and one reason onlying within a day of a government shut -- and one reason only, within a day of a government shut down -- and that the insistence of our friends on the other side that we deal with this nonemergency right now because they were unwilling to close out all of these other issues we've been discussing, ad nauseam, literally for months. the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i appreciate the majority leader clarifying for us what this is all about and actually i have to thank the democratic leader for clarifying that this is really about the issue of illegal immigration. that's the reason why there has been no agreement on spending caps, because our friends across the aisle don't want to agree on spending caps because they want to use everything else as

leverage in order to get an outcome on this dispute over illegal immigration. and, as the majority leader pointed out, this isn't so much about what's in the bill as what they said should be in the bill, because i presume our colleagues are for the six-year reauthorization of the children's health insurance program. it was voted almost unanimously out on a bipartisan basis in the senate finance committee. the matter of veterans that the democratic leader mentioned? well, veterans are going to be hurt by what they he done or will do tomorrow, i presume, in defeating this one-month continuing resolution. i find it rather disingenuous to say that we're against this short-term continuing resolution because we want another short-term continuing resolution, guaranteeing that there will yet again be another short-term resolution.

once the spending caps are agreed to, it's going to take a couple of weeks for the bill to be put together so we can actually vote on it. so our colleagues across the aisle say they want another three or four-day continuing resolution. that guarantees yet another continuing resolution. and all of this is really camouflage to hide their true intention, as the majority leader pointed o trying to -- as the majority leader pointed out. trying to force a decision where there is not yet citizen success and a willingness of the president to support it on the issue of deferred action for childhood arrivals. that deadline for people who can no longer resign up is march 5. in the meantime, nobody is in any jeopardy, none of the 690,000 young people who were brought here as children are in any kind of jeopardy.

and we are having discussions on a daily basis. we had one today that senator durbin, steny hoyer, the democratic whip, the majority leader in the house kevin mccarthy and i again met with the white house and the department of homeland security to try to make some progress. and i think there was a beginning of some real progress toward a resolution. but i find it disingenuous to try to claim that we are killing this one-month c.r., continuing resolution, because we don't want to hurt the military. this damages the military because it creates further chaos and uncertainty when it comes to long-term spending deal because our military has been underfunded for way too long. why? because our democratic colleagues won't agree to fund our national defense until we agree to raise spending on

nondefense matters. so it strikes me as very odd that you would say you're voting against this continuing resolution because you're against continuing resolutions, only to guarantee we'll have at least two more and then to claim it's about something else when really it's about the matter of i wilillegal aimmigration. the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: let me say at the utset what we are trying to achieve is to fund the military and the critical agencies of our government immediately and to do it with a budget, to do it with appropriations bills. i have to use that term and remind you, yes, we used to have appropriations bills in the united states senate. not anymore. we deal with continuing resolutions. we mr. chairman. lurch from week to week, day to day, month to month. we aren't doing the men and women of the military any favors with this kind of approach. so make no mistake about it, the democrats are soundly behind our

national security and we want to fund them properly rather than the wait they've been funded to this date. but let me address another issue that's been raised, and my name has been mentioned. -- by my friend from texas. there's been said on the floor tonight there's no urgency. where's the urgency when it comes to daca? where's the urgency when it comes to dreamers? if you want to know the urgency, look into the gallery behind me. look at the people who have gathered here late this night who are following every word that we are debating. why are they here if there is no urgency? there is an urgency. there is an urgency in their lives because of the uncertainty of tomorrow. whether tomorrow will mean deportation for themselves and their families, whether they will be able to work, complete school, have a life in america. yes, there is a real urgency. and let me tell you what we have done about that urgency. a group of us, three democrats and three republican senators sat down four months ago to

answer president trump's challenge to replace daca. was there a meeting of a committee in this senate on the same subject? there was one public hearing, but no bill, no markup, nothing. the activity really came from, evolved from the six of us working together. three democrats and three republicans. we reached an agreement. it wasn't easy. ask the senators involved in your side of the aisle or on our side of the aisle. we presented it to the senate. we have defended it over the last several weeks. and i want to thank the additional four republican senators who have joined us in this effort to finally enact a bipartisan solution to this. so to say we have done nothing, we have so much time, let me tell you there is a sense of urgency here. just this week when the secretary of d.h.s. testified before the judiciary committee, she conceded the fact that the president does not have authority to extend this

deadline of march 5, that we are going back and forth in court as to whether there will be any protection for these young people whatsoever, and she acknowledged that her department has said it will take them six months to write the regulations once we pass the law that will affect their lives and the lives of hundreds of thousands. you know how i feel about this issue. some of you have presided over the senate, have seen the presentations we have made. over the years, i have brought 107 photographs to the floor so that people could see the urgency and need for this issue now. it is sad. it is unfortunate that those who stand on the floor tonight continue to just characterize these as illegal immigrants, illegal immigrants. children, toddlers, infants brought to the united states who have lived their whole life here and are simply asking for a chance to be part of our future are being swept away as illegal immigrants. they are more than that. they are the sons and daughters of america who want to be part

of our future. they are people who inspire me every day. they are folks that guarantee to us that the american dream will be alive for another generation because they are willing to work for it, to study for it, and to fight for it. this is worth our attention. we have produced this bipartisan measure. a lot of hard work went into it. we simply ask that the senate take up a measure that we produced or produce a better one, and the leadership has refused. that's part of the reason we find ourselves at this moment. i want to assure you it is an urge