mr. durbin: i would object to further proceedings with respect to the bill. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar number under rule 14. mr. durbin: thank you. i need to correct an earlier consent where i stated amendment number 4727. the correct amendment number is 4753 for the reid-mcconnell amendment. with that statement, i had asked for unanimous consent not withstanding rule 22 the reid-mcconnell amendment which should have read number 4753 and the motion to concur with respect to house message h.r. 4853 be modified with technical change which is at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, december 14, that following the prayer and pledge of allegiance, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and following any leader remarks the senate resume conside

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to yield to three of my colleagues at this point before i believe senator mccain speaks. senator bennet for two minutes, senator gillibrand for two minutes and senator schumer for two minutes. mr. bennet: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i rise in strong support for the "dream" act. i have a lost sympathy for the arguments the senator from arizona made about what is going on in arizona, what's going on in the rocky mountain west where i come from, which reminds me of the need that we have in this country to -- and in this congress to finally face up to the facts and pass comprehensive immigration reform. but that's not what we're talking about today. what we're talking about today is the dream act, a narrow bill that deals with about 65,000 people a year that are here through no fault of their own and have no other country of their own but want to make a contribu

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, last night chicago and america lost a hero. ron santo was a chicago cubs legend and an inspiration to anyone who has ever faced a tough uphill battle in life. during his 15-year career with the cubs ron santo batted .277 with 342 home runs and 1,300r.b.i.'s, a five-time national gold glove winner. each of four seasons he batted 300, drove in 100 runs and led the league in walks. what the public didn't know for most of ron santo's career is he lived every day with a life-threatening injuries illness. he hid his diabetes from the public for 20 years. he said he didn't want anybody to feel sorry for him and he didn't want to be held to a different standard. he wanted to be judged by the same standard as every other ball player and by that standard ron santo earned his spot among the greats.

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: i ask that the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, tomorrow we're going to have two important votes. i would go so far as to say they're historic. in the history of the united states of america, i don't know how many people have lived in this great nation. today there are more than 300 million. but if you add it up all those who lived in this great nation since we became a nation, the number would probably be in the billions. in that period of time only 2,000 men and women have had the honor of being united states senators. it's a humbling statistic for you, for me for all of us to think we join with so few of our own fellow citizens who have had this great opportunity and responsibility. in the desk drawers and the senate are the names of senators who served. some of them are amazing. daniel webster, ted kennedy, robert kennedy, mike mansfield. the list g

mr. durbin: on a bipartisan basis. mr. reid: that's right. mr. durbin durbin: in every subcommittee. mr. reid: yes. and things what senator cochran did not want in, senator inouye, being the gentleman that he is, said okay, that's what i'll tell my caucus. mrs. more ray: will the senator yield for a question? mr. reid: yes. mrs. murray: the senator will yield for a question. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i would ask if he is aware if the bill before us that we do not have enough votes for, has gone through a long committee process, the transportation and housing bill that i worked with, i worked with my republican colleague, i didn't agree with all of his requests, but i gave him a lot in this bill. we worked our way through it and passed it out of subcommittee. passed it out of full committee. a commit that the minority leader is a member of. all of the bills that are involved in this omnibus bill, every one of them went through a long, long process of committee hearings, subcommittee markups and passage and full committee markups and passage. the c

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. durbin: an the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1107 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1107, an act to enact certain laws relating to public contracts as title 41, united states code, public contracts. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that a sessions amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate and any st

mr. durbin: mr.sident? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent under the time that's been allotted by the unanimous consent to senator baucus on the democratic side for the first amendment. i ask time to speak. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i think that -- i think there's a consent in effect that baucus would control a half-hour, schumer would control a half-hour of the time. if not, i would so move. the presiding officer: is there objection? under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of house message to h.r. 4853, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment with an amendment to h.r. 4853, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the airport and airway trust fund to amend title 49, united states code, to extend au

