economic stagnation the bill that we are drafting will usher in a new era of economic widynamism and it sends a messae to the world that america's serious about competing and winning in the 21st century. >> we will take you live now to the senate floor as they gavel in after the weekly meetings.

bblg of. mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, as everybody knows, the republican party now controls the u.s. house, the u.s. senate, and the white house. we also know that unless a budget agreement is reached by december 22, the united states government will shut down, which

will cause serious harm to our country, including the men and women in the armed forces and our veterans. mr. president, i do not know why the republican party, which controls all the branches of government, wants to shut our government down. i think that's wrong. i think a shutdown will be very hurtful to people from coast to coast. now, president trump said earlier this year, he tweeted, quote, our country needs a good shutdown, end of quote. i strongly disagree. i don't think we need a good shutdown. i think we need to reach an agreement on a budget which works for the middle class of

our country and not just the wealthiest people. mr. president, it is no great secret that we are living in a nation which has almost unprecedented income and wealth inequality, at least since the 1920's. we have the top one-tenth of 1% owning almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. i don't believe that now is the time to give massive tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country in a horrific tax bill, and then at the end of ten years raise taxes on 83 million middle-class families. i think it makes no sense -- mr. president, could we have order. the presiding officer: i'd ask

colleagues to take their conversations off the floor. mr. sanders: mr. president, i don't think it makes much sense to be passing a tax bill which gives 62% of the benefits to the top 1%. and apparently it is not good enough for my republican colleagues that corporate america today is enjoying record-breaking profits and that the c.e.o.'s of large corporations are earning more than 300 times what their employees make. what the tax bill would do is give over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to large profitable corporations at a time when already one out of five of these major corporations are paying nothing in taxes. that's apparently not good enough. need to lower taxes for large corporations even more.

right now as we speak, legislation is being written behind closed doors by the house freedom caucus and other members of the extreme right wing to provide a massive increase in funding for the pentagon for the rest of the fiscal year while only providing temporary and inadequate funding for the needs of the working families of this country, including education, affordable housing, nutrition, environmental protections, and other vital programs. in other words, what we have seen over the last year is a republican effort to throw 30 million people off of health insurance. what we then see is a republican effort to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the top 1% and large corporations and at

the end of ten years raise taxes on middle-class families. and now what we are seeing on the part of the republican party is an effort to increase military spending by $54 billion while ignoring the needs of a struggling middle class. mr. president, we have got to get our priorities right and maybe, just maybe we have to start listening to what the american people want, not just what wealthy campaign contributors want. in terms of the republican so-called health care bill, the repeal of the affordable care act, massive opposition from the american people. in terms of this tax bill, mr. president, in case you haven't seen the last few calls massive opposition to the tax bill, it

raises taxes on the middle class. maybe, just maybe, we start paying attention to the needs of working families. for a start, let us be clear that ever since the passage of the control budget act -- budget control act of 2011, we have operated -- democrats and republicans have agreed to operate with parity. that means if you are going to increase military spending, you increase the needs for the military families. that was parity before and parity three times after and parity must continue. it is not acceptable to talk a huge increase in military spending and not help a middle class that needs help in terms of education, nutrition, and so

many other areas. furthermore, the american people are quite clear, they want us to move to comprehensive immigration reform, and they understnd that it would be a terrible -- understand it would be a terrible thing to do to say to 800,000 young people who have lived in most cases their entire lives in the united states of america, to simply say to those people we're ending the daca program. you're going to lose your legal status. you're not going to be able to go to school. you're not going to be able to hold a job. you're not going to be able to be in the military. we're taking away the legal status that you now have and you will be subject to deportation. that is it not what the american people want. they want to continue the daca program. they want comprehensive immigration form. -- reform. now is the time to deal with that and i'm happy to say that on this issue there is a growing

number of republicans in the house and in the senate who understand that in america you're not going to throw 800,000 of our youngest and brightest people and keeping them out of this country. mr. president, i have been deeply involved, as senator blunt has, and others in the community health center program that is so important for the people of our country. 27 million people receive their health care from community health centers which provides not just primary care but mental health counseling, provide dental care and low-cost prescription drugs. but while my republican colleagues have been busy trying to throw 30 million people off of health insurance while they've been busy trying to give $1 there will in tax breaks to the rich and large corporations,

somehow they have not had the time to extend the chip program or the comiewrnt health -- community health centers. how can we talk about tax breaks for billionaires and not extending a health insurance program for the children of our country. if the chip program is not reauthorized, nine million children in working families will lose their health insurance. let us get our priorities right. let us immediately pass legislation, extending and funding the chip program and the community health center program. mr. president, in the mid-west, as you well know, and all over this country, we have a major crisis in terms of pensions. so many of our older workers are scared to death about retiring because they have very little or nothing in the bank as they end their work careers.

if congress does not act soon, the earned pension benefits of more than 1.5 million workers and retirees in multiemployer pension plans could be cut up to 60%. people who have worked their entire lives, people who have put money in a pension program, people who have given up wage increases in order to gain decent pensions, now have the possibility of seeing their pensions cut by up to 60%. how can you do that how can you -- that? how can you tell somebody that was looking forward to a decent retirement that their pension could be cut up to 60%. when an employee is promised a pension after a lifetime of hard work, congress needs to act. congress needs to act to make sure that no one in america in a

multiworker pension program will see a cut. we need to make a downpayment on universal child care. in my state of vermont, all over this country, increasing difficult for working families to find high-quality, affordable child care. we must, in my view, double the funding for the child care and development block grant to provide child care assistance for 226,000 more children and move forward universal child care for every kid in america. what the social scientists tell us is there is no better investment than investing in early childhood education. every dollar we invest in that -- comes back to us by kids getting jobs. mr. president, there is another crisis that has to be dealt

with. ten years ago congress passed the loan forgiveness program to support americans who end their public service careers, nurses, teachers, firefighters, social workers, and military personnel. one of the absurdities that exists in america today is that we have tens of millions of americans who are paying outrageous interest rates on their student debt. people who have done the right thing by trying to get the best education they could are now being punished because they went to college, went to graduate school by having to pay a significant part of their income back to the government in terms of their student debt. congress must address this issue, and there is legislation to make sure that at the very

least if you are prepared to go into public service work -- you want to be a teacher, nurse, firefighter, police officer, social worker, go into the military -- we will forgive your debt. that should be dealt with before the end of the year. mr. president, we have a crisis in terms of our rural infrastructure. i come from a rural state. in the year 2017, p -- soon to be 2018, how is it that in rural communities all over america that there is inadequate broadband? how can you have a company if you don't have that, how can a kid do well in school if you can't gain access to the internet. this is the united states of america. we should not be trailing countries all over the world who have better broadband access at a lower cost than we do. if you want to grow in rural

america, if you want our kids to stay in rural america, we have to deal with the lapsing infrastructure in this country and especially in rural america. mr. president, i don't have to tell you because ohio has been hit hard as has vermont, new hampshire, all over this country, we have a terrible, terrible epidemic in terms of opioid addiction. i just -- i'm trying to deal with this issue in the state of vermont. i know it's severe in ohio. we have to be adequately funding programs which focus on prevention, making sure that our young people do not get trapped into a life of addition. we have to be providing the kinds of treatment that people need. we cannot ignore this. this is an epidemic that is sweeping this country. more people will die this year from opioid overdoses than died during the entire war in

vietnam. we have to adequately fund treatment and preventation for the epidemic we're seeing in terms of the opioids. we have to deep our promises to the veterans. we have tens of thousands of positions at the veterans administration that have not been filled and we need to make sure that they are filled, so that the veterans of our country when they go into the v.a. get high-quality care in a timely matter that they are entitled to. mr. president, there was an article, i think it was in "the washington post" a couple of weeks ago. it talked about the fact that 10,000 people -- 10,000 people died in the last year waiting for a decision on social security disability benefits. you have people who desperately need these benefits, they

applied for these benefits through the social security administration, and they wait and they wait and they wait, and unbelievably in the last year 10,000 people died while they were waiting for a decision from the social security administration. this has everything to do with the fact that there have been budget cuts in recent years that have been significant and have resulted in the loss of more than 10,000 employees in the social security security administration, the closing of 64 field offices, and reduced hours in many others. in vermont, one field office has seen its staff cut by 30%. we have to adequately fund the social security administration so our elderly and disabled can get due process in terms of the benefits that they file. mr. president, 2016, the national park service recorded

over 330 million visits to the national parks. in other words, our national parks are very, very popular, but they are not getting the maintenance work that they need. meanwhile, the president wants to double fees for people visiting our beautiful national parks. this is an issue that we must address. bottom line here is we are coming toward the end of the year and we have got a lot of work to do, but the work that we do has got to start reflecting the needs of the working people of this country, not just the billionaire class. we cannot give $54 billion more to the military and ignore the needs of our children, our elderly, our sick, our poor. we have got to come up with a budget proposal which works for all of us and not just wealthy

campaign contributors, and as a member of the budget committee, i intend to be very active in that process. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i stand today to call for bipartisan action on several things that are really critical. one of them has really become routine since it started as something, a bill that democrats and republicans did together, and that was the children's health insurance program, something that my colleague from vermont has referenced. in my state, we have been a good government state. we have had a budget surplus for years, and believe it or not, we relied on the fact that congress would come through and do what they were supposed to do and reauthorize the children's health insurance program, but that didn't happen. and so, as a result, we have a

slight budget deficit, something we haven't had for years, but it just to me really hit home the fact when i called our budget director in the state, and i said, how did this happen when we had these surpluses. and he said, well, we actually thought you guys would reauthorize the children's health insurance program, but you didn't. instead, what we have seen is a tax bill that adds over $1 trillion to the debt. even when you take into account any economic gain from that bill, a nonpartisan group said that it would, in fact, add $100 trillion to the debt. that's what we're doing instead of reauthorizing the children's health insurance program. this makes no sense to me. so funding for chip expired more than two months ago even though, as i said, it's one of our success stories out of this congress. both parties have come together

for years to support this program that provides health care to millions of children across the country. in minnesota, these funds support coverage for more than 125,000 kids, but just last week my state estimated that failing to reauthorize chip would cost us $178 million. that's why the deficit was at $188 million. so the chip funding that our state has come to rely on through democratic presidents, republican presidents has suddenly gone away. and that's why we have a deficit while at the same time a decision has been made by my colleagues on the other side to add over a trillion dollars to the debt. i don't know what to tell the people in my state except that that appears to be a priority. the tax cuts for the wealthy than reauthorizing this bill to help kids get their health insurance. guess what?

