approximately 60,000 children. not 600,000 children. just barely enough to fill ravens stadium. we're only in a country of 300 million. we're talkingable about this. so i hope that we could move on this bill, meet our responsibilities to our neighbors in the west facing wildfires, an ally who is running out of interceptor rockets to protect itself, and really not only deal with the children and their quest to determine asylum status, but at the same time we really put the money in the federal checkbook to go where the crime and the criminals are, which is the narcotraffickers in central america. i'll have a more to say before we wrap up, but i now yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas.

mr. cruz: -- mr. president. mr. cornyn: the distinguished senator from maryland has described the president's request in what she has proposed and the appropriation committee has proposed in response. the problem with the response is it doesn't solve the underlying problem, which is a loophole in the 2008 law which is now being exploited as part of the business model of the cartels who smuggle children and other immigrants illegally from central america through mexico into south texas. and it makes no sense to me just to write a check for this surge, which i agree that there is money needed for additional judges, additional detention facilities and the like in some dollar figure, but if you don't solve the underlying problem, we're going to be back here months later and doing this all over again, and this of course is an emergency supplemental.

we'll be doing this emergency every two or three months, because what we have seen over the last couple of years is that the numbers of children coming into the country because of this loophole in the 2008 law i described a moment ago, the numbers have nearly doubled the last couple of years and there is projections that not just the 57,000 unaccompanied children who have been detained so far this year but that number could grow as high as 90,000 by the end of this year and 145,000 next year. and we're going to be in deep trouble, not to mention the crisis for these children who not only are going to be -- the capacity to deal with them at the border and the local communities there is overtaxed, but the fact that the border patrol is diverted from interdicting illegal drug traffic and other necessary

activities because they're taking care of these children who deserve to be taken care of, at least while they're in our protective custody. so this is not a solution to the problem, and i know that from meeting with the president -- i see the distinguished majority leader and the majority whip here. we all were invited over to the white house this morning to talk to the president about national security matters. my distinct impression was the president understands the nature of this problem and he conceded that we can't endlessly accept people who want to come to the united states from troubled regions of the world because it would simply overtax and overwhelm our capacity to deal with it. and that's why it is so important to have legal immigration. and i agree we need immigration reform. i don't agree that we need the gang of eight bill. but i'm committed to trying to fix our broken immigration system on a step-by-step basis when we next have an opportunity

to do so, but right now we have an emergency that's disproportionately affecting my state, the state of texas and our local communities, and our state is being overwhelmed, and it's the federal government's responsibility and the federal government needs to step up. that's why i agree some amount of money -- i don't agree it's $2.7 billion is the -- is an emergency, but at some level, we do need to come up with the money to deal with this emergency. but we can't just write a check because, as i have said, we will continue to come back, this crisis will be unabated, and in fact it will get worse. i mentioned earlier today the polling that i saw that miraculously said 68% of the american people disapprove of the way the president's handling this immigration crisis, which is a rather dramatic development. and i think all that the american people expect and

deserve from us is that we try to work together to solve this problem. congressman henry cuellar, my friend from laredo, texas, a self-described blue dog democrat and i have come up with one suggestion, the humane act. it's our proposal, and if anybody's got a better idea, we are all ears and all willing to consider that. but so far we have heard no alternative proposals and only a request to write a check for $2.7 billion. and i -- i think that would be irresponsible for us to only appropriate money and not deal with the underlying cause. so, madam president, i would ask unanimous consent to temporarily set aside the pending amendment so that i may call up my amendment 2747, which is at the desk. ms. mikulski: i object. mr. cornyn: madam president?

madam president, if i may? i told the floor, if i'm not mistaken. i just have a couple concluding comments, and then i will turn it back over. what we need to do is learn the lesson that we learned in 2005 and 2006, and in talking with secretary johnson, he understands this problem very well. and i know that the senator from arizona remembers this. in 2005, we saw a surge of what were at the time called o.t.m.'s, immigrants from countries other than mexico. and strangely enough, we saw a surge of 30,000 brazilians that were detained at our southwestern border. and what secretary chertoff came to learn is that a loophole that they were exploiting was the so-called catch and release at the time. they didn't have detention facilities. what would be done is they would be released essentially on their own recognizance and we would never hear from them. they would escape into the great american landscape. the same phenomenon is happening now with these unaccompanied

children because of that 2008 law that needs to be -- needs to be addressed so that they will remain in protective custody pending any court hearing which we would give on an expedited basis. if they have got a legal claim to stay, an asylum claim, a victim of human trafficking and the like, then the judge would determine that and those who do not would have to be returned to their home country. i think i heard the president say as much today. i certainly have heard secretary johnson and others say the same thing. that's what my amendment would do, and i'm sorry that the distinguished senator from maryland has seen fit to object to it. i think it virtually guarantees that we will leave here today without having solved the problem, and that is a tragic circumstance. ms. mikulski: madam president? if i could just respond to the senator from texas. first of all, my objection, i do not want it to be interpreted by

