british house of commons as members move on to other business. you have been watching prime minister's question time aired live wednesdays at 7:00 eastern when parliament is in session. you can see this week's session again sunday night at 9:00 eastern pacific on c-span. for more information go to c-span.org and click on series for every program we aired since october of 1989. we invite your comments about prime minister's questions via twitter, hashtag pmq. the white house has announced the current dac a program will expire in march. republican senators have proposed a bill to provide legal standards for immigrants in the program talking about the proposal on the senate floor. >> mister president i want to make a few brief remarks regarding the introduction of

the security enforcement and compassion united and reform efforts. we have selected the acronym secure for this piece of legislation we are introducing today. this bill promotes and protects the interests of the american people in the lawful immigration system and provides a fair and equitable solution on the verdict and for child arrivals, everybody in the senate knows that by the acronym daca. it is a product of several months of hard work between this senator and senators cornyn, graham, tillis, lankford, purdue and cotton. before the days out and the senate closes down, you will hear from almost all those folks on their approach to this

legislation and their support for it. before i discuss what the bill does, i want to explain the process we have used to this point. on september 5, 2017, attorney general sessions announced that donald trump had decided to rescind former president obama's unlawful executive amnesty program. almost 700,000 young people relied on president obama's false promise, the trump administration called upon congress to do what the president doesn't have the legal authority to do, to find the only real type of long-term solution to this issue and we are here because that is a legislative solution and not

something that the executive branch thinks up and tries to put in place. starting in september i have held multiple meetings with senators cornyn hologram, tillis, lankford, purdue and cotton to determine how best to fix daca. our aim was to find a solution that not only is fair for daca recipients but also promotes the interests of the american people. the immigration policies of the previous administration carry consequences that weren't always in our best interests. for example president obama allowed thousands of people to illegally cross our borders and stay in our country including dangerous gang members, sex

offenders and violent criminals. so robust border security is crucial to bring integrity back to immigration enforcement. the enforcement policies of the previous administration enabled dangerous unauthorized criminals, individuals like kate stinle's killer to have free reign risking innocent americans, the flagrant disregard of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions unfairly take tech dollars from hard-working americans only to ignore the rule of law and their own people's public safety. in crafting our bill we also consider the unfairness in

adjudication system and how hundreds of thousands of aliens waiting backlogs for years, that is wrong, hurts the people stuck in the backlog. and legal immigrants to bear the burden of supporting these people while they wait. finally, thanks to the leadership of senators graham, purdue, and cotton, we discussed in our small group of senators the need for merit-based immigration system, one where we bring people to this country based on what they can contribute and not simply because they have some attenuated family relationship to a legal immigrant who was

already here. so after having these discussions and after meeting with the president to get his input and his support, we have come up with a plan. this plan is fair to all parties, pro-american and a solution to daca. our plan, as i said, by the acronym secure act of 2017, provides a solution to all of the issues we discussed. building off of the hard work and leadership of senator cornyn, we are putting days of porous uncontrolled borders behind us by mandating construction of tactical and technological infrastructure at the border, beefing up

law-enforcement and judicial resources and putting more boots on the ground in the border states to better apprehend and prosecute those who enter our country illegally. our plan takes meaningful steps to end the lawlessness and tragedies at the hands of dangerous criminal aliens through our country. we do this by cracking down on sanctuary cities, ending the misguided catch and release policies of the previous administration and finally taking real steps on visa overstays. in recognition of many americans who lost their lives to criminal aliens we included kate's law named after kate steinle murdered by criminal so

in her back into our country five times. this legislation enhances penalties for repeat legal crosses and expands the inaccessibility and expedited removal of terrorists, gang members, aggravated felons and drunk drivers. we also provide a fix to the disastrous decision so that the government doesn't keep releasing dangerous criminals onto our streets just because their home country's refusal to take responsibility. our bill take steps to eliminate many of the factors that encourage people to immigrate illegally. we do this by permanently

authorizing the e-verify program and providing immunity and other incentives to encourage small business to participate in that e-verify program. we take meaningful steps to reduce immigration court and silent adjudication backlogs by hiring more judges and personnel, limiting the number of continuances, an immigrant can receive, and imposing new safeguards to combat well-documented fraud and abuse. thanks to the leadership and advocacy of senators graham, urdu and cotton our bill eliminates the phenomena and known as chain migration. from the day this bill becomes law, immigrants will only be able to bring their spouses and

minor children into the country. this bipartisan, pro-american worker reform which the president strongly supports is an important first step for creating merit-based economically productive immigration system democrats and republicans want. finally and most importantly, we provide a bipartisan solution to protect undocumented young people brought to the united states as children by adopting a bill, i will give you the title, by the acronym bridge, bar removal of individuals who dream and grow our economy. senator durbin called the bridge act, quote, an

opportunity for supporters and critics of daca to come together and address a compelling humanitarian issue on a bipartisan basis. we agree with senator durbin. the bridge act is supported by senators graham, durbin, jill a brand, murkowski, feinstein, nelson, flake, schumer and harris. it would provide relief from deportation and work authorization to daca recipients, allowing them to continue to fulfill their dreams and they will continue to contribute to our economy. as you can see, mister president, our plan has fair bipartisan provisions. by listening to colleagues and adopting solutions both sides can agree on we are providing a real solution to the

immigration issues our country is facing. our plan protect the daca kids and crackdown on criminal illegal aliens and provides real long-term reform to our nation's immigration system that benefit the american people and does so through the legislative process. a constitutional way unlike a previous president tried to do this providing greater certainty, american immigrants alike. that is all the more reason to pass this bill and promises, and the daca recipients.

