to see because you don't get a gun or this is going -- we be averaged a sex offender for life? if you play to this other events i will relieve you of that for your life so you can rol roll te dice over gingrich grow. i think would be difficult to take statutory consequences and say, you know, i'm the prosecutor, i have the authority

to waive your drunken dog grooming. i don't see that happening. >> there was a big controversy in denver several years ago when it was found that the denver district attorney was putting a lot of offenses down to a non-deportable offense for a parent, primary purpose of making the person not subject to automatic deportation. esta, do you have any notions about where these waivers ought to take place in the system? >> well, since i'm a proponent of individual assessment and looking at the person as they are now, not the record they created. so, for example, it would seem to me that within state government, within state government a procedure could be set up where person would apply to have that particular licensing prohibition waived or them based on who they are, and then the government agency would be one that would waive it with

an appeal. so, for example, i know within civil service in new york there is an image of law judge who hears when a waiver is not granted you have a right to appeal. so it seems to me that belongs in state government where they can actually do the kind of individual analysis that is required spent it does seem to make sense that the barber board ought to decide whether this guy is a good barber or not as opposed to the prosecutor. >> right. >> makes a lot of sense. okay, back year. >> i have recently tired from the state supreme court in new york. in new york and probably in other urban areas, a family is not entitled to public housing if any member of the family has been convicted of a crime. i think it's probably just felonies but it could be everything. on the one hand, i'm very sympathetic and one has to be sympathetic to the other people living in the building who don't

want a former gang member or a drug dealer moving into the complex. by the same token there is nothing more criminogenics than having somebody being released from prison having no place to live as an sure we and i'm just wondering what efforts have been made to reconcile that particular tension? and i don't think individualized focus would really work because you have an immediate need. this person is being released from prison and he needs a home, he needs a place to live, and living with a family is probably the best option for the most part. on the other hand, he needs that immediately. we all know what bureaucracies are an individual assessments just don't, they really take time. i'm just wondering what work has been done in this area and whether you have any thoughts about that? >> if anybody has been any thoughts in the area, my guess is it's esta. >> i have worried about the same

issue you raise i think about in terms of a family living in public housing and the parent gets out and can't go home. what does that mean in terms of breaking up the family? but i haven't seen any particular studies on that so i'm not aware. i know it's a big problem. >> i've not seen studies either. we, the program in anchorage, i'm aware of partners in progress, they do about 40 to 50 prisoners a day i guess, it fluctuates, but they provide them housing but i don't know which families, i do know that detailed either but i would certainly think we would privatize a prisoner who did have a family when he gets out and they need a place to stay, and put them together, but over individuals. but i'm not aware of any study. i just know the one in anchorage and that's one of our major population is based, serves that, a number of individuals and say, i was informed that,

you know, for instance, trying to be flexible with the rules. think would be axiomatic and no alcohol would be allowed on the premises for example, but that's going to push people out, maybe give them more flexibility. they are experimenting with allowing some alcohol on the premises. and again i don't know all the details of it but it's a very tricky area but a very important one because as you say, nothing is more likely to lead to recidivism than not having any place to go realistically. >> i'll speak briefly to the law-abiding public housing tenants. i think you would also hear a voice that while it is an entitlement it is being subsidized by the rest of us. they don't want people that just got out of prison coming back and wreakin wreaking havoc. might not be the nicest place in the world but it's their home, and we have to be subjected to

mrs. smith's son dante who just got out for a robbery for the third time is coming back and a note he will be doing a bnc? i know the there is a rational relationship between consequence for the good of the order of other people. >> that's a tough question. yes. >> thank you. eric altman with the consumer data industry association. the collateral consequences discussion is really about saying no and part of this public policy debate, short of saying no, it's an employer's right to know. there are public policy proposals to essentially cut off after a certain period of time and employer's ability to ask a question about a criminal history. and, for example, the human resources managers study that esta discussed at the beginning of her comment shows that many employers do conduct criminal history checks but that study

