>> you can watch that live on the free c-span now app video app or online at c-span.org. >> democracy, it isn't just an idea. it's a process, a process shaped our leaders elected to the highest office and entrusted to a select few with regarding its basic principles. it's what debates unfold,, decisions are made in the nation's course is charted. democracy in real time.

this is your government at work. this is c-span, giving you your democracy unfiltered. >> u.s. senate is gaveling in for debate on a measure requiring medical care for a child born after the failed abortion. no votes are set so far today but the chamber will recess at 12:30 p.m. eastern for for the weekly policy lunches. live coverage of the senate is here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead us in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. o god, our father, our excellent is your name in all the earth. from dawn to sunset, your mercies sustain us. today inspire our senators to embrace your promises. may they remember your promises to supply their needs, to never forsake them, and to prevent anything from separating them from your love. lord, bestow your blessings upon our lawmakers, making them wiser, stronger, and better, glorifying you in their work. use them to advance your kingdom

in our nation and world, as they attune their will to your purposes. create in them the life of purity, honesty, and altruism that contributes to solving the problems we face. we pray in your blessed name, amen. the president pro tempore: please join me as we recite the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 6, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 4, s. 6, to prohibit a health care

practitioner from failing to exhibit the proper degree of care for abortion or attempted abortion. mr. grassley: i ask to speak for three minutes in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley:ian is national trafficking and -- january is national trafficking and modern slavery prevention month. so today senator cortez masto and i are introducing a resolution to honor victims and to raise very needed awareness. as i speak, victims are being trafficked across our southern border. we each have a role to play in protecting the most vulnerable among us, especially women and children, from becoming victims of trafficking. as chairman of the senate

judiciary committee, i'm committed to making human trafficking prevention a priority in this congress, and i thank the senator from nevada for leading this effort. on another subject, mr. president, on his watch, president biden wiped away student debt for more than five million borrowers, stiffing taxpayers with heavier burdens. that's on top of trillions of dollars in partisan deficit spending that fueled the fires of inflation to 20% during his administration. his failed border policies allowed more than 10 million people to come into the country illegally. i remember during his inaugural address, president biden pledged

to unite americans. at that time, i welcomed that very much. unfortunately, his administration's actions did not match those lofty words of uniting americans. during his four years in the oval office, the 46th president adopted the divisive policies of left-wing ideologues and the moral -- more radical candidates that he beat in the presidential primary. it was a notable departure from my 28 years serving together with him here in the united states senate. even on his way out the door, president biden doubled down on the dark and divisive rhetoric that failed his party in this most recent election.

he put illegal immigrants before the security of americans. he doubled down on class warfare, hammering, as you so often hear, the same nail that the wealthy need to pay their fair share when our tax code is among the most progressive in the world. many iowans question the fairness of pardoning the president's son, including for tax evasion and crimes not even spells tied -- specified, especially when promised by president biden -- when president biden promised that he would not pardon his son. iowans also tell me that wiping away student debt isn't fair to those who saved and sacrificed to pay their fair share.

in this congress, i'll work with president trump to put america first and strengthen the economy so hardworking families, farmers, and small businesses get ahead and, of course, to stay ahead. that includes renewing the trump tax cuts, securing our border, and securing peace through strength. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

trump tax cuts and in 52 days the funding of the government has to cash out an agreement and

the federal aid and wildfires in california, president trump going to california and the damage on friday two when it comes to the house and senate, how agreement -- as far as reconciliation, what is the perspective of the house. >> president trump has one bill. republicans have talked more legislation, johnson will be more important with the one bill approach but it remains to be seen how they will move forward in part of what is discussed in the white house. >> we've been showing our viewers at home from inside oval office, what was your

perspective but. >> a remarkable scene really. the capital one arena and biden era orders and some of the others.

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>> oh great who dwells in the sky in it together as brothers talking upon. please here our prayer. ♪♪ ♪♪

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future, prosperity, security, strength, and i share the president's confidence and optimism about what we can accomplish in the coming years. president trump has brought a new direction to washington, and yesterday marked the beginning of a new era. mr. president, here in the senate we have begun the process of confirming the president's cabinet, within hours of president trump taking office we confirmed the first of his nominees, marco rubio to be secretary of state, in a unanimous vote. secretary rubio demonstrated his command of foreign policy last week at his confirmation hearing and made it clear that under his leadership the state department will be focused on its core mission. in his own words, that mission is, and i quote, to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home. end quote. gone are the days of a foreign policy exporting progressive ideologies, appeasing our