they don't understand that reasoning. states like mine are running out of ways to make federal funding last a little bit longer. every single day that we don't act puts coverage at risk for millions of kids. some states have already been forced to tell parents to start making other plans for their kids' health care. no parent should ever have to worry about whether their child will have health care. we must keep this strong program going. i've also heard from families with kids who get treatment at the children's hospitals and clinics of minnesota who count on this program for the medical care that they need. so that's why we must pass the bipartisan bill that senator hatch and wyden have put together to extend chip for five years so we can stop this nonsense and tell people back at home that actually something is working here. in 2015, the last time we

renewed the program, it passed the senate with 92 votes. we should demonstrate that same bipartisan spirit again. we should not hold these kids hostage with this bickering, and we certainly shouldn't be holding all of the states hostage either. this makes no sense. we must act before it's too late, or states like mine will not just have the deficit as a result of this, then they're going to have to make -- be forced to make difficult choices about insurance coverage for some of our most vulnerable constituents. chip is one part of our health care system that nearly everyone agrees works. we should be doing everything in our power to protect it. in addition to chip, the american people want us to work together to make fixes to the affordable care act. they don't want us to repeal it. we've seen that in the numbers. what they want us to do is to

make some sensible changes. you can never pass a bill of that kind of breadth and reach without making some changes to it. i said on the day that it passed that it was the beginning and not an end. i'm a cosponsor of this bill that senator alexander and senator murray have put together because it's an important step forward and exactly the type of sensible bipartisan legislation that we should pass. the bill has 11 republican cosponsors and 11 democratic cosponsors, and patients, groups, doctors' groups and consumer groups have praised it, including the american cancer society, the american diabetes association, the arthritis foundation. those are just some of the a's. there are multiple, multiple dozens and hundreds of national health groups that support this bill. they have democratic members and they have republican members.

they just want to get something done. senators alexander and murray held a series of hearings and discussions on commonsense solutions to bring down insurance costs with senators on both sides of the aisle. i fought for a provision in this bipartisan legislation which would help states like mine apply for and receive waivers -- that's waivers put together, by the way, in our state by a republican legislature and a democratic governor, a plan that would bring down premium costs, a plan that made sense across the board that was broadly supported in our state, that our federal government should be encouraging that kind of flexibility. so the waiver that we're asking for is actually something that we'd like to see other states do. the provision we included in the murray-alexander bill would encourage other states to do exactly what we did, and that is apply for waivers for flexibility to bring down rates without being penalized.

this bill would also expedite the review of waiver applications for proposals that have already been approved for other states. this legislation also shortens the overall time period that states have to wait for the federal government to decide whether to approve their waivers. the last time i checked, i thought that this administration was touting the fact that they liked to get things done, that they wanted to move things faster, that they didn't like the red tape of a bureaucracy. well, here you have a bill that actually says that states shouldn't have to wait for the federal government to make decisions. why can't we get it passed? and not only does the bill improve the process for waivers -- this is my favorite part because maybe when you hear me talk about it, you might think wow, this must be expensive. no. the nonpartisan congressional budget office says it would actually cut the deficit, this bill, the alexander-murray bill, by $3.8 billion over the next

ten years because it simply gives states the flexibility to cope with the issues they're having in their own states, to adjust to their own particular circumstances, to make it easier for people to afford health care while saving money for the federal government. this makes no sense to dlaifer by even one day -- delay by even one day the passage of this legislation, nor does it make any sense to cut all those kids off of health insurance. renewing chip, the children's health insurance program, and passing murray-alexander would be important steps forward, but we still must do more. now, i don't think we're going to get all my prescription drug bills passed by the end of the year but we should. we won't but we should. that doesn't mean that i'm giving up because i think the american people aren't giving up because they've been able to see right cleareyed what's going on because they're starting to see what's happening with the costs

of their prescription drugs. the costs are skyrocketing. i heard from people across minnesota who are struggling to afford the medicine they need. this is about the woman in deluth who told me that she chose not to fill her last prescription because that one drug would cost a full 25% of her income. this is about the woman in st. paul who even with medicare can't afford a $663 a month cost for medicine that she needs. and this is about a woman from crystal, minnesota, who told me, i'm practically going without food to pay for my prescriptions. it's heartbreaking that this is happening in america. reducing the cost of prescription drugs has bipartisan support in congress and the president has said that he cares about this. so why can't we get this done? i have one bill who has 33 -- that has 33 cosponsors, that lifts the ban that makes it illegal for medicare to negotiate prices for part d prescription drugs for 41

million american seniors. yes, right now it is in law that you can't negotiate. 41 million seniors. last time i checked, i think they would have a lot of bargaining power. but right now we can't do that. another bill, senator mccain and i have to allow americans to bring in safe, less expensive drugs from canada. a third bill that republican senator grassley and i have to stop something called pay for delay where big pharmaceutical companies actually pay off their generic competitors to keep less expensive products off the market. how can that kind of practice be any good for american consumers? well, guess what? it's not. we need to put an end to this outrageous practice and this bill would save taxpayers $2.9 billion. $2.9 billion. senator lee and i have a bill that would allow temporary importation of safe drugs that have been on the market in

another country for at least ten years where there isn't healthy competition for that drug in this country. and believe me, there's plenty of areas where we don't have healthy competition, where americans aren't getting the kind of deals that they should get. i have a bipartisan bill with senators grassley, leahy, feinstein and lee and several others called the creates act to put a stop to other pharmaceutical companies' tactics, like refusing to provide samples that delay more affordable generic drugs from getting to consumers. according to the congressional budget office, this legislation would save approximately $3.6 billion. so people are talking about saving money in this chamber. how are they doing it? on the backs of kids. they're talking about saving money, how they're doing it? on the backs of americans that like to afford premiums. here i have laid out a number of bills that actually have been scored to save money.

passing the alexander-murray bipartisan bill would save us money. we have the actual accounting to show it. allowing for less expensive drugs from other countries would save money for consumers. it's pretty easy to understand. it's called capitalism. it creates competition. and if our own american drug companies of which we are proud that they've developed life-saving cures, they are important employers in our country, but if they refuse to bring down those prices and have a monopoly on the market, we should be bringing in competition. there's two ways you could do it. one is generic and that is making it easier to produce generic drugs and also stopping big pharma companies paying off their competition from keeping their competitive products off the market and the other is simply allowing drugs from less expensive places but safe places like canada.

and that is a bill that i have put forward with senator mccain but also senator bernie sanders and i have worked on this as well as well as many others. these are commonsense ideas, yet we cannot even move to a vote. why? because pharmaceutical companies don't want us to have that vote. so i am asking my colleagues, number one, let's end the year with some common sense and pass two commonsense bills to help the american people with their health care. that is the children's health insurance bill and that is the alexander-murray compromise to make some fixes to the affordable care act. then when people are home for a week over the holidays, maybe they should start talking to their constituents like i have. maybe they should stalk to their friends and their -- talk to their friends and their neighbors and see what they think of what's going on with prescription drug prices. maybe they'll come back with a new year's resolution and that is they will no longer be

completely beholden to the pharmaceutical companies, that they are willing to give the american people some relief and take these companies on and create some competition for america. but i thought that this was supposed to be a capitalistic system. in a capitalistic system, you do not have monopolies for certain drugs. you do not have a drug like insulin that has been around for decades and decades and decades go up triple so that one elderly constituent in my state actually saves the drops at the bottom of the syringes so -- in the injectors so they can use them the next day. that's what's happening while they're taking home big bonuses at the end of the year at the pharmaceutical companies. so i implore my colleagues, let's get these commonsense things done so you can go home and not think when you're sitting there at your holiday dinner that you have basically left millions of kids without health care and then on new year's, the next week, make a resolution to do what's right

for your constituents, not for the pharmaceutical companies. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. ?oot ?oot .

mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. i rise to discuss the trump administration's irresponsible plans to suspend net neutrality. the f.c.c. efforts to repeal neutrality could have an impact on those who cannot afford to pay higher premiums on internet traffic. i join many of my democratic colleagues to urge the f.c.c. to ban the reckless plan. it would be an abdication of the

f.c.c.'s responsibility to protect consumers. net neutrality does something incredibly important. it requires internet providers to treat all data online equally. net neutrality ensures a level playing field for everyone on the internet. it needs to have free and open access. over the past 20 years the internet has become central to the lives of rhode islanders and, indeed, millions of americans. from students completing homework assignments, from small businesses conducting e-commerce or family members communicating with loved ones on the other side of the country or world, the internet is a primary form of communication. this needs to be fair. this proposed repeal of net

neutrality undermines the principles to a free and open internet and it could benefit a few large corporations at the expense of their customers who use and rely on affordable access to the internet every day. net neutrality also ensure that all content is treated equally. without these rules, large internet service providers may choose to block, throttle or prioritize certain internet traffic. without protections, big internet providers will have a virtual toll both for some and fast lanes for others. as a result, the repeal for net neutrality will likely be bad for businesses, consumers, and students and every day americans who cannot afford to pay more for internet access. if these rules are repealed, then the internet providers can

essentially say, if you want a quick download for a website, you have to pay more. they can go to businesses and ask them to pay more for this fast service. they can't do that today. everyone is treated equally. this is particularly important when it comes to small business because right now, as i go around rhode island -- and i have done so for the last few weeks going to small businesses -- they are doing well. and one of the reasons they are growing is they are starting to take a presence on the net, they have an internet business. they are beginning to sell across the country and across the globe. well, a small business in east greenwich rhode island, or smithfield, rhode island, will not be able to pay the same premium for access that wal-mart or amazon can. for a lot of small businesses, the reason they can keep a store

open in rhode island or any place else in the country and employ local workers is because they are starting to see a share of their profit come from the internet. they'd like to see that grow, but if that diminishes, then the pressure on them to stay in business locally becomes acute. these are real consequences, and it's not consequences that are hypothetical. if this bill -- excuse me -- if these rules are repealed, if net neutrality is done away with, the consequences for businesses, for communities, for individuals will be significant. let me take another example. places of learning, like our libraries, schools, and institutions of higher education all rely on internet access, which is already expensive. i did a precedent at the public library, they pay significant amounts of money to have broadband access. it is a mecca for everyone to

come. the head librarian told me they will have people sitting on their doorsteps before they open and after they close to see if they can get a broadband signal from the library. why are they doing that? well, you can't get a job today unless you can get online because that's where they post job openings, that's where you have to send your resume, that's where you have to get the response back whether you have a job interview. if you can't get on the internet, the canses of -- chances of getting a job is close to zero. it's a lot different from 30 years, 40 years ago, when you could go to the factory, fill out a form, and pass it back to the person and they would give you a telephone call to see how you are doing. local libraries are the places where students gain access to do their homework, apply for college and financial aid and

explore the world around them. this is particularly the case in poorer neighborhoods. they can't afford to have computers or internets in their homes. but you go to a public library, and i have in south providence, right next to st. michael's church, and in that facility in the afternoon, the kids are all there and on the computers and doing their homework. they can't do that in many cases at home. they simply don't have the access. and we're always sitting around here talking about how we have to educate our young people, get them ready for a technologically challenging world and then we're about to pull the rug out from underneath them because that library won't be able to afford access to some sites these young people need. it's not just the young people that are using the libraries, for example. it's seniors who want to stay in touch with their families. it's functions sthar -- that

are so critical, as i mentioned before, you literally cannot apply for a job today unless you can get online. and how does a person struggling, particularly in low-income working-class neighborhoods get online when they can't afford already expensive service which could be more expensive if these rules are withdrawn? and net neutrality is advanced. i heard these details before when i visited the providence libraries. providence is an urban center. when you go out to a rural area, those libraries are especially important. more than 83% of libraries report there serve as their community's only provider of free internet and computing services in rural areas. so if you need free service,

the only place you can go to literally is the library. this is going to put another cost on them. at a time when public-private support are being diminished and we have a tax bill pending before us that's going to eviscerate charitable contributions, going to take away the deduction. some of that money goes to our public libraries. and if it doesn't go there, they won't have access. now i mentioned small business because, as i said, this is particularly critical. we've seen an improving economy, and for a lot of small business, that's because they're starting to put a presence on the internet. if that presence comes now with a higher price because the priors can say if you want to get access and fast downloads, you have to pay x, once again that x to a small mom and pop business could be huge. that x to an amazon or walmart

is just a rounding error. and we know it's going to happen. it's not fair. it undercuts what we think is the heart and soul of -- i know it's the heart and soul of mom and pop business and another big benefit for businesses that can pay more. even more disturbing is the f.c.c.'s proposed action may be based on a skewed public record. as we all know under the administrative procedure act, when a rule or change is proposed they have to take public comments. there are credible reports that botts, the electronic network of computers, impersonating americans filed hundreds of thousands of phony comments to the f.c.c. during their net neutrality policy making progress. they their supposedly factual bd

approach could be fictitious. it could be a prubt --ing product of special interests that decided to deliberately generate messages. so what we've done is joined other colleagues, we've urged that the f.c.c. abandon this proposal. i've joined many of my colleagues in asking at least the f.c.c. to delay the vote on net neutrality until it can conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that it has a clear and accurate understanding of the public's view on this important topic, that it's not based on a group of individuals and lots and lots of electronically linked computers. at least delay the proceeding until you can assure us that. but unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case,

because this attempt appears to be part of a larger program which the bush -- excuse me -- the trump administration is using to roll back regulations that protect ordinary working men and women throughout the country. and the chairman of the f.c.c., pai, and the administration, they seem to say very deliberately that's our goal. just roll back regulations without analysis that is appropriate, without a sensitivity to the benefits as well as the cost. my view is rather than trying to limit access to the internet, they should be doing things to make it easier, make it cheaper for small business, for libraries, for individual americans to get on and to use the internet. not to take advantage of the rule-making process to fatten the bottom line of big companies

that are doing quite well already. now it's clear the f.c.c. should not vote this week or ever to repeal net neutrality protections that have benefited so many rhode islanders and americans. so i urge my colleagues to join me in opposition to the f.c.c.'s proposed dismantling of these net neutrality rules. it's important, it's important for our constituents, it's important for our small businesses, it's important for future generations as they prepare for a very clicked and challenging -- very complicated and challenging world and for some of them the only way they can get access to a computer is the public library, the only access to a new marketplace on the net is being able to afford being on the net. that is in jeopardy today. i would hope we could stop these net neutrality rule repeals and do it immediately. thank you, mr. president. with that, mr. president, i would note the absence of a

quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent, mr. president, to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, a number of senators have inquired about the status of the tax legislation, and particularly the prospect of a real conference committee. it's clear that republicans are talking among themselves, but apparently they feel with respect to democrats this is a conference in name only. so what i'd like to do is spell out what we know to date and talk a bit about what would really be in the public interest. specifically, late last night the public learned through the

press that republicans had made no progress -- their words, not mine -- with respect to the tax bill. they said that all the major issues were still outstanding. and then when everybody got up and had made their way through their breakfast corn flakes, we were told that magically everything had just been worked out. everything was worked out, and that this bill would be ready to go. now, i know they have been trying to move at the speed of light. we had yet another dose of fake math yesterday when the treasury department reported on their so-called analysis to project that this bill would generate great growth when, in fact, it comes up a trillion dollars short, and so i would like to

make sure that the public understands what is on offer as of right now. my sense is with respect to the key issue, which is the well-being of the middle class because millions and millions and millions of middle-class people are going to get hurt by this legislation. millions of them very quickly. for example, millions are going to lose their health insurance coverage. millions more are going to get high premiums. by 2027, more than half of the middle class in america would actually be paying more in taxes and senate republicans seem to be talking about a variety of issues, but not one of the tax issues that they are talking

about involves bettering the quality of life for america's middle class. we don't hear any discussion of that. we hear plenty of discussion about multinational corporations. we hear plenty of discussion about rate. we hear discussions about pass-through businesses. but all of this really is like rearranging the chairs at the country club. maybe one day the multinational corporations do a little bit better. maybe the next day, welloff heirs do a little better. i believe what the american people want to see, what i heard at my recent town hall meetings is that the american people want to make sure that the middle class isn't always getting the shaft. they want to make sure, for example, that in the tax law, the breaks for the multinational

corporations are permanent and the breaks for the middle class are temporary. they want everybody to have a chance to get ahead. mr. president, it is not too late to change course. 17 moderate democrats, led by our colleagues, senator manchin and senator kaine, said they were hungry for a bipartisan approach to bring both sides together. i've introduced two comprehensive bipartisan bills with senior conservative republicans, close allies of mitch mcconnell, so we have made it very clear that we want a bipartisan bill. but the idea that all of these changes are now being discussed and our fellow americans can read about it in the press, take a look and see if you see one idea, even one that is going to make life better for the vast

majority of working americans, the folks who work so hard day in and day out, are walking on an economic tightrope, trying to save money, trying to educate their kids. we don't hear about one single idea, not one that would make life better for the middle class. so we'll have more to say about this tomorrow, mr. president, as i gather there may be some kind of ceremonial conference committee scheduled, but i wanted americans to know as they try to sort through all of these reports that they're getting from lobbyists on k street, because i guess lobbyists know lots about what the republicans in the leadership and on the conference committee are talking about, and they're seeing it in the press. just read through all this and look line by line to try to find

anything that is going to make life better for the middle class, because i can't find it, and that, as much as anything, shows what is wrong with the way this legislation is being pursued. and what a difference from the way ronald reagan pursued tax reform. ronald reagan said point-blank that the working person should at least get as good a deal as the investor. he said we ought to have the same rate of taxation for workers as we have for investors. and, in fact, with ronald reagas bill, with ronald reagan, the corporations in effect gave up some money to help the worker. what we're seeing now is the worker getting the short end of the stick so the multinational corporation can do even better. we'll have more to say tomorrow,

mr. president, but i urge people to look through all of these stories and all of these press reports and see if they can find anything that involves a change to make life better for the hardworking middle class of our country. now, mr. president, i also come this afternoon to talk about the passing of a vintage oregonian. an extraordinary woman, vera cass, who became oregon's first speaker of our house of representatives in oregon in 1985. after serving three terms as speaker, vera cass won the portland mayor race in 1992..