and their staffs especially, developing the solution. and we see donald trump sign it into law as he asked us to do and i see two of my colleagues, senator lankford and senator tillis are here, and thank you very much, i yield the floor. >> senator from north carolina. >> solve and must solve. describing the technical aspects of the secure act and the bridge act, to create the secure act i want to back up and talk about what we are

trying to do. and efforts that we introduced this bill. and the program was not implemented in 2012 by president obama. what president obama sought to do was provide some certainty, from young adults and children brought across the border not through their own decisions for their parents and guardians, illegally president in the united states. they are still protected under daca but the president announced on september 5th that on march 5th the program would end. thousands of young men and women in certain about future status, the other side of the

equation, and other people in this body, interior enforcement. back in early or late winter i spent a week on the southern border and i went to the rio grande sector, spoke with a lot of people at the land port, hundreds of thousands of people cross every day and we listen to their concerns about things we need to do to secure the border. there are two debate in congress right now and i don't embrace either of the extremes. there is the one extreme that says build a big beautiful wall that is to mile-long. it is impractical and not necessary. there the other extreme that says we don't need borders, we need bridges, that is unpractical and unsafe. we need border security so we know who is in this country and have an orderly way to move between our countries, someone

who wants to come and work or visit the united states and returning legal fashion. the other thing to look at in border security that is overlooked, the humanitarian crisis with an unsecured border. one of the numbers that stuck with me and there were so many we covered with border security, two numbers, one that is most heartbreaking, 10,000 people died crossing the border and secure sicily, 10,000 bodies have been recovered as a result and not finding their way to a safe case. unless we have people, technology and infrastructure to know who is trying to cost we can protect them even if it means taking them into custody, at least they will be alive.

there is another statistic that was important to me too, discussion we had in border security down in laredo, one of the big land ports people cross every day, they confiscate 400,000 doses, that is where they confiscate. it is only a minor percentage of illegal drugs that are crossing the border, more people, technology and infrastructure to capture people crossing the border, poisoning nations youth, or people of all nations, there's a reason for border securities,

technology, infrastructure, and a productive discussion how they provide compassionate sustainable solution to the children, and the decisions for adult guardians. that is what this bill, the secure act is sitting forward. we are trying to get a productive discussion going with democrats and republicans who will recognize that a balanced bill that provides border security, provides a sustainable solution for the daca population and get it done before march 5th. some people want to play brinksmanship because they are set in their mind how they want the bill to look. what worries me about a bill where you use timing, a budget agreement or some other device to get the build on doesn't necessarily produce bipartisan outcome that you can be sure will be on the books. those types of bills, those types of quick gotcha actions are bill someone will try to come back to and repeal or revise. we want a sustainable solution

that will work and give certainty to this population for the rest of their lives. the bridge act does that. i want to thank senator lankford, we are full of acronyms here. sometimes they say we are full of other things that we are full of acronyms and the succeeded act is another bill i think many of its provisions will be considered as we go through the negotiation process to get a bill to the president's desk. the bill we sponsored is called succeed, a solution for undocumented children through careers, employment, education, like bridge act in that we go to the daca population and we know something about the daca population that is often overlooked, is a great group of people, less than 2 million, many are working hard, going to school, serving in the military, they do their an opportunity to provide a way to recognize -- legally present in

this country. what i hope my democrat colleagues will do who endorsed the bridge act and there are many of them, senator grassley ran through the list, i won't do it again, let's solve this problem and except there are people on the far left who will stand on one issue at the expense of letting march 5th pass and have the daca population at risk. let's tell the people on the far right who want nothing less than full deportation that is not going to happen. let's let people in the center who want to come up with a sustainable, compassionate solution that is paired up with border security measures and interior enforcement provide a solution for this population. my colleagues who worked together if it chairman grassley has led are committed to working with democrats to come up with a reasonable solution. my colleague, senator lankford,

we hope everybody will recognize this is for our nation's security and the security and certainty of the daca population. if we tried set out to accomplish those goals, very successful and we can start building on that dialogue and so many things we need to talk about when it comes to interior enforcement and immigration reform. i yield the floor. >> mister president. >> senator from obama. >> i'm honored to be here talking about immigration. this has become a contentious issue that as soon as you say immigration there is a group of people that start screaming amnesty on every public conversation and another group screaming thugs taking latina grandmothers out of their homes and the whole conversation

diminishes and we lose the policy issues that are in place. there are obvious problems with immigration. we have not taken those issues on in decades. they need to be resolved. every year they are not resolved this issue gets harder and more complicated. we should address the issue of immigration. the conversation has been out there and remains unresolved. i challenge this body in the next week the month let's resolve the big issues on immigration. four years ago in central america a group of other senators and house members were meeting with central america leaders and meeting with him to talk about immigration and those individuals leaving those countries coming to the united states illegally but also to meet with him in central america to determine what do they do for immigration? multiple countries in the