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to yield to three of my colleagues at this point before i believe senator mccain speaks. senator bennet for two minutes, senator gillibrand for two minutes and senator schumer for two minutes. mr. bennet: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i rise in strong support for the "dream" act. i have a lost sympathy for the arguments the senator from arizona made about what is going on in arizona, what's going on in the rocky mountain west where i come from, which reminds me of the need that we have in this country to -- and in this congress to finally face up to the facts and pass comprehensive immigration reform. but that's not what we're talking about today. what we're talking about today is the dream act, a narrow bill that deals with about 65,000 people a year that are here through no fault of their own and have no other country of their own but want to make a contribu

mr. durbin: i see. and is the senator from massachusetts prepared to have a vote on one of these amendments or awful these amendments? mr. kerry: we're prepared to vote actually on the treaty but they have several amendments. we want to give them time to have those amendments. we're prepared to vote on this amendment. now, in fairness, let me be clear. i want to be clear to the senator from illinois. i don't think that our colleagues have abused the process in terms of this amendment. they've tried in good faith to line up speakers. i think it's important that they have an opportunity to thoroughly debate it and some other amendments. and so i'm not certainly joining in suggesting that they've delayed this on this amendment. i think we've gotten into a good debate and we ought to be able to finish it. mr. durbin: if the senator would yield for a question, i'm not suggesting it either, but the eight amendments have been filed by republican senators and i don't know that you have done anything, in fact, i'

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, as if in executive session i ask unanimous consent that on thursday, december 16, following any leader time the senate proceed to executive session to begin consideration of calendar number 7 start treaty that the treaty be -- i ask unanimous consent that the order for the printing of the tributes be modified to provide that members have until sine die of the 111 tsz congress to submit tributes and the or for printing remain in effect. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 6516 which was receive at the house. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6516, an act to make technical corrections to provisions of law enacted by the coast guard authorization act

mr. durbin: the senator from california, senator feinstein, 7 minutes. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much. let me thank you, senator durbin, for your authorship and for your advocacy for don't ask, don't tell. i'd like to use my time to speak about both bills. don't ask, don't tell has been with us now for 17 years. i just pulled a speech that i made on the floor 17 years ago. and "dream" has been with us for nine years. so neither of these are surprise bills. both of these affect large numbers of people in major ways. for many, they are their life. for those who love t military, who see no life outside of the military, they are their life. don't ask, don't tell is their life. and the same for students. the "dream" act becomes their life. let me begin with don't ask, don't tell. 17 years ago senator boxer introduced a resolution on the floor. i spoke to that resolution. we lost by a vote of 33-63. only one-third of the united states senate voted to repeal don't ask, don't tell in what was a benign resolution, essentially a consent resolution. but it lost. it

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, once again, let me thank the minority leader for giving necessity opportunity to speak. mr. president, later in this cue of votes there, will be a vote on an issue known as the dream act. i introduced this bill ten years ago. ten years ago. what i'm attempting to do in this bill is to try to resolve an item of great injustice in america. all across this country are young boys an and girls, young n and women who came to this country with their parents when they were only children, who were brought in by parents who were here in illegal status. they could have been parents who came here on a student visa and stayed beyond when they were supposed to. but the children have been raised in america. they've grown up in this country. i came -- i learned of this issue in chicago when a young korean american mother called and said, my daughter, i brought her here when she was two years old, and i never filed any paperwork. she just completed high school. she's been accepted to juilli

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to thank my colleague from new york, my colleague from missouri who was here momentarily and all those who come to the floor to talk. i assume my colleagues are aware of the fact that all across america, there have been cable tv subscribers who have been caution in and asking for a refund because when they turned on c-span for coverage of the senate, they found an empty chamber and nothing going on, and now we at least give them a little activity on the senate floor. but unfortunately, that activity is really not going to lead to anything meaningful. the senator from new york even offers an idea, a legislative idea, it doesn't seem to be greeted with any kind of applause on the other side or any kind of counteroffer of any kind of conciliatory magnitude. i was at the meeting that the senator from tennessee talked about yesterday, and it was an historic meeting with the president and senator kyl, senator mc

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to thank my colleague from virginia, originally from illinois, for those kind words. and it was not an easy vote to vote in favor of the deficit commission report but i felt it was the right vote. the point i tried to make in explaining my vote was that 40 cents out of every dollar we spend, whether it's for a new missile system at the pentagon or for good stamps for the poorest among us, 40 cents out of every dollar is borrowed. we primarily borrow it from countries like china and the opec nations. and the fact that w fact that we indebted to them for generations to come will not allow those of us on the progressive side to see a more fair and just america. we are an america that is mortgaged, and those who hold our mortgage have power over us economically and politically. that's why i voted for this. there are parts of it that i just don't like at all. one of the things it does that i would dmoand all of

mr. durbin: mr. president, the senate's not in order. the presiding officer: will the senate please come to order. take conversations off the floor. mrs. lincoln: thank you, mr. president. as i said, i hope there's not too much order. i don't want this place to change too much, and i'm glad to be here with my colleagues. to express my gratitude for the incredible blessed journey -- life's journey that i have experienced thus far and the wonderful contribution this place has made to that. i have been enormously blessed by the people of arkansas to have represented them and the united states congress first, as a member of the house of representatives, and finally now as a united states senator. today i rise as the daughter of two amazing parents, martha and joey lambert. a seventh generation farm family. dirt farmers, not to be confused, we didn't farm dirt. we were hardworking farmers who were not afraid to get dirty, to get our hands into the earth and to do what it was that we have done for generations in arkansas. i'm also the proud wi