adversaries, and demonstrated weakness on the world stage. the state department is back in the business of advancing america's interests. mr. president, this is a welcome change in direction to our foreign policy, and secretary rubio is ready to hit the ground representing running -- running. during his time in the senate, he articulated america's role in the world and has a clear command of the issues fating the world today. as a senator, he was vocal about the threat the chinese communist party poses and the stakes of the competition between the united states and china. he recognizes the need for american leadership in latin america, to promote democracy and justice, and he is clear eyed about the threats that america faces from other countries, as well as from nonstate actors. i look forward to working with secretary rubio and the trump administration to restore american strength abroad and promote peace and prosperity

here at home. mr. president, in the coming days, the senate will hold additional votes on the president's national security team. we expect to vote on the nomination of john ratcliffe to be director of the cia later today. mr. ratcliffe, like secretary rubio, earned bipartisan support after his confirmation hearing last week. he was roared out of the intelligence -- reported out of the intelligence committee with a bipartisan vote yesterday, and he will bring valuable knowledge and experience to his new post, including from his time on the house intelligence committee and as director of national intelligence in the first trump admini administration. mr. president, under the biden administration, the intelligence community made some notable misses. in 2021, the intelligence community failed to anticipate the swift collapse of afghanistan in response to president biden's decision to go ahead with withdrawal, a withdrawal that cost the lives of 13 american servicemembers. in 2022, the intelligence community warned that ukraine would fall in days, in the face

of a russian attack. yet kiev is still firmly in ukrainian hands almost three years later. in 2023, hamas' october 7 attack on israel took place with little or no warning from the intelligence community. unfortunately, mr. president, the list goes on. we need a return to fundamentals. last week in his confirmation hearing, mr. ratcliffe promised to return to the cia's core mission. that means recruiting spice to collect intelligence and providing objective intelligence analysis without bias. mr. ratcliffe brings the right experience and the right approach to the cia, and i look forward to working with him in this position. mr. president, before i close, i want to say a word about two new senators who will take office later today. i'm very pleased to welcome ashley moody of florida and jon husted of ohio to the united states senate. ashley moody began her career as

a lawyer in private practice and in all the spare time a young lawyer has she volunteered to help domestic violence victims seeking protection in court. at 31, after practicing and as a federal prosecutor, she became the youngest judge in the state of florida. during her time as a judge, she recruited volunteer attorneys to stand with children whose parents did not appear in court with them and developed a mentoring program for at-risk youth. in 2018, she was elected attorney general in florida, a post from which she held the biden administration accountable and defended florida law. now she's bringing her energy and experience here to the united states senate. mr. president, being sworn in alongside ashley moody today will be jon husted, ohio's new senator. senator is the latest title ohioans have called jon husted.

he's been a state representative, speaker of the state house, a state senator, secretary of state for ohio, lieutenant governor, and now united states senator. no matter his title, ohioans know they can depend on jon husted to fight for a smaller and more efficient government that genuinely serves its citizens. i'm very pleased to welcome him here to the senate. both are new senators -- both our new senators bring valuable experience, expertise, and perspective to the senate republican majority, and the whole senate will benefit from them joining our ranks. mr. president, i look forward to working with them. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

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>> a reading from the torah. the holy one of god is eternal and supreme, the brief, the mighty awesome god shows favor and takes no bribes. kranz a stranger providing those who need food and clothing. you two must befriend a stranger for you were strangers in the land of egypt revere and honor the holy one your god, only god should you worship. by the name of the holy one shall you swear god's glory and those marvelous awesome you saw with your own eyes.

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faithful god, except fervent prayers of your people govern forgot almighty you've made all the people of the earth glory to

serve you. give to the people of our country strength of forbearance that we may an important your. >> almighty god, ruler of all things of heaven and earth, members of the cabinet, wisdom and grace, and exercise of their duty that they may serve all people of this nation promote dignity and freedom of every person this nation under your care. >> the lord's will is good and

gracious to the justices of the supreme court and judges and officers, give understanding and dignity. justice served. ketsy.

they represent the very best of upstate new york -- hardworking, god fearing, persistent and humble. soon ryan will be back home in western new york in the community he loves so much and waited so desperately for his return. i met with the corbett family repeatedly. every time i met with them, his wonderful wife anna, strong but quietly, never gave up. and his beautiful children who so miss their dad, and you could just feel it. and every time i met with them my heart went out and i said i have to do more and more and more. it's a moment we have all prayed

for and hoped for. and thank god this day has finally come. what a blessing. what an amazing day. when i heard ryan's story from his family and listened to them as they pushed and pushed for his defense, i saw that even in the darkest moments, when hope seemed lost, the corbett family never gave up. they never got angry, never pointed fingers and called names. they kept persisting and persisting and persisting, and their beautiful, hard, unrelenting, patient persistent has paid off. i worked very closely with the corbett family to build bipartisan support for ryan's release. we brought attention to his imprisonment and made dozens of calls to elevate his case to the very highest levels of government. i want to thank president biden and his administration's negotiating team as well as my colleagues on both sides of the

