senator durbin: we have gone to great lengths. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org >> we will reair this program in its entirety at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow more from the inspector general. he testifies before a joint house hearing with the oversight and judiciary committees. on coverage on cspan 3 and the cspan radio app. >> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues. coming up tuesday morning -- >> this week, filmmakers discuss a documentary -- host: what would you tell somebody that has never heard bout the cat omp nsville nine? >> it is one of the most important acts of civil

durbin: clarify that. you cannot speak to whether your report exonerates because it does or doesn't? gen. horowitz: we did not investigate, as we laid out here. when we saw this text messages, many of which are in that july /august time period, we made it clear that this review does not touch on the russian investigation with the exception of what occurred in october with the wiener laptop. same issues in the to collusion and obstruction in the russia investigation? gen. horowitz: we don't going to any issues related to the russia investigation beyond what i mentioned. sen. durbin: last friday, president trump said the special counsel investigation led by robert mueller, "has been totally discredited." mr. horowitz, does your report show any reason to doubt robert mueller's integrity or discredit any decisions he made? an. horowitz: i will not make judgment on special counsel robert mueller's investigation. sen. durbin: i want to stay within the four corners of your report. will you address the credibility

durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mr. durbin: i ask unanimou -- did. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent it be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: last night in a federal district court a judge sitting in san diego made a critical ruling that will affect the lives of thousands of people who are the focal point of america's attention over the last several weeks. judge sabrow was appointed to the federal bench by president george w. bush. reading about him online, he is a japanese american who has a background in private practice of law before he ascended to the federal bench. he was given the responsibility of ruling on the zero tolerance policy of the trump administration. you remember that policy it started on may 1. it was a decision by the trump administration and attorney general sessions to separate children from their mothers and parents if they attempted to enter the united states without legal authorization. the net result of that policy was the separation of thousands of children from their parents. it's been in the ne

senator durbin. senator durbin: it takes children. it takes the images and voices of children in fear and pain to finally move us. school marching in birmingham, facing, facing some -- water hoses. the dreamers with tears flowing down there cheeks. and now the little boys and girls ripped away from their mothers arms at our borders. the administration tries to hide the images. nelsonhey denied senator access to one of the centers where the children are being held in florida. consistent me they say -- consistently they say, give us two weeks notice. they tried to hide the grief, but it will not work. we have seen enough and we know enough. they cannot hide the cruel reality. we know the depths this administration will go to to push their hateful agenda. lies, theent with his attorney general hiding behind his bible, the secretary of dhs who now must live with her performance yesterday. thank goodness some senators are speaking up. all of the democratic senators have joined in the feinstein effort to express our disapproval. some republ

senator durbin. senator durbin: it takes children. it takes the images and voices of children in fear and pain to finally move us. school marching in birmingham, alabama, facing some -- facing the pounding hoses and snarling dogs. the dreamers with tears flowing down there cheeks. as this president abolishes daca. and now the little boys and girls ripped away from their mothers arms at our borders. the administration tries to hide the images. today they denied senator nelson access to one of the centers where the children are being held in florida. and consistently they say well, give twouse weeks' notice we might let you see how we're treating these kids. they can try to hide the faces of these children in the grief of their stricken mothers, but it won't wor we've seen enough. we know enough. they cannot hide the cruel reality. we know the depths this administration will go to to push their hateful agenda. the president with his lying tweets, the attorney general hiding behind his bible, the secretary of d.h.s. who now must live wit

you must hold people in this policy accountable. >> alice, we heard from senator durbin today. the question being asked, is the white house, is anybody really listening? dick durbin said, you know what, you may not listen today but you will hear the message come november. but is that really what's at issue here? it's really an issue of compassion. how can you not put yourself in the position of any number of these parents or kids and not see how difficult it could be? >> that's what we're hearing, is let's see some compassion. look, i'm an american and i sympathize with you. while it may not appear our government does. i think dick durbin hit a good point, but the key, as he says, the real sea change will come november, but the key is marches are one thing, protests are one thing, but as ana said, registering to vote and actually voting, that will make the sea change. if all this doesn't turn into votes, then this will, there's not really a point with that. but in terms of this compassion, when we've seen melania trump make a second visit to the border, that goes a long way to