"the oregonian" noted repeatedly, she moved to oregon to become a nationally recognized destination city, with developments ranging from the streetcar to the east bank. and i hope that all oregonians and visitors to our city stop by the brown sculpture of mayor cass. it captures perfectly her strength and her warmth. she is an extraordinary person that we think about today, not just because of her memorable accomplishments, but because of her extraordinary spirit, which is indomitable. she could not be subdued when she took on an important cause.

and i remember in 1996 when floodwaters on the williamette river threatened to overwhelm downtown portland. in the middle of this chaos, this very slight but still unbelievably powerful woman, vera cass, led hundreds of volunteers to mount what we came to call a sandbags and plywood defense against the floodwaters. that was quintessential vera cass. in my town halls at home, we often speak of the oregon way, just finding the best ideas, looking for solutions, not standoffs, and she lived and breathed that oregon way ethos every day of her life.

and i'm going to miss her, and i'm especially going to miss some moments that will never be forgotten. when we were working in the early 1970's and i had gotten involved with the elderly, and back then the senator from north dakota i think probably remembers these days, that was a time when if the town had a lunch program for senior citizens, that was a big deal. nobody was aware that we might have all the services that we now have. in-home services, variety of transportation services. back then, if a town had a lunch program for older people, that was a big deal. and vera cass was then in the legislature, and i had been running the legal aid office for the elderly and was codirector of the gray panthers, and all

the citizens wanted to really -- senior citizens wanted to really focus on holding down the cost of medicine. they told me one day we're going to go to the legislature and we're going to bring all our pill bottles and we're going to stack them up on the table and show those legislators what it was like to really be an older person cutting pills in half, trying to find a way to make ends meet. well, as the senator from north dakota knows, i had never been involved in politics or public service back then. all i really wanted to do was to play in the nba, so i didn't know if you could do that. i didn't know if you could bring all the pill bottles to the legislature. so i called vera cass up, and i said the seniors want to come down, representative cass. they want to hold up all the

bottles. i said i really don't know what to do. and i could hear it through the phone because it just boomed out. she said the seniors want to bring their pill bottles to wake up the legislature? and i said yes, ma'am. and i could hear it through the phone. she said damn right. i want them to bring their pill bottles. and they are going to get a big welcome from me. and in all those years, working with senior citizens, the very first person the seniors wanted to go see was vera cass. and i asked them how come we're always going to see vera cass, and they said because she always inspires us and she always makes us laugh, and she always makes us want to get involved. so this life force who, like my family, fled the nazis, was an extraordinary public figure.

and yes, she represented portland, but she always stood up for all of oregon. and i will be back to the floor in the days ahead to talk some more about vera cass. she had a water melon-spitting contest with folks in rural oregon just because she wanted to cement the bonds between portland and the rural part of the state. she was a wonderful woman. our state breathes today -- grieves today as we think of her and her extraordinary contributions, and having known her for more than 40 years, she is a role model for what public service ought to be all about. mr. president, i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mrs. fischer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: i would ask that the quorum call be vitiated, please. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, there will now be 30 minutes of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. the united states senate has the opportunity today to vote on a

nominee to the eighth circuit court who exemplifies the qualities that we all seek in a judge. steve grasz from nebraska is a nominee who has earned the respect of his peers. he believes in the rule of law. he has the education and the training. he has the experience needed to prepare him for this serious responsibility. steve has a keen intellect and the humility that allows him to show respect towards all. he has an even and calm temperament, a judicial temperament. steve grasz served as the chief deputy attorney general of nebraska for 12 years. in that role, mr. grasz professionally and capably defended the laws of the state of nebraska, authoring nine briefs in the united states supreme court.

he's earned the respect of the nebraska legal community. timothy angler, president of the nebraska state bar association, has stated he always found steve, quote, to be professional, civil, and ethical in all respects, close quote. in short, steve is an outstanding nebraskan and a talented legal mind. the scores of recommendation letters we have received for steve are a testament to his temperament, his integrity, and his character. these recommendations come from a diverse group of nebraskans, from political officials to church pastors, business and community leaders, and steve's friends and neighbors. steve has bipartisan support from those who know him best. nebraskans from across the

political spectrum have pointed to steve's thoughtfulness, fire mindedness, -- fair-mindedness, high ethical standards, and brilliant abilities as a jurist. this includes former democratic governor and united states senator ben nelson who wrote that steve, quote, was an asset to our state, and nebraskans benefited from having such a capable and thoughtful professional in public service. today, he is unquestionably one of the foremost appellate lawyers in the state, making him an obvious choice for this seat on our federal appeals court, close quote. deborah gilk, the former u.s. attorney for nebraska and a democrat appointed by president obama said, quote, steve has always enjoyed a reputation for honesty, impeccable integrity, and dedication to the rule of

law. he possesses an even temperament, well suited for the bench, and always acts with respect to all that interact with him, close quote. this is a nominee who should receive bipartisan support here in the united states senate as well. i urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to put their lock step partisan politics aside on these nominees and join with me and my nebraska colleague in voting to confirm this decent man of integrity to the eighth circuit. i urge a yes vote on steve grasz. mr. president, i would yield back all time. the presiding officer: without objection, all time is yielded back. the question occurs on the nomination. mrs. fischer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chain better wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not the yeas 50. the nays are 48. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will immediately be notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion on the vote cloture. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of don r. willett of texas to be a circuit judge, united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit sierched by 17 senators -- signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is it the sense of the senate that debate on the

nomination of don r. willett of texas to be the circuit judge of the united states court of appeals of the fifth circuit be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not the yeas are 50, the nays are 48 and the motion is agreed to. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. don r. willett of texas to be a circuit judge, united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit.

mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, thank you. i think we're going to be joined

here in a few moments with our colleague, the senior senator from illinois, senator durbin, who for years and years has been leading the fight for the dreamers, for the young people affected by daca. he may be tied up for a bit, but i want as we begin because we were going to have a colloquy on some of these issues, to recognize his extraordinary contributions. nobody has been more focused and more relentless in terms of standing up for the rights of the dreamers, the young people, and the families caught up in daca. and senator durbin, the senior senator from illinois. and i want to make sure his role is recognized at the outset. i and senator merkley have spent a lot of time talking to these young people at home in our state we've had special forums

on it. and i am just stunned at what wonderful young people these folks are. inevitably their grades are at the top of their classes. they seem to be working two jobs. they're sending money to relatives. they are just doing everything that we associate with hard work and thrift and ingenuity and what has made our country so unique and so special in the world. and i want to talk a little bit about what i have heard and also set the record straight with respect to daca. because there's an awful lot of reckless talk about this legislation and much of it just does not resemble the truth. misinformation is being spread to discredit daca recipients and their contributions to the country.

and those innocent lives are being damaged. right now dreamers face the very real and frightening threat that they may be ripped away from the only lives that they know and the only country that they have ever known. and i want to spell out why. the congress is now up against an artificial deadline created by this president scrambling to come up with a solution for the 11,000 daca recipients in oregon and the hundreds of thousands all over the country. and if nothing is done in the congress this year, we know that these young people are going to be fearful. they're going to go into the holidays, you know, wondering what is ahead for them and their family. and i just feel so strongly that they deserve better. they shouldn't be hanging in

suspended animation wondering what is going to happen to them living in fear. and my hope is that there will be action taken this year to help these young people. i feel so strongly that the end of the year wrapup legislation has to include legislation to finally allow these young people to realize their hopes and dreams in this country. now, in his statement announcing the end of the daca program, the attorney general said that our country must enforce our immigration laws and implied that the failure to enforce the law somehow puts our country at risk of crime, violence, and terrorism. i can just say based on everything i have seen in oreg oregon, daca recipients have not put our country at increased

risk of crime and terrorism because in fact they're vital contributors to our nation's success, including many who serve in our military. it is just wonderful and it is so good to see our colleague from nevada here who also along with senator durbin has championed the rights and interests of these young people. i know she is going to speak shortly because she has seen the real life consequences, the dangers that are being inflicted on our young friends, our neighbors, and those who are so fearful about what will happen if congress does not act before the end of the year. this is not an abstraction for those like mirana madina.

