vote:

the presiding officer: are there any members in the chamber who wish to vote or change his or her vote? on this vote, the yeas are 92, the nays are 5. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. 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 jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be chairperson of the board of directors of the federal deposit insurance corporation for a term of five years, signed by 16

senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be chairperson of the board of directors of the federal deposit insurance corporation shall 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 members in the senate wishing to change their vote. the yeas are 72, the nays are 25. the nomination is confirmed. the motion is agreed to. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. 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 jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be a member of the board of directors of the federal deposit insurance corporation for a term of six years signed by 16 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense

of the senate that the debate on the nomination of jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be a member of of the board of directors of the federal deposit insurance corporation shall 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 73, nays are 23. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report both nominations. the clerk: nominations, federal deposit insurance corporation, jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be board of directors, jelena mcwilliams of ohio to be a member of the board of directors. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i wanted to take a moment to recognize major general joseph

martin and his outstanding military career which was made evident by a signature promotion to lieutenant general. he is in fort riley kansas and assumed his command in october of 2016 when he took command of the big red one, the army's longest serving permanent division since 1917. since the days of taking command of the big red one, he deployed 500 of his soldiers to iraq. he assumed and supported inherent resolve. his combat leadership was remarkable in iraq. during the nine-month deployment he led the fight alongside the government in iraq. his efforts and the efforts of the brave soldiers of the u.s. army and all of our troops led

to the defeat of isis in mosul. isis has been in -- isis had been in control of mosul since 2014, but when beaten back by general martin and his forces, they liberated 8.1 million iraqis. major general martin was one of the last soldiers to return from the mission in july of 2017. when general martin returned stateside, he quickly demonstrated his leadership back on base at fort riley and led the 100th anniversary of the division. he has been an outstanding partner to me and fellow kansasians with his support of the big red one. he has supported communities that surround fort riley. it is no surprise that he was selected for promotion to

lieutenant general. he can complete the most complex challenges under the most stressful situations. the army has made the right move with his promotion, and furthermore, by placing him in a position of greater responsibility. i'm confident that kansans will join me in congratulating soon to be confirmed general martin on his promotion. we thank him for his service and the sacrifice he and his family have made over the last 32 years. i recognize his wife, leann and their children for their service over the years. strong army families make strong army soldiers. i have no doubt, none, that major general martin will continue to be one of the army's best leaders and look forward to seeing what lies ahead of him in his career. congratulations, general martin. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: i rise in support of the nomination of ms. jelena

mcwilliams to be chair and -- macwilliams to be chair and member of the federal deposit corporation. as one of the three primary financial regulators, the fdic plays a critical role in the united states financial system, particularly for community banks. mr. crapo: as head of the fdic, ms. macwilliams will be responsible for administering the deposit fund and ensuring the safety and soundness of the financial system while also promoting economic growth. she will also contribute to deliberations on financial stability as a member of the financial stability oversight council. having focused extensively on financial institutions throughout her career in both the private and public sectors, ms. macwilliams is supremely qualified for this position. she has a unique view of the united states regulatory system and its related entities. most recently serving as the chief legal officer executive vice president and corporate secretary for fifth third bank,

a regional bank based in ohio. prior to that, she served as a valuable member of the banking committee staff for both senator shelby and myself. ms. mcwilliams also worked as an attorney at the federal reserve during the financial crisis and on the small business committee under former senator snowe. many of my colleagues and i can personally attest to her qualifications, her good judgment, and her expertise which will be an asset to the fdic and to the country. her nomination hearing in january, ms. mcwilliams demonstrated a deep knowledge of the issues overseen by the fdic as well as a commitment to carrying out its mission. she discussed how her personal experience has shaped her conviction in the fdic's unique responsibility as a deposit insurer noting that one of the side effects of the civil war that broke apart the former yugoslavia was a collapse of its

financial system. her parents who still live there had their savings disappear overnight when a local bank closed its doors. yugoslavia had no deposit insurance and her then 68-year-old father returned to work as a day laborer. as she stated at her hearing, i can assure you that the core mission of the fdic resonates profoundly with me and if confirmed, i will not take its mission or my duties lightly. ms. mcwilliams has conveyed a strong desire to encourage economic growth and facilitate new bank creation by continuing to address the disproportionate regulatory burden faced by community banks. additionally, she acknowledged the need to expand americans' access to credit and the banking system. if confirmed as a member and chair of the fdic, i look forward to the opportunity to working with ms. mcwilliams on these important issues.