also shows most employers conduct criminal history checks responsibly and thoughtfully, and they should continue to do so. and even a conference that i attended that esta put on a couple of years ago, a criminologist who spoke at the conference said there is really no redemption point, that it can be 10, 12, 15 years after supervision ends. so i think while many people agree data shouldn't be a just say no to any job for any person for all time, i think we also need to be sure that we don't lose sight of the fact that employers have a right to know the entire breadth and width and depth of an employee's, prospective employers criminal history so they can make fair, responsible decisions for them, their employees and their customers. >> comments on that? >> i guess i've several different comments. one is that more recent research has been done on retention time. i think you are talking about

braunstein and occur more. it looks like 10 years but it depends on whether we're talking about violence, talking about drugs, are we talking about property. leaving aside those people who recent debate in the first three years. so you've got to take a look at that. there's no question that employers have right to know who they're hiring. the question is ban the box which is moving further down the road as opposed to having it up front and having a blanket ban. the biggest concern i have with background checks and eric and i have been talking about this is that when you get a report back, sometimes it's not accurate and when a person is going to have an adverse employment as a result of that they get a chance to know what that is and they can have, correct it. the problem is it gets corrected for agency a. it doesn't get corrected for agency be necessarily and the correction may not take place with respect to the repository and is maintained by the state or the federal government.

what i'm talking about his is records that come back and it's not me. it's somebody else. it's esther and not esta, or all it is is 10 arrest records and no convictions. so this is a problem with making sure that they are active. when you're accurate they are good. the question is the accuracy, that's my concern. >> general? [inaudible] >> -- consequences itself. so expungement was not fully thought through, i think that's what we're starting to realize. but it goes to the same issue about fairness to the employer, whether it's a bona fide qualification for the job. do you all have any thoughts on this whole subject of expungement as it relates to these issues? ..

>> as i said we were having a controversy, i personally have misgivings about getting rid of acquittals. not sure what the time period is or if it is effective immediately. there is language in it that

says the court system is supposed to use its best efforts to go back and expunge, take out arrest records and sullen. i have misgivings about it, n.c. agreed on a 15 year, 15 years before they do that to get by from all the stakeholders. that was something they could live with. something i think is reasonable to talk about through the arrest records and through some period of time, i don't know if it is fair for somebody to rejoin society to carry around that stigma. in principle there is a noble endeavor, there is a lot of issues raised. >> do you have some feelings

about that? >> a lot of what real prosecutors do is difficult and tough. they got to say this person, it has been nine years, the family man, he has a job and i can stand and say with pride, and women and men who try cases and scott burns is entitled to this. i don't want him out there. it is good when compared appropriately. >> a point of agreement.

[laughter] >> i came from vancouver, british columbia. i e-mail the friend, these collateral consequences are some things that have to be considerable in a sentencing charge with the recent decision, there's a certain sense that when composed in the appropriate range, beyond that, in the higher part of the range would lead to someone being deported or their right of appeal on deportation order is then that should be considered. not that it shouldn't be provided but has to be considered and part of the consequences and whether it is an appropriate consequences and the more recent position of the court of appeals, quote even not before the sentencing judge, prosecutor or defense attorney at the time came later after the

fact as fresh evidence to the court of appeal that the person got a call from housing, social services or convictions for fraud. as a result of this. she didn't know, attorney didn't know and at the time of sentencing and in the court of appeals this is fresh evidence we should consider as a result, we are going to grant her a conditional discharge as opposed to an actual conviction on her record so that is a sort of comparative understanding of what could be done if not considered. it can be as a collateral consequence considered but decided whether it is appropriate or not. the discussion will check the box, i found it interesting that whether you shouldn't, or whether you have been arrested or convicted, our society as that of every prospect of lawyer, have you been arrested, had been convicted, are you an alcoholic, do you have

mental-health issues? not that many of those questions or any of those people if convicted just leads to more questions, more processes so someone who suffered mental health issues, go to a medical doctor, make sure you are okay. those are consequences that are possible. >> is your sense that canada has fewer collateral consequences than the united states? >> definitely. 500 seems amazing. we have similar ones like immigration consequences, welfare benefit consequences, and if you have one person in the family that the family, i haven't heard that. 500 or so. >> what is your sense about this after the fact look seek, didn't