him or by the senate or those watching that it be a pugnacious dismissal of the gentleman's request. the distinguished senator from texas has always stood up for texas and he's also stood up for the protection of the border. he comes with an incredible background where he himself is a judge, a former judge at the highest court in texas. so i understand, and i have also heard him speak repeatedly about this plate of these children here -- this plight of these children here, and he has spoken with great compassion. he and i both agree that we shouldn't have open borders and open wallets, that we have to deal with this, but i say to my colleague that this bill is a money bill, it is an appropriation bill. we don't legislate on appropriation. there is no legislative language in this bill. that what the gentleman is

proposing working with the administration, with the judiciary committee on a bipartisan basis because i think there is a sentiment perhaps we could arrive at some other language, but on this bill, i objected because this would be legislating on appropriation, and the type of pragmatic approach that the gentleman from texas is proposing and we have some perhaps ideas, this cannot be done on this bill tonight with the urgent nature of it. so i want the gentleman from texas to know my great respect for him and his advocacy on this issue, and i know his heartfelt compassion for the children and his desire to have a broader immigration policy. so i look forward to working with him on legislative matters in a different forum. mr. cornyn: would the senator yield for a question? ms. mikulski: the senator would yield for a question. the presiding officer: the minority whip.

mr. cornyn: here is the conundrum we find ourselves in. the president has made a request for the money. the secretary of homeland security has said he needs more authority in order to deal with the problem, and what my proposal would do is give him that authority necessary to solve the problem. the senator from maryland has always been very kind and gracious, and i appreciate her response and i know of her compassion given her background particularly in social work that she has great compassion for these children, as we all do, but we have got a problem and we need to solve the problem. what's so confusing to me is when the house was considering a proposal which would combine both the policy changes together with some money to deal with them, the white house issued a notice of -- that it intended -- that the president would veto it if it were passed. so it seems to me that -- well, it's confusing, to say the least. so i am not sure how we get out

of this -- this place we're in. ms. mikulski: is that the gentleman's question? mr. cornyn: dysfunctional, but if the senator has a suggestion for how we get out of this dysfunction, i would like to hear it. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: thank you very much. we're eager to engage in conversation with each other. the -- it is the belief of the members of the judiciary committee -- at least the democrats on the judiciary committee -- that the president has enough current authority to provide what secretary johnson is asking. i, too, sir, have heard what secretary johnson has. so there is a dispute about whether he needs more authority or whether the president can exercise the authority that he has. we believe he already has enough authority. then there is two large issues. the two large issues are

immigration reform, commonsense sensible along the lines that passed the senate. senator mccain of arizona and others have worked on this, senator durbin. and then the other is what is going on in central america with these drug traffickers? and quite frankly our fact that we need to start to pay attention on our own hemisphere, i note that when everybody talks about how much money this is, it is less money than we're going to spend to -- to give to the afghan security force. okay. we give $4 billion to the afghan security force. let's hope they're going to use it and shoot in the right direction. i'm looking at making sure our country goes in the right direction, and i'm going to work on a bipartisan basis. i say pass this bill. let's put together a bipartisan task force and see if we can deal with these two problems of

both immigration reform to move it through both bodies and also bring our focus back to our own hemisphere and deal with the issues in central america. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: you know, madam president, i -- as i was watching the back and forth here on the floor of the senate, i couldn't help but notice that my three colleagues on the other side of the aisle there and i have roughly the same amount of time here in the united states senate. in fact, the distinguished majority leader, my friend from illinois and i came to the house together way back more than 30 years ago. when i came to this body and when they came to this body, we had leaders. we had leaders. and do you know what those leaders used to do?

they would say at the beginning of the week that we're going to take up a certain piece of legislation and we're going to work through it. we're going to do what the senate does. we're going to have amendments proposed and we're going to have votes on those amendments, and we're going to have the senate a deliberative and debating organization, praised as the greatest debating institution in the world -- although that probably isn't true -- and senator byrd, the distinguished majority leader, senator mitchell, the distinguished majority leader, do you know what they would say? senator lott, senator dole, do you know what they would say? they would say we're going to take up a bill and we're going to have amendments and we're going to have debate and we're going to have votes and then we're going to vote on final passage. for 30 years, that's how i have watched the united states senate function. now we have a humanitarian

crisis on our border, a humanitarian crisis of incredible proportion where thousands of young people, while they are being transported by these coyotes, young women are being raped, they are falling off trains, terrible things are happening, and what are we presented here in the united states senate? i say shame on you. i say shame on you for not allowing those of us who represent the states that are most affected by this to have an amendment, an amendment voted on. i mean, that -- that is unbelievable to me scham we put together -- and i say with great respect to the senator from maryland saying that we don't legislate on are appropriatio o. excuse me. excuse me. we have legislated a lot on aeption pros, mostly to my dis-maivmendis-dismay.