i strongly support this nomination today and urge my colleagues to do the same. thank you, mr. president. i yield my time. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, starting in january of 2017 extending up to and including today, the president and often with the help of this republican congress has engaged in a very deliberate, very purposeful campaign of saabage to the -- sabotage to the american health care system. we are now starting to see the very serious consequences of this campaign of sabotage. mr. president, before i begin, let me just -- i forgot to ask unanimous consent that katie stanna who is a foreign policy fellow in my office be granted

floor privileges for the remainder of the year. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: i'm sorry i forgot to ask for that consent order. this campaign of sabotage started in january and is extended until today and we are now starting to see the result, of that campaign of sabotage. it starts on inauguration day when president trump signs an executive order ordering all of his agencies to dismantle the affordable care act. it finds its way to the senate floor when republicans spend most of 2017 trying to pass legislation that would take insurance away from 23 million people, according to c.b.o. the president undertook a number of steps to try to weaken the exchanges where millions of people get their health care. he cut the open enrollment period in half. he stopped funding advertising. he pulled funding for the navigators, the people would go out and try to help people sort

through their health care options. there's no reason to do that, to try to stop people from being able to sign up for health care unless your intention is sabotage. there's no public policy reason to give people less time to sign up or to give them less information about their options. and most recently, the republicans finally succeeded in repealing the individual mandate which the congressional budget office says will by itself increase premiums by 10% and wipe out insurance for 13 million people. and the administration is now trying to expand the sale of what we call junk plans which are insurance plans that don't have to cover a minimum set of benefits, that don't have to protect people with preexisting conditions or existing sicknesses from higher premium rates. i came down to the floor i think

two weeks ago now to talk about the first two rate filings of the rate filing season. these were in maryland and virginia. the rate filings were, quite frankly, catastrophic. while these were the worst of the bunch, all of the rate filings were much higher than the rate of medical inflation. the worst requested increase was one insurance plan in maryland, asked for a 91% increase in premiums. one insurance plan in virginia asked for a 64% increase in premiums. in maryland the head of the insurance plan that asked for the 91% increase said that the reason for it was the continuing actions on the part of the administration to systematically undermine the market and make it almost impossible to carry out

our mission. no one can afford a 91% increase in premiums. no one can afford a 64% increase in premiums. but, frankly, no one can -- very few people can afford a 15% or 20% increase in peopleups. and this -- premiums. and this week we got the rate filings from the state of oregon. and in oregon, providence health plan with about 90,000 customers, which is one of the bigger plans in the state, is asking do a 14 -- is asking for a 14% premium increase. now, that's not 91% or 64%, but there are a lot of families who simply aren't going to be able to afford a double-digit premium increase in oregon. it's important to note that oregon put into place a new state-based reinsurance program and if not for that reinsurance program, this would have been a 20% increase. so i'm just going to keep track

of all of these increases so that we have a sense of what is happening to consumers as a result of this campaign of sabotage. and so we will add this rate increase in oregon, make sure that i get it right, of 14%. c.b.o. has told you that the repeal of the individual mandate is going to jump premiums by 10%. so in oregon, you can be relatively sure that had the republicans not repealed this big part of the affordable care act, you would have been looking at a single-digit increase, something that mirrored medical inflation. but because of the actions that were taken here and because of many of the actions undertaken by this congress, we're looking at a double-digit increase. keith forester who is the head of one of oregon's biggest insurance companies says that our rate increase reflects the expected costs of providing coverage to our members,

including the impact of eliminating the individual mandate. so senate democrats are going to be down on the floor pretty relentlessly over the course of the next few months to make people understand that as you are getting your health insurance bills, as you are seeing these big increases, a big reason why are the actions that your elected leaders have taken, this republican congress and this administration. but the rate increases might be getting even bigger than they already are today. that's because of this expected proliferation of these new junk plans. again, these are called by the administration short-term plans because they used to be truly short-term options. they were three months in duration. you'd pick up one of these plans in between coverage, and because