three republicans voted with the democrats on the durbin bill. five democrats voted in the negative. and that's what killed the durbin bill when the democrats controlled all levers of power in 2010, the last time they did. look, don't blame this problem on president trump. it has been in existence for sometime but it is up to us to solve it. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from california. mrs. torres: i yield two minutes to a distinguish member of the rules committee, the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. mr. hastings: i thank the gentlelady for yielding time. dr. burgess, i would urge through the speaker that you have the levers of power now, and i predict for you today, the two measures that we are going to be dealing with are not likely to reach the president's desk. but none of this was happening four months ago. none of this was happening two months ago. but a policy

joining us, the senate number two democrat. >> senator dick durbin of illinois. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> will you vote against any nominee put forward by president trump no matter how qualified that person might be for the job, if all of this is played out before the midterm election? >> of course not. i'm going to judge that person on the merits and i hope it is a good moderate person to replace justice kennedy. i'm hopeful but not confident that will be the case at all. >> if mitch mcconnell was wrong to deny president trump's nominee a fair hearing before the presidential election, why should the democratic party repeat that mistake now and try to prevent nomination from going forward before the midterm -- congressional elections. >> i think mitch mcconnell ought to stick with his story. he said he couldn't fill the vacancy under obama because the american people had an election coming up and they should make the decision. we're four months away from another election and the decision of who will be in charge in the senate. using mcconne

durbin: mr. president? officer the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. officer without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, when i was a senior in college at georgetown university, i received a chance opportunity that literally changed my life. paul douglas, the great senator from my home state of illinois, hired me on as an intern in his office here in the united states senate. i was just a kid from east st. louis, illinois, the son of an immigrant mother, who was suddenly surrounded by senators debating some of the most profound questions in our nation's history. i used to come to the floor of the senate -- i couldn't enter the floor. let me back up and say, i used to come to the gallery of the senate as a student and observe the proceedings of the senate, never dreaming there would be a day when i could actually stand on the floor of the united states senate. i couldn't believe my good fortune as a visitor to watch people like mi

>> well, thank you, senator durbin. we will use the klobuchar funds. we have put in a request to use the first $1.5 million of our $6.6 million to redo what's called our svrs, statewide voter registration system. it goes by other names in other states. it is what it sounds like, the primary database, the very one unfortunately in illinois suffered a breach, and the very one in most of the 21 states i'm aware of was at least the intended target. >> so what they told me in illinois, the state board of elections, i said what happened, how did the russians get in there? and they said, we left a little opening that we didn't realize was there, and they got in that worm hole and they were in our system. and they had the capacity. there's no evidence that they changed a single registration or a single vote, so i certainly agree with the witnesses who have said that. from an illinois perspective, that was true, too, but the potential was there for a dramatic change. did you see the same potential in terms of your voter information and voting process? >> well,

down -- durbin, will be sitting down to reach a debate. does this give you hope for something on capitol hill? >> it is such an unusual collection of people. if you can get people from different parts of the spectrum, tom has been very active on these issues. that is less surprising. they have been trying to build bipartisan consensus. , they have a way tried to meet in the middle and try to figure out what conservatives and liberals do together. they are both well within the mainstream of their parties, but it is interesting to see ted cruz there and feinstein. it is hard to get immigration done in election year. elections,november but is there a group of people that could push something includes the president, that is an interesting combination. if it does not happen before november, ideas that people can gravitate toward, that is really positive to get something done after the elections. >> we will fall that story on c-span2, the house on c-span, oath back in session this week. line,orida independent good morning, john. >> hello. i hope

