promises because when you look at this plan and you talk to economists who don't care about political party, they will tell you that this plan is actually going to increase the incentive of american businesses to move their jobs and operations and factories overseas. so let's just take a quick look at this because i'm appealing to my republican colleagues to fix this before it's too late. first, first it's important to understand that the republican tax plan now will allow u.s. corporations to pay zero taxes on their foreign profits. so if you have a company overseas, currently you have to pay u.s. taxes on the proceeds on that after you've made the foreign government. but under the republican plan, you pay zero taxes on those

overseas profits. so under the new plan that reportedly is emerging, corporations will have a 21% u.s. tax rate. but if you move your business or company overseas, it's zero, not 21 just like today those corporations that move their businesses overseas will have to pay taxes to those foreign governments on the profits they make overseas. but lots of those corporations can shift those profits to parts of the world where there's zero income tax liability. and republicans in the house and senate claim that they solve this problem by going to a minimum tax on certain foreign profits. and here's how our republican colleagues claim they fix this problem.

let's say you have a company that keeps -- it either has its headquarters or puts its profits in the cayman islands. i hope my colleagues will follow this and fix this while there's still time. so you have a $2 million profit in the cayman islands. so you pay zero foreign taxes, as the cayman islands doesn't have any tax. and of course under this plan, you pay zero u.s. tax except our republican colleagues said they have a plan to address this problem. and that is in this situation there will be a 10% minimum tax. so on your $2 million profit in the cayman islands, you would actually pay a tax of $200,000. sounds good. i mean at least it's a small fix supposedly. but then in the same bill there's a huge loophole to this

fix, and that is that corporations get an exemption from this minimum 10% tax if they move their factories overseas. if you move jobs overseas, you can escape that 10% minimum tax. and that's because in the senate bill corporations get an exemption that equals 10% of the value of all their offshore, of all their offshore factories and equipment. and the house bill is similar. what does that mean? it means if you're a corporation, you get an exemption from that foreign minimum tax by shipping factories and jobs overseas. here's the math. you have a corporation that made $2 million in the cayman islands. remember they were going to pay $200,000 tax on that. but now you move the factory overseas that's worth $100 million.

and because -- and makes a $5 million profit. and now you add up your overseas profits, they're now below that. and you pay no foreign minimum tax on that. gene sperling and since then many, many economists have raised alarm bells about this, and yet our republican colleagues seem to have blinders on about the commitment they made to make sure that we don't offshore more american jobs. this will offshore more american jobs. mr. president, if you look at this bill, it is full of broken promises. i ask my colleagues to go back and look at what was promised by candidate trump, president trump, and our republican colleagues because the tax bill doesn't do that. and i urge my colleagues to allow as well the newly elected senator from alabama, doug

jones, to be able to have a vote on this incredibly consequential piece of legislation. he was just elected by the will of the people of alabama and we should not rush headlong in the passing this bill, it will impact of people of alabama like everybody else, without him having a chance to vote on it. that's something that senator mcconnell mentioned in a similar situation many years ago when scott brown from massachusetts was elected to fill the seat of senator kennedy. he asked people to wait and allow senator brown to weigh in on the health care bill. and you know what? they did. doug jones and the people of alabama deserve the same respect. and the people of this country deserve a senate that is duly elected to make this really important decision.

so, mr. president, there is still time. there is still time to turn back in the conference committee. there's still time for senators to say that the bill that's emerging doesn't match the promises that were made, and we can go back to the drawing board and come up with real bipartisan tax reform. let's do that. mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, as you know, once a week i come down to the floor when we're in session to recognize a person or group of people in my state who make it very, very special. the great state of alaska. we call them our alaskans, or alaska -- alaskan of the week. as you know, mr. president, alaska is beautiful, big, special. right now much of the state is gearing up for skiing season.