aisle for helping bring ryan back. we can finally, finally say these five amazing words -- ryan corbett is coming home. he's coming home to new york. he's coming home to dansville. i can't wait to see him and welcome him back very, very soon. now on the first day of president trump's presidency, moments after taking the oath of office, president trump declared that it was the dawning of a golden age here in america. but on day one into his presidency, it's clear donald trump's golden age is not for the working and middle class. his golden age rather is for the special interests, for the wealthy elite and the corporate insiders he promised to take on as president. just look a lot his first day in the white house, which shows exactly what i am saying. on day one, president trump pd

in his executive orders made it harder for americans to save on prescription drug costs. prucht cleared the way for big oil and polluters and halted leasing of offshore wind farms. he took steps to make it harder to enroll in the aca and made medicaid less generous. he removed the united states from the paris climate accords. nothing the president did on day one lowered grocery prices. nothing helped americans achieve their dream of owning a home. nothing will help working families earn more and save more. their drug costs will go up. the cost of buying and maintaining a home will go up. the cost of health care will go up. the cost of energy will go up. so who is exactly donald trump's golden l age for? not for working americans, that is for sure. president trump's golden age is one of the biggest -- is one for

america's biggest drug companies who can now worry less about lowering their prices. it's a golden age for america's richest oil executives who want nothing more than to kill clean jobs and deepen america's dependence on fossil fuels. it's a golden age for america's top 1% who want another $1 trillion tax break paid for on the backs of america's middle class. and sadly, it's a golden age for lawlessness and lawbreakers who were pardoned yesterday by president trump. there is no other way to describe president trump's pardon of january 6 offenders than un-american. let's be clear. president trump didn't just pardon protesters. he pardoned some people convicted of assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy. it's a betrayal of the highest order of our capitol police officers who risked their lives to keep us safe.

when president trump talks about a golden age, he's talking about a golden age for drug companies, powerful oil executives, and rioters who attack our police and attack our democracy. that is not the golden age americans want. nominations. this week the senate will continue exercising its constitutional duty to offer advice and consent on the president's nominees. last night the senate unanimously confirmed our former colleague senator rubio as secretary of state. even though senator rubio and democrats differ on many issues, it was clear he is well qualified for the job and deserved confirmation. if every one of president trump's nominees were as qualified and experienced as senator rubio, they'd sail through the senate with bipartisan support. but sadly, too many of the president's nominees do not

match senator rubio's caliber. too many have troubling backgrounds. too many seem unp prepared for the job and proved so during testimony. too many nominees have been rushed through before their paperwork has been submitted. senator rube pompeo was thorough -- senator rubio was thorough and quick with background checks and documentation. he did it the right way, but too many other nominees delayed and dragged their feet, so it's wrong to try and rush them through. and too many of the president's nominee seem more interested in pushing the ultra right's extremist p agenda than fighting for middle-class families. later today i'll meet with russell vought. mr. vought is one of the most troubling nominees that president trump selected. he's about as ultra right as they come. so during our meeting, i hope to get a clarity on a simple question. who will mr. vought fight for if

confirmed? is it the american people or is it project 2025, which americans have already rejected? i look forward to our conversation because i believe it's important. both sides here directly and candidly from the president's nominees before we're asked to vote on their nomination. after all, the debate over president trump's nominees is not just about senior-level positions in the administration. the debate on nominees is a debate about the president's very agenda and about who will benefit. whose side are these nominees on? president trump promised an agenda that will fight for the working and middle class. he promised a golden age for the country. but actions speak louder than words, and so far the president's nominees suggest if there is any golden age coming, it's only one for the very, very elite. so democrats will continue to get the president's nominees on the record on very important

questions. will donald trump's nominees focus on cutting costs or will they be more interested in cutting sweetheart deal for big businesses? will they protect our communities? will they focus more on protecting special interests? will they serve middle-class and working families, or will they serve the swamp? that is what the american people want to know. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

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>> god of compassion, be near to all who call upon your name in the course of daily life for service, let us pray for those through any form of service, offer themselves and devotion to our nation. almighty god, gracious care on the men and women and abroad. with your heavenly jason places of danger and shoeless loyalty they represent our nation as

members of diplomatic forces that they may be ambassadors of hope for people and goodwill. good give us grace to do your will and all that we undertake. uphold all, served with integrity and compassion. but other communities and the nation's your will and all. oh god and linked by your bullies just of educators, give them a spirit of grace

compassion that they may have the strength and endurance for the love of learning. new discovery and the pursuit of wisdom, give us grace to do you will in all that we undertake. hope surrounded with your loving care police and firefighters, emergency and healthcare workers who devote their lives to helping others granting courage when afraid and strength weary that they may serve you and the neighbor. give us grace to do your will. give to all people of the land the desire to serve you in their lives work.