conversation talking about how they were increasing their border requirements and their borders, how they were managing their workforce in their country, how individuals from other central american countries were traveling to their country and changer with rob -- job structure and pay structure. we got disbelief the immigration issue is only an american issue. every country in the world deals with immigration because every country in the world has the right and responsibility to know who is in their country. are they citizens, are they noncitizens? i should have the ability to know who is coming in as a guest and to be able to say yes or no. that is a basic right. that becomes lost in this conversation. when we fly anywhere else in the world we have a visa or passport because when we enter the country that country requires it because the country when we land onces to know who

is in their country, where they are. that seems normal to us when we talk about travel but it gets lost in this issue of immigration. this should be a normal conversation that our country would know who is in the country, we know where they are and we would know when they are leaving. after the 9/11 commission finished they challenged our nation to resolve one of the issues of immigration that is still unresolved to this day, entry exit visas. why can we not know if a person comes in under a legal visa, we don't know when they leave. that is unresolved a decade and a half later and year after year when i talked to homeland security, year after year they said we are doing a pilot project and year after year that is unresolved. the vast majority of people in our country illegally didn't

cross the border illegally, became with a visa and overstayed it and never left, we are never asking the question who is here, who is not here, where do those connections come from. what i would like to find is a way to establish a group of foundational issues that are common sense solutions to the obvious immigration issues we face and find common ground. we will have disagreement in this body but we should be able to find common ground on immigration issues we can all look at and go that is a reasonable way to do it. every member of this body would do it a little different with a different set of preferences but we should all agree it should be done. we have got to solve the obvious issues and there are areas of common ground to do it. the president of the united states gave a gift 31/2 months ago when he said to the daca program and administration program should be a legislative issue. i will not renew that anymore, an administrative issue needs to be done in congress. the first time in a long time congress has a deadline to deal with immigration.

that is a good gift because this congress has punted the immigration issue year after year after year after year after year without a deadline to get it resolved, now we do. that deadline is in early march. i suggest let's get it resolved. find common ground in this area. it should be pretty obvious. immigration courts have half 1 million cases backlogged, half 1 million. if you are going to hire a new judge to be an immigration court, it will take 742 days to hire one immigration judge, that is not right, that is ridiculous. we should be able to get that resolved, to add new judges to immigration court and deal with backlog of half 1 million people. the e-verify system is renewed

in a bipartisan way year after year. take it from being a temporary program which some people don't know it is a temporary program, from a temporary program to a permanent program, permanent reauthorization and make changes that are needed whether it is to move into the hiring system, encourage individuals in their hiring for more companies to use it or to be a faster system is more reliable. it can take 6 months to get a final answer from e-verify. that is absurd. that is a fixable issue we should be able to do. we should be able to resolve chain migration. we believe chain migration was an issue that has existed forever, it is not. it has been around since 1965. prior to 1965 our immigration issues were targeting their. it is pulling the system, you can add nuclear family and as you gauge citizenship you can have parents, siblings, other

individuals and it continues to accelerate. i'm always interested when i hear people talk about our legal immigration system in the united states and say we should be more open. we admit 1 million people a year through legal immigration, 1 million a year. we are a very open country to legal immigration. we need to be more precise. what our nation needs to grow economically. i'm not anti-family, far from it, but we -- canada doesn't do it this way, australia doesn't do it this way, we still do. we should be able to deal with issues of border security. we shouldn't have a 2000 mile wall on the southern border the multi-thousand dollar while on the northern border, we should monitor our border coming in and out. not everyone is coming just to work, they are crafting drugs

and people, we need to monitor that. we don't need a while anywhere, totally disagree. this adage of a 20 foot wall base for a 21 foot ladder. they would say put a 21 foot ladder because it slows you down in the process, a wall is not designed to prevent you entirely, but to slow you to interdict you and prevent you from coming in. yuma, arizona, when they put up a wall, dramatically slowed down crime in yuma, arizona rather than an open border, there are areas we just really need a wall for vehicular barriers and greater technology but we need more personnel in that area. it is one of the challenges we face, let's at 5000 new people, great, how long does it take to add one border patrol person?

450 days, 450 days to hire one person on the border patrol, broken system of hiring. we need to be able to fix that, to do more rapid screening and take care of the issue of sanctuary cities. all of the nation did a giant sigh for kate stein -- deported 7 times and the jury said because the bullet ricocheted off the ground it wasn't really murder. we have to resolve the issue of sanctuary cities. we are better than that as a nation and we should resolve

the issue of daca. we have kids that have grown up in this country, they say the pledge of allegiance in this country, speak perfect english, no criminal history and, who would you like to join this country, if they say the pledge every day, speak perfect english, entrepreneurship and getting engaged, join the military, that, the people of my state would like to see immigrate to this country and be part of it, we have almost 1 million of them living here but no legal status, they were brought as a child by their parents under no decision of their own. this particular bill that is under discussion has a short-term solution called the bridge act. of 3 a legislative solution the cries out for a longer solution but gives additional certainty more than what daca has.