for year after year i've watched legislating on appropriations as a member of the defense authorization bill. it's caused me heartburn time after time after time. so please don't -- please -- i've been around here too long for you to tell me, well, we don't legislate on appropriations. i want to have some amendments debated. i want to be able to tell the people of my state that are being flooded by immigrants, i want to be able to tell them that i had a proposal representing them here in the united states senate and i wanted it debated and i wanted it voted on. is that a hell of a lot to ask here? i don't think so. i don't think so. this is a crisis of proportions that we have seldom seen the likes of which. i'm sure that the majority will come over and talk about republican obstructionism and that we can't get anything done

around here and we have now compiled a record, according to the experts, the least productive congress in history -- in history. so i'm supposed to go back to my home state of arizona, which is experiencing this terrific problem, horrific problems; my constituents are really angry; they expect me to come here representing them in the united states senate and debate and have their views and their desires and their ambitions and their representation here in the united states senate. and what have we done? what have we done? the parliamentary situation is that there will be no amendments that will be allowed to be debated or voted on, no matter what. the senator from maryland said, well, we don't legislate, we appropriate. we have some amendments on money that would either reduce or increase the amount of funding.

are we going to be able to have at that amendment voted on? hell no! we're not going to be able to have a single thing voted on, and everybody wants to get out of town, so sometime tonight or maybe tomorrow we're going to close up shop and we're going to go home. and the humanitarian crisis goes on -- it goes on. what about these children? are they going to be enticed by coyotes from their families to give a year's salary to transport them from one of these countries to the united states of america? are an untold number of young women going to be raped along the way? are there going to be kids that fall off these trains? is that what's going to happen? we're going to go for five wee weeks, without debate on a single amendment, not a single one. what kind of an institution is this?

what has happened since the days when the senator from nevada, the senator from illinois, and the senator from maryland and i came to this body, proud -- proud to be a member of an institution? i can remember time after time, the junior senator being able to come down here, propose an amendment, having it dis disposd of, usually losing. but at least i was representing the people of my state. now i can't represent them. i can't give them what they -- what they feel that they deserve here in the united states senate. so, in a second, i'll stop and i'll ask unanimous consent to set aside the amendment, so that the amendment that senator flake, my colleague from arizona, and i have put together after visiting our border, after talking to all of our constituents, after discussing the issue with our governor. we came here to represent them.

how can i represent them if i'm not allowed to express their beliefs and their ambitions and their desires to help solve this problem? how -- what do i go down to the ranchers in the southern part of my state and say, i'm sorry, there are people crossing your property every night. what do i say to the families of these people who are being separated? what am i supposed to tell my citizens that i represent that i came here to ask unanimous consent for something that i know is going to be objected to? what has happened to this body? what has happened to the united states senate? i ask my colleagues. so, i say that the approval rating of congress the last time i checked, was either in single

digits or low double dynel i thinks. and everybody kind of thinks, well, that's norm a it's not normal. i hearken back to the days when we first came here. our approval rating from the people of our country was 70%, 80%, maybe even a little lower. is all the fault on that side of the aisle? no. but i would say that the people in charge here have an obligation to allow all of us to represent the people that sent us here, and that's not happening today. it hasn't happened all year, and it may not happen until next january, where i am committed -- and i believe the majority of my conference is committed -- to bringing up legislation and having debate and having votes. that's the way the senate was supposed to function. so i know what's going to happen here in about 30 seconds, but i say -- i say to my colleagues,

this is not -- this is not right. this is not right. this is not the way that we're supposed to represent the people that we asked to send us here. to hel represent them. so senator flake and i have some pretty simple legislation here. it's got to do with the fact that, as the president said, it would modify the trafficking victims prevention reauthorization act. it would do some other things. it would provide for funds -- and i won't go through all the details of it, except to say that i know what's going to happen, but it's not right. it is not the right way for this institution to function, and we all should be a bit impair aced. madam president, i ask unanimous consent to temporarily set aside the pending amendment so that i may call up my amendment 3742,

which is at the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: reserving the right to object, and let me say at the outset, i have the highest respect for my colleague from arizona. we are friends and ka i a came e congress at the same time. we spent months together on the comprehensive immigration bill. i believe there were 130 amendments considered 20-to-that bivment i thought that was an orderly, thoughtful process. i hope we can return to it. i think that the senator -- mr. mccain: [inaudible] counts against my time. mr. durbin: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, this is what we're facing. the president has come to us facing a crisis at the border. he has not asked us to change the law enforcement he has asked us for the resources for the border patrol that has to process these children coming in

and for the health and human services agency, which once these children, some of whom are toddlers and infants, are in our country that they be treated humanely. he's asked for the resources for that you were. he's also asked us for some resources to get to the heart of the problem. the heart of the problem is not in the united states. the problem is in honduras, el salvador, and guatemala. and there is clearly a crisis situation there. what senator mikulski, the chairman of the senate appropriations committee, has done is to reduce the president's budget request by a billion, if i'm mott mistaken, and said we will respond to this emergency request with these resources and realize that more is going to be done. now, on the other side of the aisle, the senator from texas, the senior senator from texas, has come in and talked about changing immigration law. he was kind enough to acknowledge that we made an effort at changing immigration law right here hu in the senate

over a year ago with 6 votes. 14 republicans joined the democrats. the senator from texas acknowledged he didn't vote for t he would have voted fows for e most dramatically increase. he voted against it. i respect his judgment. to come to us today and say now we've got to vote again on border security -- he had a chance. the senate passed it. what happened to the exreengive immigration -- comprehensive iement immigration reform bill? it made it over to the house of representatives and disappeared in the vapor. it was never called for consideration. it isn't as if we've ignored the problems of immigration. we addressed them forthrightly in a bipartisan fashion this a comprehensive fashion and the house of representatives refused to even call i. the bill. let's go to this particular issue. the heart of the problem is clearly in three central american countries that are so