the snow is out. there's nothing more beautiful and invigorating than taking to the slopes in alaska. it's also a glait time to see the -- a great time to see the northern lights dancing in the sky. so i urge everybody watching, come out to alaska winter, summer. it will be the trip of a lifetime. but of course it's much more than snow and beautiful dancing lights. our people are what make us so special. rugged, independent, generous, giving to their families, their communities, to our state, our country. and, mr. president, alaska is a patriotic state. i would argue the most patriotic state in our great nation. for one, we have the most veterans per capita of any state in america. and we have the very best military forces.

and we have a lot of them. let me just name a few, mr. president. we have the army's first stryker brigade. spring is one of my staffers helping me out here. he served there. they're based in fort wayne write and the first stryker brigade aviation task force. we have the 59th signal battalion, 17th combat sustainment support battalion, 11th air force, 176th wing, the 673rd air base wing. the air force reservists and the 477th fighter group, 354th 354th, 213th space warning squadron. you get the picture. some of the best military forces. the 49th missile defense

battalion, the cornerstone of america's missile defense, protecting the entire nation right there at fort greely. mr. president, these are the thousands and thousands of men, active duty, women in the reserves, on active duty who are stationed in our great state. we are proud of them, and we owe them and their families a huge debt of gratitude for their service. especially now that we're approaching the holiday season. but today i want to particularly recognize the men and women who make up the 4th brigade combat team 25th infantry division, the only airborne brigade combat team in the entire asia pacific and in the entire arctic. as my colleagues on the armed services committee know, they are referred to in alaska and throughout the army as the four

two five. this unit, over 3,000 men and women strong, are our alaskans of the week. mr. president, i want to talk a little bit about the 425. it has a very strong lineage and heritage. although it was created relatively recently in 2004, which was the first new u.s. airborne unit created since the end of world war ii, its heritage springs from the 25th infantry division which was first activated in 1941 and played a seminal role until world war ii and all of our country's conflicts since. and just like the 25th infantry division, the four two five has played a major role in our country's conflict since its interception. members of four two five have deployed to iraq in in support of the iraqi freedom. to afghanistan in support of

operation enduring freedom. and just last december, a couple months ago, they were deployed again to afghanistan to train and advise afghan security forces. mr. president, as part of a larger draw down of our military and the army, a misguided drawdown by the previous administration, that was announced in 2015, the four two five was one of 40,000 active duty army soldiers that were l getting ready to be cut, just gotten rid of. this would have been an enormous strategic mistake for the army and for america's national security, especially as it related to the four-two-five, the only mountain, cold weather, airborne b.c.t. in the

entire arctic or asia pacific. they are a critical reserve force for any contingency on the korean peninsula given how close we are in alaska to korea. so what happened? what happened was alaskans circled the wagons, rallies with hundreds, if not thousands of my fellow alaskans came out in our great state urging the department of defense, the u.s. army, don't make this mistake. don't cut this unit. keep it intact. here in washington we did our work. i had a heart-to-heart with a number of senior army and d.o.d. officials with one simple goal in mind, to get them personally to visit this unit, to come see them train, to see how capable they were. to understand their strategic value to america's national

security. and that happened. we had many senior army officials, the chief of staff of the army, the secretary of the army came up to alaska, went down to jrtc, and watched the four-two-five in action. i remember standing on the second floor of a building in a mock middle eastern town watching members of the four-two-five jump into an l.z. in the middle of the night for a nighttime air force seizure operation at the joint training center. there is something awe-inspiring watching 1,000 airborne paratroopers silently fall out of the night sky to seize our terrain, something that probably sends chills up the spine of our nation's enemies. fast forward to today, of the 40,000 soldiers slated to be cut from the u.s. army, only one unit was spared. one.