realize i wasn't going to get into housing and reconsider -- >> very interesting question. to be elitist, i can't speak for this defense department, i would be surprised at those questions and information is not shared with your client before they plead or shared by the judge as consequences of a conviction. fraud and evictions signal for a lot of consequences that surprised me when i looked at it. to digress, the deportation issue, we have presumptive sentences in alaska, and the court of appeals decided the gentleman lived in the military

but was not a citizen. committed a crime and the presumptive sentence would subject him to deportation. our trial court and court of appeals, could sentence him to 364 days, which was less than the trigger that might subject to the deportation. a citizen of alaska would have got in that sentence, presumptive sentence the legislature called out but this individual, status got a lesser sentence in order by the court of appeals and the supreme court did not accept the review of it so there is an interesting angle, a number of legislators puzzling over it just didn't seem right in the circumstances.

in the hypothetical, if someone pled to a crime on something like that that might have an objection to housing or something, that is a tough case. >> i love canada and you can rest assured you guys will be a lot nicer on all of this than we will. on that note. [applause]. >> c-span2 providing coverage of the senate floor proceedings and keep public policy events and every weekend booktv now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction

books and authors. c-span2 created by the cable-tv industry and broad as a public service by your local, cable or satellite provider. like us on facebook or follow us on twitter. >> army sergeant kyle white was awarded the medal of honor for actions while serving in afghanistan in 2007. he is the seventh living recipients of the medal of honor in iraq and afghanistan. president obama ordered -- on a sergeant white on the east room of the white house. >> almighty god who are words like cradle, the wisdom of profits past. and readily love or honor one another above ourselves. we are blessed to honor an american soldier. actions blue witness to the depth of this cause and

aggressive honor. the medal of honor is bestowed upon sergeant kyle white whose story deeply inspires our nation. so it is the dms that gives everything its value. by honoring sergeant white we honor the deer and memories of the men who fought that day and those who rest in peace. increase our faith renew our hope that we may live worthy of honor, devotion and courage that we recognize today. wheat recognize this in your holy name, amen. >> good afternoon, please be seated. welcome to the white house. it has been said that true courage is a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger and

mental willingness to incur. for morrison 12 years with our nation at war, the men and women of our armed forces have known a measure of danger that comes with military service. year after year, tour after a tour, they have displayed a selfless willingness to incur by stepping forward, by volunteering, by serving and sacrificing greatly to keep us all safe. today our troops are coming home. by the end of this year our war in afghanistan will be over and we will welcome home this generation. the 9/11 generation that has proven itself to be one of america's greatest. today we pay tribute to a soldier who embodies the courage of his generation. a young man who was a freshman

in high school when the twin towers fell and just five years later became an elite paratrooper with legendary 170 third airborne. sky soldiers. we present our nation's highest military decoration, medal of honor to sergeant kyle white. kyle is the second sky soldier to be recognized for service above and beyond the call of duty in afghanistan. today he joins staff sgt junta and previous honorees, members of the medal of honor society who are with us today. we have a lot of vips here but i want to acknowledge the most important, kyle's parents, cheryl and kirch and kyle's girlfriend, ellen. i am told that back home in

washington when kyle wanted to enlist at first he set his sights on the marines but his dad is a veteran of the army special forces so i am told there was a difference of opinion. i suspect a good family discussion. as commander-in-chief i can not take sides in this debate. bottom line is kyle joined the army. he carried on his proud tradition of service founded expression on a november day over six years ago. base commanders. radios listening as american forces fought back in ambush in the rugged mountains. one battalion commander remember all of afghanistan was listening as a soldier on the ground described what was happening. they knew him by his call sign,

charlie 16 romeo. we know it was kyle who at the time was just 21 years old and only 21 months into his military service. earlier that afternoon kyle and 13 members of his team. after meeting with elders. single file, long narrow path, click rising to the right and the slope of russky shale dropping on the left. they are heading into an area known as ambush alley and that is when a single shot rang out and another and an entire canyon erupted with bullets coming from what seemed like every direction. it was as if kyle said the whole valley lit up. the platoon returned fire. kyle quickly emptied a full magazine but as he went to load a second an enemy grenade