senator wyden, and senator durbin will introduce mister giblin's. if you would like to begin? >> thank you mister chair. i should say, members of the committee, it is my great privilege to introduce mister gardens on glenn who has been on it looks is nominated to serve as the united states ambassador to the european union. he was born in seattle washington, and is a first generation american, his family history is both fascinating and instructive, as to why he has the experience and understanding to serve as u.s. ambassador to the eu. his parents, gunter and freda were born in berlin germany, and were married in 1937. they were forced to escape the [null] regime in germany, his mother was able to escape because her father was russian, and those with russian passports could leave. she ended up in uruguay, where mister simon's sister was born. his father was not so fortunate. he had to be smuggled out of germany, and actually wound up in france, where he joined the french foreign legion and fought in north africa. he was put in a concentration camp in africa, where he was rescue

senator gardner gardner and senator durbin what it is mr. gidwitz. senator tillis, if you would like to begin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and members, i should say members of the committee. it is my great privilege introduce mr. gordon sondland who is been nominated to serve as united states ambassador to the european union. mr. assange was born in seattle washington and as a first-generation american his family history is both fascinating and obstructive as to why he has the experience and understanding to serve as u.s. ambassador to the eu. his parents were born in berlin, germany, and were married in 1937. they were forced to escape the nazi regime in germany. his mother was able to escape because her father was russian and those with russian passports could leave. she ended up or mr. sondland sister was born. his father was not so fortunate, and he had to be smuggled out of germany. he wound up in france where he joined the french foreign legion and thought in north africa picky was put in a concentration camp in africa where he was rescued by t

we have dick durbin and richard blumenthal straight ahead on "morning joe." ♪ ♪ ♪ let's do an ad of a waffles at comfort inn. they taste like victory because he always gets the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed, when he books direct at choicehotels.com. or just say badda book, badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com. or just say badda book, badda boom. the first survivor of ais out there.sease and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. >>> it doesn't matter to me who the president is. the president under the constitution has the authority to put forward supreme court nominees and then we have our job to do in considering them. i felt that it was a mistake that judge garland was not given the a hearing and full consideration by the senate and i think it would be a mistake if the democrats repeated that error and tried to block us from considering as the senate whomever is put forth by president trump. >> are you going play hard ball and say you're not going to rush this through. >> based on every

>> well, thank you senator durbin. we will use the klobuchar funds to use the one and a half-million of a 6.6 million to redo what is called our state wide voter registration system which goes by other names and other states but it's a primary database the very one that unfortunately in illinois suffered a breach in the very one that most of the 21 states that i am aware of was the intended target. >> what you told me was that -- what happened? you said we left a little opening but we did not realize it was there and they got in the wormhole and they were in our system and they had the capacity and there's no evidence they changed a single registration or vote so i agree with the witnesses who said that and from an illinois perspective that was true, too. but the potential was there for a dramatic change. did you see the same potential in terms of voter information and the voting process? >> without giving room at -- to the bad guys i don't want to do that. i think every system has full mobility. we, in tracing, do our

senator durbin. chief of staff to the president. secretary of homeland as well. and senator cornyn. and we worked time and again. but every time we try to find compromise, we even went to the point of their number one issue, and the president went beyond of what they even asked. but they said no, we can't do anything else. they said, all they wanted to do was go do a discharge petition. that's all they wanted. they didn't want to work through the system. but that was not unusual. because my friend, mr. speaker, likes to quote people. i don't have it written, i just have it by mem is he -- memory. the number of times my friend told me he would never vote to shut down the government. he doesn't care that politics -- about politics, he would never do that. but we found it was a different year and a different time. then we talked about children's health. chip. and the number of times, mr. speaker, i'd go to the other side, geed to the ranking member -- we'd go to the ranking member, we'd go to those individuals on the committee, but they were told not two, with us. -- not to work with u