and it was the four-two-five. mr. president, why did this happen? it happened because they made it happen. this great unit saved themselves when the army's top brass came to alaska, went down to fort polk and walked them train at jrtc, they saw what a great unit this was and they realized that they were making a big mistake. when general milley, the chief of staff of the army, made the final decision to reverse the previous decision of the army and retain the four-two-five, he said, quote, it was one of the most trained and ready units in the entire united states army. unquote. that's the chief of staff of the army. mr. president, the four-two-five didn't rest. they're back deployed in

afghanistan. and unfortunately, just a few days ago while deployed, alaska lost a son and the four-two-five lost one of its own as part of this mission. it's heartbreaking for the families and for the unit that we have brave young men and women willing to sacrifice and have already sacrificed. our prayers are with them during these holidays. they are alaskans of the week. i plan on visiting them overseas during the holidays. my wife julie will also being attending -- be attending an event this weekend in anchorage for the families of those who are deployed showing our support, our respect for the men and women in this unit and the families.

because as many know, when a family is deployed, it's not just the young man and woman in the unit who's sacrificing. it's the entire family. so to the families, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for your service and sacrifice. and to the men and women who make up the 425, we also say thank you for all you're doing for us, for serving us, keeping us safe, for protecting this country when americans are enjoying the holidays. i look forward to seeing you in theater. please be assured that members of this body, all members of this body, senators, democrats, republicans, know your record of service and wish all of you godspeed this holiday season. thank you for being our alaskans of the week.

army strong, arctic tough, sparta lives. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my following remarks appear in a separate record -- separate place in the "congressional record." the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i rise to commend this body and my colleagues, every single senator voted unanimous consent to move forward on the national defense authorization act, which was signed into law just this week by president trump. and particularly -- in particular, i want to thank the chairman of the armed services committee, john mccain, who did so much to shepherd this important piece of legislation through this body and to the president's desk, and i want to

thank senator mccain for all his service and sacrifice for america for decades, decades. the ndaa, as we all know, is an important clinton piece of legislation boosting our national security, rebuilding our military readiness, and protecting men and women, the men and women in uniform who serve our nation. it's been a piece of legislation that for 56 consecutive years, on a bipartisan basis, has moved through the senate and the house to be signed by the president. a lot of times you hear there is not a lot of bipartisanship that's going on in washington. well, on issues like this, mr. president, there is. as i mentioned. this bill which authorizes almost $700 billion for our troops who need it passed the

senate unanimously. mr. president, not all the members of the military had their bill that authorized spending and funding for what they're doing has moved through the congress. unfortunately, our men and women in the u.s. coast guard, our nation's fifth branch of service have been once again left behind. the ndaa covers the army, air force, navy, and marines. the coast guard bill, the coast guard authorization act focuses on the heroic men and women in the coast guard. this year, we worked hard on that bill. senate bill 1129, the coast guard authorization act of 2017. i sponsored this bill with chairman john thune, chairman of the commerce committee, ranking

member bill nelson, and senator lisa murkowski. this bipartisan bill and it's very bipartisan will give the coast guard the resources it needs to protect our waterways and coastlines, block illegal traffickers and smugglers of drugs and more efficiently procure future cutters, coast guard cutters which our country and my state desperately need. a very, very important bill. in constructing this legislation, we worked in a bipartisan manner for months. however, it appears, despite broad support from both republicans and democrats, the coast guard authorization act, a critical bill for homeland security, for the safety of our mariners and fishermen, and for showing the support of the thousands of men and women who

serve in the coast guard, unfortunately the bill has become stuck. and as chairman of the committee responsible for the u.s. coast guard, i must speak up for the men and women of this important service and the critical services they provide, because this bill should have been moving months ago. mr. president, not only does this bill contain critical needs and authorizations and funding authorizations for the coast guard, it also contains provisions of vital importance to our maritime and fishing communities,. included in this legislation is important language to pharmaceutically fix an issue that has been around for years, one that pertains to incidental discharges for those in our fishing fleets, also known as the vessel incidental discharge act, or vida. it's part of the coast guard bill.