they were short-term plans, they weren't required to cover mental health and maternity. they could charge you more if you were sick. but this administration has decided that now these plans can be sold for a full year, meaning they are essentially going to stand side by side with regulated plans that have minimum benefits and protect people with preexisting conditions. the administration said that only a couple hundred thousand people nationwide might sign up for these plans. well, c.m.s.' chief actuary, this is president trump's c.m.s., the administration's own chief actuary, says that that's wrong. in fact, it will be a million and a half people potentially signing up for these junk plans. it could get as big as 1.9 million by 2022. who will sign up for these junk plans? it will be healthy people because healthy people aren't going to need all the coverages. it will be people that don't

have a preexisting condition, that don't have an addiction or a diagnosed mental illness leaving behind in the exchange plans people who need the coverage. those people won't go on the junk plans because they need an insurance plan that covers their illness or their diagnosis. and so what we know is that if you have a sicker population in the exchange-base plans, in the individual market -- in the regulated individual market, those premiums will go up. a recent study said that the combination of the individual mandate and the proliferation of these new junk plans will result in on average 16% increases all across the country and premiums. in connecticut, that could mean the premiums go up by 1,155 -- $1,155. that's not something the health insurance companies did.

that's not because of rising medical costs. that's because of decisions that were made by this republican congress and this republican administration. two decisions. one decision to repeal a big part of the affordable care act that protected sick people, that kept their rates lower. another decision by the administration to give relatively healthy people access to stripped-down plans. now, admittedly, those two changes may offer some benefit to people today that are healthy. i'm not going to deny that those two changes may provide a lower insurance rate for a subset of people that are healthy. but we're not supposed to just represent the healthy people. and today you are healthy. tomorrow you are not. we are supposed to represent all americans. in fact, we probably should be going the extra mile to make sure that people who through no fault of their own have a serious diagnosis aren't paying an arm and a leg more for coverage. but we're not doing that because

of the steps that this republican congress and this republican president have taken. insurance rates are going to go up for everybody on average in connecticut by $1,100 according to one study. and they're going to potentially skyrocket for people that can't get on to these stripped-down junk plans. so, mr. president, i just think it's really important we talk about this. as i walked across the state of connecticut last summer, something that i've come to do the last few years. i take about five or six days and i walk from one side of the state to the other, something that the presiding officer and others probably can't do in states that are a little bit longer across than 110 miles. health care was the dominant theme. people were waiting for me miles ahead on the road having seen news that i was in a certain town earlier in the day. they waited ahead of me for

hours and hours to talk to me about their illness and about their fear that this congress and this president were going to take away their coverage. we were successful in defeating the full repeal of the affordable care act. and that's great news because the affordable care act is more popular than ever before. but this congress and this president are trying to ruin some of the most important protections in our health care system because they're mad that they lost the repeal vote by one vote. and so it's important for us to tell americans what the consequences of that sabotage campaign are. it certainly means that sick people are going to get less protection, but it also means that over the course of the next few months, as rates are filed across the country, you are going to see some devastatingly

high premium increases due to the republican campaign of health care sabotage. this week, 14% in oregon. last week or the week before, 91% in maryland. 64% in virginia. this is what happens when you strike blows at the american health care system, and it's important for americans to understand what's happening. with that, mr. president, i'd yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. wyden: 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, i hope that one day soon it won't be necessary to come to the floor of this senate and shine a spotlight on how the trump administration is making it harder and harder for women in america to get the health care they need and deserve. it seems like not a week goes by without the trump administration full on attacking women's health care. it's the agenda of what i call health care discrimination, and it is out in full force. the latest news came out

officially less than 24 hours ago. the trump administration has put itself right in the middle of women and their doctors, denying access to critical information that millions of women rely on from physicians and nurses, the very providers they trust and depend on. what this means is that across this country you can say goodbye to the guarantee that women are getting the whole story about their health and the options they have for their care. for millions of women, the health care they need is going to have to get a trump stamp of

approval. that trump stamp of approval is going to be the requirement to get the care they need. i just want my colleagues here in the senate to say that i think this alone makes a mockery of all the talk. i remember hearing from bodies in this body, from republican colleagues, who said there's going to be patient-centered care in america. the developments in the last 24 hours basically say that with respect to health care it's not going to be patient-centered care. it's going to be politics-centered care. now that patient-centered care concept was one of the most common talking points i remember

hearing again and again. we heard it in the finance committee. i had the honor to be the ranking democrat. we heard it again and again, we're going to have patient-centered care, and it was part of the crusade to repeal the affordable care act. the whole point of that patient-centered care slogan was to say that the government shouldn't come between patients and their doctors, that it wasn't going to be about politics; it was going to be about patients, making sure that politics and the government didn't come between patients and their doctors. so here we are now a few months later and the trump administration has just decided, point-blank, that it will decide what is best for women in oregon and across the country.