>> i completely agree with senator durbin. i think there is no evidence that there is a plan.troduced legislation, we have written letters to the administration demanding this. we have tried in every way we can to press the administration to tell us where are these children, what is your plan for reunification. i have seen no evidence they have a coordinated well thought out plan ready to execute. i think this whole thing was done sort of shooting from the hip in a way that sort of caused some excitement among mr. trump's base, but in a way that totally undermines our values as a country. >> on the supreme court, politico has interesting reporting this morning saying that democrats are looking at talking about changing the strategy here to try -- you don't have much of a leg here, but to try to get the supreme court nominee vote to wait until after the midterms and the democrats are planning to move away from the talking points of this isn't fair, this should wait until after the midterms to focus on the real world impact that another conservative justice would mean on the cou

durbin: does it go into the investigation? >> we do not go into any investigation. >> president trump said the investigation has been totally discredited. >> i am not going to make a judgment on special counsel molars investigation. i'm going to speak to what i have here. durbin: can you address the credibility? mr. long: we laid out we laid outitz: what occurred and what individuals did in all sober, where it touches the russia investigation. senator durbin: rich mcconnell said he wanted the mueller investigation to conclude. if the ig is through why can't the mueller investigation wrap up? was there it a connection between what you were tasked in doing and what robert mueller is tasked in doing? >> other than the issues were we identified text messages and brought them to his attention, we do not have any connections or interactions in that regard. durbin: my colleagues and freeze the question about the new york field office. leaks in that field office. there are quotes in the report relative to mr. comey's concern the new y

the number two democrat on the senate, dick durbin says it will fail. >> this president has the power to fix the mess he created to stop the crisis at the border. what he did with the executive order i don't believe will be successful. it will at least have a momentary delay in trying to separate kids from the parents. but i don't think the court will walk away from the standards we agreed to 20 years ago. i think it's doomed. the executive order is doomed and the president should realize it, stop it in place. work together to solve this. >> harris: doug mckelway with the news at the white house. doug? >> hi, harris. this controversy is becoming a classic case of why so much of america hate what is goes on in washington. the political posturing in an election year masks the reality that the separation of family has been going on for a long time. going back through several administrations. this masks the reality that any adult in this country who breaks the law and is detained whether you are a citizen or not is separated from their children as a consequence of breaking the law. this m

senator durbin. >> it takes children, it takes the images and voices of children in fair and pain to finally move us. the school kids marching in birmingham alabama, facing the pounding fire hoses and the snarling dogs, the dreamers with tears flowing down the cheeks as the president abolishes doctor and the infants, toddlers and the little boys and girls ripped away from their mothers arms at our borders. the administration tries to hide these images. today they denied our colleague senator nelson access to one of this centers where these children are being held in florida and consistencconsistently they tell us give us two weeks notice and we might allow you to go in and show you how are treating these kids. we have seen enough. we know enough that they cannot hide this cruel reality. we know the depths this administration will go to now to push their hateful agenda. the president, with his lying tweets, the attorney general hiding behind his bible, the secretary of dhs who now must live for the rest of her public life with her performance yesterday, thank goodness some senators ar

durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the minority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: phr-bs, on -- mr. president, on monday in my office in chicago i met a woman and her daughter. the story they had to tell me was heartbreaking. this woman was from the democratic republic of congo, kinshasa. something occurred at her home while she was gone where a child of hers left an iron on. another child came in, grabbed the wire of that iron, was electrocuted and died. it was a horrible accident that claimed the life of a child. that child that died was the nephew of a general in the army of the democratic republic of congo. when he heard about his nephew dying in this accident, he said he would take care of this situation and that that family would pay a price for the life of his nephew. this woman, mother of three, went into a panic that her daughter was going to be killed by this general. such a panic that she fled

congratulations. .hair: thanks senator durbin? sen. durbin: i am on leave of absence. i promise someday i will return. here today be especially because of the nomination of ron gidwitz to be our next ambassador to belgium. i won't replicate the kind remarks of cory gardner of colorado on behalf of ron and his family, that i will tell you that ron and i share something in common, a life experience that goes back a few years. we were both interns in the united states senate the same year, working for the same senator. morris udall, a cumbersome from arizona, once said if you have politics in your bloodstream, only embalming fluid will replace it. during the course of my internship in that senate office, i got politics in my bloodstream, and i have never quite left capitol hill since. path.ok a different he went back to chicago, into the business world. successful in that world, with business as well as his investments and other endeavors. did well for himself. but he did not just sit on that success and bank the money and walk away from his responsibilities to others. i