currently, vessel owners and operators are forced to comply with a patchwork of burdensome federal and state regulators -- regulations for vessel blast water and incidental discharges. this creates inefficiency, adds costs, inhibits economic prosperity for my state and for the country. while not providing a uniform standard to protect the environment, which is also critical. this fix that's in the coast guard bill would provide the maritime industry, the fishing industry with a consistent, uniform regulatory structure, restoring cost-effective commerce while also ensuring environmental protection of our nation's ports and waterways and fisheries, and notably for a large number of my constituents, this provision, the vida provision in the coast guard bill provides a permanent

exemption on incidental vessel discharge for all fishing vessels and small commercial boats. very important because previous legislation required even small fishing vessels to get a discharge permit from the e.p.a. to simply hose down their decks. these fishing vessels and small vessels are facing potential noncompliance if we fail to pass the coast guard bill soon. and they should not be penalized for the refusal of some of my colleagues, a few, a very few number of my colleagues who are opponents of this important fix. to allow for what we think is a bipartisan negotiated solution to move forward. the fix in this bill on vida is supported by all segments of the

maritime industry. u.s. and international vessel owners and operators, fishing vessels both large and small, passenger vessels, charter boat operators, labor unions, and the navy league of the united states marine term's port authorities throughout the country, just to came a few all in support. so, mr. president, there is broad bipartisan support and agreement that this bill, with the vida provision in the coast guard authorization act should move forward, democrats and republicans. so i was going to come down here this evening and ask unanimous consent that we pass the bill now. out of respect for some of my colleagues who are still working in good faith on this issue, i have decided to refrain from that, but, mr. president, we are

losing patience. there have been numerous suggested compromises to help get a few senators to yes on this. we have accepted almost every single one of these, every single one of these. we are negotiating in good faith. we even held a big meeting this afternoon with many staff on another suggestion, which the e.p.a. said was an unworkable idea. so, mr. president, i believe we're now down to one single issue, one single issue on this important piece of legislation. out of respect for my colleagues, one of whom i just got off the phone with, the senator from michigan who have a very close working relationship on the committee that oversees the coast guard because he is my

ranking member, we're going to try to work through the weekend and resolve this. but i hope that the remaining senators act in good faith, because what we don't want to see is we accept every single compromise put forward is the goalpost keep being moved. the deadline is fast approaching for our fishermen and maritime fleet. we must get this done. and the deadline is long past to show that we respect, care for, and want to do all we can to support the men and women in the coast guard the way we support the other military services as we saw this week when president trump passed the very bipartisan ndaa. mr. president, i call on all of my colleagues to work through the weekend so we can get the yes, they can get the yes on

this very important bill, the coast guard bill, so we can support them the way we are supporting the other men and women in our military. i yield the floor. mr. whitehouse: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, let me first thank my friend from alaska for his enthusiasm for getting the coast guard legislation completed. as a fellow ocean state, albeit it a somewhat smaller ocean state, we are strong supporters of our coast guard and appreciate very much their service op -- on our waters. i am here for my is 189th time to wake up speech to discuss the republican tax bill. who knew? folks watching today's debate

from home are probably wondering what the tax bill has to do with climate change. good question. they might also ask, as i do, why the tax bill includes massive giveaways to fossil fuel producers. or what opening up precious wilderness to oil drilling has to do with tax reform. the chairman of the senate finance committee said we need a simpler tax code that puts more money back into the pockets of workers and families. republicans, he said, want to create a fairer, more predictable system for taxpayers across the country. mr. president, the tax plan is none of those things. its benefits are weighted heavily to big corporations, not workers and families, and the

corporate tax cuts are permanent while the modest breaks for some workers disappear after a few years. what is fair or predictable about that? the chairman also once said i want a bipartisan process that renders a bipartisan result. i think we need a vigorous and open debate in the senate, which in my view should include a full process in committee and regular order on the senate floor. well, we got none of that. republicans have rammed this bill through using every procedural and parliament trick at their disposal. as a purely partisan measure in the dead of night, producing amendments in handwritten chicken scratch in the margins of the bill at the last minute. if we were to ask middle-class families their top priorities