they basically said it ought to be able to gag doctors and deny women the right to hear about health care options that fortunately are perfectly legal in america today. the fact is, this new decree, this dictate from the trump administration, comes with a battery of new restrictions on health care clinics that millions of women depend on every single day. we all know what it's about. it's an attack on planned parenthood. it's an attack on vital sources of care of women. and, as i've said on this floor, mr. president -- i've gone through it again and again -- the vast amount of work done by planned parenthood has nothing to do with abortion; it's all about vital preventive services

for women that, by the way, are especially important in rural areas, and i'm sure we're going to be talking about women's health care tomorrow in the senate finance committee, where we'll be having a hearing specifically on rural health care. there is bipartisan interest in that topic, but i want colleagues to know, it's pretty hard to promote all of the opportunities for sound health care and bipartisanship when you have a decision from the trump administration that has the potential to hit women's health care in rural communities like a wrecking ball. in states like oregon, thousands and thousands of women live in communities where there's not a

clinic or a doctor's office every few miles. if the trump administration finds a backdoor way to shutter the few options these women have today, they may not have anywhere else to turn to get the essentials of health care. women could lose the right to see the doctor of their choosing. and i'll just say it point-blank, mr. president. if somebody wants to take away the right of women in america to see the doctors and the providers of their choice, they're going to have to run over me, and i'll tell you, i think women are going to win that fight. to have women lose access to lifesaving services like cancer screenings, routine physicals,

birth control, prenatal care, and so much more -- that would be -- that ought to be off the table to politics. it shouldn't be about democrats and republicans. it should be about commonsense approaches to ensure that women have all of the options about the health care they want and reserve. -- and deserve. taking health care choices away from women is fundamentally wrong. depriving women of essential health care information that they have every right to hear about is fundamentally wrong. the trump administration putting itself between women and their doctors is fundamentally wrong. the decision that came down last night, that we learned about last night, is a reckless one; it is a harmful one. and we ought to make no mistake about it. it is going to make health care

worse for women across the country. i've now had to say it too many times to count it -- it's long past time for these attacks on women's health care to end. i hope it won't be necessary to come to this floor again, mr. president, that the trump administration will see how flawed the dictate that came down last night is and that they will retract it. but until they do, i will come to this floor and make the case for ensuring that women are empowered in our country, to be able to see the health care providers of their choice, to have the opportunity for this vast array of services that are largely preventive from sea to shining sea. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor.

i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: and i ask consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, on september 5, 2017, president

trump announced his repeal of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program known as daca. as a result of that, hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the united states as children and are known as dreamers face losing their work permits and face deportation to countries they barely remember. daca provided temporary legal status to dreamers, only if they registered with the government, paid a fee of almost $500, and passed a thorough criminal background check. this daca program has been a success. more than 800,000 dreamers have come forward and received daca protection, which has allowed them to become a part of the only country that they've ever called home. many of these dreamers were brought here as infants and toddlers, raised in this country, pledging allegiance to that flag. they believe they were part of

america, and usually at some point when they became teenagers, their parents gave them the terrible news that they were undocumented. when president trump decided eight months ago to repeal daca, he set a deadline of march 5 as the deadline for the final expiration of the daca program. however, two federal courts have stepped in and issued orders blocking the president's repeal of this daca executive order. this means that dreamers who have daca can continue to apply to renew their status for now. i urge every daca recipient to file their renewal application immediately. the trump administration is doing everything in its power to fight this court protection, and that court protection could be lifted any day. this means that there's a need for congress to do something. i again urge the republicans,

who control congress, to immediately pass the dream act, bipartisan legislation i first introduced 17 years ago that would finally -- finally -- give these dreamers a path to becoming citizens of the united states. the reality is that tens of thousands of dreamers are already at risk of losing their work permits and being deported. the department of homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen has promised me that her department will not deport any daca recipient with a pending daca application, even if their status expires. i'm going to hold her to that commitment because lives hang in the balance. however, for daca recipients whose status has expired, the department will not authorize them to work unless and until their daca is renewed. this means that tens of thousands of daca-eligible individuals could be forced to leave their jobs while their applications are pending and before the renewals are