she went on to graduate from tiger high school, just outside my hometown of portland. this past june, mile an hour an miriana graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science. she speaks eloquently. she speaks powerfully about how what she really wants to do is give back to the people of oregon by helping the children and the families that are most in need of help. what a wonderful role model miriana is. and the debate is just as real for richard luyan who graduated from southern oregon university this spring. ricardo is now the legislative director for the oregon student association, and there he has been a strong advocate for legislation to give oregon dreamers a chance to get their own higher education degrees.

ricardo worked full time while going to school full time in order to pay for essentials. he said i want to make sure that i am contributing to affording an apartment and a car. and he -- and he said that without daca, he would not have his bachelor of science degree today. he said this law is a beacon of hope to young people like himself. in oregon, there are now estimated to be 11,000 dreamers. every one of these young people and parents and brothers and sisters and friends and people know them in the community because they always want to help and chip in. they've got roots in these communities. they've got well-laid plans to

work hard in school, make something of their lives and start families of their own here in our country. it seems to me with the groundswell of support for these dreamers, this congress ought to be able, before the end of this year, to come up with a bipartisan fair way to put an opportunity path forward for these young americans. the effort from the white house, i have to say and i regret it, to punish these young people and split families seems to run contrary to the values that we hold dear as americans. our government, by the way, made a promise to these young people when the government encouraged them to share their stories publicly, submit to background checks, and pay taxes. that was something the

government urged these young people to do -- come forward, pay taxes, submit to background checks. we want to make sure that we're in a position, and i was hopeful when i heard about that pledge to take action based on the fact that these young people were willing to come forward and say we want to be contributing members of our country, we want to make sure that when the government asks us to come forward we do, and they did so. so it would be wrong -- and i will close with this because i know my colleague wants to speak, and perhaps on the same subject. it would be wrong to turn our back on these exceptional young people. and i know my colleague from nevada is going to keep fighting tooth and nail alongside so many

of our colleagues. senator durbin was going to join me for a colloquy on some of these issues, and with the end of the year legislation barreling towards us, i think he was detained, but i want to thank him for his leadership and, in fact, he has joined us now, and with the indulgence of my friend from nevada, i'd like to recognize my colleague from illinois because no -- no one in this senate has put in the time, shown the tenacity and the year's long commitment to make this fight for justice for the dreamers and those who are trying to work their way through the daca program to a better

future for themselves and their communities. so i'm very grateful to the senator from illinois, and i had mentioned in his absence that we thought at one time weed have a full- -- we'd have a full-scale colloquy and i have pretty much used up my time in terms of making some of the points around issues that we have raised and with the indulgence of our friend from nevada, i want to again thank the senator from illinois. we are on the cusp of being able to finally give justice to these dreamers and those on daca. and i want this body and people who are following this issue to know we would not be in this position without the help and the advocacy of the senior senator from illinois.

i appreciate my friend from nevada allowing us to have time for the senator from illinois. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i thank my colleague from nevada and my senate colleague from oregon. i also thank my colleague from oregon for being steadfast on this subject. we've been through a lot with the dream act. we passed it on the floor of the senate. there was an effort to the comprehensive reform, it was a glorious day when it passed with a strong bipartisan vote and bitter disappointment when for the months that followed that bill languished in the house and was never called for a hearing or vote on the floor. these young people who would be protected under the dream act didn't know what their future would hold. president obama stepped in and created daca, and with daca

protection, 780,000 young people were given a chance to be part of america, something they always dreamed of. they went to college, got jobs, and did important things that they thought they would never be able to do. one of the things that people did was to pursue their goal of being part of the military. we have an all-volunteer military. these young people who have no legal status in our nation were prepared, literally, to give their lives for our country, the only country they ever knew. is there any question in your mind about their devotion to this nation? not in mine. when you hear their stories, you will understand why. this is a story about allen torrez. he grew up in north dallas, tx. he was placed in a program for advanced math in high school and

took advanced-level placement courses like chemical industry, physiology. he was captain of the cross-country team. he was the company commander of his high school's rotc. not only was he an academic overachiever, he was an artist. his work was displayed and sold at regional competitions and earned many awards. his most vivid memory from high school was none of those things, but 9/11, the day of the terrorist attack on the united states. he was sitting in school wearing his junior rotc uniform in texas and he cried with his classmates when he heard what happened to america. he said to his classmates, i can't believe this happened to my nation. as a kid allen believed this was his nation.

it wasn't until he was unable to do things that many of his friends could could -- could do he realized he was undocumented. he couldn't get a driver's license like his buddies did. he couldn't apply for financial aid to go to college. but he pursued his dream. by the time he graduated from high school he was working three jobs to save up the money to go to school. he attended a local community college because he didn't have any money, needed low tuition. he received an associate's degree from dallas community college and transferred to the university of texas at arlington and earned a bachelor's degree in information systems management. he graduated from college debt free. he paid for his education out of his pocket because he couldn't count on any federal loans or financial aid. today allen torrez is a software

engineer for i.b.m. he develops software for medical providers to better manage the health of over 15,000 patients. he wrote a letter, and here's what he said. daca was what i would pray for all of those nights when i laid away full of anxiety for the future. it allowed me to reach my goals out the fear of not knowing if i'm going to wake up in a strange country tomorrow. dreamers are not perfect, but we work hard, love this country, and would love the opportunity to show it. allen is one of 31 dreamers working for i.b.m. he is the reason that i.b.m. and other business leaders are calling us and saying, are you crazy, senator, you would deport allen torrez. he earned his education the hard way. he succeeded where others failed. he has the kind of ambition and drive that we pray for in our

children and those we admire and you want to tell this youngman to leave the united states of america? these business leaders are pretty hard-nosed about it. it isn't sentimentality, they have an excellent employee and they don't want to lose him. they have written us to pass a bipartisan dream act. the letter says, dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy. with them we grow and create jobs and they are a part of all we need to continue to have a global competitive advantage. that's the business viewpoint on the issue of the dream act. in a few weeks we want to go home for christmas. we want to celebrate with our families. we understand it's a special time of year for so many people in america, this christmas and hanukkah season. we know we give thanks on thanksgiving as we count our

blessings. one of the blessings is the blessing of opportunity. we know in this great nation people have an opportunity to make a better life for themselves, for their kids, for their future, and for our nation. think about allen torrez over this christmas and think about 800,000 just like him, uncertain about what the new year will bring. uncertain because we have failed to act in congress. it was the president and attorney general on september 5 that challenged us to do something. he said -- the president said, i'm going to do away with this. and now we need to do something. all i heard was maybe tomorrow we can work it in the schedule or maybe next month or the month after. we can't do that there has to be a sense of urgency on our part too. these young people, many of them, have a tearful speculation about their own future. i talked to one of my colleagues

from colorado who said he came back with a meeting with a half dozen dreamers and each told their story and they all broke down in tears. you know why. they are about to give up hope, not on this country, but on us, on the senate, on the house, on politics, on congress. well, i think we're better than that. this nation of immigrants is -- has many people with many great stories. the presiding officer told the great story in your family and what it meant to you personally as you grew up, and i heard it and i'm inspired by it, as i'm sure you are, with many other stories we hear. this is what america is all about, and this issue really tests who we are and what we believe in and where our values will be. there are 100 different ways to get to the finish line, but we need to do it by september 22. that's when we are supposed to break for christmas. let's make sure that when we break for christmas that we give these young people, these daca people, these dreamers, give

them the opportunity for a bright future, literally. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. ms. cortez masto: mr. president, i rise today, like my colleagues, to really put a face to what we're talking about here when we here in washington are making decisions that are impacting the real lives of people back home in our states. i have to thank my colleague from illinois who has not only led the charge on this fight but has anniversary given up -- never given up for the dreamers and their families and really fighting to show who they are because they are not numbers, they are real people. i go home to my state and on a regular basis i meet with dreamers and i meet with their families, and it's no different. we sit around and talk and tell stories about their struggle and their fight just to have that

american dream, and they are crying. many are afraid to tell their story. the first time i had the opportunity to sit with dreamers, they had never told their story because they were too afraid to tell it. they were too afraid if they told it and left their home that day and went to work or school, if they came back, their parents would not be there. it's the first time for them coming forward, and that is no different now. this administration and what we are doing is continuing the fear in our communities, and that's why now, more than ever, we have to pass the dream act. since this administration ended daca more than 11,000 daca recipients lost their status. each week 851 dreamers are losing their protection. if we fail to pass legislation to protect dreamers, 800,000 kids will be forced to watch their lives fall apart. they will lose their drivers licenses, their health insurance, their scholarships,

their student loans, their work permits. they will face the constant threat of being detained, separated from their families, and forced out of the only home they know. this is not just a crisis for these kids and their families. it is a crisis for our country, and it is a crisis for businesses across america. if dreamers lose their jobs, employers will incur nearly $3.4 billion in costs. the center for american progress estimates that our g.d.p. will shrink by $460.3 billion over the next decade. over 800 business leaders from companies like air bnb, amazon, facebook, google, lyft and microsoft have signed a letter to congress, as you have heard, urging legislatures to pass the dream act. the value dreamers add to our