exploded and knocked him unconscious. he came to with his face pressed against a rock. as he moved to get up any round hit, the rocks just inches from his head sending shrapnel and rock chards across his face. most of the unit had been forced to slide down the cliff to the valley below but kyle saw a teammate, specialists shilling, trying to treat his own shattered arm using a tree as cover. it was the smallest tree on earth and i am sure that is how it felt. kyle sprinted through enemy fire and began applying a tourniquet. feeling with his own gun fire is gunfire shattered that free. kyle saw another man down, marine sgt philip box in the open with -- too injured reached cover. kyle remembers thinking it is just a matter of time before i am dead. if that happens i might as well help someone while i can. with blue lids impacting all

around him kyle ran to pull the injured marine to cover. he exposed boxed more gunfire kyle retreated. the enemy rounds followed him. he ran out again pulling box a little farther and once more retreated to distract the enemy fire. once more he went out, over and over thinking to himself i am not going to make it. he could feel the pressure of the rounds going by him but miraculously they never hit him, never once. one teammate said it was as if he was moving faster than a speeding bullet. finally kyle succeeded in pulling his comrade to cover, tragically on that cliff, sgt box succumbed to his wounds but in his final moments this american dream found solace in kyle white, the american soldier who was by his side.

he ripped off his belt for a torn beckett, got his hand on working rodeo -- radio. the voice of charlie 16 romeo came to base. crouching behind at lone tree, kyle began calling in air strikes to take out enemy positions. kyle stayed with specialist shelling as night fell. kane was too injured to move, kyle was feeling fog on his own concussion set in. in new the was cain's best chance, the afghan soldiers the former security perimeter. he called in a medivac and made sure cain and the other injured were safely on board. only then did kyle allow himself to be lifted out. as the helicopter pulled away, looked out the window, watching the darkness as it pulled away from that single tree on a cliff. when he deployed he later said

those people become your family. what you really care about is i want to get this guy to the left and to the right. this family was tested that day. not a single one of the mistakes without injury. six brave americans gave their lives. their last full measure of devotion and we will remember them today. sergeant philip box, captain mathew ferreira, specialist joseph roncourt, sergeant jeffrey merzman , lester roquet and corporal shun bondsmith. some of their families are here today. i ask them to stand so we can recognize their extraordinary sacrifice. [applause]

[applause] >> these fallen heroes in the wars, the courage and strength of their unit, 14 men, we are proud to welcome those who fought so valiantly that day. specialist schilling and members of the second battalion chosen company of the 170 third brigade will you please stand? and [applause]

[applause] >> we honor kyle white for his extraordinary actions that november day but from that day that speaks to the story of his generation. kyle completed the rest of his deployment in afghanistan. he came home and trained other paratroopers as they prepared to deploy. when he completed his service kyle decided to pursue a different green and with the help of the 9/11 gee i bill went to college, graduated and works for a bank in charlotte, north carolina. kyle walks into the office every day people see a menace to headed to work. a proud veteran welcomed into his community contributing talents and skills to the

progress of our nation but kyle will tell you the transition to civilian life in dealing with post-traumatic stress hasn't always been easy. more than six years later you can see the images and hear the sounds of that battle. every day he wakes up thinking about his battle betty's. if you look closely at the man in the suit on his way to work you notice a peace that he carries with him tucked under his shirt sleeve. the stainless steel bracelet around his wrist, asking the names of his six fallen comrades who will always be with him. their sacrifice motivates me, he says, to be the best i can be, everything i do in my life is done to make them better. kyle, members of chosen company, you did your duty, and now it is time for america to do ours. after a decade of war to walk me home with support and the benefits and opportunities, you

make us proud. and motivate all of us to be the best we can be as americans, as a nation, sacred obligations. and the willingness to incur. may god bless you and may your courage inspire and sustain us always and god bless the united states of america. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress, march 30th teens 63, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialists kyle white,

united states army. specialist kyle white distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and interest pity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a radio telephone operator, second battalion airborne, 503 infantry regiments, and combat operations against an armed enemy in afghanistan on november 9th, 2007. on that day specialist kyle white and his comrades were returning with village elders as the soldiers traversed a narrow path surrounded by mountainous rocky terrain they were ambushed by enemy forces from elevated positions. pend against a steep mountain face specialist kyle white and his fellow soldiers were completely exposed to enemy fire. kyle white returned fire and was briefly knocked unconscious when a rocket propelled grenade