approved. then consider the fate of dreamers who are eligible for daca but they have quite reached that status. they can no longer apply for protection because of president trump's decision to prohibit new daca applications after september 5 of 20917. -- of 2017. for example, a child turning 15, the youngest age at which you can apply for daca, is now blocked from applying. the nonpartisan migration policy institute estimates that in addition to 800,000 daca recipients, there are an additional one million dreamers who are eligible. so thanks to president trump's harsh decision to end daca, 1.8 million dreamers are at risk of deportation and cannot work to support themselves or contribute to the country they love. on september 5, president trump called on congress to, quote, legalize daca, but since thence a rejected six -- but since then, he's rejected six

bipartisan proposals to achieve that. he's even rejected a bipartisan offer, a $25 billion offer to him to build his border wall. mexico, of course, was supposed to pay for that wall. we provided the money in a bill that also provided protection for the dreamers. the president rejected it. instead, he's tried to put the entire hard-line immigration agenda on the backs of the dreamers. president trump has said he'll only support legalization for dreamers if congress passes his plan, which would, among other things, cut legal immigration to the united states by more than 40%. there are people within his administration and some within the united states senate who really despise immigrants, and you can see it. they want to cut legal immigration to the united states. that would be the largest cut in immigration in almost 100 years. earlier this year, the senate

decided to vote on president trump's plan, the one that he supports. it failed. and it failed badly. 39 as if in morning business voted for -- 39 senators voted for it. 60 voted against it. president trump is holding dreamers hostage for an immigration plan that is so extreme that even his own party members -- many of them -- do not support it. over the years i've come to the floor of the senate more nan 100 times to -- more than 100 times to tell the story of dreamers. i can give these stories endlessly. i don't think they come to give the impact of the young people who are engaged and involved and at risk in this political debate. this is dahlia lorios. the 114th dreamer i've introduced on the floor of the senate, brought to the united states from mexico when she was 10 years old. she grew up in mesa, arizona. she remembers celebrating the 4th of july, going to school

dances and of course watching the super bowl. her parents were hard workers, usually two or three jobs. they taught her to although there were many things she could not control, she could control how long she studied and how much time she devoted to school. she -- dahlia graduated her high school in the top 1% of her class. she was named the most outstanding life science student at the school. not only did she excel academically, she communitied over 150 hours of community service. she started an after-school dance school. and was a debate champion. she attended arizona state improvement majored in biological science, specifically genetics, cell, and development biology. she continued her community service volunteering as an

english tutor. dahlia graduated with a perfect 4.0 g.p.e. and receiveddard wards including the school life sciences award for plant-based research on cervical and breast cancer vaccines. today dahlia is a fourth-year medical student at harvard medical school. she's researching lung cancer and lung transplants at brigham and women's hospital in the dana far pwer cancer institute. in 2016 she won the robert ebert prize for her work on designing student-led health counseling programs to improve health outcomes in complex diabetic patients. and what does she dream to be? a cardio thoracic surgeon. she wrote me a letter, and dalhia said this. for many daca may be a political bargain. for me, it is my life. and because of daca, for the

first time ever i've been able to live a life not just rooted in dreams but the realization of those dreams. it has been a gateway to change, inclusion and realization of the country i call home and desperately hope to serve. at least 65 additional dreamers are enrolled in medical school this last school year. but without daca, these dreamers could be deported back to their countries where they haven't lived since they were little kids. will america be a stronger country if we ask dalhia to leave? this harvard medical school graduate who wants to be a cardio thoracic surgeon? if we tell you we don't need you, go to some other country, are we better off for that? of course not. we're stronger to have people like dalhia in the united states. the association of medical colleges states the nation's doctor shortage is going to continue. the a.m.a. and the association of american medical colleges have warned that ending daca

could make it even harder to deal with the physician shortage in the united states. they caution that president trump's reversal in policy, quote, could have severe consequences for many in the health care workforce, impact patients and our nation's health care system. i personally think it would be a tragedy to deport someone like dalhia who has so much to contribute to america. president trump created the daca crisis. instead of working toward a solution, he has sabotaged every effort we have made to support and save the dreamers. now it's up to the republican majority in congress to accept one of the six bipartisan solutions on the table to save these young people. congress should do its job and make the dream act the law of the land, or we're going to be responsible for the fate of wonderful young women like this. this amazing young woman can be