economy is apparent to religious groups and advocacy organizations all across the nation. what is it congress is missing? why are some members of this body unable to see all of the contributions that these kids make? and you know, this is also a moral crisis. we cannot turn our backs on dreamers. we must embrace them. they are living examples of what america stands for as a nation, built throughout the sweat and hard work of generations of immigrants. immigrants are a fundamental part of our communities. they always have been. they have built our railroads, our cities, our highways. they have founded businesses, invented groundbreaking technologies and discovered lifesaving cures. blue jeans, hamburgers, catsup, uber, apple, even our

national parks, these are iconic american inventions and yet they were all created in whole or in part by immigrants. immigrants have held public office. one of nevada's first senators was an immigrant. his name was james grand fair, and he was born to a family in ireland. his family brought him to the united states when he was a child toes cape the potato famine. he grew up on a farm in illinois, moved to nevada in the 1850's to get involved in silver mining, and he made a fortune when a repository of silver ore in northern nevada none as the comstock load was discovered. the discovery of this silver made him wealthy beyond belief. overnight he became one of nevada's silver kings, invested his fortune in railroads and real estate and accumulated over $40 million, and that's more than $1 billion today. in 1881, he was elected to represent nevada in the united

states senate. in 1882, this irish immigrant, a man who game a king because of the comstock load, turned his back on other immigrants and he voted in favor of the chinese exclusion act. the chinese exclusion act was a watershed moment in the history of american immigration policy because it was the first time the federal government restricted immigration on the basis of race. and i tell you this story because to me, the chinese exclusion act exemplifies a vicious truth, that immigrants and their descendants are often the ones fighting to keep the next generation of immigrants out. sadly, this congress, a group that includes many descendants of immigrants, is in danger of making the same mistake again. when are we going to acknowledge what basic economics, history, and scientific research have all proven to be true? that immigrants make our economy

stronger, that immigrants come to our country and start businesses, apply for patents, create jobs, and invent technologies that change our world. the 800,000 dreamers in this country, they don't want special treatment. they want the chance to live their lives and do all of those things without the fear of deportation looming over their heads. we have a president who is not just refusing to give them that chance, but actively spreading lies and hate about who they are. i wish i could say that this xenophobia, this hate is something we've never seen before, but anti-immigrant sentiment is nothing new. these attempts to shut our doors are as old as our nation itself. we are a nation of immigrants. we are caught in a vicious cycle. we look to our ancestors for inspiration. we benefit from the

contributions of immigrants, but every generation we default to the arrogance of power and treat immigrants as scapegoats and shut them out. a teacher from sparks, nevada, recently contacted my office to share the fear and uncertainty kids and families are feeling right now. david wrote, i teach music at diedreson elementary school in sparks and my wife is an assistant principal. we are seeing an increase in sphres, acting out behaviors from immigrant families. another friend of mine who teaches school with large immigration population told me of days when large numbers of are absent because of rumors of raids by i.c.e. we are facing another watershed moment in our country's history. people will ask where were you

when dreamers lives were hanging in the balance? did you use your voice? did you speak out? it's time to stop this cycle. it's time to do the right thing and pass the dream act not just because it will add billions of dollars to our economy, but because threats to immigrants are a threat to our communities, our safety, our lives, and the future of this country. the dream act is an investment in our future. republicans in congress are looking for a way to reduce the federal deficit. well, i have a solution for you. passing the dream act would decrease the federal deficit by $2.2 billion over ten years. it turns out that the refrain we always here that immigrants are taking away jobs is a myth. the economy is not a zero-sum game. research shows that immigrants drive growth. they generate new patents at twice the rate of native-born

americans. and in 2014 they earned $1.3 trillion and contributed $105 billion in state and local taxes and nearly $224 billion in federal taxes. immigrants are 30% more likely to start a business in the united states than nonimmigrants and 18% of small business owners in the united states are immigrants. in 2007, small businesses employed an estimated 4.7 million people and generated more than $776 billion in revenue. but this fight is not just about our economy. at its core, this fight is about 800,000 uncertain futures. when you meet dreamers like i have, you will see that they are not numbers. they are not graphs. they are hardworking young people who are putting themselves through school and supporting their families.

they are young people like maria. a dreamer who was brought to the united states when she was four years old. now 22, she is working as a teacher and director of the infant toddler program at a montessori school in washoe county, nevada. she already has an associate's degree but she plans to enroll in the university of nevada reno to pursue a bachelors in education, human development and family studies. maria sent me a letter to tell me her story and she wrote, quote, i as a dreamer am being truly affected by not knowing what will happen with my future. since we moved here, i have learned what the meaning of true work ethic is and hows to a positive asset to our nation. being a daca recipient means i can never have a criminal record, i pay taxes, i have a great job teaching our youth and am still working hard to continue my education.

i'm here thanks to the selflessness and courage my mother showed. and i believe any parent would do the same for their children without hesitation. my mother followed all of the rules to quickly become a true, hardworking member of this nation. in her letter, maria told me that all she wanted was a chance to follow the rules, show her potential, and continue working as a teacher. and you know, maria's story is both an immigrant story and an american story. it's a story about what happens when we give dreamers a chance. maria's story is no different from sergai brimms, the cofounder of google, who came here from russia. no different from madeleine albright's, the first female secretary of secretary of state, an immigrant from czechoslovakia, or that of joseph pulitzer, a

hungarian i immigrant or albert i-stein, a german refugee. my grandfather was born in mexico, he crossed the rio grande to come to this country. he served in our military. , became a citizen, married my grandmother and he raised a family. and his son, my father, began his career as a parking attendant at the old las vegas dunes hotel. he worked his way up through the ranks to become the first latino on the clark county commission and president of the las vegas convention and visitors authority. my mom and dad worked all their lives so my sister and i could become the first in our family to earn a college degree. my family taught me that when someone opens a door for you, you hold it open for the next person coming along after. and that's what i'm here in the senate to do.

to make sure that every american gets that same opportunity my grandfather had, that my parents had, and that my sister and i had. it's time to recognize that dreamers are americans, that their stories are no different from any of ours, that by taking away the protections, by allowing them to return to the shadows, we are allowing a vicious cycle to grind 800,000 dreams into the dust. it's time to learn from the mistakes of our predecessors. we must pass the dream act before the end of this year. thank you, mr. president, for listening, and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i want to thank senator durbin for organizing this time and for his leadership

and advocacy on behalf of dreamers across the country. passing the dream act is about more than the law. it's about compassion and basic human decency. there is nothing compassionate or decent about revoking the status that 800,000 young people, including 600 in hawaii, depend on to live, work, and study in the only country that they've ever known. relying on a promise from the federal government, these young men and women came out of the shadows, handed over personal information, and underwent extensive background investigations to earn their daca status. but the president's actions have put them all at risk. like so many people, i've been moved by stories of how daca has transformed the lives of dreamers across the country. earlier today i spoke with two young dreamers who flagged me down in the hallway as i was

going from one hearing to another, and they asked to speak with me. one had traveled from arizona and is only a high school student. and he was all dressed up. he had a bow tie on. the other who flagged me down at another part of the building lives in california, and is originally from south korea. and both asked me to continue to fight to pass the dream act before the end of this year. to see these young people politely approaching members of congress like me, i don't think a lot of them even had appointments, but they have to study the faces of the members of congress so that as they saw us in the hallway they could come up to us. so as they politely asked to speak with me, even as they literally are fighting for their lives, speaks volumes. we should open our hearts to them and support their cause. like so many of my colleagues, i've met with dreamers from my

home state of hawaii to hear about how daca has changed and enriched their lives. in october i met with three young women studying at the university of hawaii, thanks to daca. karen, melani and beatrice were like college students, they balanced studies with jobs and extra curricular activities. they have lived in fear since the president and his attorney general made the cruel and arbitrary decision to end daca on september 5. karen, malani and beatrice told me they haven't received any notice about what would happen after the program ends on march 5, 2018, and depended on media updates that would literally determine their futures. they shared hopes and concerns most of us would take for granted. when their newly issued driver's license expire, they may not be able to fly home to california to visit their families because they will no longer have valid

i.d.'s. after turning their information over to the federal government, they worry for their parents and families, many of whom are undocumented. and when their work authorizations expire, they will have to drop out of college because they can't afford tuition. karen is pursuing her master's degree and hopes to have a career in research. she said, quote, if i lose my daca, that means i lose my work permit which means i lose my graduate assistantship which means i can't graduate. so thinking about those logistics is a little bit is scary. i wouldn't be able to fund my education. dreamers are working to improve our lives and the lives of our families and hopefully, through our professions, your lives too. we're working to become lawyers, doctors, and teerps.

