mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to thank the senator from arizona who has spent an awful lot of time and energy on this topic. i'm committed to working with him and all of our colleagues to come up with a solution well in advance of the march 5 deadline. one thing i hope he will help ms my understanding is the march 5 deadline means that the current daca recipients can no longer register again for an additional two years and qualify for an additional work permit. i think -- but i could be mistaken -- that it doesn't mean that they are subject to deportation. what it means is that they can't sign up again for another two years, and they will lose -- potentially lose their work permit. having said that, i'm not diminishing the urgency of the issue -- of the timeline, and i'm committed to working with him and others to try to beat that well in advance during the month of february. i think it is -- does create enormous anxiety for these young people who i have met and as the senator from arizona has. t

mr. cornyn. the senator from utah times utah mr. hatch. the senator from south dakota mr. thune. the senator from wyoming mr. brosseau or the senator from missouri mr. blunt. the senator from colorado mr. gardiner. the senator from new york mr. schumer to the senator from washington mrs. murray. the senator from michigan miss stabenow. the senator from minnesota miss klobuchar. the senator from west virginia mr. manchin and the senator from wisconsin ms. baldwin. the members of the oscar committee will exit the chamber stood the lobby doors. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> mr. speaker. the leader of the diplomatic corps. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conver

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, just over two weeks ago, president trump signed a historic tax reform bill into law. some not really knowing what was in the bill and people who were determined to find fault with it were, let's just say, a little skeptical at first. they wondered what this whole thing was about and who would actually benefit. but now the verdict is starting to come in. many folks are pleasantly surprised for the first time in a while knowing that actually congress and washington, d.c. has produced something that will make their life better. they are appreciative because they are seeing the immediate consequences. in response, more than 100 countries have announced they will give wage increases, increase their charitable contributions, and will give out bonuses to their employees. one million a

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, reserving the right to object. shutting down the government only to fund it three days afterwards isn't how this place is supposed to work and it isn't what the american people deserve. we will vote to open the federal government for three weeks and discuss spending caps. if our democratic colleagues are ready to end this needless shutdown, then let's have the vote right now and begin discussions on bipartisan priorities. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senator's request be amended and that unanimous consent be given, notwithstanding rule 22, that the senate immediately vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion -- which amends chip and reopens the government, and if all post -- the senate immediately vote on the motion to concur with further amendment. the presiding officer: does the senator from virginia so modify his request? mr. kaine: i do not modify request because this has been noticed for later in the evening and the colleagues who have b

mr. cornyn: mr. president, last week marked the 45th anniversary of roe v. wade, but many of us were not celebrating. because last week gave us another opportunity to consider the real damage caused by the supreme court decision which even liberal scholars have now said is flawed. the type of damage it's done to the social fabric of our nation over the last four and a half decades. during that period of time, more than 50 million unborn children in america have been denied the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 50 million. in other parts of the world unborn children have been killed by the sheer fact they happen to be a girl instead of a boy, or because they have disabilities like down's syndrome. for me, roe v. wade hits close to home because i come from a state where lead plaintiff was living at the time of that now famous lawsuit. her name was norma mccorby or jane roe in the case. she was from dallas, texas. what is unknown but interesting is that what is left out of the story when you hear about jane roe in roe v. wade. mrs. mccorby n

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i appreciate the majority leader clarifying for us what this is all about and actually i have to thank the democratic leader for clarifying that this is really about the issue of illegal immigration. that's the reason why there has been no agreement on spending caps, because our friends across the aisle don't want to agree on spending caps because they want to use everything else as leverage in order to get an outcome on this dispute over illegal immigration. and, as the majority leader pointed out, this isn't so much about what's in the bill as what they said should be in the bill, because i presume our colleagues are for the six-year reauthorization of the children's health insurance program. it was voted almost unanimously out on a bipartisan basis in the senate finance committee. the matter of veterans that the democratic leader mentioned? well, veterans are going to be hurt by what they he done or will do tomorrow, i presume, in defeating this one-month continuing reso