may your presence be manifested although we say and do. we did together work of other hand neutrality of our destiny. mr. president. mr. president, there's certain things we all agree on, i believe. number one, our border must be secure. and, number two, we should deport any dangerous individuals who are here illegally, period. y but the executive order signed by president trump last night did not target criminals or even those who entered our country without authorization. for example, the president suspended the task force on the

reunification of families created in the aftermath of his disastrous family separation policy of his first presidency. over a thousand families remain separated today. in other words, children who don't know where their parents are. this task force was created to reunite them, simply that. and now it's been suspended. stopping this task force does not make us a safer nation and certainly doesn't help these children. the president also suspended the refugee admissions program, which provides a safe haven for those fleeing oppressive regimes around the world. they include afghans, afghan women, uighurs in rohingya. many applicants wait decades to come to the united states lawfully and every single one of them must undergoing a rigorous vetting, more than any other

group of immigrants coming to the united states. i worked with and in these refugee camps. they literally stay for months in these tents for years, going through background checks before they're eligible for coming to the united states. yet the trump administration has already canceled flights for over 1,600 afghan refugees scheduled to come here. who are these people? many of them are families of active duty u.s. military personnel and those who are at risk because they fought on our side defending our troops in the afghan theater. stopping these flights of friendly refugees coming to america after having helped us and risked their lives to help us doesn't make america safe. it sends a message to -- sadly, to add lice supporting our troops -- allies supporting our troops around the world that we may not be there when they need

us. his attempt to deny citizenship to children born in the united states if their parents are not citizens or lawful permanent residents. i ask anyone who's interested in this issue to do something very basic -- read the first sentence of the 14th amendment to the constitution. it is a clear violation of our constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship. it does nothing to make our country safer, nothing. we need to secure our border. that's why i worked for years to pass bipartisan legislation that fixes our broken immigration system. mr. president, before you came to the senate, we considered comprehensive himmigration reform -- immigration reform, on a bipartisan basis. i want part of eight senators, a task force, democrats and republicans, equal numbers. we wrote the bill, brought it to the floor, and got over 60 votes for the bill. unfortunately, the house, under republican control at the time, wouldn't tank the issue. we had an approach that still

ought to be considered when it comes to changing our immigration system to make it safer for america. but we also need to protect millions of noncitizens who americans rely on each day. all across america this morning many parents headed off to work, stopped to drop their kid off at day care. they handed their child over to an undocumented person who works during the course of the day to keep your child safe and to make sure they're there at night when you return to pick them up. the same thing is true about nursing homes and a lot of care facilities. parents and grandparents are being carefully watched every minute of every day by undocumented people who are working there. the wages aren't the greatest. these people are willing to take on this job. and for most people, it's a critically important job for their family. they want their policewoman to not only go to breakfast with a smile but to be escorted back to

her room safely. they need undocumented people to make to happen. a high percentage of these people in these facilities a qualify as undocumented. i am the son of an immigrant to this country. our nation has always needed immigrants, still does. they put food on our tables. they care for our kids. and they help care for our parents and grandparents. what would we do without them? they don't deserve to live in fear every single day that they're going to be part of a mass deportation. any real solution to our immigration challenge must give them stability. americans deserve a real fixture of our broken immigration system that protects america, protects american workers, and treats immigrants fairly. mr. president, 13 years ago in response to a bipartisan request from myself and the late republican senator richard lugar of indiana, president biden establish the deferred action

for highliedhood arrivals, or daca program. daca has protected from deportation over 800,000 young people, all of whom arrived in our country as children, some as young as a few months old. these young kids are america's dreamers. i know a little bit about that. i was the sponsor of the original dream act over 20 years ago. they grew up alongside our kids with the same hopes and ambitions. they stood up in the classroom every morning and pledged allegiance to that flag, believing it was their flag, too. many have gone on to serve our nation as servicemembers, doctors, first responders. they believe in the american dream just as much as we do. without permanent legal protection, these young people have been forced to live in uncertainty. they have to renew their daca status every two years, go through a background check, pay a filing fee. in december, president trump committed to work with congress on a plan to protect dreamers.