senator durbin. >> thanks. it's great to be back. i'm on leave of abscess. i promise some day i'll return. just likecarthur. but i wanted to be here especially because of the nomination of ron goodwits to be our next ambassador. i won't replicate the kind remarks of cory gardner from colorado. ron and i share something an experience that goes back a few years. we were both interns working for the same senator. a congressman said if you have politics in your bloodstream, only embalming will replace it. in the internship i got politics in my bloodstream and i never quite left capitol hill since. ron took a different path. he went back to chicago into the business world. successful in that world with private business as well as with his investments and other endeavors. did well for himself. but as corey remind us, he didn't just sit on that success and bank the money and walk away from his responsibilities to many ot. and i've known that for a long time. where an area -- era, i shod say, where there's arguments made about hyperpar tanship. but i know he was ste

. >> dick durbin said when he talked with hhs he asked the question, do you know how many kids and parentse been separated. they couldn't answer the question. the answer is we just don't know. i also want to ask you about the interview you have, we have the van jones show airing this weekend, sunday night at 7:00. you talked with senator tim scott about how to work with president trump. let's listen to a clip. >> you've had this conversation in some countries like this with president trump. >> yes. >> how do you judge whether you're making progress there, people want you to be the racial trump whisperer in some way. how do those conversations go? i just want to understand, you know, how you see a donald trump. >> they're hard, they're painful, they're uncomfortable, sit in the oval office and have the conversation with the president about things you strongly disagree about. he didn't change his perspective, i certainly can't change my perspective. educated by my experience. so that helps me. the way it closed i thought gave me reasons to be hopeful. it closed with tim, i don't see what you

go from here in senator blumenthal told me he wants a bill to overturn this ruling, but after dick durbin told me after he said that, they realize there's no chance of that happening, so the argument will be made in the midterm elections as the democrats try to make the case to take back control of the senate by saying if there's another vacancy-looking how much significant any one seat has, and what it means for the country and the world. the republicans say it's so important what neil gorsuch did, and no the party is breaking down on party lines. >>> let's get more reaction. give me the reaction from the supreme court, congressman? as long as he puts a thin veneer of security, they will buy it, as long as the pig has some lipstick on it, it's fine. that is what they have said. all i can say is the people who believe in dignity of all people, who believe in freedom of faith, freedom of religion in america, we're not going to stop fighting. in fact this will enliven us, inspire us to push even further and harder to establish the dignity of all people in this country. we're not daunted her

i would like to thank senator durbin and senator gardner for speaking on behalf. i want to thank several members of my family. first and foremost is christina to whom i've been married for almost 43 years. we have two sons alexander who lives in australia and scott who joins us here today. alex is married to a lovely young lady marlene and she recently gave birth to our third grandson christopher. scott is accompanied by his newly minted fiancee. my family's love and support has been a constant. during my career i've had multiple experiences in government service, private sector as well as extensive exposure to the noth profit arena. i had the privilege of serving as president and ceo of helenee curtis a toiletry and cosmetic company. when i took over they had sales of just over $100 million. when the business was sold 17 years later company was closing in on $1.5 billion and the fortune 300 list with 40% of sales coming from outside of the u.s. i served on a number of private-sector board of directors. one was american national can, a subsidiary of the french alu

we saw it in 2013, recently with graham and durbin. to do it and stop doing this moral vandalism on our values that you see going on that's just unacceptable. >> i really wanted to ask you how you would go about doing things if you were president and you had a congress that was unwilling to work with each other. senator, can you answer that in a quick way? we are basically out of time. >> i don't want to answer about what i would do if i were president. i am a senator now. i have had lots ofonversations and gotten bills passed with everybody from ted cruz to tim scott. we have to get a diplomat commitment to our values as a country. right now what is happening is so un-american. this is a dark moment in america's moral story and we have got to correct for that, bring on the light. >> senator cory booker thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> we'll be right back. the line between work and life hasn't just blurred. it's gone. that's why you need someone behind you. not just a card. an entire support system. whether visi