impacted near him. when he regained consciousness another round impacted near him embedding small pieces of shrapnel in his face. shaking off his wound specialist kyle white noticed one of his comrades lying wounded nearby. without hesitation specialist white exposed himself to any fire in order to reach the soldier and provide medical aid. after applying it to nick it specialist white move to an injured marine providing aid and comfort until the marines succumbed to his wounds. specialist white returns to the soldier and discovered he had been wounded again. applying his own belt as an additional 20 kids specialist white was able to stem the flow of blood and save the soldier's life. noticing that his and the other soldier's radios were inoperative specialist white exposed himself to any fire yet again in order to secure a radio from a deceased comrade. he then provided information and

updates to friendly forces allowing precision air strikes to stifle the enemy's attack and ultimately permitting medical evacuation aircraft to rescue him, his fellow soldiers, marines and afghan army soldiers. specialist kyle white, extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, company see, second battalion airborne, 503 infantry regiments, 173 airborne brigade and the united states army. [applause]

[applause] [applause] >> let us pray. may god grant mercy and protection we commit ourselves inspired by the actions of sergeant kyle white by divine providence that we go our way in peace. to be of good courage we hold fast to that which is good and no evil, no one's evil for evil

rather that we be strengthened, may we support the week, helped the wounded and honor all persons. blessings of god be with us today we pray in his holy name, amen. >> that concludes the ceremony but not the celebration. i hear the food here is pretty good. and the drinks are free. who gave a big shot on that? i hope all of you enjoy the hospitality of the white house. i hope we all remember once again those who are fallen. we are grateful to the families who are here and to kyle and all who served in america's armed forces we want you to know that

we will always be grateful for your extraordinary service to our country. thank you very much, everybody. have a great afternoon. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> you can see the medal of honor presentation any time on c-span.org. primary voting continued yesterday for candidates running for the u.s. senate in the fall. west virginia republican and democratic primaries. politico reporting and yesterday's result saying republican rep shelley more c t caito and tenet set the stage for historic u.s. senate showdown in november.

that gave west region yet its first female senator. capi capitogovernor arch moore's daughter, and tenant, the state's secretary of state will square off to replace democratic senator jay rockefeller who has served 30 years. west region has become increasingly republican and c t caitpo enters as the heavy favorite. if elected she would be the first republican senator from west virginia since 1959. and the senate convenes in just a few moments. after comments by democratic and republican leaders, lawmakers will resume work on a bill that would extend 55 tax breaks that expired at the end of last year. yesterday the measure passed its first procedural vote hurdle. at 11:15 the senate will hold five votes on judicial and executive branch nominations to three judicial nominations all to the arizona district court

will be debated after these votes if necessary. at 5:15 another votes series including final votes on the three arizona nominations as another procedural vote on the tax extenders' bill. senators are expected to begin work on the bill following the vote. the house not in session this week. members are away on a weeklong recess in their home districts. live coverage when they return monday. now live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. our father, you promised that those who passionately seek you will find you. lord, deliver us from distractions that hinder our pursuit of you, as you enable them to experience your presence today.

guard their hearts and minds of our senators with your peace, guiding them with your power. draw them into intimacy with you, helping them to remember that nothing can separate them from your love. rescue them from misplaced priorities that major in minors and minor in majors. bring their thoughts and actions into captivity to your will. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag

of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., may 14, 2014. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable edward j. markey, a senator from the commonwealth of massachusetts, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader, we will resume consideration of h.r. 3474. at 11:15, there will be up to five roll call votes in relation to several nominations. following those votes until 5:15, time will be equally

divided. at 5:15, there will be another series of roll call votes on confirmation of three more district court judges and some other nominations. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. reid: the majority leader -- i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. reid: mr. president, this morning marks 321 days since this body passed commonsense immigration reform. for 321 days, the republican-controlled house of representatives has done absolutely nothing to address our nation's problems and with our broken immigration system. it's a system that's broken and needs to be fixed. it can't be fixed on a piecemeal basis. it needs comprehensive immigration reform. to the extremists in the house, the time went by like that. but, mr. president, inside the republican party, that may have been the case, but to them maybe