to look at these reasonable issues and say we can't decide on these, let's start the conversation. how far can we get? how much can we resolve on immigration? let's finish it this time. we shouldn't negotiate with the house, shouldn't negotiate here on both sides of the aisle, let's certainly get it done. i look forward to that conversation. let's get this resolved in the days ahead. i yield the floor. >> mister president. i know the senator from arkansas has remarks to make so i will keep my brief but i will speak on the introduction of

security enforcement and the reform efforts act of the secure act which we. are provisions rule 14 on the senate calendar following vote on the nomination at 4:00 of the product of working group on the judiciary committee with jurisdiction matters. i have been part of that, senator graham, tillis, purdue and cotton and my friend from illinois, we are united in the desire to come up with a solution to this problem. are working group had two assignments, one was to secure america's borders and enforce our immigration laws and the second was to find a compassionate solution for those individuals who received

deferred action on the daca program created in 2012. when i introduced the border security bill, building america's trust act, i made clear the purpose was to create solutions to deal with porous borders and throwing money at the problem with not the answer but at some point in the not too distant future we would need to combine enforcement measures with a solution for recipients of the deferred action under president obama which donald trump has sent back to congress for us to address. coming from the state with the longest border with a foreign country, texas, i can tell you my appreciation for border security is multifaceted.

it requires boots on the ground, technology, improvements at our ports of entry and new authority and enhancements to immigration laws to close loopholes and incentivize people who repeatedly violate our laws. we need to protect america's international borders to the north or south but each day we fail to put needed resources and laws in place for border security and strengthen the resolve of the drug cartels, gangs and committal organizations to encroach on our sovereignty with impunity. if we are going to help folks brought by their parents which we all have compassion for, thanks to president obama's insistence on going around congress they find themselves in limbo, prioritizing what is

needed for the border is not the last step but the first step. if we can deal with the compassionate solution for daca recipients and combine that with interior enforcement, we don't need to stop there but we need the public's confidence that we can deal with these issues in a responsible way. the daca program is designed to help those brought here illegally but was not created lawfully. donald trump did the right thing in kicking it back to congress was we've introduced a bill that will address the issues our friends across the aisle care about the most, a solution for daca recipients.

this bill provides framework >> i would like to associate myself with the bill we should be working on because democrats will not take yes for an answer. we are offering a package they should support and they are threatening to shut down the government. let me dispense with their argument about daca recipients. no one is eager to deport 690,000 illegal immigrants who are here through no fault of their own, they were left in limbo by president obama and everyone wants to find a long-term solution. but if we give them legal status we have to recognize there will be negative side effects.

you are going to encourage parents around the world to live in poverty and oppression and war to illegally immigrate to our country with small children. what could be dangerous and immoral and that? you will create a whole new category of americans who could get legal status for their extended family to include the parents who brought them here in violation of our laws. we hear children are not pay for crimes of their parents. that may be so but surely parents can pay for the crimes of the parents. they are the one who created this situation in the first place. i offered legislation with many features to replace low skilled immigration with high skilled immigration, reform our refugee

program and eliminate our diverse if i program, take up legislation in passage but today i want to focus on chain migration in particular, one of the biggest categories of immigration that brings unskilled workers to compete for jobs, drive down wages of working americans. once you have legal status in this country, you can bring to this country not only your spouse and unmarried minor children but adult children and their spouses and their children and your adult brother and your adult sister and parent and their siblings and it goes on and on.

in addition to improving security, kate's law you heard chairman grassley outline and bearing those provisions with bill democrats and republicans should support. the bridge act. the idea is simple enough. everyone with a daca card history or provisional status, that gives him certainty without giving them permanent residency or citizenship which sounds reasonable. democrats agree with me too. earlier this year they were calling it passage of the dream act, the bridge act and the bridge act is supported by

members of both parties including many prominent democratic senators, senators from california, senior senator from florida, junior senator from new york, the minority leader and minority whip, the minority whip called the bridge act a

>> irrespective of your ability to stand on your own two feet in our economy, to get a job and pay taxes and not take welfare, to assimilate into our culture. shouldn't we have an immigration system that focuses on the needs of america's workers and the american economy? not one that gives out green cards by random chance, the way we have today? shouldn't we be focused on the jobs, the wages of american citizens, after all, they are who elected us to come here to represent their interests. i don't think this is unreasonable and, in fact, i don't think the democrats do either. they've supported the bridge act. they supported reform of other immigration programs, temporary advice visas because they worry

about the impact of immigration on low wage blue collar workers and the republicans have done what the democrats said they wanted, we've offered a long-term solution for people who received a daca working permit. we're asking for common sense reforms that prevent another situation like the one happening now in the future. it's time for democrats and republicans to come together and support this bill. if you're serious about helping these daca permit recipients, you should vote for this bill now. it's good for those daca recipients. it's good for american workers. it's good for our communities. and it will be a good first step towards lasting pro-american, pro-worker immigration reform.