. >> senator durbin. >> thanks for your testimony. the communication which you go into detail describing between peter strzok and lisa page includes some damning statements. you make that very clear in your conclusion about their possibly using their government authority to achieve a political result. is that correct? >> that's correct. i thought that was very serious error. >> that should not be down played by -- >> shouldn't be down played by anybody. i can't think of something more concerning than a law enforcement officer suggesting that they would use their powers to affect an election. >> what did special counsel mueller do when he learned about these statements by mr. strzok? >> we informed him on july 27 of last year of our first findings of these texts. we gained more, but my understanding is within a week or two of that, he had been removed from the investigation. which was the right thing to do. >> i want to make it clear based on previous questions here. nobody is making an excuse. mr. strzok said something that was inappr

separately, senator durbin and blumenthal and i interred an act among other things it would of entity spending money to certify that they have done their due diligence to ensure that no foreign money has been accepted for their political activity and that they have not spent any foreign money on campaign related disbursements. that bill's been referred to the finance committee. i raise it today as another example of the type of legislation congress should consider to defend against the clearly predicted threat of foreign interference in our elections. our hearing today will also examine whetherryptocurrency can be used to launder foreign money. obviously the growth of virtual currency and cryptocurrencies raised a host of challenges for congress and regulators. i'm glad our subcommittee's beginning to examine it and gain a better understanding of how this technology works. i'm looking forward to learning more about just how anonymous various virtual currencies are and about the risk they pose for hidden influences in our political system. alex hamilton advised way back that corruption

you heard senator dick durbin there saying, no one is defending what he did. he was trying instead to make clear that this didn't ultimately impact the investigation, but how damaging is this revelation to the fbi and their credibility? >> i think it hurts, and it has for basically most of the last year. we've been talking about these text messages back and forth. i think ultimately what we're going to find out is fbi agents aren't going to be sending text messages anymore, and they're definitely aware of the implications that could come from this. but overall i think the process that occurred either between the ig report -- you heard the questions there just a few minutes ago -- what happened after these texts were revealed, special counsel mueller was notified about it and quickly strzok was removed from the investigation. but it also gives this impression that everything that the fbi does is decided by one fbi agent. i think that's deeply misleading. my experience there, and just watching lots of investigations unfold, is that it is very much a large-scale

here is illinois senator dick durbin. >> we need to keep out every dangerous person who tries to come to this country but you can't categorically ban people because of their religion or background or the country there from, is not the ways we should do things. >> melissa: with the latest on this, shannon. >> via a 5-4 decision didn't feel the same way that senator durbin does. the chief justice said the tax of this proclamation said nothing about religion and he said you've got to remember, that it only impacts 8% of the worlds muslim population so if that's the band, it's not very effective. he also writes this about the president's power. "the proclamation is expressly premised on preventative purposes or venting entry of nationals that can't be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to approve their practices." while the conservatives down the president was lawfully within his executive power on both the federal immigration law and the text of the so-called travel ban, there were two separate strong defenses including one by justice sotomayor who said "the majority is wrong t

dick durbin was part of the gang of eight that god and immigration bill through almost five years ago to the day. we've had gangs all the time, one on tax reform, one underwriting the nuclear option, a long time ago and the senator. the senate is always rife with gangs and we'll see if this gang is able to work things out to the next couple of weeks. they want to specifically work on trying to deal with the child separation on the border. >> shannon: they are getting the word from the senate side, if you can get it across the finish line there, it may be here. chad, you always have an endless supply of information. thank you so much. democrats respond to the democrats executive order with new demands, drawing accusations of a are more interested in using their children as a political weapon. interestingly enough, both sides are saying that. fox news politics editor at chris stirewalt joins me tonight. good evening, chris. i know you talk about the fact that there are extremes and other end of the debate, other ends of the political spectrum, it makes no sense to solve the problem. it'