lawless that people are desperately sending their children to the united states of america. we have to deal with that issue and we are. the president has dealt with it. the vice president has visited those countries. last week the presidents of all three countries came here. stow say the president is doing nothing about the cause of the comprise is not accurate. the president is addressing it directly to discourage anymore children from thack making this journey. number two, i hope we all agree, no mercy for these smugglers. who are exploiting these families and sadly abusing many of these children. but, number three, and the president has made this point, we have an obligation. when a child is entrusted to you, people stand in judgment of how you treat that child. we have many children now entrusted to us on a temporary basis. the president has asked for money that they be treated humanely on a temporary basis.

not an unreasonable request. time and again, america has responded to crises around the world. families and children that are victim of war, earthquakes, tsunamis, virtually every natural disaster. we have been there. america has a reputation fo for being there. now the children are at our border. will we do anything less? what we are doing with the bill before us, splemmal bill, is providing enough money for humanitarian care and still working on the root causes of the problem. i think that's responsible. i hope -- i hope we do not leave here this week having failed to come up with this money. i hope we provide the pre-rye sources to this administration. i hope that my colleagues on a bipartisan basis will do two things: vote for this emergency appropriation and, secondly, let's join in a thoughtful discussion about how to pass a comprehensive immigration bill which includes this aspect,

asylees and refugees. i yield the floor. mr. mccain: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. cane can i thinmr. mccain: canee said enough. the way you have a thoughtful discussion is to have debate and amendments an votes. that's generally the accepted way. you want a thoughtful discussion, i want a thoughtful discussion. why can't we just accept the fact that we should go forward with our amendments and have debate and then that way we can best serve the american people? i yield the floor. mr. sessions: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: how much time is left on this side? the presiding officer: the republicans have eight minutes remaining. mr. sessions: madam president, the problem we have at the border today is the a direct result of the actions of the president of the united states in 2011 we had 6,000 young people come into america unlawfully and they were apprehended. now ware at 90,000.

it was because of his daca program. and his open statement that was heard throughout the world as, if you come to america as a young person, you'll be able to staivment that was exactly and i thoi some degree remains the situation. if you come to america as a young person from central america, not mexico, and you turn yourself in, you will be released on a permiso sor or a d or promise to reappear and people come up and pick up the children, and they stay. and this is no way to run a lawful system of immigration. and, you know, we offered a comprehensive bill to fix it. that bill was flawed. i opposed that bill. it was rejected by the house of representatives. i would say, with a great confidence, that because the house of representatives rejected the bill, that members of this senate supported, that the president of the united states reported, does not mean thereby that the president of

the united states can do what the bill said. when it was rejected and did not become law, it takes both houses to pass a piece of legislation. the bill would not have been worked, would not have been effective and the people of the united states through their elected representatives did not allow it to become law. so, i would point out this, colleagues, that this administration, amazingly, has announced its intention to bypass congress and to implement an executive amnesty by fiat. this would include as has been widely reported five million to six million work permits and legal status for illegal immigrants into america. this is contrary to congress' decision. congress has not approved that. but congress has approved a law

that says it's unlawful for somebody in the country for example to work, if they're not here lawfully. you can't work in the united states. you're not approved for work. the president is saying he's going to give them legal status and a permission to work, contrary to plain law. this is very serious. this action would be in violation of the immigration and nationality act, it would be an executive nullification of our laws and the protections that american workers are entitled to. congress must not surrender to such lawlessness. it's been in half a dozen papers. "the wall street journal" two days ago. millions of people by executive action of the president. it's unbelievable to be so open and bold about this. as if he thinks maybe this would intimidate congress, to force us to adopt the legislation

congress has rejected. so we have the power, the power of the purse, to stop it. that's the appropriate response of congress. the president proposes something that's improper and outside of law, when we have powers, co-equal branches of government, we can respond and we should use the power of the purse. senator cruz has filed an amendment to this bill that would prohibit the executive expenditures by the president of any funds of administrative amnesty -- for administrative amnesty or work authorization for unlawful immigrants. however, the majority leader with the support of his conference has blocked all amendments to this border supplemental. if we do not stop this presidential action, we will ensure that the border crisis continues a catastrophe. the president's planned action would also represent a total breach of our constitutional system, and it would be a

hammer blow to millions of unemployed american citizens. and we do have the power to stop this. we ought to stop it. we have a duty to congress, we have a duty to the rule of law, we have a duty to the constitution. what we can do today by voting yes on my motion to clear the amendment tree and to consider an im-- and pass senator cruz's amendment, would fix this problem. it would say, mr. president, you're not authorized to take -- utilize any money of the united states government to spend on a program to grant amnesty and work permits to millions. the vote we are about to have will be a vote on whether to support the president's illegal amnesty or to block it. it will be a vote to allow us to vote on it. because right now the tree is filled and we can't vote, so i'm going to be asking to table what's on the tree, clear that amendment out so we can vote on this amendment.