mr. president, yield the floor. >> 16 years ago i introduced a bill and the bill really was addressing young people brought to america by their parents who, frankly, were young, didn't really know much about the immigration experience, grew up in the united states thinking they were just like all the other kids in the classroom, and then realized one day, they weren't. you see, they're not legal. their parents didn't do it properly, didn't file the right papers. i'm not holding it against their parents, let me add that quickly, their parents were doing the very best for their family that they could. they were taking risks that many of us would take any day for a son or daughter to have a clans to live a good life. here were the young people in the united states undocumented. and what were they to do? they didn't know the old country where their parents came from. they may not even be able to speak language of that country and here they were in the united states. they thought things would work

out, some way or another. the time passed and it didn't. we have a broken immigration system. we have a lot of gaps in the system and they were caught up in one of them. so, 16 years ago, i introduced a bill and here is what it said. if you came to the united states underage of 18. if you grew up in this country, you didn't have any serious problems with the law, you graduated from school, we were going to give you a chance, a chance to earn your way into legal status. you could do it by furthering your education, volunteering for the military. there were a lot of ways to do it, but we said to these young people, this will be your chance. well, that bill was introduced a long time ago, it's never become the law. at one point, back when president obama was in the office of presidency, i wret him a letter with 20 of my colleagues in the senate and asked him to find a way, it he could, to protect these young people from being deported out of america, and he did. they called it daca, the daca program said if you are one of the people who, by definition under the dream act, would be

eligible, you could stay in the united states if you step up, pay about $500 and a filing fee, go through had a serious criminal background checks, be interviewed, and then we'll give you a temporary two-year protection from deportation, two-years you can work legally in the united states and come back and see us. well, at the end of the day, 780,000 young people in america did that, they paid their fee, they went through the background check, they submitted all of their information to our government and they were protected. three months ago, president donald trump abolished daca and as of march 5th of next year, it's done. march 5th of next year, many with be subject to deportation and losing the jobs they have or being unable to finish school because they can't work.

i've met a lot of those young people. i'm sure senator hassen has and they're heart broken and they're scared, and they're worried about what's going to happen to them and their families when march 5th rolls around. for weeks, months, sense president trump's announcement, i've come to the floor and said, for goodness sakes, can't we agree, democrats and republicans to fix this problem? president trump challenged us, do your job, congress, pass a law, that's what we're supposed to do. well, here we are, three months later, and it hasn't been done. and what i hear from the other side of the aisle is give us more time, we'll try to get to it next year. march 5th, 2018 daca is over and finished. waiting several weeks is bad enough. waiting several months is unacceptable. and i'll tell you why it is, because we know this needs to

be done now. 34 republicans in the house of representatives today sent a letter to the speaker of the house, paul ryan calling for congress to protect dreamers this year, 34 republicans, they said, and i quote, it's imperative that republicans and democrats come together to solve this problem now and not wait until next year. 34 republicans, in the house. how many bipartisan things go on around here anymore? not many. here is one. i salute these members of the house. i salute the four republican senators who have joined me in co-sponsoring the dream act. they, i think, have stuck their necks out and i respect them so much for it. i'll stand up for them because of it. i thank them for that and i know why they're doing it, they're not doing it for me, they shouldn't and i'm sure they're not. they're doing it for these young people because i tell you without fail, when you meet them, they convert you in a minute.

for the last several years i've come to the floor to tell their stories. i'm told that the one i'm going to tell right now is the 99th time that i've told a story like this. and each one-- each time i tell one of these stories, it makes the case, for why we need to do something to help these young people and do it quickly. let me show you this wonderful young lady here. her name is blanca morales. blanca morales brought to the united states by her parents from mexico when she was five years old. grew up in santa ana, california and growing up she took care of her two younger siblin siblings, and they are parents worked worked. and she was one of the top students in the nation. active in service and helped kids who can't complete school.

and because she's undocumented she didn't qualify for any federal government assistance. going to college in that circumstance, means working, scraping by, putting things off, sacrificing to get through. she did it. she majored in chemistry and biology. she was part of phi beta kappa, international honor society and won first team in the all usa academic competition. she was her class's valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 gpa. blanca, after graduation attended university of california irvine, majored in neuro biology and at at uc irvine, graduated with honors magna cum laude. after obtaining the pre-med degree she doesn't land a degree in the medical field because she's undocumented in america. in 2012, everything changed.

president obama established the daca program i mentioned earlier, which allowed blanca for the first time in her life to get a permit to legally work in america. last year blanca morales was accepted to the harvard school of medicine. she's remained involved in community service, mentoring students, teaching health classes in a community health center and volunteering as a translator at clinics for spanish-speaking patients. close to 70 dreamers are enrolled in medical schools around the country just like her, but without daca, these dreamers will never become doctors, why? they're going to be deported back to their country as if they're not lucky and if they happen to be able to stay, they cannot legally work in america without daca status. you cannot finish medical school and go onto a residency without a work permit, without being able to legally work in

america. they cannot legally work without daca protection and president trump has ended it. well, are we going to be a stronger nation if we deport her? tell her to leave. go back to mexico which she left when she was five years of age. give up on the education that she's put on the board at the community college where she was leading her class, on to get her graduate degrees, on to be accepted to harvard medical school? the answer is clear. america would be less if she left. the association of american medical colleges reports the nation faces a doctor shortage which is only going to get worse. both the ama and american association of medical colleges have warned ending daca will make this problem worse. and they've urged congress to do something. blanca wrote me a letter and here is what she said, it took me eight years from graduating university to enter medical

school. without daca or better yet, a formal way to become a full member of society i'm left to live in the shadows. i don't know if i'll be able to finish my medical training without a permanent solution to my immigration status. please help me keep my dream of becoming a physician an i alive. when my colleagues come to the floor and say we're too busy to take up this issue, i wish they had a chance to meet this spectacular young woman. i wish they'd consider what she's asking us to do. she's asking us to do our job. we're supposed to solve problems. when you read the numbers, 70, 80% of americans approve of the dream act, even an overwhelming majority of those who voted for president trump believe these young people deserve a chance to be legal in america, why can't we get our job done? we need to do it and do it now.