. >> senator durbin. >> thanks plrks chairman. thank you very much for your testimony. the communication which you go into detail describing between peter strock and lisa page includes some damage statements, and you make that very clear in your conclusion about their possibly using their governmental authority to achieve a result? >> that's correct. felt that was a very serious error. >> and that should not be downplayed by anyone? >> that should not be downplayed by anybody. i can't think of anything more concerning than a law enforcement officer suggesting that they're going to try and use or may use their powers to affect an election. >> what did special counselor mueller do when he learned about these statements by mr. strock? >> we informed him on july 27 of last year of our first findings of these texts. we subsequently gained more, but my understanding is within a week or two of that he had been removed from the investigation. >> which was the right thing to do, and i want to make it clear based on previous questioning here, no one is making excuses for these th

senator lee on one and, senator durbin on the other, i think that is the best hope of moving. i think the opportunity to do that, when we do prison reform, sentencing reform together. >> you have been reaching out fairly constantly, we have not seen movement. are you optimistic? sen. grassley: the thing that makes me optimistic, we have high-level people that think some of it needs to be passed. as we build support, we are building support almost every day, when the white house sees -- i better say when president trump finally comes to the understanding this is why and this cantisan be a win for him, he needs to show bipartisanship, that is the key to getting it up on the senate. >> there was a big inspector general report. it expressed displeasure james comey did not show up. he had time for media appearances but not congress. are you going to subpoena him to respond? sen. grassley: i will want to subpoena him what in the senate rules, you have to have both agreed to it. i cannot tell you she would agree to it. if she will we will subpoena. , >> loretta lynch as well? when yo

senator lee on one end, senator durbin on the other, i think that is the best hope of moving. i think the opportunity to do that is when we do prison reform and sentencing reform together. elana: you have been freaking out constantly and we have not seen any movement. are you at all optimistic for this congress? sen. grassley: the thing that makes the optimistic is we have high-level people in the white house that think some of it needs to be passed. think as legal support we are building support , almost every day, when the white house sees that i better say instead of the white house, when president trump finally comes to the understanding that this is very bipartisan and this can be a win for him, he needs to show bipartisanship, that is the key to getting it up on the floor of the united states senate. bob: there was a big inspector general report. a hearing before your committee. you expressed displeasure james comey did not show up. that he had time for media appearances but not congress. are you going to ask him or perhaps subpoena him to come back to the committee to r

diaz-balart, the framework of this bill was negotiated by vin mccarthy, dick durbin, steny hoyer and other members of both parties. listen, you are not going to get disagreement. we prefer to work in a bipartisan manner. we always believe that is the best way to work on immigration and many of us have been doing that for years. mario diaz-balart has a years' long dialogue ol immigration reform. there was a gang here that he was a part of that was working. i sat with the problem solvers' caucus for works. john katko knows negotiating a solution. at the end of the day, it has to be about the policy. and there were major democratic priorities in this legislation. why? because we because we happen to agree with our democratic colleagues on his issue. we didn't have a solution and path to 700,000 young immigrants brought to our country. not for 1. million, almost two million, that is the number that our democratic colleagues have been asking for and that is what we negotiated and won. so, it's an easy excuse, we weren't a part of it and get to vote no. i think if the policy is good, wheth

durbin: what are we doing? gen. horowitz: i cannot comment on any specific investigation, but as i mentioned, we have a dedicated unit specifically focused on leak investigation. we have a policy that we issued in november that makes the rules to -- crystal clear so there cannot be ambiguity for any employees in any office about what their obligations are and when there are misconduct found, we will refer them for appropriate action and if we find one that is criminal, we will pursue it criminally. sen. durbin: i just have 1.5 minutes left and i would like to ask one last question, please. there was a question raised earlier about mr. comey having a separate personal phone that he was using and whether or not that was an unusual thing for a person in his position. thee has reportedly -- president uses two white house issued iphones. according to politico, the president "resisted swapping out the phone because it is too inconvenient." supposedly, the president has given kim jong-un his direct phone number. if he was

with senators, white house, durbin and graham. this second bill if enaked into law would recognize conceal iin activities of a foreign or donations to campaigns or election communications. in addition to the bill bills offered in the senate, 16 offered in the house. homeland security and our justice department have been working hard to form late the best response to this challenge and to investigate and prosecute those targeting our elections. experts and academics have also weighed in with thoughts of how best the protect our elections as we move towards this midterm election this year. we will hear from some of those people today. as i mentioned earlier, our mission is is focused very scare scarily on this issue, are there additional steps that we can take within the jurisdiction of the committee that will meaningly assist law enforcement to deter, to prevent, to investigate and to punish foreign actors who seek to meddle in our elections. it's important o note that the federal election campaign act, which is not even within our