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. cornyn: i thank the chair. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. cornyn: mr. president, last week marked the 45th anniversary of roe v. wade, but many of us were not celebrating. because last week gave us another opportunity to consider the real damage caused by the supreme court decision which even liberal scholars have now said is flawed. the type of damage it's done to the social fabric of our nation over the last four and a half decades. during that period of time, more than 50 million unborn children in america have been denied the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 50 million. in other parts of the world unborn children have been killed by the sheer fact they happen to be a girl instead of a boy, or because they have disabilities like down's syndrome. for me, roe v. wade hits close to home because i come from

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. cornyn: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, as we all know, tonight the president will address the nation from the chamber of the house of representatives. this is called the state of the union and its tradition dates back to george washington's time when he gave his first annual message in 1790. tonight's is an important speech that gives the president a chance not only to look forward but to look back on the first year of his term in office. that first year was marked by a steady stream of impressive accomplishments working together with congress. these successes are easily missed when the decibel level here in washington remains so high. the good news all too often gets drowned out by the noise. the truth, though, is tha

mr. cornyn: mr. president, last week marked the 45th anniversary of roe v. wade, but many of us were not

mr. cornyn: mr. president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is indeed in a quorum call. mr. cornyn: i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, last week the house voted to reauthorize for a period of six years section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act, a vital tool in tracking foreign terrorists abroad. and yesterday we had a very important vote, last night actually, a cloture vote in this chamber which allowed us to proceed to a final vote on this legislation perhaps as early as tomorrow morning. congress enacted section 702 in 2008 in direct response to the enduring threats that our country posed -- threats to the country posed by radical islamic extremism and the ever expanding use of the internet and social media by terrorists and foreign operatives. the law authorizes the attorney general of the united states and the director of national intelligence to conduct surveillance on foreigners who are outs

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i appreciate the majority leader clarifying for us what this is all about and actually i have to thank the democratic leader for clarifying that this is really about the issue of illegal immigration. that's the reason why there has been no agreement on spending caps, because our friends across the aisle don't want to agree on spending caps because they want to use everything

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to thank the senator from arizona who has spent an awful lot of time and energy on this topic. i'm committed to working with him and all of our colleagues to come up with a solution well in advance of the march 5 deadline. one thing i hope he will help ms my understanding is the march 5 deadline means that the current daca recipients can no longer register again for an additional two years and qualify for an additional work permit. i think -- but i could be mistaken -- that it doesn't mean that they are subject to deportation. what it means is that they can't sign up again for another two years, and they will lose -- potentially lose their work permit. having said that, i'm not diminishing the urgency of the issue -- of the timeline, and i'm committed to working with him and others to try to beat that well in advance during the month of february. i think it is -- does create enormous anxiety for these young people who i have met and as the senator from arizona has. t

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, president trump didn't vote to shut down the government. he's not a member of the united states senate. president trump did not shut down the government. and now senate democrats are reeling because the president has said while the government is shut down, he's not going to negotiate a change of our immigration laws that our democratic colleagues and frankly many republicans like me would like to see changed relative to the deferred action for childhood arrivals, or daca young adults. so it seems to me that our democratic colleagues have literally -- well, figuratively, let's say, shot themselves in the foot, reloaded, and shot themselves in the other foot. and now they expect president trump to somehow rescue them out of this box canyon. i know i'm mixing my metaphors here, but this situation they find themselves in. they shut down the government, and now they're hurting the very people that they shut down the government to help. because there are no negotiations going on

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, this last weekend, i had the honor of going to camp david with members of both the house and the senate, meeting with the president and vice president and members of his cabinet, talking about the prospects for 2018. after a very successful 2017, we now are looking forward to what sort of legislation we could do on a bipartisan basis that will help us build on those successes of 2017. many of these are domestic priorities, but of course others are national security in nature. our internal strength, of course, affects our diplomacy and military effectiveness abroad, and actually where we were located at c

mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: let me say publi publicly what i've said privately to senator tillis and senator lankford. thank you for your leadership. they've done an extraordinary job trying to come up with a solution to the issue, the problem, the challenge that they've already described. you'd like to put a little -- add a little color to some of that, but a they've done extraordinary work -- but they've done extraordinary work to try to come up with a compassionate but yet legal framework by which we can resolve this issue. you know, to me i've been in the senate since 2002, and i've been through the immigration wars more times than i care to count. and we keep working very hard on this issue, and we always seem to come up short. but i come from a state that is one of the most diverse states ethnically in the country, and that's because we've been a big job creator and a lot of people have been moving there, looking for opportunities. and we have a large hispanic population. it makes sense, we're texas

mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: let me say publi publicly what i've said privately to senator tillis and senator lankford. thank you for your leadership. they've done an extraordinary job trying to come up with a solution to the issue, the problem, the challenge that they've already described. you'd like to put a little -- add a little color to some of that, but a they've done extraordinary work -- but they've done extraordinary work to try to come up with a compassionate but yet legal framework by which we can resolve this issue. you know, to me i've been in the senate since 2002, and i've been through the immigration wars more times than i care to count. and we keep working very hard on this issue, and we always seem to come up short. but i come from a state that is one of the most diverse states ethnically in the country, and that's because we've been a big job creator and a lot of people have been moving there, looking for opportunities. and we have a large hispanic population. it makes sense, we're texas

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, on monday, democrats relented after three long days and allowed the government to reopen. they agreed to pass a continuing resolution to reopen the government until february 8. i'm glad they finally decided to fund the children's health insurance program on which nine million vulnerable children rely, as well as fund our military and essential government entities that could not operate during the shutdown. but now we have got to work on other items that have been stalled and held hostage, too. the first is disaster aid which has been held up for months. the house of representatives has passed an $81 billion disaster relief bill back in december, but so far that package has gone nowhere here in the senate. that's incredibly disappointing and exacerbates the hardships to the victims of hurricane irma and hurricane harvey, as well as the fo

senator cornyn: mr. president, thank you for having us here. america is the most generous country in the world when it comes to legal immigration, but that generosity has been abused by people exploiting the vulnerabilities we have along the border. and we saw the previous administration that tried to usurp the authority that only congress and the white house have, in passing immigration laws, trying to do it by executive action, and the courts have struck that down. i do think that this is an important opportunity for those of us who care, not only about the people, and about our legal immigration system that has benefited us all, but also are determined to eliminate and stop illegal immigration, along with the drugs and harm that that causes. i do hope we make the most of it. coming from the border state with 1200 miles of common border with mexico, my constituents in texas all understand the importance of border security and enforcement. at the same time, they are people with big hearts. like you, they want to do the right thing by these you

senator cornyn, do you want to say a few words? >> mr. president, thank you for having us here. america's most generous country in the world when it comes to illegal immigration. but that generosity has been abused by people who are exploiting the full of those we the border with lack of enforcement. and we saw the previous administration that try to usurp the authority that only congress and the white house have, and passing immigration laws. they try to do it by executive action and the courts struck that now. so i do think this is an important opportunity for those of us who care not only about the people and about our legal immigration system that benefited us all but also are determined to eliminate and stop illegal immigration along with the drugs and the harm that that causes. i do think this is a great opportunity. i hope we make the most of it. coming from a border state, 120h mexico, my constituents in texas all understand the reports of border security and enforcement. at the same time there are people with big hearts, and like you and like the rest of us who want to

mr. mccarthy, senator durbin, senator cornyn and myself to try to get the process which we could discusss that both sides want to discuss. we believe central to any action that we take is the protection of the d.r.e.a.m.ers, making sure that they stay here in this country, the only country that they really know, and a policy that is supported by the overwhelming majority of the american public and i would suggest apparently supported -- he was articulating his support of that with dianne feinstein. senator grassley said the same thing. at the end of the meeting the president said, is there anybody here in the room -- and there were 24 members, 17 senators, 7 house members. is there anybody in this room who disagrees with protecting the d.r.e.a.m.ers? he said daca, but the d.r.e.a.m.ers. and no one indicated any opposition to that. so i think there's a consensus. i think there's an overwhelming majority of the house, i think there's a majority of the senate who all, once a bill gets to the floor which protects d.r.e.a.m.ers, will vote for it. that's what we're discussing. >> i'm glad that