321 days doesn't sound like a big deal. maybe it really is a snap of the fingers. but outside the capitol where we're dealing with people's lives, those 321 days felt like a lifetime. to american families forced to live in the shadows, each one of those days brings the dread of being torn away from your family. undocumented immigrants have lived in fear for the last 46 weeks, worrying that they will have to leave the country they call home. the senate did its work. for the past ten and a half months, children lost their parents from government inaction, the senate will have twiddled their thumbs. enough is enough. it's time for the house republicans to act. let a vote occur in the house. if a vote occurred, legislation would pass overwhelmingly. they have wasted far too much time on a bill the senate

introduced, considered and passed in less than two months. today marks a year since the senate judiciary committee began work on commonsense immigration reform. after two weeks of consideration, what did they do? a bipartisan bill was reported out of that committee. within a month of the legislation being reported by that committee, the senate passed immigration reform and sent it to the house of representatives. it was a good start. it was really good, but in our system of government, what we did here will have absolutely no meaning unless the house takes it up. we were able here to move on immigration reform quickly because both the senate democrats and senate republicans understood the need to fix a broken system. what's house republicans' excuse? why are they doing this? what are they achieving by dragging their feet on immigration reform? they claim to be working on

things, they say jobs, they say legislation to reduce the debt. if they are really interested in reducing the debt, pass this bill. it's a trillion dollars to reduce our debt, a trillion dollars. what are they doing over there? day after day investigations, mr. president. they investigate everything and accomplish nothing. the fact is that the senate-passed immigration bill reduces the deficit, it spurs the economy more than the house-passed bills combined. i repeat -- a trillion dollars. immigration legislation passed by the senate reduced the deficit more than all the bills even dreamed of in the house, so it's no wonder that even pro-republican organizations are calling on speaker boehner to stop wasting time. yesterday, we heard tom donahue,

president of the united states chamber of commerce, say that it's in the republicans' best interests to pass immigration reform. the day before what he said is even more direct. he said unless the house passes immigration reform this year, it will not elect a republican president. that's what he said. mr. republican said that. so, mr. president, that's probably true, but that's what he said. politics should not be the only reason that we're going to pass this bill, that the house needs to pass this bill. immigration reform is far more than any election year politicking. immigration reform is about families and communities. the dream act is a perfect example. we tried to get it passed, tried to get it passed. as everyone knows by this time, the president, as he said in the state of the union address, he

did this last congress, he is doing it this congress. because we are doing virtually nothing here in the senate, he decided to do something administratively. that's why we have deferred status to these young men and women who want to go into the military, finish their education, and this is the only place they have ever known as home. mr. president, the bill that passed here is common sense. 11 million people. we cannot fiscally deport 11 million people. we can't physically do it. it just won't work. and that's why the legislation that was crafted here on a bipartisan basis is fair to everyone. what it says is if this is your home and you have improper papers, we'll give you some time to get those adjusted. it's going to take some time. you're not going to go to the front of the line. you're going to go to the back of the line. you're going to have to pay

taxes, you're going to have to work, you're going to have to stay out of trouble learning. it might take about a dozen years to have your status adjusted, but at least during that period of time, you can come out of the shadows. so that's why what has happened with the dream act and passing this legislation here that we did in the senate is good for the country. recently, though, the house judiciary committee chairman appeared on a sunday news show and tried very, very unsuccessfully to justify his party's action. his reasoning is why the house is dragging its heels. republicans will not act on immigration reform unless there are more deportations and more families torn apart. that doesn't make a lot of sense to most people. in a nutshell, it's the house immigration platform. i assume that's what it is. why work to help undocumented immigrants get right with the law?

why do that? because, mr. president, it's good for the country, it's fair. as i have indicated earlier, it's good monetarily for this country. but what the chairman of the judiciary committee said on one of the sunday shows is in keeping with what they have done, it's hard to comprehend, mr. president, that steven king who appears to be their leader -- he is a congressman from iowa -- here's what he said to show how serious he is and how their leader is leading the wrong way. as i have said before, it appears the republican conference immigration policy is being dictated by the likes of congressman steven king. you remember him, mr. president. he's a congressman who instead of permting -- permitting immigrants to enlist in the military and earn citizenship would rather send them on a bus back to tijuana. that's a quote from him. congressman king also claimed that for every hardworking undocumented student, there are