i'm looking forward to that. i worked with the president in his first term, and i'm ready to work with him again. let's get this done as part of immigration reform. but last friday, the 5th circuit court of appeals declared the daca program illegal, again. the decision left in place protections for current daca recipients while the appeal is pending but left other dreamers in limbo. the time to act is now. i urge the president to come to the stable to negotiate a solution for dreamers as part of immigration reform. now, mr. president, on another matter -- on january 6, 2021, i was seated in the chair right here on the floor of the senate. a solemn constitutional proceeding was disrupted when a mob of thugs it attacked and trashed the u.s. capitol in an attempt to overturn a free and fair election. i remember it well. vice president pence was sitting in the chair that you're

occupying now. the secret service came in and literally physically removed him out that door in the chamber. they then announced to us to sit tight. this was going to be a safe room in the capitol. there was a mob that was descending on the capitol at the moment. but we were going to keep everybody safe. they warned us that they were a lot of people that wanted to come into into chamber and we lined the walls because we wanted to be kept safe from this mob. ten minutes later, a capitol hill policeman stood up and said, new plans. get out of your chair and go out that door. we'll lead you to another safe room. that was the circumstance of january 6, 2021. i remember it well. i saw the mob as we were going outside. thousands of people descending on the capitol. that was the grim reality of that day. at the end of the day, the mob confronted the capitol hill police and at d.c. police who were here, trying to keep this building and keep us safe as

members of congress who were doing our constitutional duty. subsequent deaths of five of our law enforcement officers because of that mob and the injuries took a -- to approximately 140 others are still a fact. many still pay a price today for what happened on january 6, 12021. now the attackers have been pardoned by president trump who literally sent them from rally to come up here. what happened happened. the following individuals received their pardon yesterday from president trump -- david dempsey is one of them. he was convicted of assaulting police officers by using, quote, his hands, fao feet, flag poles -- feet, plague poles, pepper spray, anything else he could get his hands on as a weapon. shaken jenkins, convicted of using two tomorrow -- tomohawk

african americans -- tomorrow a hawk axes. and kenneth bonowitzment, a member of the proud boys assaulted aleast six officers including placing oner? a choke hold. he injured one officer so severely that the officer has been a forced to refire. always of these people were among the roughly 1,500 january 6 insurrectionists who president trump pardoned last night. what happened to claims by a party of being in favor of law and order? even president trump's own vice president said last week, former senator from the state of ohio, quote, if you committed violence on january 6, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned.

that didn't apply last night. all of the people that i've just described were pardoned by president trump for their actions in harming law enforcement in the capitol on january 6. last week i asked president trump's attorney general nominee, pam bondi, about pardoning january 6 rioters who assaulted police officers. she said, and i quote, i condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer. don't we all? one of my judiciary committee republican colleagues actually criticized me last week for even asking that question. here's what he said -- i find it hard to believe that the president of the united states would look at the facts that were used to convict the violent people on january 6 and say it's absurd and unfair hypothetical. the action by president trump is unfair. but unfortunately it's no longer hypothetical. these law enforcement officers risked their lives for us literally all of us, not just

the elected officials, but the thousands of visitors who come to this capitol. they stand quietly by watching to make sure nothing goes wrong but they are literally risking their lives for us every single day. what was the message last night of pardoning the people who assaulted them on january 6, 2021? some people died as a result of that attack. every american should be appalled. i am very unhappy, mr. president, that these men and women who give us so much every single day are taken for granted that the president pardoned those who attacked them. we should stand by those who stand by us and we should be willing to say to them, thank you. thank you for risking your lives for our visitors for our members of congress, and those who assaulted you were not just on a pleasant capitol tour. they had a goal in mind and that goal, unfortunately, was at the expense of these men and women in uniform. mr. president, i yield the mr. president, i yield the

>> as a country we gather this

morning to pray for unity as the people and the nation. otherwise but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division. i unity that serves the common good. unity in the sense is a threshold requirement for people to live in freedom and together in a free society. it is the solid rock as jesus said in this case upon which to build a nation. it is not conformity. it is not victory. it is not polite weariness or passive passivity born of exhaustion. unity is not partisan. rather, unity is a way of him

with one another, that it encompasses and respects our differences that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect. that enables us in our community and then power, to genuinely care for one another, even when we disagree. across the country who dedicate their lives or who volunteer to help others in times of national disaster, often at great risk to themselves, never ask of those for whom they voted in a past election or what positions they hold on a particular issue. and we are at our best when we follow their example. for unity at times is

sacrificial in a way that love is sacrificial. a giving of ourselves for the sake of another. in the sermon on the mount jesus of nazareth exhorts us to love not only our neighbors, but to love our enemy and to pray for those who persecute us, to be merciful as our god is merciful god to forgive others as god forgives us. and jesus went out of his way to welcome those whom his society deemed as outcasts. now, i grant you that unity in this broad, expansive sense is aspirational. and it's a lot to pray for. it's a big ask of our god. worthy of the best of who we are and who we can be.

but there is a much to be gained by our prayers if we act in ways that further deepen the divisions among us. our scriptures are quite clear about this, that god is never impressed with prayers when actions are not informed by them. nor does god spare us from the consequences of our deeds which always in the end matter more than the words we pray. those of us gathered here in the cathedral, we are not naïve about the realities of politics. when power and wealth and competing interests are at stake, when views of what america should be are in conflict, when there are strong opinions across a spectrum of

possibilities and starkly different understandings of what the right course of action is, there will be winners and losers with thoughts are cast, decisions made that set the course of public policy and the prioritization of resources. it goes without saying that in a democracy not everyone's particular hopes and dreams can be realized in a given legislative session or presidential term, not even in a generation. it which a sin that everyone specific prayers for those of us who are people of prayer, not everyone's prayers will be answered in the way we would like. but for some the loss of their hopes and dreams will be far more than political defeat but instead a loss of equality and dignity and their livelihoods.