saving lives in america as a surgeon. or we can deport her back to mexico. what sense would that make? currently the u.s. house of representatives is debating when and if to return to the immigration debate. it's fortunate that 20 republicans have had the courage to step up so far, and i hope more will join them. we've got to do something. we can't just let this happen without an effort to pass a bill to solve the problem. the same thing can be said of the senate. that's why i'm hoping that in the end of the day that we can put this kind of dream act and daca bill back into active consideration on the floor of the united states senate. mr. president, i ask a quorum call be initiated for a moment and we can return to the floor.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: as if in legislative i ask unanimous consent the committee on judiciary to be discharged from further consideration of s. 1615, that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration and that the bill be considered read a third time and passed,

and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from utah. mr. lee: reserving the right to object, this is an issue on which congress needs to act. congress does in fact have authority to pass laws governing immigration and naturalization within our system. this particular unanimous consent request represents an attempt to pass a major piece of legislation without any opportunity for debate, any opportunity for input from the american people, any opportunity for amendments by individual members. if we pass it this way, we'll be cutting the american people out of the debate. we do need also to address the draws for illegal immigration. if we're going to address the needs for those who have been brought here unlawfully by no fault of their own while they were infants or minors, we need to make sure we're not going to continue to draw people in unlawfully, we're not going to continue to have people in various parts of the world sending their children here

unlawfully, unaccompanied on many occasions, and being subjected to sexual assault and other abuse in the process. we need to fix the underlying problem, and for that reason i object. the presiding officer: objection's heard. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i'm just going to respond briefly. the bill that i have called or asked to be called today for a vote has been debated at length over a period of 17 years with numerous committee meetings, and it is not an open-ended bill. there is a deadline to -- to qualify for it one must have been in the united states already for over a year. it would not be a magnet for those who would like to take advantage of it in the future. it does apply to 1.8 million who would be eligible for citizenship. i'm sorry there was an objection, but i will continue to work with members on both sides of the aisle to resolve this. we owe it to dalhia and many others like her who are waiting

for the congress to act. i yield the floor.

mr. tillis: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. sadly i have to do a speech that i promised i would do every week until we find justice for someone who's been in a turkish prison now for a number of days. this is pastor brunson. he's a presbyterian minister from black mountain. he's been in turkey for about 20 years doing missionary work in a small church i'll describe

briefly later. but on october 4, 2016 he was swept up and president erdogan regime's reaction to an unlawful coup, a coup that i disagree with. i believe in a peaceful transition of power, and i do believe that people that are responsible for it should be subject to turkish laws. but the roundup of people that president erdogan, he cast a very wide net. it went so far beyond any reasonable expectation of people who could have been involved in the coup attempt. but on october 4, 2016, a presbyterian minister from black mountain, north carolina, same church that billy graham was a part of, found himself arrested for potential terrorist and plotting the coup attempt charges. he's in a turk hish prison. he's been in that prison now for 593 days.

593 days for almost 17 months without charges. held in a prison cell designed for eight people and had 21 people in it. not really allowed to speak with his family. in fact, the only family he's seen over the last 593 days have been his wife, because they have been afraid to let his children come in the country for fear that they would not be allowed to leave. and nor will noreen, his wife leave the country for fear she will not be able to come back. she's his only connection to his family. 593 days. now i want to go back and tell you what really underlines why they think this presbyterian minister is a part of the coup attempt or terrorist organizations, because they believe that religions in the united states are somehow joined together in this intelligence-gathering network so they can go and instead of doing missionary work, they can

go into these countries and infiltrate their systems and then force coups. or support or provide aid to people who would commit a terrorist attack against the turkish homeland, something that i would object -- something that i would say that anybody that did that should be subject to turkish law. but they believe that pastor brunson, a pastor of a church in izmir, for many years when he was doing missionary work he didn't even have a church. they finally were able to get the resources together. they have about 50 members. this is a 50-member congregation in a church in izmir which is one of the more popular cities in turkey. this is the church. it's a very small church that on, in a packed day on a sunday you may be able to fit 150 -- 120 people in it. they open the doors so people walking on the street can see what they're talking about. they open the windows. they invite anybody in. part of the case is people who have entered that church that they believe are kurdish and