and we'll have a vote on it. everyone in this chamber will cast a vote before this whole nation, and reveal whether they stand for our laws, for our border sovereignty, or whether they stand in support of the president's illegal activities in truth. so there's a number of cosponsors who support this amendment, i think it's the right thing to do and we'll be asking for that later today. colleagues, in addition the administration has announced its intention to bypass congress and according to the associated press, "wall street journal," "time" magazine and others with as many as five million to six million of these work permits. unfortunately, the bill before us, however, is a -- merely a blank check to perpetuate the failure of this administration to fix the problems at the border.

this can be done, colleagues. it is not impossible. it's not hopeless. you simply need a president who wants it to happen. he's been sued by his own i.c.e. officers saying that they are being blocked from doing their duty, and they asked a court to give them relief and tell their supervisors to quit telling them to violate the law and not enforce the law. that's amazing. it's amazing. morale is in the tank. the current crisis on the border can be attributed to specific actions taken unilaterally by the president after his 2012 executive executive order the number of unaccompanied unemployment insurance apprehended at the border jumped from 7,100 in 2011 to nearly 15,000 in 2012 and now we've already hit more than 57,000 heading to 90,000. estimates suggest approximately 32,000 unaccompanied unemployment insurance are

projected -- minors are projected to cross the border in the remaining no, sir of this fiscal year. with this egregious supplemental before us, that would equal more than $110,000 per child coming into the country. and, by the way, this border supplemental provides the homeland security with --. the presiding officer: the time has expired. mr. sessions: i ask consent for one additional minute. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sessions: i thank my colleagues. and we do have good colleagues here and we have great, robust debate and i appreciate the chairman of the committee, senator mikulski. moreover, this border supplemental provides the department with unlimited transfer authority of $1.1 billion, an unlimited ability to -- of up to $1 billion. th it becomes really a slush fund in that sense, they can use it for anything.

finally, the border supplemental would provide an he additional $1.2 billion to the department of homeland security. so i am raising a point of order and i'm making sure a motion, i'm sure a motion to waive will be heard, but make no mistake, a vote to suspend the budget rules and to block my point of order is a vote for the president's amnesty, it's a vote for continued chaos. and i urge my colleagues to sustain it. the bill before us today is in clear violation of the budget, all the money is borrowed money and it violates the budget and i raise that point of order. ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: the parliamentary question, did the senator from -- the gentleman from alabama raise a point of order, a budget point of order? did the gentleman from alabama

raise a budget point of order? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i have not raised it at this point, but i do intend to and i thought we had an understanding so we could make the votes occur at the agreed-upon time. mr. mikulski: do you want to raise it now? i say to the gentleman from alabama, do you want to raise it now or do you want to raise it later? mr. sessions: i would raise that later. ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: i know the gentleman from illinois wishes to respond. how much time do the democrats have in this debate? the presiding officer: the democrats have nine minutes remaining. ms. mikulski: i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from illinois have four minutes to offer a rebuttal and i have five

minutes for the wrap-up debate before we move to vote. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: the senator from alabama joins the senator from texas coming to the floor of the united states senate complaining about the state of immigration laws in america. they have in common the fact that they both voted against comprehensive immigration reform. when we had a chance in committee, which the senator from alabama and the senator from texas serve on, and on the floor to offer amendments and change the bill accordingly, both of them at the end of the day voted against comprehensive immigration reform. now, over a year later, they come and complain about the state of law when it comes to immigration in america. i can't have it both ways. he could have participated with us in changing the law in a positive fashion. they chose not to. they wanted to wait until a year later and complain about president obama not meeting his obligation. when it comes to comprehensive

immigration reform, the senate met its obligation and those who voted for it did as well. it was the house of representatives that failed to call the bill. and now the senator from alabama says the reason the children are coming to our border is because president obama signed an executive order that says you were a child that was brought to the united states before august 15, 2012, that you could qualify to be benefited by this order, not deported under daca, on a temporary basis. now, that has nothing to do with any child that comes after that date. they're not even covered by that order, they're not protected by that order. to blame president obama for the children coming to the border is to ignore the obvious. the law that brings these children to the border was a law signed by president george w. bush in 2008. that's the law that governs the treatment of these children. everything has to be blamed on

president obama from that side of the aisle. in this case, the law was signed by president george w. bush. i happen to believe that this daca executive order by the president was thoughtful and humane. here's what it said -- if you were brought to the united states before the age of 16 as a child, you lived in the united states and finished high school with no criminal record of any magnitude, you would be allowed to stay in the united states on a temporary basis and not deported. i have met these children, they are many of them who are growing into magnificent contributors to america. doctors, engineers, teachers. they beg to join our military. these are not what they're characterized to be. these are young people who believe this is their homeland, this is their country, and all they're asking for is a chance. president obama gave them that chance. and the republicans time and again, senator sessions, now later senator cruz, can't wait

to deport all these children who have gone through high school, gone through college, and only aspire to be contributors to the future of america. that is the republican party position for some, deport these children. we don't want them in our country any longer. that's their position. that's not the position of the majority of americans. they deserve a chance to prove themselves and earn their way to legal status and to blame them for this border crisis is unfair. i yield the floor. ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: madam president, was we begin to close -- as we begin to close out this part of the debate, i want to say this legislation is deeply -- the issues that i'm advocating are deeply personal to me, and i believe deeply personal to other senators. when i talk about the fact that we have to fund help for the