given this, then, if true unity among us even possible? and why should we care about it? well i hope we care. i hope we care because the culture of content that has become normalized in this country threatens to destroy us. we are all bombarded daily with messages from what sociologists now called the outrage industrial complex. some of that driven by external forces whose interests are furthered by a polarized america. content fuels political campaigns and social media, and many profit from that. but it's a

the world knows by now, yesterday president trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the united states. i think he's only the second president who has been sworn in on two different occasions, but he is both the 45th and the 47th president of the united states, and it was an honor to see him take the oath of office yesterday in the capitol rotunda. i only regret, because of the weather, that more people weren't able to see that in person. i was with a number of my texas constituents this morning, and they are not accustomed to the cold temperatures, but they were prepared to dress warmly and to deal with it, but they all seemed to be in good spirits because of the outcome of the election, and they were happy to see the president sworn in, as was i. i want to express my personal

congratulations, along with that of millions of people across the country, to president trump and our former colleague, jd vance. i have told people when jd vance came to the senate, i said i actually had met him before, because he, when he went to yale law school, he actually was an intern on the judiciary committee that i serve on, and worked in my office for a very brief period of time. i didn't know him then. as i told him, i knew him before he was famous, before he wrote "hillbilly elgy" and his career took off like a rocket strip. but i'm proud of what vice president vance has been able to accomplish. if you think about it, here's a guy that at 40 years old is president of the united states, and if you read or listened to "hillbilly elegy" about the

circumstances under which jd vance was raised, you can see he's overcome a lot of obstacles in life -- serving as a united states marine. i know he was celebrating last night with the ohio state championship win, being a graduate of that school, but it was great to see him and get sworn in yesterday as well. again, only in america. only in america can something like that happen. it's no secret either that the last four years the biden administration policies have been nothing but a disaster for the nation, and no state has been more negatively affected than my state, the state of texas. we have 1200 miles of common border with mexico, and the open border policies of the biden administration have been an unmitigated disaster, from a

public health standpoint and a public safety standpoint. and many of our border communities have simply been overwhelmed and overrun just by the sheer volume of people coming from all around the world. this is not the sort of immigration that you've seen in the past, where poor people come to the united states across the border to work and send money home. you literally have seen with the biden open border policies people from all around the world show up, claim asylum or be paroled into the interior of the united states, which is like a blinking green light to anybody and everybody that wants to come. that wants to come to america, knowing they would be released under the biden administration policies. we've seen millions -- nobody really knows for sure how many millions, of people come and move, basically move in to the united states, outside of our

legal immigration program, which i think is very important. but also the roughly two million, we think, got-aways, people evading law enforcement, and you can only imagine what they're up to. we know that there's no reason to evade law enforcement under the biden administration pol policies, if you don't have a criminal record or if you aren't up to no good, because you know you'll be released. it only is logical, only makes sense that these are people who are either carrying drugs or have criminal records or otherwise engaged in anti-social acti activities. like i said, we think maybe about two million of those people made their way into the interior of the united states. one of the most important ways that president trump began with his signature on these executive

orders beginning yesterday to reverse the policies of the biden administration and to get our country back on track is securing our southern border. this border crisis as i indicated is one that president biden himself practically inv invited, invited during his first campaign when he encouraged migrants to, quote, immediately surge the border. i mean, this is crazy talk, if you think about it, but that's what he said. of course, this is perhaps the one campaign promise that president biden actually kept. in the early months of 2021, president biden appointed vice president harris, we all remember this, as his border czar. well, he tasked her with the role ofg ts growing surge of migrants. even back then, in the early

stages of what was to become a historic humanitarian disaster, some expressed concerns that ms. harris might not be up to the task. but when she was made aware -- made to answer for her lack of qualifications, she hadn't actually been to the border, specifically the fact she hadn't been there, kamala harris made light of the question with a famous quip. she said, and i haven't been to europe. i don't understand the point you're making. so somebody pointed out she hadn't been to the border. she said, well, i haven't been to europe, and she didn't understand the point. everybody else got it even if she didn't. she was singularly unqualified, and she bore this out, i think, by her service as the border czar, singularly unqualified to be the border czar. and it took another three months

for her to accomplish her one and only visit to the texas-mexico border. i can tell you that, as i said, texas has a 1200 mile common border, the united states has a 2,000 mile common border, and not every piece of the border is the same. if you go to arizona, california or new mexico, many of those places are very different from the border with texas and mexico. but on this one visit to the border, in texas vice president harris steered clear of ground z zero, of the surge of illegal immigration, which is the rio grande valley. that was the epicenter of the border crisis, yet she was a no show. instead she traveled to el paso, which is another border town but very different, for a sanitized made-for-tv visit.