they must be associated with the p.k.k. and if they are associated with the p.k.k. clearly they were involved in terrorist attempts against turkey. this church also is used in evidence. this center picture, a small room upstairs in this very small church. one of the secret witnesses -- and there have been over a dozen secret witnesses. in a turkish prison he doesn't have a trial jury. he has it three judges and as a prosecutor he's he will -- elevated to another judge he's testifying before. one of the secret witnesses said he clearly is guilty of nefarious activities because one night he saw a window open in this church for about four hours. that was the evidence submitted. there was a problem with that. number one, in our country generally speaking, having a light on doesn't necessarily go directly to a prosecution for terrorism, conspiracy to commit terrorism. there is another problem with this allegation. this room doesn't have a window.

there's no possible way somebody could have seen the light. even if you would argue that seeing a light could somehow be linked to terrorist activity, you can't even see it. to make matters worse, after more than a dozen secret witnesses came on, many of them in turkish prisons themselves for the prosecution, the defense asked that they had ten witnesses who would testify on his behalf. the judges said they would not be allowed to testify because they're suspects. they haven't been charged with anything necessarily. they may not even be incarcerated but they're suspects. and, therefore, he has no opportunity whatsoever to defend himself. so i'm about to go back and do a final vote on the national defense authorization act. we have got to get president erdogan's attention. and in a bill that we're going to have before this floor over the next couple of weeks, i believe we're going to send a very clear message to the president and to the people of

turkey to treat our people fairly. treat a nation that's prepared to send american men and women to turkey to fight and die for their freedom, treat us with respect. and if they don't, then we're going to have to continue to up the temperature until justice is done for pastor brunson and others in turkish prisons. mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22 all postcloture time on the mcwilliams nomination be expired at 12 noon. further if cloture vote is invoked on the evans nomination, the time until 1:45 be equally divided in the usual form, and

at 1:45 the senate vote on the nomination. finally, if any of the nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. 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 603. i ask consent there be 10 hours of debate equally divided in the usual form and following the use or yielding back of time the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in order, and any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection.

mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume legislative session for pa period of morning -- for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. con. res. 121, which was received from the house. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: directing the secretary of the senate to make a correction in the enrollment of the bill s. 2372. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered 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 the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 46, s. 916. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 46, s. 916, a bill to amend the controlled substances act with

regard to the provision of emergency medical services. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn, cassidy subs it ought to -- substitute at the desk be agreed to, the cassidy title amendment be agreed to and the motion 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 immediate consideration of calendar number 289, s. 1333. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 289, s. 1333, a home for rental assistance for at home risk indian veterans. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to and the bill be considered read a third

time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: the question is on passage of the bill, as amended. all may never say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill, as amended, is passed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 409, s. 2178. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 409, s. 2178, a bill to require the inspector general to make open recommendations of inspector generals publicly available and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and

passed, the committee-reported title 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 that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 521 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 521, condemning the horrific attack in santa fe, texas, and supporting those impacted by the tragedy. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered 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 the junior senator from north carolina be authorized to sign the enrollment of s. 2155. 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 9:30 a.m., thursday, may 24, further,

following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. finally, i ask that following leader remarks the senate proceed to executive session and proceed to the consideration of the mcwilliams nomination. the presiding officer: is there oaks without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator cardin. mr. cardin: mr. president, i rise today to honor the memory of ms. capro. she is the first female police officer to be killed in the line of duty in the history of the baltimore police county and the tenth officer killed in the history of the department.

as a long-time resident of the county and senator from maryland, i want to express my profound sadness to the family and friends of mrs. caprio, especially her husband, tim. she was killed on monday after responding to a call about a suspicious vehicle and potentially a burglary in progress in the perry hall region. according to the police reports, officer caprio had ordered suspects to the leave the car when she was deliberately run over by a suspect. it's unclear whether a firearm was discharged and police are reviewing the footage from her body camera before she was killed. the baltimore county police now report they have several suspects in custody, including juveniles who have been arrested and charged as adults with first-degree murder. a resident of the neighborhood told "the baltimore sun" his son saw the officer struck by a vehicle.