wildfires in several states and help them be able to help themselves by replenishing the money for the forest service, i'm reminded of the fact that a great writer by the name of de tocqueville came to the united states to hear what is this thing called democracy. he wrote that famous book "democracy in america" and in it he called forth for something that he observed. he said what sets america apart is its habits of the heart, that it helps neighbor helping neighbor. now, we used to do that through barn raising, pancake suppers but my gosh, these issues have gotten too big, too horrific. we now have thousands of acres burning, homes being destroyed, businesses being destroyed. we need to be able to help our neighbors in the west, and i say to my colleagues from the

west, i appreciate all the support you've given we on the east coast who faced hurricanes. we didn't say we practice zip code politics, that we only help one part of the country when you're facing a disaster. habits of the heart, de tocqueville said that's what defines us. we need to now help that. this issue now in terms of the israelis and iron dome began for me right after i was elected to the congress and when i traveled to poland i went to auschwitz and saw forever and a day six until jews exterminated. why they needed a homeland forever, a homeland safe and secure. now they're asking for help to replenish the interceptor rockets on the eve of the warsaw ghetto uprising where people fought with sticks, stones, and children crawled through

sewers to defend themselves, we're going to not fool around here, we're going to delay until we come back from a five-week break. it's -- israel needs to have -- israel is the homeland for the jews. we need to help them defend themselves. and then this comes our own country. my journey in central america, mr. president, began as a brand-new member of congress when four mary knollnunns were raped and killed by the death scalds in el salvador. i watched a brilliant, charismatic bishop named oscar ramiro killed and gunned down in his andral and then we got around to looking at central america and what was going on, we were worried more about communism than the rise of violence. for 30 years we've been up and down in central america. we have inherited the wind.

our way of ignoring this -- these three countries by turning a blind eye, by always looking elsewhere in the world, if we have $4 billion to arm the afghan security forces, i think we ought to back our border patrol, back our f.b.i., back our law enforcement to go after organized crime in central america because if we don't, it will be an additional threat, it won't only be the children. and now we have the children crossing the border, 60,000. i understand that texas and arizona is facing the -- the border states are facing this problem. we do want to work together. but could we in the final minutes of this congress get ourselves together enough to meet the urgent supplemental request to do this? this is what america is.

this is who we are, helping our neighbors in the west, helping a country fighting for its survival, and also helping our own country dealing with the crisis in central america facing our border. mr. president, i think it's time that we pass this legislation, move forward, and come back and deal with the crisis there and also at the same time take a good look at immigration reform and do it in the way i think we can do it. so, mr. president, how much time do i have left? the presiding officer: the senator has 10 seconds remaining. ms. mikulski: with that i really urge the adoption of this bill and hope that we can move forward as a united, bipartisan congress, and i yield the floor and yield back what time i might have. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: mr. president, this is a $2.7 billion bill,

all money borrowed. as a result of a crisis that the president has created at the border, money this country does not have and there's zero policy changes in it. mr. president, republicans on the floor today and have filed and argued for a number of amendments and attempted to offer them that are focused on critical policy changes to strengthen this legislation and make it more effective. unfortunately, the parliamentary maneuver has been executed, the tree is filled, the amendment tree is filled, and we have been prevented from offering any amendments at all. that are necessary to establish a lawful system of immigration that works and that we can be proud of. so, mr. president, i would move to table the reid amendment on the tree, 3751, for the

purpose of offering the cruz amendment. this amendment would prohibit the president of the united states from expending any funds to unilaterally provide amnesty and work authorizations for millions of people as has been reported in the press, and i ask the -- the cruz amendment is 3720 and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? the senator from maryland. oh, there appears to be. there appears to be. the yeas and nays are mandatory. the senator from maryland. the presiding officer: the motion carries. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk will call the roll on the motion to table.

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: do any senators desire to vote or change their votes? if not, the ayes are 43, the nays are 52. the motion to table is not agreed to. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that all remaining votes be 10 minutes in duration. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. sessions: mr. president,. the presiding officer:. in tropical storm alabama. mr. sessions: the pending measure, s. 2648 -- the presiding officer: order in the chamber. the senator from alabama is recognized.

mr. sessions: a bill providing emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year 2014 contains a number of provisions in violation of the budget act and spends in violation of the budget act and specifically it contains matter within the jurisdiction of the budget committee that was not reported or discharged from the budget committee, therefore i raise a point of order against the measure pursuant to section 306 of the congressional budget act. ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mrs. mikulski: pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974 i move to waive all applicable sections of that act for the purposes of the pending bill and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: the --. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to waive. the clerk will call the roll.