we've got three weeks before we're likely to end the session this year. i want to see us get this finished this year. i want to see a bipartisan agreement. i came to the floor earlier and listened to speeches of my colleagues, one in south carolina, one in oklahoma oake, state of texas and there are many things we need to do. i was on the task force, the gang of eight they called it, came up with immigration reform. took us months to do it, we did everything we could think of within the four corners of immigration reform and passed it on the floor of the senate with a strong bipartisan role call and the house of representatives refused to even consider it. that doesn't mean the problem's gone away. they're still here, but what i'm saying to my colleagues is, don't try to fix every immigration problem you can think of on the backs of these dreamers like blanca morales.

i'm willing to talk to you honestly, forthrightly about border security, count me in, i voted on it as part of reform. every notion, every idea, every theory that you have about immigration shouldn't be placed on the shoulders and backs of these young people. let's fix this and then go onto the next phase of dealing with immigration reform in its totality. that makes sense to me. i'm ready to bargain, work, compromise in good faith with any member of the republican side and the democratic side that wants to make sure that a young woman like this deserves a fighting chance in america. i believe that. i think most americans believe it, too. now, let's roll up our sleeves and go to work, there are plenty of things we can do the remainder this have year that will make a big difference in her life and in the future of america. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> senator from california. >> mr. president, i'd like to

thank the center senator from illinois. senator durbin has been a longstanding leader in this chamber and in our country on this issue, and i can't thank him enough for all that he does so tirelessly, i see his work behind closed doors and i know his passionen his personal commitment to this issue, i thank you, senator durbin. mr. president, on february 16th of this year, which was 292 days ago, i offered my maiden speech as a new member of the united states senate and the subject of the speech was immigration. and it's taken an emphasis on daca and the dreamers. here we are 292 days later and we have failed to move forward in any substantial or substantive way in bringing relief to these dreamers who have qualified for daca status. and so, we stand here, these 292 days later, talking about

an issue that we must ultimately before the end of this year resolve. let's also be clear, three months ago today, on september 5th of this year, the administration arbitrarily, recklessly and cruelly ended daca, the deferred action for childhood arrivals program. daca allowed young immigrants who are brought here by their parents to live and work in this country without fear that they would be deported. later this week, on friday december 8th, funding are to the government runs out and i have been clear along with my friend from illinois, and several other colleagues, that any bill that funds the government must also include a fix for daca. now, i want to talk with you why i believe it's important that we resolve this issue, because i do believe there's a lot of misinformation out there. and i think it's important we,

as policy makers, as leaders in our country, that we craft and create public policy based on facts, not misinformation and certainly not fear. so, let's begin by being very clear. the decision to rescind daca is part of a much broader and troubling attempt to remake the demographics of the country by cracking down on immigrants. we have an administration has ignited anti-immigrant sentiment, category immigrants as racist, -- rapists, murderers and steal your job. an anti-immigration agenda. this administration called for a border wall that could cost up to $70 billion. they've implemented muslim bans which severely restrict immigration from six muslim majority countries. they've requested 10,000 new ice agents, new ice agents and

5,000 new border patrol agents, when they've got given the resources to be able to fill all the vacant positions they now have. and they've protected-- they've ended the protected immigration status tps for haitians and nicaraguans who fled disasters and may crackdown on the protected status of salvadorians as well. they're seeking to lower the refugee cap from 110,000 to 45,000. at a time when we have seen an increase in the world-wide number of refugees who are in crisis. and this is the lowest number ever in the history of this country, actually since 1980. and then, general john kelly, the president's chief of staff and former homeland security secretary says he wishes the number was between zero and one, the number of refugees we would admit into our country. now, i want to be clear, i have an incredible amount of respect

for the men and women of the department of homeland security who each day leave their homes, committed to doing the work of keeping our homeland secure. it is noble and important work and their mission is critical. and the vast majority of those front line agents i believe are doing their jobs honorably and effectively, but it is troubling when the white house has encouraged front line agents to, quote, take the shackles off. in fact, the acting ice director has said, quote, if you're an immigrant in this country illegally. you should be uncomfortable. you should look over your shoulder. and when you look at these independent acts, there is a clear constellation that's formed. this enforcement surge is a barely disguised purge. and this is not leadership. leaders should not be in the

business of inciting fear and sewing hate and division. instead, leaders should be about creating smart public policy, based on facts. so, here are some of the facts. it is a fact that there are 700,000 daca recipients, 200,000 of which are in california alone. it is a fact that the dreamers have been extensively vetted before they qualify for daca. they've gone through a process. they've turned over copious amounts of paper work with incredible details. they've gone through background checks, they've given personal information about the circumstances of their arrivals. they've answered questions that seek to figure out whether they've committed a crime and had daca status. we've determined they're not a threat to our public safety.