tony, 54, had just walked into the door of his home when his son dakota shouted to him, dad, dad, a cop just got run over out front. the father recalled his son saying. the officer was lying in front of his house, he said. dakota told his father he had seen the officer draw her gun when a black jeep wrangler ordered the people inside to get out. instead the driver sped forward, ramming the officer. she landed about 20 feet away. she basically landed almost in front of my mailbox, he said. so let me thank the family as well as ems and the med star franklin square medical center staff who rushed to try to save officer caprio's life. i know this event has shaken the perry hall community as well as residents and several local elementary schools were placed on lockdown during the police search of the suspects.

i am hopeful that the blue alert system in use helped to quickly catch the suspects in this case. as we learn more about officer capr ir o's life, we grieve for her loss. according to a story in "the baltimore sun," she served just shy of four years with baltimore county police department but she had already proven herself to be a dedicated officer. she was credited with bringing down a pair of alleged package thieves, closing dozens of cases reported around the county at the end of last year. because of her efforts, the department was able to recover a cache of stolen property. department officials stated she didn't realize that she was embarking on what would become a considerable investigation into how they packaged thefts around the eastern portion of baltimore county. this involved numerous cases being independently investigated by officers in multiple precincts and would vently result in the identification and arrest of two suspects leading

to the return of a very sentimental gift. officer came -- caprio interviewed witnesses, tracked a vehicle and compared notes with other officers investigating package thefts in the area. she ended up linking two suspects to dozens of stolen package cases in the parkville, white marsh, and essex precincts. when officers found the suspects' hotel room, it was filled with stolen goods, including a brightly colored hand made quilt with a heartfelt inscription that a woman had shipped to her granddaughter. this quilt eventually was returned to the family. closing the case earned her praise across the nearly 2,000-member department and she was named the parkville pree sints -- precincts officer of the month in march. the police chief said officer caprio was the type of officer that you want to hire. she was the kind of officer that

was going to go up in the organization. officer caprio had graduated from towson university in 2010 and was a 2006 graduate of high school. she joined the county police department in july 2014. she graduated with the department's 140th recruit class in december 2014 and was initially signed to the essex precinct. men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line every day and run towards danger, not away from it. family members always worried about being reunited with their spouse, parent, family member at the end of the day. mr. president, last week i held a delegation meeting in the capitol with our federal law enforcement officers of maryland. i thanked them for their service and told them i would fight for the resources they need to combat crime and provide the best possible equipment and training for their agents. this includes providing full funding for the cops and byrne jag programs which are absolutely critical to our federal, state, and local law

enforcement partnerships. teamwork is critical, particularly when we're combating crimes across jurisdictional boundaries. last week was national police week where we paused to recognize and remember those law enforcement and service officers of maryland who paid the ultimate price and made the ultimate sacrifice. each spring law enforcement takes a roll call to solemnly mark the end of watch for the slain officers. the names of fallen law enforcement officers are then added to the national law enforcement officers memorial at judicial square close to capitol hill. carved on the memorial walls are the names of more than 21,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty throughout the u.s. history. let me share with my colleagues the other law enforcement officers killed this past year in maryland. in addition to officer caprio. shawn matthew seuter, detective in the baltimore city police department was shot november 15,

2017 while attempting to better view -- interview a suspect during a homicide investigation. sandra cohen was killed in a traffic accident on december 8, 2017, as he was attempting to assist law enforcement officers whose car was disabled on i-270. f.b.i. supervisor special agent carlos wolf was also killed. this year on february 21, 2018, corporal rob razadine, a core corporal -- a corporal in the maryland department was killed. i ask that you keep officer caprio's family in their thoughts and prayers. we thank our officers and first responders would run towards danger instead of away from it. congress should make sure our officers have all the tools and resources they need to effectively carry out their mission to protect and serve

their communities and bring offenders to justice. i thank my colleagues and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the >> clarence thomas, starbucks

coo with you, rex killers in, james this and he just didn't know. thursdayat 8 pm, ceo to , governor john brown and congressman louise you on friday at 8 pm eastern, jimmy carter, he lost? and the mayor keisha last

area next week in prime time on c-span and cspan.org and on the free c-span radio app. >> now a forum on money issues by special interest groups with specific political agendas to influencecampaigns in the federal court . later in the, the white house spoke about how to address what he calls the influence of dark money. >> good afternoon. welcome to the center for american omprogress. lizzie, senior vice president for policy and strategy. and we would like to remind you that outhis event is being billed and streamed live to silence your phones. >> going to be discussing the most cases