the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, first of all the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the senator from maryland is recognized. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to specific up to three minutes in support of my motion to waive. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the senator has the floor. ms. mikulski: the bill that is before the senate --. the presiding officer: please take conversations out of the chamber. ms. mikulski: the bill that is before the senate contains $3.57 billion of emergency spending, a reduction of $1 billion to help fund the care for the children seeking refuge and fight the criminal traffickers at the border, we fund wildfires for our states and we also help israel

replenish its interceptor rockets. what happens if the motion to fail waives? if the senate fails to waive the point of order the bill will go back to the appropriations committee but the urgent need will remain. the senate fails to waive the point of order, agencies will take from other programs to fund this compelling need. what does -- what does that mean? it means that h.h.s. which has already cut $138 million from the national institutes of health, centers for disease control and others. we could have an even even -- an e. bowla crisis -- e.bola in and we're cutting c.d.c. and other agencies. please, look at what we're doing. homeland security is also spending resources that would otherwise be used to secure the border, like fema disaster

leave money has to be there if we have a hurricane. simply put, failing to act is irresponsible. let's waive the budget act, let's get on with the bill and let's do our job. mr. president, i yield back my time. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i would ask consent to are two additional minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. sessions: i respect highly --. the presiding officer: the chamber will come to order. the senator from alabama is recognized. mr. sessions: by note every penny of this bill is borrowed, none of it is funded through offsets or other sources of income. this country has to be more careful about those kind of things. the bill needs to go to the budget committee, it did not -- did not get approved properly there and by note again, it is all borrowed. it does not make any policy changes. i think we all should stand firm

to reject this amendment, this bill, and to sustain the budget point of order. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to waive. the yeas and nays were previously ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: do any senators desire to vote or change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 50, the nays are 44. three-fifths of the senate duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. mr. reid: mr. president, could we have order.

the presiding officer: and the point of order is sustained. please, there will be order in the chamber. the majority leader. 123450 mr. reid: mr. president, it's regretful that the republicans have blocked the senator from addressing the urgent needs -- mr. president, we need people to be quiet. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. take all conversations out of the chamber. the majority leader. the presiding officer: mr. presi -- mr. reid: could the conversations in the well be dispensed with? the presiding officer: all conversations in the well will cease. the majority leader. mr. reid: thank you a lot. senator mikulski has worked very hard on this urgent supplemental. it's very regretful that we're not able to move forward on it. but, mr. president, i would like to address at least two, what i

believe are urgent needs. i understand that republican senators are unwilling to fund the proposed response to the crisis that we have at the border, but certainly couldn't we agree that we have a situation in the western part of the united states that is very, very difficult? we responded and we've had problems in the south with hurricanes, in the west with hurricanes, in the east with hurricanes. we have a problem in the west. we have fires that are raging all over the west. we have a fire in washington that's been burning for weeks, plural. hundreds of homes have been burned. oregon, we have 400,000 acres that are burning. california has a couple big fires. nevada has fires. fires started in i understand idaho a day or two ago. thousands and thousands of

firefighters are there. the temperatures are rising. we have a drought all over the western part of the united states. fires have gotten more and more difficult to fight and more expensive. and they have been easier and easier to start. we're in dire need of additional funds. that's why this is part of the emergency supplemental. this is an emergency. the west, i repeat, is burning. the funds we seek would ensure that we protect life and property in the west without drank funds from other -- draining funds from other programs to help us stop this destructive wildfire cycle. mr. president, another urgent need. we've all watched as the tiny state of israel, our friend, who is with us on everything, they have -- they have had in the last three weeks 3,000 rockets fired into their country.

3,000. iron dome, as i have spoken here on the floor, has done a good job, but it doesn't cover israel. they are a -- they are mobile units, and they move them around as well as they can. they depend on iron dome. the system works 90% of the time, not all the time. last week, secretary of defense chuck hagel asked for $225 million in emergency funding so that israel's arsenal as it relates to the iron dome could be replenished. it's clear this is an emergency, and we should be able to agree on that, and that's why i make the following unanimous consent request. first of all, so everyone understands, i'm going to make a request that we have emergency funding for the wildfires in the west and the money that i have talked about for israel and iron

dome. so i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to calendar number 220, h.j. res. 76, a mikulski substitute amendment at the desk providing emergency appropriation for iron dome defense system in israel and combating wildfires in the western states be agreed to. the joint resolution as amended be read a third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas, the assistant republican whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, reserving the right to object, the president has called the crisis at the border a humanitarian crisis. if that's not an emergency, i don't know what is. but as a result of the majority leader's refusal to allow us to offer any constructive suggestions to reform the law to stop this flow of humanity across our borders and actually solve the problem, the supplemental has now fallen to a

budget point of order. likewise in this unanimous consent request to fund iron dome and wildfires exceeds the budget caps and the border patrol act and it's subject to a budget point of order. therefore, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i'm, frankly, not surprised that this objection has been made. it's too bad. but i ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to the consideration of calendar number 220, h.j. res. 76, and a mikulski substitute amendment at the desk providing emergency appropriation for combating wildfires in the western states be agreed to, that the joint resolution as amended be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. this relates just to the wildfires. the presiding officer: is there objection to the request?