to add insult to injury, the vice president visited texas multiple times last summer to fund raise and to campaign for president, but she didn't take time to go to the border at all. but this should come as no surprise because she seemed completely disinterested from performing any function as the border czar. under her negligent watch, the surge at the beginning of president biden's presidency only went from bad to worse. the biden-harris administration presided over daily, weekly, and monthly records of illegal crossings across the border. the customs and border protection, the federal agency responsible, has tracked more than 10 million encounters across the nation under president biden's leadership,

including 8.7 million at the southern border. more than 400,000 unaccompanied children -- to me, this is one of the scandals that really hasn't gotten adequate attention. 400,000 unaccompanied children have been encountered at the border and placed with sponsors in the united states. the biden administration resisted any sort of background checks on the sponsors. as a matter of fact, they placed these children with other illegal immigrants in the country and in homes where we didn't know whether there were either gang members or people with records as sex offenders, for example. and the sad truth is these children, like the million or so other migrants that came across the border, ended up in the

united states courtesy of the cartels, the criminal organizations that get rich smuggling people in to the united states. but they don't just smuggle people. they smuggle drugs and other contraband too. but these children in particular, once they arrive in the united states, many of them are exploited, treated as indentured servants until they pay back the debt they owe their traffickers. and those are the lucky ones. others were trafficked for sex, recruited into gangs, neglected. we don't know, the biden administration couldn't tell you whether these children were going to school or getting the health care they need or the like. as a matter of fact, they said we have no responsibility. that's the responsibility the state -- that's the responsibility of the state child welfare organizations. we know they're overwhelmed, and here are 400,000 more children

that are dumped into their hands. as a result of the shelter facilities becoming increasingly crowded, the biden administration rushed the placement process of these children and now has completely lost track of at least 85,000 of those unaccompanied minors. that's according to a "new york times" investigative story where they actually followed up calling the sponsors only to get no answer, knocking on the door. nobody would come to the door. so we don't know, they don't know what happened to these children. we also know the cartels are getting richer trafficking in drugs, as i mentioned, including fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is very different from heroin and cocaine, which require a lengthy process of

growing a plant and then processing the drug. cartels are selling fentanyl, which uses chemical precursors that come from china that then go to mexico and are mixed up and then pressed to look like a pharmaceutical drug. but they are a counterfeit drugged and they killed more than 70,000 people last year alone. this drug that comes across the southern border with very little, we don't know how much of it actually makes its way across. we know how much is interdicted, but it could be just a fraction of the number that actual little makes its way across the border. and here's the tragic statistic -- this is the leading cause of death for young people between the age of 18 and 45 in america. i've been to numerous high

schools in texas where grieving parents said, well, our child was, eight dinner at the dinner -- ate dinner at the dinner table and the next morning we found him or her dead in their room having taken something they thought was a relatively innocuous drug, only to find out the hard way that it was laced with fentanyl, which took their life. well, our border patrol has simply been overwhelmed by the volume of people coming across the border, because there's no such thing as deterrent. one of the things about law enforcement, you learn is by enforcing the law, you can discourage other people from violating the law. and by actually enforcing border security you can deter people from coming in the first place. without deterrence, under the

biden administration, the border patrol has simply been overwhelmed. with historic numbers of people attempting to cross and successfully crossing, they've not gotten the support they need to handle the magnitude of challenges they face every day. the men and women who serve in the border patrol are my heroes. they are loyal, patriotic americans who put on the uniform and do what their government has asked them to do. until they're told that you have to tie one hand behind your back and you can't actually do your job because you just have to welcome people into the country, and you can't keep people out who are violating the law. so i want to extend my gratitude to the men and women who serve in the border patrol as well as

the national border patrol council, which has been enormously helpful as a credible source of what actually conditions have been along the border so that the american people can know how bad it has gotten to be. the national border patrol council has been our partner and friend and helped, as senator cruz and i have welcomed many of our colleagues to the border so that they can see firsthand what we have learned as a result of our many times visiting there. p i particularly want to express my gratitude to jason owens, who is the outgoing border patrol chief. even when the administration did not provide adequate support to handle this historic crisis, jason had the backs of the men and women of the border patrol. but the good news is that under president trump, all of our