senator lee on one hand, senator durbin on the other hand, when you get people like that together to do something, i think that's the best hope of moving. i think that the opportunity to do that when we do prison reform and sentencing reform together. elana: you have been moving fairly constantly. with you at all optimistic about this congress? senator grassley: the thing that makes me optimistic, we have high level people in the white house that thinks some of it needs to be passed and we also then i think as we build support and we're building support almost every day for it that when the white house sees this is -- i better say instead of the white house, i better say when president trump finally comes to the understanding that this is very bipartisan and that this can be a real win for him and he needs to show bipartisanship, i think that that's the key to getting it up on the floor of the nited states senate. bob: there was a big inspector general report before your committee. you had displeasure that james comey did not show up and that he had time for media appearances but not

. >> senator durbin. >> chairman grassley, this is early a chuck grassley moment, your opening statement was classic grassley analysis and i endorse every word of it. i am proud to be the only cosponsor of the grassley-feinstein bill to eliminate this program and i hope others will join on a bipartisan basis. the people who wrote the constitution had a choice and they decided clearly, we would not have royalty in the united states. they left a country where there was such a thing but they said not in this country. it turns out we do have royalty in the united states. people with enough money can buy their way to the front of the line and become citizens of the country. if you think it is for job creation all i ask you to do is to search the following phrase "eb-5 scandals," be prepared, it will take you a while to read them. all of the things that have happened in the name of th program are outrageous and embarrassing to the nation. i want to create jobs as much as the next person, this program is not doing it. here is another thing to appreciate the delicious irony, we are talking about

three republicans voted with the democrats on the durbin bill. five democrats voted in the negative. and that's what killed the durbin bill when the democrats controlled all levers of power in 2010, the last time they did. look, don't blame this problem on president trump. it has been in existence for sometime but it is up to us to solve it. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from california. mrs. torres: i yield two minutes to a distinguish member of the rules committee, the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. mr. hastings: i thank the gentlelady for yielding time. dr. burgess, i would urge through the speaker that you have the levers of powenow, and i predict for you today, the two measures that we are going to be dealing with are not likely to reach the president's desk. but none of this was happening four months ago. none of this was happening two months ago. but a policy t

the things we need to be able to administer the program well. >> thank you very much. >> senator durbin. >> welcome back, it has been over one year since you have been here. we certainly have had a few immigration issues come up within that period of time. the one capturing the attention of the country relates to the so-called zero-tolerance policy that has led to 2000 or 2300 children being separated fro their parents at our border. i would like to ask you what role you played in the development of this policy? >> the role i played was, after, attorney general sessions declared there would be a zero-tolerance policy, and other words, the cases of people who were crossing the border illegally and thus violating, zero-tolerance with that -- the question for dhs was what cases would we refer to doj for prosecution? i, along with other senior officials at the department recommended to the secretary, gave her options for how to implement the policy. i recommended we refer all amenable cases for prosecution. >> what role did you play in suggesting children be removed from their parents under

what democrats want is what durbin and graham tried to do several months ago, bring up our partisan billgether that would bring both sides together and attempt to do what the american people want. immigration should not be a partisan issue. for donald trump and the republican party this is a redmeat mission went for a fringe on the right said earlier donald trump acted swiftly, donald trump and his administration lied to the american people and ripped babies away from their families as a redmeat people to motivate the base going into the midterms and this is why friends will not let friends that republicans in november. they have been a disaster, the president has net lead on the issue of immigration of the republican party. >> did you feel the same way when this happened under the obama administration? jay johnson admitted they did expand family centers where they had to hold families? >> thank god for the fact checkers was we not want to the current administration, a fact checked by the washington post and a member of the credible outlets, the level of families being separated was tota