100 more working as drug mules with -- quote -- calves the size of cantaloupes because they are hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert." close quote. mr. president, these men and women with their families are our neighbors, our classmates, our colleagues. they are here for a lot of different reasons. overstayed their visas. some were brought here illegally, and we have to deal with this issue, but so many of them are like astrid silva who is one of the dreamers. 4 years old, a little girl in a boat coming across the rio grande river. she has her rosary beads and a little doll and her mom. nevada's the only place she has ever known as home.

because she was so frightened. she was afraid to go anyplace. never been in an airplane until she became a dreamer. now she has flown back here several times. mr. president, this is the right thing to do. we need to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, and we can only do that if the republicans in the house, led by speaker boehner, do the right thing. it's really important. i urge the house to stop wasting time and bring immigration to a vote. give families the opportunity to come forward and work toward legal status. it really, really is the right thing to do. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president?

the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: this week we recognize, as national police week. police week is a time to pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women in federal, state, and local law enforcement across our nation. law enforcement is one of our nation's highest callings, as brave peace officers put themselves on the line to defend the lives, safety, and property of their neighbors. therefore, it is entirely appropriate that we pause this week and throughout the year to thank them for their service. the nation's capital is host to thousands of police officers who have come to celebrate national police week with their fellow officers. no one but another peacekeeper or their families can truly grasp the duty of defending their communities, and no one

but another peacekeeper can truly know the joys of camaraderie and the sorrows of deep loss that each one has experienced. i want to especially recognize the many men and women of kentucky law enforcement. many of them have traveled to washington this week, and i'll have the pleasure of meeting with some of kentucky's finest and their families later today, including the he will list -- including the ellis family and the shaw family. i'm personally grateful to them for risking their lives in our defense. sadly, this occasion of national police week is also the time when we pay tribute to two brave and honorable police officers from the commonwealth of kentucky who have fallen in the line of duty in the past year. deputy sheriff chad d. shaw of the mccracken county sheriff's

office fatally suffered a heart attack in august of 2014. he was 47 years old. deputy shaw had been at the community christian academy in western kentucky near paducah helping coordinate security for a meeting among the faculty and staff to kick off the new school year when he collapsed and was immediately taken to baptist health in paducahment. tragically, it was too late for the u.s. army veteran and 12-year veteran of the mccracken county sheriff's office. mccracken county sheriff joe haydn as i said says that deputy shaw will always be remembered for his love h of his family, hs love of helping others and the way he did his job for the citizens he served. deputy shaw leaves behind a wife margaret and two daughters. i want to express my deepest condolences to them as well as

to members of the mac mccracken county sheriff's office and to all who knew deputy shaw, for the loss of this fine and good man who chose to wear the uniform of both his country and commonwealth and brought honor to both. i also wish to pay tribute to another kentucky officer lost to us in the last year, officer jason scott ellis of the bargetown police department. he was tragically killed on may 25 of last year. he was 33 years old. officer ellis was killed when he was en route home following his shift. he was in uniform and driving a marked vehicle. it is believed he was ambushed by a subject who deliberately placed debris in the middle of a roadway, causing officer ellis to stop and exit his vehicle. as officer ellis removed the debris, the killer or killers opened fire from a nearby

hilltop shooting him multiple times and killing him instantly. it is no exag exaggeration to cl this an assassination and maddeningly, the killer or killers are still at-large. officer ellis' tragic death marked the first time for this department for an officer to be killed in the line of duty. an an ward for the assassin or assassins has grown to over a quarter of a million dollars. commissioner rodney brewer of the kentucky state police pledges that his troopers will continuously investigate this heinous murder until an arrest is made. kentucky state police, bargetown police, and the federal bureau of investigation continue to seek the public's assistance with any detail, regardless of how small, regarding the evening of officer ellis' death, may 25,