we have questions that sought to figure out whether they've graduated high school or living a lawful and productive life. it's only when they clear that extensive vetting that they qualified for daca status and received daca status. let's be clear that these dreamers who receive daca status. they study in our colleges and serve in our military and work in fortune 100 companies and they are distributing to our economy in a way that we all are benefitting. if daca recipients were deported, it's estimated that california would lose 11 billion dollars a year. the united states-- the united states economy as a whole would lose an estimated 460 billion dollars over a decade. it is a fact, also, that these young people have stood in classrooms and stood in line in many places and placed their hand over their heart, pledging

allegiance to the flag of the united states. a flag that many of us wear on our lapel. a flag which represents the best of what we are in terms of the ideals upon which we were founded. we must be true to those ideals and consistent in the way that we approach so many issues, as applied to this issue about what we do with these daca kids. we must keep our word and our promise to them. and guarantee what we promised, which is that we would not share their personal information with ice, they would not be deported, if they continued to follow the rules: and in my experience, it is also true that many who have an opinion or have expressed an opinion or who have the opportunity to make a decision about this issue, have never met a dreamer. we can't fault that. but what we can ask is that

these who have the power to make a decision on this issue, ma i can it their business and make an effort to really understand who we're talking about. senator durbin talked about it. senator carter talked about it. my colleagues will be talking about who these dreamers are, who these young people are. and you know, i have to tell you, i've been a bit troubled when i've had this conversation. i remember when i had a conversation many months ago with then, the then nominee to head up the department of homeland security, general john kelly, and i asked him if he had ever met a dreamer. and he said, he had not. and then went on to say, and when i asked could i arrange a meeting, and he said how about if i could take a meeting with their representatives. that's disheartening. before our colleagues make a decision about where they stand on this policy, i believe it is only fair, it's only the right thing to do, that they make an

effort to sit down and talk with a dreamer, and get to understand who they are and the circumstances of their arrival, and how they are contributing to our country. they're going to be hundreds of dreamers here tomorrow on capitol hill and i want to thank them for their leadership and their tireless advocacy because their stories will change hearts and minds. and let me just tell you a few. my colleagues have shared some. i'll share some others. i've met yan achlyanaagular who brought her. and she grew up in fresno, california, she attended public schools, she attended u krchc. and ph.d. and is now a buy medical researcher in chicago focused on the human heart, doing everything she can to

improve the condition and the lives of the people in our country because of the work that she has done and the research she has done. i've met eric yang, who came from south korea, he grew up in irvine, california and is now studying business economics at uc irvine where he works to help other students. my husband and i attended a play recently in los angeles, it's a great program where there's free entertainment in the park, community park and families show up and they have a wonderful evening outdoors with each other in fellowship and i met a young woman who came up to me and she was with a group of friends and her friends said, tell her, tell her. i looked like the young woman, she looked like maybe 19 years old. i said tell me what? tell me what's going on. >> and she looked up and she looked at me and she spoke so quietly, i didn't hear what she

said and i asked her to repeat herself and she looked at me and she started crying, and she said i am daca. and she was trembling as she cried. absolutely in fear of what her future may hold. so, i suggest that before we take a position on this issue, let's take a moment, each one of us, our colleagues and each of us as individuals, to see these young people, to truly see them, and to see them not through a lens that is about partisanship or politics, not through a lens that is ideological, but instead, to just see them based on who they really are. and the practical realities of the life that they lived that brought them to this country, the circumstances that brought them to this country, and the lives they are living every day now. these are incredible young people who are doing everything

we hope and pray will epitomize the american dream, work hard, be respectful, play by the rules, contribute to your community, have dreams and aspirations about how you can be productive. that's who these young people are. so, let's reject the fear mongering. let's also understand that this is an imminent issue and that is something we must address immediately. let's agree that each day in the life of these young people is a very long time. each day that they go to sleep at night worried about a knock on the door at midnight that might tear them away from their families is a very long time. let's not wait -- let's not wait to help them and let's reject those folks who say there is no crisis, folks who

say this is not an emergency. let's understand that for these 700,000 dreamers who cannot concentrate at school or at work, and who are terrified of that midnight knock, this is an emergency. let's think about the classmates and the co-workers and our neighbors and family members who have these children, who are terrified that this protected status will be stripped and taken away. for them, this is an emergency. let's think about the 122 dreamers who are losing daca status every single day, 851 of them every week, over 11,000 of them since september, and let's agree, this is a crisis, this is an emergency. it's been 91 days since this administration ended daca and we cannot wait a single day longer. so, let's reject the fear

mongering, let's find a bipartisan concensus to act in the way we know we should and can. let's put the dream act to a vote today. i believe it could pass and would pass if everyone looked in their hearts and looked at the facts. to 35 house republicans just signed a letter saying they want a daca fix before the end of the year. and it included members from california and texas and florida, and utah and pennsylvania and new york. earlier today, my colleague the junior senator from arizona said, quote, we don't need to make a statement, we need to make a law. i couldn't agree more. let's give these dreamers a future. i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> senator from massachusetts. >> thank you, mr. president.