john cornyn said, remember, mr. president whar president, what speaker ryan said at camp david, they want the protection, republicans do, of this is what the president is willing to sign so that they don't feel they are passing something that falls apart. that's one. two, you heard also talking about that comprehensive piece and do tt second day, jeff flake the republican from arizona part of the gang that put together the last bipartisan reform effort in the senate that went no where in the house, brooke, he said, mr. president, that took seven months of nonstop work and time between republicans and democrats every day, staff on the weekends, which reminds you this is such an enormous issue, that the idea that you can just do comprehensive immigration reform in short order with the politics of it being what it is, because donald trump snapped his fingers, that's not a reality either. and i think jeff flake was reminding the president of that. >> david chalian, you are excellent. thank you so much. i have another da

cornyn? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate you and the ranking member getting us together on this topic. texas suffered its own tragedy on november 5th when a deranged gunman shot and killed 26 people worshipping at the first. baptist church in sutherland springs. as senator cruz and i learned, when we went down to sutherland springs issue the gunman shot through the walls of the church while people were worshipping inside. then entered a side door to shoot the wounded in the head and otherwise end their lives. it was a horrible, horrific experience. we need to recognize that were it not for the heroic actions of two private citizens there in sutherland springs, even more bloodshed and more deaths would have occurred. he was an nra firearms instructor who heard the gunshots at the church and ran a block away along with his rifle and fired on the shooter and forced him to flee wounding him twice. and with the help of a neighbor driving past the church, they chased down the shooter and made sure it ended. we're hold

i think i'm done. >> senator cornyn. >> mr. lind quist, let me try to summarize, the national crime information center is -- contains information from three databases. is that correct? >> not exactly, senator. it is -- what we're talking about, the nics system, what you're referring to, right. that's the system set up to enforce the brady act, to make sure we have the information available. one of the subsets is the national crime information center, ncic, which has active warrants and protection orders in it. >> it's not just convictions. it's actually people with restraining orders and protective orders and domestic disputes and people with mental health commitments. where would those records be reflected, in the triple i? >> some of it. you've kind of covered the gamut of the three records that we check for background checks and weapons purchases. criminal history is in triple i. that is people that have been arrested and convicted of crimes. so that information is in triple i. ncic has information that is active wants and w

mr. trump invited a handful of republicans, john cornyn of texas and tom cotton of arkansas and lindsey graham of south carolina show at houston health crafton immigration policy. >> any legislation on daca must secure the border, the wall, give immigration officers the resources they need to stop illegal immigration and also to stop these overstates and crucially the legislation must end chain migration. >> many democrats say they can't support such an immigration bill, both the house and senate will need some democrat votes before they can get this thing across the finish line. separately today the department of interior announced plans to open up 90% of the u.s. outer continental shelf to oil and gas leases. most of the florida congressional delegation including republicans and other atlantic state lawmakers are deeply opposed, fearing what could happen to tourism if an accident happens. tweeting "the plan is extremely alarming and unacceptable." attorney general jeff sessions rescinding obama euro marijuana enforcement guidelines. sessions is leaving it up to federal prosecutors and states

mr. mccarthy and i and the majority whip of the senate, john cornyn and dick durbin and i are trying to seewe can move forward. frankly, we haven't moved forward yet. yes, the president -- it's nice he stays in washington. but it's not where he physically is located that's the issue. it is that he frankly changes his mind from hour to hour as to what he's for. and it apparently depends on which staffer talks to him at which time. >> congressman steny hoyer, we appreciate you coming on with us. we know you're going to have a very busy day. we'll be watching it closely. thanks for being here. >> thanks. >>> we have new details about what happened inside that house of horrors in california. the couple on your screen accused of torturing their own kids. we have a live report next. >>> look, this is a terrible story, but we need to understand how this happened to this family in california and who might have known. tese people, the turpins, they are accused of just horrific acts against their own kids, 13 of them. prosecutors say their kids were held captive, tortured. david and louise turpin, th