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: reserving the right to object. mr. president, i agree like the crisis at the border, the wildfires in the midwestern states represent a genuine emergency and something we should address, but inasmuch as this consent asks for money that would break the budget caps in the budget control act and is subject to a budget point of order, i must object. the presiding officer: the majority leader? mr. reid: mr. president, this is an emergency. there are no budget caps involved with an emergency and everyone knows that. so anyway, i'm shocked that anyone in this chamber would stop us from getting these critical funds to fight these fires that i have outlined on a very preliminary basis. and of course to help defend israel. mr. president, by requesting this amendment, i'm really disappointed that it's been

rejected, but i have one more and then we can go on to something else. i ask consent the senate proceed to calendar number 220, that a reid-mcconnell substitute amendment at the desk providing emergency funding for the iron dome defense system in israel be agreed to, that the joint resolution as amended be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there okay? the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: mr. president, reserving the right to object, i wonder if the senator would modify his request to include a coburn amendment to provide an offset for this bill? mr. reid: i'm sorry? mr. coburn: would the senator from nevada, the majority leader, the esteemed majority leader consider an amendment that would modify his request that would provide an offset for this bill? the presiding officer: does the majority leader agree to modify his request? mr. reid: reserving the right to object, mr. president,

mr. president, this is an emergency. we have one of our -- our number one ally -- at least in my mind -- is under attack. if this isn't an emergency i don't know anything that is, so i refuse to modify my request. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. is there objection to the original request? the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the majority leader. mr. reid: the senator's amendment would cut the united states assessed contributions to nato, world health organization and now as we speak they are fighting to control the ebola outbreak in central africa. our peace corps volunteers have been called home from three different countries. the amendment of the senator, my friend from oklahoma, would cut the international civil aviation organization which is now investigating what took place in the ukraine that killed 298 people. so even if you don't like the u.n., the senator's amendment would cut unicef funds that help

the world's poorest children. the senator's amendment would cut the u.n. volunteer fund for victims of for tour. -- of torture. now, that says it all, mr. president. i have no more to say. mr. coburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i just note, everybody should know that the u.n. gets well over $7 billion of money every year from this congress, the american people, with absolutely no accountability. there's no transparency on how it's spent. there's no accountability. they are not held accountable for how it's spent. and the oversight that we've done over the past six or seven years shows that the waste associated with the money that's sent to the u.n. is at least 30%. at least 30%. when you do the actual oversight of it. so we can talk about specifics. we could take a small portion from everything, i don't care. or i'll offer another pay-for.

but the fact is we don't get any accountability of the money that this country sends to the u.n. today. go see if you can find it. you can't. you will not be able to find it. i want to fund israel. i want to supply. i also want to make sure our children have a future. and it's not hard to find $225 million out of $4 trillion. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: pursuant to the previous order, i call for the senate to proceed to the veterans' conference report. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the conference report to accompany h.r. 3238. the clerk: conference report to accompany h.r. 3230, the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the amendment of the house to the amendment of the senate to the bill h.r. 3230, making continuing appropriation and so forth, having met have

agreed that the senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the house and agree to the same with an amendment, and the house agree to the same, signed by a majority of the conferees on the part of both houses. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona? is recognized. mr. mccain: what's the parliament situation? -- parliamentary situation? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is to be recognized to raise a point of order. mr. coburn: mr. president.

the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: let me -- let me just say, first of all, i voted for the bill when it left here, with the hope that we could really accomplish something, and we did accomplish some things, but it came back with $12 billion unpaid for. and because of that, i raise a point of order against the emergency designation provision contained in section 803-b of the conference report for h.r. 3230, the veterans access to care through choice, accountability and transparency act of 2014, pursuant to section 403-e-1 of the fiscal 2010 budget resolution s.con. 13, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: pursuant to the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions and section 43-g of the statutory pay as you go act of 2010, i move to waive

all applicable sections of those acts and applicable budget resolutions for purposes of the pending conference report, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the question -- the question is on the motion to waive. the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr. president, i will speak very briefly. i mainly come here on the floor -- the presiding officer: there will be order in the chamber. the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: to thank the senator from vermont and my goo friend from north carolina on the hard work they and members of the veterans' affairs committee have done on this issue. i greatly respect my dear friend from oklahoma and his concern, but i would have to say to my colleagues if there was ever a definition of an emergency, that emergency faces us today because

our veterans are not receiving the care that we owe them as a nation. there are veterans who are dying as we speak for lack of care. there is gross mismanagement. there is problems that will take our new secretary of veterans' affairs literally years to fix, and i am proud that in this legislation there is choice and there is the ability of the secretary of veterans' affairs to fire people that are not doing their job. those are the important aspects aspects -- most important to me because i think we can change the veterans' -- the veterans administration, but the present situation cries out for immediate action. obviously, there were parts of this legislation that i didn't agree with. obviously, there were parts of the senator from vermont -- that the senator from vermont didn't agree with. but the hard work put together by the senator from north carolina and the senator from

vermont i am very proud to say we bring before you a way to put a final stamp on beginning to end. this is not the beginning of the end. this is the beginning of the beginning of our effort to help those men and women who have defended our nation with honor and dignity, and we owe them that. so i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of a waiver of the budget act and to vote in favor of this legislation. i thank my colleagues. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president, yesterday the house voted 420-5 for this conference report. they understood that taking care of veterans, as senator mccain just indicated, the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend us, who have survived so much -- sacrificed so much that this is a