there is -- teachers. so give us a chance. even with all that they have been through, karen, maleni, and betrus said they don't mind signing up for daca because for a few years they were given a chance at the american dream. they are not asking for much, they are asking us, as karen said, for a chance. they are asking us to keep the promise we made to them and it's in our power to do that. around 10,000 dreamers have already lost their daca status since attorney general sessions announced the program has ended. every day 122 dreamers lose their daca chances. we are -- these dacas -- dreamers were once called

absolutely incredible kids and made promise after promise to protect them. he has gone back on his word time and again. we can't rely on his empty promises. i would ask my colleagues to put yourselves in the shoes of these dreamers. what if your future in this country is uncertain after marc. what if you are facing deportation to a country you don't even know so you have to start life all over again. what if your families live in daily fear. if we can put ourselves in the shoes of dreamers, what part of the dreamers uncertainty and living in fear can we not understand? is it because we are not them? is it that we can only relate to a person's existence only if we lived it ourselves? if that's the only way we can relate to people's problems,

people who come to us for help, then we are in a very sorry, sorry state. you know, most of us who serve in the senate are only one or two generations removed from immigrant status or immigrant backgrounds. i myself am an immigrant. i was not born in this country. i came here with a single mother. i know what it's like to come to a new country where you don't speak the language, where you have to learn, where you have to adjust, and all i ask, all my mother asked for was a chance to attain the american dream. it really bothers me that at the time that we were talking about passing the comprehensive immigration reform, member after member came to the floor of the senate and talked about their immigrant backgrounds, and yet too many of them were perfectly happy to shut the door on immigrants in this country,

undocumented persons, over 11 million of them, to shut the door in their faces, forgetting that most of us come from immigrant backgrounds, forgetting that this country, apart from the original peoples who were here, americanians -- american indians, we are all immigrants. let us open our hearts to these dreamers. these are young people who just want to have a chance of the american dream that too many of us take for granted now. so, you know, let's not only be able to empathize with people whose experiences we've lived. let's not be there. let's not go there. i call on my colleagues to support the dream act now. i yield the floor.

mr. brown: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i thank my friend from hawaii and senator durbin for his work and senator cortez masto, off to a really good start in her first year in the senate. it's personal -- it's personal to senator cortez masto and senator hirono because they are not that far removed from coming to this country. my family has been here longer, but this is personal to me because of the people i met and i will mention in my relatively short remarks and i want to talk some stories about people i have met. immigrant in my state and across the country make vital contributions to the economy and local economy, they are business owners, entrepreneurs, workers, leaders in the community, they serve our nation in the military. for many immigrants who were brought here as children, this is a key point, this is the only country they have ever known. they may speak spanish or

arabic, but they don't know those countries they came from because they were small children when they came. president trump promised to go after violent criminals, not innocent children. unfortunately his effort has not been aimed at violent criminals who should be removed from our country, but he has gone after innocent children. my daughter emily is a legal aide lawyer in columbus for immigration, and she has told me stories of families who have played by the rules, they worked hard, they are active in their church, hold full-time jobs, they are raising their kids, their schools are -- their kids are doing well in schools, but their parents are deported. not because they committed a crime, but they came here a number of years ago to escape violence in those countries where they came from. those are not the same

situations, exact -- situations exactly as these daca kids, but we know who the dreamers are. we should not target the children who are in the only country they have ever known. they are paying taxes and serving in the military. arial was brought to the u.s. as a baby for medical treatment. he attends a community college, a few miles from my home. he's working towards a degree in business administration. he wants to be an entrepreneur who will create jobs in his community and my community. other dreamers have jobs. they are contributing already to our community. i heard from elvis who grew up in northwest, ohio. he graduated from ohio state and works at nationwide. he said that the contributions of daca recipients are not only present in your ban areas, but -- urban areas but also in rural areas.

natalie in columbus works in product development. she lived here since she was nine. her daca status expires this summer. now she's contributing to america's economy, to ohio's auto industry, and she pays taxes. i heard from vona, an h.r. director, a farm community west of toledo. she oversees the human resources department in this her company. she said i was raised in this community. i graduated high school and college. i established myself as a contributing member of this community. for this reason, among many others, i deserve a chance to continue my work. all she says is i want to continue my work. i want to continue raising a family, i want to continue to contribute to this country, i want to continue to work in my community and be a good citizen.

she wants what most americans want, to be able to keep doing her work. there's no question our immigration system is broken, but we don't fix it by kicking out these contributing members of our communities who grew up here. underscore that mr. president. they may not have been born here, but they grew up here and they live in dayton and xena and mansfield. that's their lives. we don't fix or immigration system by kicking these people who grew up here and are american in every sense except the paperwork. it is time for us to come together to put partisan considerations aside and pass a commonsense solution that protects these kids, protect these dreamers, upholds our american values. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey.

book. mr. booker: thank very much, mr. president. i thank all of my colleagues. i especially want to thank senator durbin who has been a friend and mentor of mine since i came to the senate. his leadership right now really leading us on both sides of the aisle, being a central focal point for the dreamers. his words, his leadership today throughout this effort, to make sure that we don't leave for vacation, leave for the holidays, and leave thousands and thousands of children in our country who know no other country, young adults, leave them in a perking tri -- pergatory where they have the anxious waiting to see if this body will act. this is a time where we've seen incredible activism. i cannot tell you how many times

i've been stopped by dreamers who drove in for over 24 hours, driven across this country to come to the capitol to make their case known. they love this country. they have served this country. they only know this country. they've been here before they could even speak. they and their fellow american allies have been struggling and toiling and fighting for recognition. it reminds me of generations of americans in the past that were fighting and toiling and struggling for recognition as citizens. when citizenship was denied them. i know stories from my own families, african americans who literally, like many of these dreamers who served in the military, i know these stories

from my family, people who served in the world. people who served in world war ii, served in korea, like my father, comes back to a country that does not recognize their citizenship rights. women, jews, irish, so much of the story of america is americans struggling, toiling, and fighting, often coming to the capitol of the united states of america, fighting for recognition of their citizenship rights, and they are patriots. the young people i've encountered in my home state and the young people i have encountered here in the capitol, they are patriots, patriotism is love of country, and i'm one of these folks that believes that love of country is better seen than heard. well, i'm telling you right now the dreamers and i -- the dreamers that i've encountered, their service, their sacrifice,

their contributions to this country should resonate. we know that billions of dollars of our economy are being fueled by the dreamers who are here, serving in every imaginable capacity, there for their neighbors, their for their community, there for other children, there for -- their for america. i sat across from dreamers in new jersey that now because of the inaction here in washington, because of the uncertainty these folks who we collectively have contributed to their education, contributed to their success, and are enjoying the fruits of their successes now suddenly are withdrawing from schools, feeling nervous that they are going to be ripped away from family members, younger siblings who are already recognized citizens as they fight for their citizenship rights. i've seen the pain. i've seen the anxiety.

i've shared the tears as they continue this fight hoping that this body will act. there are folks like liz. she's a dreamer from ridgefield, new jersey. she literally created a startup business that employs over 800 people. she's a job creator, an entrepreneur, an innovator who people rely on for their jobs, and we're going to turn around and say to liz, that you have to leave the united states of america, the only country you know. what about people like jesus contreras. he worked for six straight days pulling all nighter after all nighter after hurricane harvey

hit. here's a guy that when we face crisis and people's lives were on the line, he stepped up. that's patriotism. that's love of current, which you can't love your country unless you love your country, men and women, and the way you show you love your country men and women isn't just from the songs you sing and the pledges you make, it's the actions you take. and in a crisis, he was there, reaching out to american hands with his hand that is worthy. dreamers have been a gift to this nation. they are hardworking patriots deserving of our respect. they come from a long tradition of people who served for this country, fought for this country, struggled for this country, who have battled for the respect from this country.

but look up -- that look up and say i, too, am an american. don't judge me by a piece of paper that says so. look at my deeds, look at my action, look at my life. this our wealth, this our natural resource, the genius, created in the image of god, we are going to cast these folks out of our nation. and for what? i believe that the opposite of justice is not injustice. it is inaction. it is indifference. it is apathy. this body has not acted. it has not shown the level of compassion to patriots. it has rewarded the service of these dreamers, the sacrifice of these dreamers.

it has rewarded that with nothing but silence and inaction. well, today i'm glad, as other days before, that i stand with colleagues who will not be silent. this tradition in our country of solid citizens, of patriots who fought, who loved, who contribute to this country, this tradition that runs deep in my family, runs deep in the families of so many here, when they were told they were not citizens, not equal rights from suffragette to civil rights activists. this body finally got it right and finally responded. this is the dream of america. these young people are called dreamers. this is the dream of america. it was a man who talked about being denied his citizenship

rights, who wrote a powerful poem that is as appropriate today as it was when he wrote it. it is being -- it is langston hughes. as these dreamers struggle to be recognized for what they are, citizens of this country. as they put forth a dream no more precious or no more worthy than the dreams of my family, of your family. may the words of language -- langston hughes speak to our souls, motivate us. hughes said there is a dream to this land with its back against the wall, by muddled name and strange sometimes the dream is called. there are those who claim the dream for theirs alone a sin for which we know they must atone. unless shared in common like

sunlight and like air, the dream will die for lack of substance everywhere. this dream knows no frontier or tongue, the dream no class or race. the dream cannot be kept secure in any one locked place. this dream today embattled with its back against the wall, to save the dream for one, it must be saved for all. mr. president, i tell you this with all of my heart that i have met these young americans. i have seen their service. i know their sacrifice. they have worn our uniforms, from our military uniforms to the uniforms of first responders. they have taught our children. they have benefited from our public schools, from our kindergartens, to our eighth grades, to our high schools, to

our colleges, and to our universities. we have invested in them and that investment's paying dividends. they are the american dream. they represent the best of who we are and who we aspire to be. they collectively with the other young people of this nation are our greatest hope for the future. if we cast them out, if we send them into wildernesses of strange lands to them, the places where some of them don't even speak the tongue, it is a sad day, a tragic day for them, but it is even more so for us. what does it say about a nation that turns its children away for what other reason than they came here when they were 2 or 3 and

didn't -- weren't born here? we are better than this. we are greater than this. our nation's ideals are more lofty than this. and so in the same spirit that this body is slow to move granted full citizenship rights to enslaved people and the same way that this body that once slow to move, it finally granted full citizenship rights to every woman in our country, in the same spirit in which this body that was slow to move granted full citizenship rights and voting rights and civil rights to african americans, i hope that we may summon in this generation in a cause noble, i hope that we may summon the courage to do the right thing and not be stuck in inaction.