for fixing our tax system, i don't think very many would say, you know what we really need to do is let oil companies pump crude in an alaskan wildlife refuge. but that's what they do. the arctic national wildlife refuge was established in 1960 to preserve unique wildlife, wilderness and recreational values. it now encompasses almost 20 million acres, with around eight million acres designated as wilderness. the u.s. fish and wildlife service manages the refuge, which is roadless, trailless, and represents the best of wild alaska in a world where wilderness is increasingly scarce and vanishing far too fast. the republican tax bill opens the refuge's 1.5 million-acre coastal plain to the oil

drillers. opening the arctic national wildlife refuge to oil and gas development does little to provide energy security. the oil-producing potential of the area is estimated by the u.s. geological survey at a maximum around 12 billion barrels total, total of recoverable oil. in 2016, the u.s. consumed 7.2 billion barrels of petroleum products, just in that year. so all the oil we get from the arctic national wildlife refuge which will take decades, represents less than two years of current consumption. and that's according to the most optimistic estimate. the budget resolution required that this venture raise $1 billion over ten years. republicans need that $1 billion

to fund the big tax cuts that they're giving out to the wealthy and to big corporations. when the numbers were finally crunched, though, drilling in that arctic coastal plain couldn't produce those numbers. did this reality dis dissuade my republican colleagues? no. instead they decided to make up the difference by selling off barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve. the united states emergency supply of crude oil that actually does help guarantee our energy security. they want to sell reserve oil to fund those cuts for the wealthy and the big corporations. well, an auction last week of oil and gas leases in another part of northern alaska bodes ill for republican hopes about drilling in the wilderness preserve.

on 900 tracts of land offered up to oil and gas companies, the bureau of land management fielded just seven bids. 900 tracts of land, seven bids. why is that? well, for one thing, low prices for crude oil make the prospect of exploring undeveloped alaskan wilderness less appealing. in general, current industry appetite for high-risk frontier exploration is very low, observed an energy analyst at raymond james and associates. the arctic national wildlife refuge would suffer from much the same thing. the second problem is that oil companies are likely overstating their achievable existing reserves already. they will have to leave a lot in

the ground of what they are now claiming as reserves. buying more when you can't sell what you already have is not a great strategy. low-cost renewables and excess supply will further drive oil prices down and down if laws of supply and demand hold true. this may be one reason why the world bank just announced in this news story dated two days ago that the world bank will end its financial support for oil and gas exploration within the next two years in response to the growing threat posed by climate change. that's where they're going. we are going the wrong way. the sad irony of arctic drilling is that the american arctic will

feel the effects of burning fossil fuels most severely. the u.s. global change research program climate science special report authored by scientists and experts from top universities and across the federal government found that while all regions of the united states will see significant warming by the end of the century, alaska is expected to take the hardest hit, potentially over 12 degrees farenheit warmer by 2100 under the high emission scenario shown down here at the bottom right. the northern edge of alaska, including the historic whale hunting village of utkyiavik,

and please forgive me villagers for mangling your name, could see temperature differences of 18 degrees farenheit. 18 degrees farenheit increase in temperature. this village only about 300 miles west of the area in the arctic national wildlife refuge targeted for oil and gas development is already seeing its coastlines overrun by rising crazy, its permafrost melting beneath its buildings and its beaches washing out to sea in strong winter storms as the protective shoreline sea ice forms later and later each year. here's another news flash from utkiavik, 320 miles north of the arctic circle, a weather station at america's northern knowest city of utkiavik has

been collecting temperature data since the 1920's. well, just recently the average temperature went so off the charts at the weather station there that the instrumentation shut down the recording because it thought something -- the algorithm that monitors this figured something must have gone wrong with the instrumentation because the numbers were so out of whack. well, the numbers were not out of whack. it was actually very real climate change that changed the environment and sent that signal that blew through the algorithm that the scientists had set up. but in this building, in this room the warnings of our best scientists about the consequences of our carbon emissions, they just don't count here.