mr. president, thank you for chairing this today and i thank the senator from illinois, dick durbin, for organizing all of us this afternoon to speak on behalf of these dreamers. your leadership has been critical in this fight for dignity and recognition for hundreds of thousands of wonderful young people who know no other home than the united states of america. for five years, the deferred action for childhood arrivals, or daca program, has created security and opportunity for young immigrants around the country. but now, the futures of some 800,000 young people, 7900 of them in massachusetts, are needlessly in jeopardy because president trump has cold-heartedly repealed daca. daca has been a hugely successful program. it has provided so many young

immigrants safety, security, dignity, respect, and opportunity. these are young people who study, who work, who live next door to us every single day. they are our friends, our neighbors, and our loved ones. i'd like to speak today for a few minutes about one of these daca beneficiaries and that person is 28-year-old paula sanchez, who came to the united states from bolivia when she was 14 years old. paula's father had passed away when she was just eight years old. her mother was in a wheelchair and unable to work. so, with her family facing hardship, paula came to america to live with an aunt and uncle in new york. there she worked in the manufacturing industry while getting high school education full-time, often getting home late at night, and grabbing a

few hours of sleep before getting up to head to school to do it all over again. in 2007 paula graduated from high school and moved to my state of massachusetts where she's lived ever since. she now works 30 hours a week, as a case manager while attending bay state community college full-time. she's been a model student earning a 3.9 grade point average, and she hopes to enter the nursing school in january. paula has been a daca recipient sense 2013, but her current status expires next year and that means that unless congress acts and saves the program, paula and thousands like her will have to leave the united states for corrupts they do know the really know and they know longer consider home. her case, like many others is

even more difficult because she has a four-year-old son, a child who is an american citizen by birth, and has never known any other home than the united states. all paula wants is to stay here with her son, get her nursing degree, and get a good job and give back to the country so much more than she has been given. instead, paula and countless other young people and families across the united states face uncertain futures. instead of going to sleep tonight knowing that they will be able to live their lives in peace and plan for the future, they are left, again, with uncertainty, vulnerable to deportation and unable to work legally. this is a human tragedy in the making. it is heartbreaking, it is unjust, it is just plain wrong. we should not punish these young people who have no other

home than the united states of america. we should not go back on the word we gave when we told these young people to come out of the shadows. these dreamers are engineers, police officers, teachers, future nurses and students. many in our great massachusetts colleges and universities. they serve bravely in our military. they are our best and brightest and are making the most of the opportunities that the united states has always provided to immigrant communities. the ball is in the court of the republican leadership in the house and senate. speaker paul ryan, leader mitch mcconnell can either listen to a growing chorus of their own colleagues, to business ceo's, including apple, amazon, microsoft, facebook, general motors, academicic leaders, to countless colleges and university presidents all of whom support daca or they can side with the forces of

intolerance and injustice. congress should pass the dream act so people like paula, brought her at a young age and who have served in the military or pursued higher education can earn citizenship. i urge everyone to listen to dick durbin, to listen to this chorus of voices from around our country. protect these 800,000 young people. protect them because they deserve it and america will be the beneficiary of these great americans who are serving our country right now. so i thank you, mr. president. i field back the balance of my time. >> senator from new hampshire. >> thank you very much, mr. president. and i want to thank my colleague from massachusetts for his eloquent words just now and i want to thank senator

durbin for his leadership on this critically important issue. as many of my colleagues have stated, we must protect dreamers and allow them to continue to be vital members of communities in new hampshire and across the nation. the energy, hard work and innovation of dreamers are critical components of our economic future. these are hardworking young people who have so much to offer and who deserve our support and our urgent action. there are people like the young man from the seacoast area of new hampshire who recently met with my staff. this young person was brought to the united states when he was in elementary school. hess parents immigrated from indonesia joining members of the new hampshire indonesian community who have left their country because they were fleeing religious persecution.

for years, members of this community have worked, paid taxes, and raised their families on the seacoast and now, the trump administration is engaging in misguided efforts to prioritize their deportation, efforts that i urge this administration to stop immediately. the dreamer i'm talking about this afternoon never knew that he was undocumented until he wanted to go get his driver's license. license. but he said his life was changed after president obama unveiled the daca program. this young man was able to get a job, attend community college, and eventually enroll at university of new hampshire where he is working towards his degree. his story makes clear why there is so much at stake and why it's critical that our colleagues work together in

order to support these young people. granite staters like all americans, recognize the value of hard work. the importance of unleashing the talent and energy of each and every individual. and they demand and expect that their elected leaders act with fairness and with common sense, which is all that the dream act represents, fairness and common sense. we must pass the bipartisan dream act now and protect those who have so much to offer to the future of our great country. thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor. >> by the time i came back to the district or shortly thereafter, both of my uncles were sent to prison.

one sexual assault and the other armed robbery. so for the part of my childhood i could remember, it was my mother, my two sisters, my grandmother and my cousins, in the house on 13th street. >> undernight on c-span's q & a, tiffany wright, senior associate at the law office of wilmer heal talks about growing up in washington d.c. and time for clerk for the supreme court justice sotomayor. >> you have people willing to speak up for you, recommendation letters and you clerk for one a very small number of judges that routinely feed clerks to the court. for a person of color, particularly an african-american or latino to get into that pool, there are so many obstacles to that, it becomes a real problem and i think it hurts because the

prospective of diverse law clerks, i saw something because of my life experience that someone else didn't see. >> tune in sunday night at 8 eastern, on c-span. >> the house intelligence committee worked on legislation to reauthorize parts of fees-- fisa foreign intelligence act. this committee meeting is an hour and 15 minutes. [inaudible conversations]