it's time for us to act as a body. it's time for us to recognize the full citizenship rights of those who have proven themselves already through the greatest actions one can do -- service to another, service to our country, service to the ideals that we have. mr. president, thank you.

mr. blumenthal: mr. president. thank you, mr. president. i'm honored to join my colleague on the floor today. i want to thank our great and distinguished leader on this issue, senator durbin, who has devoted so many years and so much energy and really been an model to me personally of what an advocate should be in the united states senate. and most especially on this issue, which has been preeminently important to me since my arrival here almost

seven years ago. and for a time, i was on the floor almost every week periodically with a photo of another dreamer, and the reason was to make this issue real in the hearts of the american people, to bring their voices and faces to this body. today i'm joined in spirit bial hand rea -- by alejandra diamari. she is one of 8,000 dreamers in connecticut. i am proud of each and every one of them. she is one of 700,000 dreamers in the united states of america. i hope that my colleagues are proud of them in their states as

well, because they are absolutely incredible people. nobody's perfect. but in many ways, they embody the spirit and values of america. they work hard, they go to school, they are our future engineers and scientists, nurses, doctors. they are of immense value to our economy because they work and contribute, and they will better themselves through education, through their values, and they know what it means to be an american citizen, even though they are not. they know the value of citizenship. alejandra came to this country when she was one-year-old. she was brought across the border by her family in mexico.

her family lived in a cramped, small house with her two uncles. they had very little money. she and her sister were students in elementary school. they had to learn english. they spoke with an accent. but as she told me, my mother told me not to give up. that's what she wrote me a couple of days after the president of the united states announced that he would end the daca program. she wrote me five days after the trump administration rescinded daca, and her story has stuck with me, haunted me over these months, just as when i meet with dreamers, as i did just this last monday in hartford, connecticut, to reassure them that i was going to fight every

day remaining in this session, their stories have haunted and moved and inspired me. alejandra was bullied, but even as she was bullied for speaking a different language, her native language, and learning english, even as her father was deported, even as her family was left without him and with even less support, they persevered. she wrote to me, quote, i made it my mission to prove that i was worthy of being considered an american. how many of us growing up made it our mission to prove ourselves worthy of being an american? i dare say, few of us considered

that mission. most of us take for granted that we are americans. we are the citizens of the greatest country in the history of the world. slowly but surely, she learned english, and it became her primary language. and in 2012, she got a break. the obama administration enacted daca. she could come out of the shadow she could have a place, some security, and that step unlocked for her, literally unlocked for her the american dream. for all of us who take for granted what it means to be an american, have made an admission to be an american, we often take for granted the american dream as well. we belong here. no one is going to send us away. no one is going to deport us to

a land we have no knowledge of, to a place away from our friends, our family. but daca meant something else as well. more than just emotionally. it meant she could go to college, and she did. she went to wesley where she is now a student. and for once, she had the immense luxury of not being afraid, not being afraid because she could go to college and study as she is now studying film and international relations. she felt empowered to speak up and participate in her community. she worked at delaware goes to college academy in the summer learning collaborative. they both promote education for disadvantaged youth. and she was now not only

learning and studying at one of the great universities in our country, but giving back to others, enabling others to climb that same ladder. people with disadvantages like hers to make the most of themselves and to achieve that american dream. when attorney general sessions rescinded daca in september, with the president's approval, alejandra wrote to me. quote, i wanted this to be my country so badly. one thing i knew from the bottom of my heart was that i wanted sty here and that i was an american. anyone who looks at alejandra and knows her story and hears her words has to be heart broken

that a young woman seeking so deeply to be an american, to live the american dream and american values and give back to this country that she loves and who never takes for granted what so many of us do. you have to be heart broken to hear those words and her story. i heard my colleagues say, well, why now? why not wait until after the new year? why not wait until march? why not wait? well, waiting until march would mean an extension of her anxiety and apprehension, her fear, and it would also mean the extension of a humanitarian crisis. because make no mistake, 8,000 young people in connecticut,

700,000 in the united states of america, threatening deportation to them is an unprecedented message to the world and to ourselves. it says something about who we are. to leave them hanging is not only unfair, it's unworthy of us as americans. but more practically speaking, tens of thousands of those daca recipients are estimated to have already lost their protection from removal. kicking the can down the road would mean continued anguish for thoaps 700,000 -- for those 700,000 young people. they came forward. they provided their addresses, their cellphone numbers, their tax information on the promise that it would not be used

against them and it would mean instability in the job market, it would hurt our economy. that's why employers are coming forward and urging us to act now. companies have been forced to consider whether they should fire these daca recipients and train new ones -- new employees in anticipation of the march deadline. it would churn and create turmoil if we fail to act. in fact, it already is creating that chaos and confusion because looming on the horizon is the threat of mass deportation. it would be a humanitarian nightmare, and it's a bureaucratic nightmare as well to wait. if the dream act is passed, the united states customs and immigration service needs to process applications and that

involves conducting security checks, biometric screening, notifying the -- they say this process could take up to seven months in total. so we're already late. we're already late in beginning and dmishing this task -- accomplish this task. if we delay, thousands of dreamers will lose protections before the law is implemented. thousands, like alejandra, who has done nothing wrong will be dragged back into the shadows, to lose their driver's license, to lose their jobs, to lose their security, and to hear every day the sound of police sirens, as so many do every day.

the administration has literally thrown a time bomb to this body, and it's ticking. we have the power to defuse it and we have the power to do the right thing and we have the power and obligation to give those 700,000 dreamers to make the most of themselves and make the most of this country. often when i think of the dreamers, i think of my father who came to this country in 1935. he was 17 years old. he knew virtually no one. he spoke almost no english. he had not much more than the shirt on his back. he was a dreamer, but he came here legally. he came a -- he became a united states citizen.

nobody loved this country more than my dad. i sometimes think how sad and ashamed he would be in the way that we have denied the -- the dreamers the opportunity and security that he felt coming here, escaping persecution in germany. this country has never been perfect, but we are the greatest country in the history of the world because we are a nation of immigrants. and if you are ever discouraged or down about your lives or about the country, you may want to try going to the immigration and naturalization ceremonies in your state. they happen in connecticut every week in the courthouses. i go as often as i can, on fridays when they usually occur

in hartford or new haven or bridgeport because it is so uplifting, so very inspiring to see people who are moved and grateful, beyond words -- moved to tears in becoming citizens of the united states. and the judges usually give me an opportunity to say a few words and i thank them for becoming citizens, and i tell them you passed a test most americans couldn't pass, and they laugh as perhaps some of you who are listening now would laugh because they know it's true. they know they wanted -- they wanted to become american citizens and so they studied for it and they prepared and many of them came long distances in

escaping persecution, just as my dad did, and left behind families, loved ones, and jobs, and careers because they wanted to be citizens. they will never take it for granted nor will alejandra if she is given that opportunity. she wants it too. she is a dreamer, not only in name but in spirit, and i hope that all of us keep her in mind and in heart when we think about what we're going to do in the next couple of weeks. for me, i am determined that we should not leave here for our holiday without acting on this measure. i know we can do it if both sides of the aisle are

reasonable and responsible and responsive. because the vast majority of the american people are with alejandra. they know her as a neighbor. they know her as a friend even though they may never have met her, they know people like her who are in their communities, and they know the immense contributions that she and others like her can make, and i know so many of them who share that simple goal to become a united states citizen and it begins with a permanent status, a path -- a path to earn citizenship, whatever it may be called, it begins with a sense of security and belonging and i hope this body will pass a dream

act and give alejandra and so many like her that opportunity to accomplish the american dream. thank you, mr. president. and i yield the floor. i suggest the absence -- absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of the following nomination, executive calendar 356. the presiding officer: is thereby objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: department of state, mary waters of virginia to be

assistant secretary. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate. that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, senate be immediately -- the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that any nomination be printed in the record. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. if there is no further debate, the question is on the nomination. all in favor, say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 357, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 357, expressing the sense of the senate that international education and exchange programs

for the united states national security and foreign policy priorities, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, all in favor, say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 358, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 358, designating december 3, 2017, as national fenal ke

ketoneuria awareness day. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:00 noon wednesday, december 13. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the willett nomination. finally, that all time during recess, adjournment, morning business, and leader remarks count postcloture on the willett nomination. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the

>> the senate confirmed leonard stephen as a judge in the st. louis eight circuit court of appeals. we voted to limit debate on the fifth circuit court. five coverage on the senate on c-span2. later, my results from the special election alabama to fill the u.s. senate seat vacated by jeff sessions. we'll have speeches from the candidates and your calls and comments. that's live at 930 eastern. negotiators are meeting to reconcile differences between the house and senate versions of the tax bill. we spoke with the reporter about the talks.