2013. ellis was a huge asset to his force. he was not only a field-trained officer; he was also their own k-9 officer with his police dog figo. he fought illegal drug use in bargetown. who can forget one of the iconic pictures of 2013 that featured figo resting his paw on his partner's coffin. officer ellis was one of the top officers when it came to paycheckinarrestsand be making g problem. "he always made me feel like he was superman," said his wife, "that nothing, nothing, would ever happen to him." ellis made the ultimate sacrifice doing what he luffed, being a police officer.

he was a student in williamsburg, kentucky. at school he was a star baseball player, he set records for all-time career hits, doubles, home runs and career runs played. he wnts on t went on to play mie baseball from 2002 to 2005. even as star on the baseball diamond, coaches remember him talking about becoming a law enforcement officer. his wife said he was always a go-getter. he was dedicated to his job and he wanted to clean the streets up, and that was the way to get the drugs off the streets. officer ellis was a seven-year veteran of the bargetown police department. he leaves behind a grieving family, including his wife amy, his two young sons, two sisters, his mother and stepfather and many other beloved family members and friends. more than 300 people attended a

candlelight vigil for officer ellis shortly off his murder. on may 30 of last year, officer ellis was laid to rest in nelson county. fellow law enforcement officers from across kentucky and as far away as pennsylvania, ohio, and illinois came to pay their respects. hundreds of police cruisers helped to make up the funeral procession over those beautiful country roads of nelson county. over 1,000 people filled the church sanctuary to capacity with even more standing in the aisles to show their reverence and respect for officer ellis' service and his sacrifice. chief rick mccoven says this about his slaying. ytion it is basically a large family here and a the love these officers work together many years, so as you can imagine, they're very close. they know each other well. they know each other's families,

each other's children. it is a devastating hit." officer ellis' hit los s' loss a devastating loss to all of us throughout kentucky who respect and admire the men and women who wear a police uniform and make a solemn vow to defend the lives of others, even at the cost of their own. i want to express my deepest condolences to officer ellis's family, to the officers of bar bargetown police departmen depa. i'm relieved to say that for the grieving family members of officer ellis, deputy shaw and every peace officer lost in the line of duty across our nation, resources to help are available. one of those resources is cops -- or "concerns of police survivors, inc."

the kentucky chapter of cops has been at the forefront of sesqui this mission -- of serving this mission. last year kentucky cops hosted a law enforcement seminar for law enforcement agencies to learn how to deal with line-of-duty deaths. with 62 participants, it was one of the highest attended seminars that any cops chapter or organization has ever put on. this is an organization that does not forget, taking care of the families of our fallen law enforcement heroes long after their watches end. i'm proud of our bluegrass state police officers in take the lead to help our men and women deal with these tragic losses. as i've just related in these stories, any loss of a law enforcement officer is too great a price to pay for the families and communities they protect.

i'll be honored to meet with some members of the kentucky cops who are here in the nation's capital for police week today in my office. sheri brandt is the wife of officer douglas brandt who was tratragically killed back in 20. lauri strickland is the wife of james strickland of the kentucky police department who suffered a fatal heart attack on march 4, 2011, as a result of injuries sustained after restraining a suspect. and anthony janson is the son of an officer of the newport police department accidentally killed on september 30, 1984. his ton tony carries on his father's tradition, as he is himself now a police officer. so, mr. president, i am privileged to welcome all of these brave police survivors as well as the families of deputy

clay shaw and officer elly. s. i'm proud to be a cosponsor of the national blue alert act. this bipartisan legislation calls for what will be equivalentst the lent to a national amber alert system to efficiently share snftion with the public when an officer is seriously injured or killed. i know my colleagues join me in holding the deepest respect for officers across kentucky and the nation. we are grateful so many have come to town for national police week. we recognize theirs is both an honorable profession and a dangerous one, and we recognize that what they do is vitally necessary to maintain peace and order in a civil society. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the

senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 3474, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 332, h.r. 3474, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 and so forth. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, it pains me to say that almost every day brings a new story of purported scandals and a long list of failures and abuses within the department of veterans' affairs. the latest scandals are particularly painful to me because they emanate from texas, and we have a proud tradition of being a state that contributes one out of every uniformed military member from our state, and of course we have a huge

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