border patrol agents will start receiving the support they need and that they deserve from the federal government. president trump used his first day in office to make a number of actions addressing this crisis. he declared that this historic ongoing crisis is a national emergency, which it is. he designated the cartels that smuggle the people is and the drugs into the country as foreign terrorist l organizations. he directed the departments of state and homeland security to resume the migrant protection protocols, otherwise known as the remain in mexico program. so people who want to come to the united states legally through the asylum system, they can't come to the interior of the united states and simply be released. they have to remain in mexico and await the processing of their claim for asylum. this will of course deter

economic migrants from making this dangerous journey by having them await their asylum hearings in mexico. at the same time the president directed the department of homeland security to stop catch and release. if you ask the border patrol how do you explain all of this, this huge mass of humanity, the tsunami of people coming across the border, they said there are no consequences for coming illegally under the biden administration. and one of those incentives for people to continue to come is ending catch and -- or employing a catch and retirees policy. because without detention, you're never going to stop the flow. and this was a primary pull factor of migrants under the biden administration. president trump also terminated the biden administration's

unlawful cuban, haitian, nicaraguan, venezuelan parole program. parole is a word that people may be familiar with in a criminal context where people can be paroled out of prison. this is a little different. in the immigration context, this means that individuals who meet certain select criteria can be released into the interior of the united states, but it's supposed to be done on a hardship case-by-case basis. the biden administration completely transformed parole by doing it categorically. in other words, they said 30,000 migrants per month are allowed to be released in the united states if you come from cuba, haiti, nicarauga, or venezuela. that's 360,000 a year. just released into the interior

of the united states, and not done on a case-by-case basis. it violated the law congress put in place, but the biden administration really didn't seem to care about what the law was. they were going to do what they wanted to do. i'm pleased that president trump has directed the department of homeland security and the department of justice to completely fulfill the requirements of the dna fingerprint act of 2025. excuse me, 2005 -- a bill that the former senator from arizona, senator jon kyl and i worked to enact. under that law the department of homeland security will protect americans from dangerous criminal illegal immigrants by collecting dna samples from migrants apprehended at the border. in many instances it can just be a cheek swab, but that dna allows you to positively identify people who may be criminal aliens. president trump's order that the

department of homeland security verify the relationships claimed by family units apprehended at the border will help put an end to the cartels child trafficking that the biden administration policies enabled. because the cartels are smart and they knew what the policies were, if a family unit -- that is an adult and a child -- came together, they were treated a little bit differently. but we found out the hard way that the cartels would simply hire out these children so that the adults could get into the country claiming to be a family unit. again, more child trafficking, child abuse, if you will. president trump's order that the department of homeland security verify these relationships will help put an end to the cartel'

child trafficking, which the biden administration enabled. i'm pleased that president trump has also ended the use of the customs and border protection 1 app. this was an app that you could download on your phone that allowed migrants to more quickly and efficiently cross the open border. under the biden administration, you could simply make an appointment using this app on your phone, meaning the federal government would facilitate your entry into the united states on a quicker basis.phone. it's really bizarre if you think about it. but it gave the cartel other ways to make money by selling appointments that they had made on the app. it was obviously hijacked by the cartels who are not dumb, they're smart, and they are

driven by a profit motive. i'm glad that president trump made border security a day one priority of his administration. i look forward to continuing to work with him to help improve the safety for communities all across texas and all across the nation. but, mr. president, i'm also thrilled that president trump has chosen a new u.s. border patrol chief, a texan, mike banks. people may have heard of mike banks before because he was -- excuse me he was governor abbott's border chief. mike brings incredible credentials to this job. when the vice president made only one trip to the mexico-texas border during her tenure, mike was a border patrol agent. he has vast experience at the

bothered. he -- border. he understands the impacts at the bothered and -- border and what our border agents have been through. he has spent time at the u.s.-mexico border. governor abbott picked him to serve as the texas border czar, and mike has served in the u.s. navy military police. so i have had the privilege of getting to know mike and i know his qualifications, his experience, and his first hand -- and his compensation and -- competence and first-hand experience with the challenges at our border. i have no doubt that he will make an outstanding 27th head of the u.s. border patrol. i look forward to working with him and president trump to secure our borders and to make our communities safe again. this is one of the main reasons

that president trump was elected, along with sky-high inflation and the very dangerous world that seems to have grown up in the face of the weakness projected by the biden administration around the world. but job numb one -- number one is to secure our borders and protect the american people. and i'm proud that president trump has, on day one, taken such important steps to begin that process. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold his request. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would be delighted. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m.

recess: >> the u.s. senate today is considering legislation requiring medical care for a child born after a failed abortion. john thune has set up a vote for tomorrow on whether to advance bill if the measures come up this week to coincide with friday's antiabortion march for life. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by his television companies and more including mediacom. >> nearly 30 years ago mediacom was founded on a powerful idea, bring cutting edge broadband to underserved communities. from coast to coast we connected 850,000 miles of fiber. our team broke speed barriers, delivered one gig speeds to every customer, has led when developing a 10g platform and