the hyped economics about oil drilling don't count here. the weird budgetary jujitsu required to shoehorn this environmental hit into a tax bill doesn't matter here. what matters here is that the oil companies want to drill in the arctic national wildlife refuge. and so republicans are making it happen. republicans claim to be cleaning up the tax code, but their so-called tax reform leaves in place most of the oil and tax giveaways that have benefited that industry for decades. the big oil giants like b.p., shell, exxonmobil, chevron and conocophillips have enjoyed

nearly $1 trillion in profits over the past ten years. yes, let's rush to their assistance. never mind the beleagured american families, many of whose taxes will go up from this bill. let's rush to the defense of those companies with $1 trillion in profits over the past ten years. they continue to benefit from multibillion dollar tax subsidies. i'm proud to have repeatedly cosponsored senator menendez' bill that would close the loopholes for the big oil giants, saving $22 billion for taxpayers and debt holders over the next decade. republican bill not only leaves most of the old loopholes in place, it offers new giveaways to the oil and gas industry. a last-minute change scribbled in during the senate vote-a-rama will allow traded oil and gas partnerships to use the so-called pass-through loophole

that republicans claim is designed to help small businesses. while the republican tax plan boosts the fossil fuel polluters with this new tax gift, it singles out renewable energy to undermine those jobs. the way this works is that under the historic bipartisan agreement that many of us worked on in 2015, developers of new wind energy were given a period in which tax credits for projects for which construction begins by the end of 2019 would be protected. there was a bargain struck in this body. we came together and we agreed

on a bipartisan result. this tax bill breaks that deal and breaks that result for wind and for solar. for the wind it was to the end of 2019. for solar it was through 2021. these tax credits have been vital to the growth of the renewable industry across the country. it's grown in red states and blue states. in fact, the five states that get the largest percentage of their electricity from wind and have all those wind energy jobs are iowa, kansas, zack south dakota and north dakota. texas produces the most wind power of any state. the republican tax bill is likely to upend the progress we've made on renewables, disrupt ongoing projects, ruin those jobs all with clever provisions whose trick is to render those renewable tax

credits that we bargain for practically valueless. renewable developers don't usually turn a profit in the early years. so they don't have taxes against which to apply the tax credits. so they sell the tax credits to others, and they use the revenue from selling the tax credits to support those wind and solar investments. the clever fossil fuel trick in the senate bill specifically the corporate a.m.t. and base erosion so-called provisions, make these credits worthless to the businesses that have been buying them. with no buyers for the tax credits, funds for new wind and solar projects will dry up. and there's even more nonsense in the house bill that takes direct aim at the wind and solar credits, including changing the rules on how projects would

qualify for the credits not just in the future but also retro actively. they go back to undo deals that have been done. $20 billion in projects have frozen up. developers say just from the threat of these changes. renewable energy industry organizations, including the american wind energy association, the american council on renewable energy, the american conservation coalition, citizens for responsible energy solutions, the conservative energy network, and conservatives for clean energy all warn that the tax bill would jeopardize growth and jobs in wind and solar projects. if these provisions are retained, the groups wrote to senators, they will result in broad instability and uncertainty for businesses and investors across many sectors, including the clean energy

sector. gosh, i hope my republican friends will listen to our wind and solar producers, particularly the ones in their home states. i hope they'll listen to the people who are counting on the jobs of those $20 billion in projects that have now been put on the shelf. i hope that they'll listen to american taxpayers who are sick of midnight deal corporate welfare like this. if they do listen, they can scrap this terrible bill. they can sit down and work with democrats. it would be a novelty but we welcome it. and we could do a bipartisan tax bill that works for the middle class, for the economy, and for the environment. but with the oil and gas industry calling the shots around here, fat chance of that. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: mr. president, i thank my friend, the senator from rhode island, for two things. one for being a constant voice on the need for us to diversify our energy sources and supplies and recognize the enormous challenge around climate change. i come from a state not too dissimilar from his in terms of we have a great deal of shoreline. we see the effects of the changing climate each and every day where we have parts of the city of norfolk where on a high tide, parts of the city that never before flooded, flooded on a regular basis. on a sunny day. we have a church that has to regularly change its schedule of worship not because the lord asked them to change the