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that major patrick j. haney, marine corps fellow in senator cornyn's office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 115th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. daines: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. wednesday, january 24. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. finally, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the azar nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. daines: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate stands adjour

. >> cornyn, kra po, cruz, daines, donnelly, insi, fisher, gardner, heller, kennedy, mansion, m murkows murkowski, perdue, roberts, rounds, rubio, tillis and young. mr. warner. senators voting in the negative. baldwin, blumenthal, booker, brown, cantwell, casey, durbin, feinstein, graham, harris, hasson, heinrich, cane, king, leahey, menendez, murphy, murray, paul, peters, reed, sanders, shots, schumer, shaheen, smith, stab now, van hol lin, warner, warren, whitehouse and widen. mr. lee, no. mr. jones, aye. mr. tesser, no. mr. gill grabrand, no. >> we heard that senator lindsey graham did vote no. at least one republican vote no. we also just heard senator jon tester vote no. a democrat of montana who was one of the senators the republicans thought they were going to be able to get. this vote is clearly going against the republicans. >> to hear lindsey graham voting no as we just did, jon tester voting no immediately after that call of the roll, at this point it doesn't look like there's a possibility for the republicans in this vote. >> no. i think thenlyhance mitch mcconnell has is slim to none and slim left town. you heard bob casey vote no. i on

cornyn. they're making progress. what doesn't make sense is to say, we're going to shut down the government because you're making progress but i need something else. >> mark? >> mr. mulvaney? >> mark? >> let me ask a couple questions to director mulvaney. do the president's comments about kos-hole countries, what effort has there been to come to a deal? >> the president is actively working right now to try to prevent a shutdown. i will contend to you, it is dramatically different from what president obama was doing in 2013. i was there. i was involved heavily in this in 2013. it is my belief president obama wanted a shutdown because republicans would be blamed. today, the president actively worked all day yesterday to try to get a bill through the house and continues conversations today. there is no way you can lay this at the feet of the president of the united states. he is actively working to try to get a deal. it's one of the differences. >> why not bring leadership here? >> i think the president's continued bipartisan conversations. i'm not privy to the president's meeting. >> we're talking government shutdown but this is an important topic. 100,000 or more

mr. chairman. >> since you were at the same meeting i was at tuesday, the president said 700 miles additional wall. sec. nielsen: 722, yes, sir. >> senator cornyn. cornyn: thank you for your willingness to take on probably one of the most difficult jobs in the united states government and one of the most important. i want to continue my line of questioning for my friend from vermont about the border security. it is no surprise to you that i come from a state that has 1200 miles of common border with talkingand what we are about is what measures will be put into place to provide border security, which my constituents all want. they want security. struck byhave been your use of the phrase "wall system" and just want to explore with you a little bit what you mean by that. one of the people i have taken advice from is the rio grande , whoy border manny padilla has told me that in his vast experience in the border patrol, it is composed of three elements . infrastructure is important. you can call it a secure fence as we did in 2006, or a wall. it includes not only that infrastructure, but technology and of course the border patrol agents to be able

mr. chairman. sen. grassley: since you were at the same meeting i was at tuesday, the president said 700 miles additional wall. sec. nielsen: 722, yes, sir. initial down payment. sen. grassley: senator cornyn. sen. cornyn: thank you for your willingness to take on probably one of the most difficult jobs in the united states government and one of the most important. i want to continue my line of questioning for my friend from vermont about the border security. it is no surprise to you that i come from a state that has 1200 miles of common border with mexico, and what we are talking about is what measures will be put into place to provide border security, which my constituents all want. they want security. and so, i have been struck by your use of the phrase "wall system" and just want to explore with you a little bit what you mean by that. one of the people i have taken advice from is the rio grande valley border manny padilla, who has told me that in his vast experience in the border patrol, it is composed of three elements. infrastructure is important. you can call it a secure fence as we did in 2006, or a wall. it includes not only that infrastructure, but technology and of course the bo