schedule of worship, but because they flood, it floods on a regular basis. i also thank him for his comments about the tax legislation. i share his concern. as somebody who feels very strongly, there's a right way and a wrong way to do tax reform. unfortunately, the product that i believe we will be voting on next week, not only due to some of the provisions you talked about, but it will add close to $2 trillion to our debt. it does not even take care of the problems in many ways that it was supposed to solve in terms of the ability for companies to bring back profits from overseas and a way to reinvest in this country. frankly, it exacerbates the problems where companies can further hide their profits abroad. i share your doubt whether our colleagues will join us in starting anew, but if they would, i know i would join with you and others in trying to make sure that we would do a tax reform in a fair, balanced, and

way that was fiscally responsible, so i thank you for your comments. but, mr. president, i stand here today, though, to talk about a different subject, and that is to stand in solidarity with over 12,000 of my virginia constituents who are students, entrepreneurs, members of our military, and also these individuals who have the distinction of being dreamers. like the nearly 800,000 dreamers across the country. these people, many of them young folks, are worried about facing deportation, and not for anything they have done wrong, but because the vast majority of these young people were brought here to this country as children many years ago, and today unfortunately, due to no actions of their own, they are caught up in some of the worst of our nation's politics. up until this past september,

these young people were living in the united states legally under the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, or what's been called daca. as part of this program, these young people came out of the shadows, paid a fee, went through an extensive criminal background check, and complied with all the other requirements of the daca program. unfortunately, mr. president, dreamers rnd their families are now in a perilous situation -- dreamers and their families are now in a perilous situation because unfortunately president trump ended the daca program, literally putting hundreds of thousands of these young people in a state of limbo. unfortunately while a number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to work through this problem, we hear that the republican leadership has done nothing to provide that

permanent solution for these hardworking, yes, young americans, and that's who they are, folks who have lived here oftentimes for decades. this is not how the greatest country on earth should treat anyone, especially these young people who in most cases have only one nation that they have called home, and that's our country, the united states. now, i'm not the only one who thinks this, mr. president. as i mentioned, there are colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have been coming to the floor for weeks making this point. the fact is, more than three-quarters of americans of all political stripes support a pea to legal -- a pathway for permanent legal status for dreamers. here in the senate, my friend senator lindsey graham and dick drowrn have introduced the bipartisan dream act and have been working actively to work

about its passage. in the senate and the house, there are enough votes to pass this bipartisan legislation if leadership would only bring it to the floor, and that's not just the case here in the senate. just last week, my friend, congressman scott taylor, a fellow virginian and a republican, led a bipartisan group of 30 members in the house asking again the house leadership to find a legislative solution, not next year, not next month, but now. unfortunately, many, to me at least it seems that some folks on the other side of the aisle would rather treat this as a political issue and a political pawn to be negotiated, probably not even this year but at some future date. by doing so, they leave these young people in a state of limbo

and really subject to a great deal of legal uncertainty, and for many of these young people, as they cycle out of the program, close to a thousand a week, even if we come up with a legal solution, their ability to rejoin the program, reclaim their legal status may be extinguished. the truth is this is not just another political leverage point. let me take a moment or two and talk about some of the folks who are affected, folks in my state, folks who i call real virginians. i think about one, a young student from northern virginia who i chose as my guest to the president's state of the union address a few years ago. i was so impressed with her work ethic and her passion for improving the lives of others that i asked her to serve after that as an intern in my office. where she did great work serving fellow virginians.

think about a law student i met recently in williamsburg who was important in england and brought here when she was just a year old. right now, when it's getting close to the holidays, she is probably tucked away in some corner of the library studying for her law school exams. but she told me she wanted to get that law degree to help fellow virginians when she graduates. i say we shouldn't stand in her way. think about again a young man i met from newport news whose mother brought him to the united states when he was just 6 years old. sadly, his mother passed away before he graduated from high school. but i know that when he walked across the stage of that graduation, as valedictorian of his class, his mom would have been proud.

and when hopefully this program is renewed, when he graduates from virginia tech next year with a degree in engineering, he will put those skills to work. these are just a few examples about the smart, successful young virginians who also carry the categorization of being called dreamers. the truth is in virginia, we have a vibe rapt and growing immigrant community that contribute to all facets of life in the commonwealth, and while i talk today about dreamers, i want to also make mention of another program who is caught up in some of these last-minute negotiations, the so-called t.p.s. individuals, oftentimes individuals from salvador, honduras, nicaragua, in many cases folks who have lived in this country for decades whose legal status are also in jeopardy. the truth is whether they are a

dreamer or someone who has been a beneficiary of the t.p.s. program, the truth is immigrants in virginia are all across our country. they are doctors, caretakers, small business owners, high-tech entrepreneurs. quite honestly, they are also our next-door neighbors. they are motivated, talented individuals who want to help to continue contributing to the commonwealth of virginia and to our country. and what we tell them every day that we fail to act, every day that more and more of these young people fall out of eligibility, we tell them in pretty direct ways that actually even though they have served, studied, and work here, at least some in this chamber don't really want them here. they would rather urge them to

take their talents elsewhere. as somebody who has been in business longer than i have been in politics, i have to tell you these young people are an enormous asset and urging them to leave the commonwealth or our country is a bad business decision. as i said, unfortunately, with every day that passes, more and more dreamers face the very real and terrifying prospect of being oftentimes sent to a country they barely know or may not know at all for an offense that they were too young to even know they committed. mr. president, that's just not right. it's not right that their lives should hang in balance as they wait and wait and wait for congress to solve this problem, a problem that i know if it was

brought to the floor would receive overwhelming bipartisan support. mr. president, these young people can't wait any longer and shouldn't wait any longer. it's time to pass the dream act right now. thank you, mr. president. with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk shall call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

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 that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the democratic leader, the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of the following nomination, executive calendar 430. i ask consent there be 10 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of time the senate vote on the nomination with no

intervening action or debate. that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, any statements relating to the nomination be printed in the printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of the following nominations -- executive calendar 405 and 406. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, environmental protection agency, matthew z. leopold of florida to be an assistant administrator. david ross of wisconsin to be an assistant administrator. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in

order, and that any statements relating to the nominations be principled in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations -- executive calendar 499 and 500. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: department of justice, scott w. brady of pennsylvania to be united states attorney for the western district of pennsylvania. andrew e.lelling of massachusetts to be united states attorney for the district of massachusetts. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in

order, and that any statements related to the nominations be principled in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the motion occurs on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor, say aye. all those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of executive calendar 548 through 551, and all nominations placed on the secretary's desk, and that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order, that any statements related to the nominations be principled in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in 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 committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration of s. 654 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 654, a bill to revise section 48 of title 18, united states code, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged, and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. monday, december 18. 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 proceed to consideration of calendar 241 and 193 under the previous order, en bloc, with the debate time on the nominations to run concurrently. finally, at 5:30 p.m., the senate vote on the confirmation of the nominations in the order listed, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: 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 senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> the senate today confirmed james ho to the us court of

appeals for the fifth circuit in new orleans. next of the senate agenda, nominees for assistant secretary of defense for special operations and general counsel for the department of housing and urban development. follow life in coverage as always on here on c-span2. >> c-span where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created by as a public service for america's television companies and is brought to you today by your cable and satellite provider. >> now, a hearing on foreign investment in the us and the interagency committee that oversees the transactions. members heard from former officials from the defense, treasury and commerce departments. congressman andy barb of kentucky chairs the house financial services subcommittee. this is little less than 90 minutes