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not in a quorum call. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the senate recess until 11:30 this morning until conference meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 11:30 a.m. be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i wanted to give all of our colleagues an update on where we are. i want to that right by thanking senator graham, senator flake, and senator collins who have been working across the aisle to help resolve the impasse we find ourselves in. when the democrat filibuster of when the democrat filibuster of filibustered the funding bill bans, when it comes to an end, the serious bipartisan negotiations that have been going on for months to resolve our unfinished business, military spending,

mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. these have been approved by both the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. peters: madam president, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. peters: thank you, madam president. i believe that every campaign for elective office in this great nation is essentially a months-long job interview with the voters, or perhaps more accurately it's a thousands and thousands of individual interviews. and like any employer, the voters have expectations for us once we have been hired to do this job. i will never forget

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, many recall that christmas came a little early this year, or i should say last month, as we delivered comprehensive tax reform to the american people, an historic overhaul of our nation's tax code and the first since 1986, more than three decades. since that time the president has now signed the bill into law, and we've already begun to see signs of how tax reform is transforming the economic landscape across the country and making life better for american citizens. "the new york times" reports that job creators are eager for the tax cuts to take effect and that a wave of optimism is surging among them. that's their quote, "the new york times." businesses, they report, are ready to create jobs and raise wages. they'll invest in new plants and equipment that will bolster econ

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i admit i wasn't here during the entirety of the comments from our friend, and i saw his to-do list. the only thing missing from that to-do list was to fund our military, or at least i didn't see it on there. maybe in all fairness he mentioned that in his comments, but we now have nine days to reach an agreement to keep the government funded, to keep the lights on, to keep paying the salary of our government employees and of course to fund our military, which ought to be our number one priority. you know, if you think about things that government must do, funding our national defense is the only thing that we can do and the government can do. there's a lot of other things the government does that is optional or maybe things you would like to do, but funding our military is the number one priority, or should be. as the senate majority leader mentioned earlier this week, our democratic colleagues persist in the notion that we should only increase defense spending if we increa

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i know we're fresh back from the holidays, the start of a new year, and all of us are already thinking a lot and working hard on the tasks we have at hand. we have a lot to do, especially before the next continuing resolution expires on january 19. but i don't want to make the mistake of failing to recount the good work that we were able to accomplish on behalf of the american people in 2017, because sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life, we fail to acknowledge those things that we've actually been able to do, for which we ought to be grateful and that our constituents need to know about. and i want to take just a few minutes to do exactly that. because unfortunately, in the hyperpolitical and hyperpolarized political environment we live in today, especially with the advent of social media, there's always some naysayers and pundits who want to offer their comments, and one of the things i've noticed most about many of those naysayers and pundits when they comment on wh

mr. cornyn: h president hfer th- mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for texas. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i know the paperwork is being finalized but i for one, and i guess i'm not the only one -- i'm sure there's broad appreciation for the fact that our democratic colleagues who voted to close the government have now changed their mind and now will vote on final passage having just voted on cloture to reopen the federal government. this was a strategy that lacked an end game and was never going to work. the safety, health, and livelihoods of americans across the country didn't deserve to be held hostage, and the american people have had enough of these kinds of games. i think basically the verdict of the american people is a pox on both your houses. i don't think anybody comes out of this looking very good. but surely, this calculated stunt that put funding for our government, military, and children's health insurance program at risk all because our

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i appreciate the majority leader clarifying for us what this is all about and actually i have to thank the democratic leader for clarifying that this is really about the issue of illegal immigration. that's the reason why there has been no agreement on spending caps, because our friends across the aisle don't want to agree on spending caps because they want to use everything else as leverage in order to get an outcome on this dispute over illegal immigration. and, as the majority leader pointed out, this isn't so much about what's in the bill as what they said should be in the bill, because i presume our colleagues are for the six-year reauthorization of the children's health insurance program. it was voted almost unanimously out on a bipartisan basis in the senate finance committee. the matter of veterans that the democratic leader mentioned? well, veterans are going to be hurt by what they have done or will do tomorrow, i presume, in defeating this one-month continuing re