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i have one unanimous consent request for a meet to meet today during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that this request be agreed to and be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, underneath ground level of the buildings on capitol hill is a subway system. it connects on the senate side the major buildings where senators and staff and committees have their offices with this glorious capitol building. if you'll get on the subway over at the dirksen building to come over to the capitol, it is a very brief journey. i don't think it lasts an entire minute. in less than a minute you move from the dirksen office building over to the capitol building. this morning i thook journey -- this morning i took that journey leaving meeting of the deficit commission to come over to the senate floor. and in less than a minute i emerged from the world of reality to a

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask onsent that after i've completed my remarks, that the senator from rhode island, senator jack reed, be recognized. the presiding officer: is there beings? without objection, so ordered. -- is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, i've listened carefully to the remarks of the senator from nevada, and i respect him, though i must disagree with him on several particulars. when i look back on history, i see it differently. what i see is a great depression facing america that led to record unemployment, business failures, farm failures, one of the worst economic conditions faced by america in modern tim times. the election of franklin delano roosevelt in 1932 and his ascension to office in 1933 ushered in a new approach, an approach that was called the new deal, that basically said we are going to take control of the situation, we're going to

mr. durbin: madam president, are we in morning business at this point? the presiding officer: we're on the treaty. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak as if in morning business for no more than ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, i'd like to respond to what has been said by my friend, senator kyl of arizona, as well as senator mcconnell of kentucky about the appropriation bill which we are going to consider in a very short period of time. i'm a member of this appropriations committee, and i remember what happened, and i want to put it on the record right now so that some of the things that have been said can be compared to what i think is the reality. this is the reality. in the appropriations subcommittee, each and every subcommittee of that full committee met with democrats and republicans and prepared a bill. i have a subcommittee on financial services and general government. senator susan collins of maine and i worked long and hard in preparation of that bill. other subcommittee chairs did the same thing

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to thank my colleague from tennessee about the deficit commission and it was a controversial vote and it was the right vote to deal with the deficit and the problems that we face. i'd like to put what happened tonight in some perspective in light of the deficit commission. first, the omnibus appropriations bill, the total amount being spent there wa was $1,108,000,000,000. the amount of that bill was that earmarked for specific projects was less than 1%. $8 billion out o of $1,108,000,000,000. less than 1%. and that was within the total amount that we were limited to spend. it wasn't as if we added it on. we were given a total amount and less than 1% of it was marked where it was going with complete transparency, complete disclosure. $8 billion. and it troubles me when i hear members come to the floor as some did just a few minutes ago on your side congratulating yourselves, we put an end to pork barrel spending and now we're really deal with our deficit. $8 billion is a

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, my colleagues are of course congratulating senator bennett on that wonderful farewell speech. it's been my great honor to serve with him and know his family. i wish him the very best as he approaches the century mark with great energy. in keeping with the business of the senate, i have five unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session, approved by both the majority and minority leaders and i ask unanimous consent these requests be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. bond: madam president, i'm humbled to follow the great good friend, the eloquent orator, the wonderful senator from utah, senator bob bennett, a man who has been a giant in this senate not only in terms of height, but of intellect. we have followed his lead for, on many, many issues, and i know the senate will miss him. i'm going to take advantage o

mr. durbin: will the senator yield for a question? mr. harkin: i'd be delighted. bush tush most people -- bush bush most people say that -- mr. durbin: businesses that most will make a profit what percentage of revenues like at university of phoenix come from federal taxpayers? mr. harkin: i'm glad that the senator asked that question. i went over it earlier. i'll go over it again. at the university of phoenix, they can only get 90% of their revenue from federal sources, loans or grants, pell grants, loans, that type of thing. 90%. well, university of phoenix reported last year they got 89% of their money from the federal government. here's the kicker. if you are a g.i. and they recruit you and you're giving them your g.i. benefits and other educational benefits you get through the military, that's not counted in the 90%. for some reason that's not taxpayer money. so actually the university of phoenix got more than 90% of their money from the taxpayers money. mr. durbin: didn't we ask the g.a.o. to do a study about the g.i. bill benefits and how much we were actua

mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. madam president, 10 years ago i received a telephone call in my chicago office that i have recounted on this floor many times, but it started me on a journey that resulted in war we stand today on the passage of the dream act. it was a phone call from a korean american mother with a -- an amazing daughter who was a musical prodigy, who had been accepted at the juilart school of music. when she was asked on the application on citizenship, she said, mother, what do i put here. she was brought her at the age of 2, the mother didn't file any papers. so that little girl was undocumented. lily illegal in the eyes of some. she asked us for help. what can we do to help in this situation? here was a bright young woman with a bright young future who had done everything right and excelled in so many ways and we contacted the immigration service and they said, it's too bad. under american law, this young girl who never consciously did anything wrong in her life was a person without a country. her

mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to join with my colleagues here in saluting the departure of one of our best, senator chris dodd. i first saw his father, though i didn't meet him, when i was a student intern for senator paul douglas of illinois who had an office that was next door to your father's. and i saw senator thomas dodd leaving that office and was certainly aware of the great contribution he made to america. little did i know that some 16 years later when i was be a candidate for the u.s. house of representatives his son would come to decatur, illinois, to do an event for me in my campaign. it was a smashing success, the biggest turnout ever. i'm sure shah senator dodd believes it might have been because of his presence. it also could have been because there was a $1 chick *pb dinner and -- chicken dinner and people came from miles around. christopher dodd was born in 1944 with a call, a thin veil of skin thought to be a sign of good luck covering his head. the doctor who delivered him told

franken, bingaman, cardin, inouye, bennet of colorado, shaheen, menendez, boxer, lautenberg, dodd and durbin. mr. reid: mr. president, regarding the h.r. 847, the zagroda legislation, have we stated that motion and have i asked that the reading of the names be waived? the presiding officer: the motion has been state and the names have been read. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to calendar number 662, s. 3991 our upon the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings and the senate resume legislative session. and that the senate then resume the motion to proceed to calendar number 662 and the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 as it relates to all these matters and i filed cloture on be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the articles of impeachment against judge g. thomas porteous -- let's try this again. his name is judge g. thomas porteous jr. the district of louis

mr. president, my good friend, senator durbin, who's such an able advocate, last night challenged me or my staff that we were incorrect in saying that the secretary of h.h.s. would have the ability to waive some of the requirements in the bill. just for my staff's sake, i would like to read this part of the bill. he said it wasn't in there. actually my staff has explained why they thought it was in there to his staff, but the waiver section states -- quote -- "the secretary of homeland security may waive the ground of deportability under paragraph 1 of section 237-a for humanitarian purposes or family unity." maybe we can disagree how that might all be played out, but i think there's clearly a waiver provision in the bill. the amnesty provisions -- and this is an amnesty bill because it provides every possible benefit, including citizenship, to those who are in the country illegally, and i think that's a fair definition of amnesty. the amnesty provisions are so broad that they are open to those who have had multiple criminal convictions up to two misdemeanors -- just not three -- and many

mr. turley: senator durbin, the standard which we will be addressing when we get to the merits of the case, has been the subject of considerable historical debate. i will give you what i believe is the weight of that historical record. it is true the constitution does not annunciate a specific standard in terms of a burden of proof. we do not agree with the house that they refer to high crimes and misdemeanors as a standard. that's not a standard of proof. that's the definition of a removable offense. there's a difference. so what we would suggest is that the senate can look at known standards, such as beyond a reasonable doubt. beyond a reasonable doubt, of course, is the standard for a criminal case. the constitution is written in criminal terms, of high crimes and misdemeanors. that's one of the reasons why historically you have had these articles crafted closely to the criminal code. in fact, many impeachments actually took directly from a prior indictment and made the indictable counts the articles of impeachment. the house has argued that that standard is not necessary and too high.

durbin. our next speaker is mr larry desina, a senior associate for trans analytics. he has over 30 years experience in child safety research. you may begin your presentation. >> thank you. thank you very much to the ntsb. i would also like to thank the national highway traffic safety administration for much of the research that i do. my presentation will primarily be about strategy's to reduce the percentage of unrestrained young children. i want to first start with -- we did some miss use studies in 1996, and the child safety seat misuse rate was 80%. a few years ago, we did the child safety seat missy's 000ject again with 4,01 vehicles in -- with 4,000 vehicles in seven states, and misused was still very high, but seeds were much a different in 1995 versus what they were in 2004. that is a little bit of a caveat, but ms. use is still alive. many of the -- but the misuse is still alive. many of these slides has information that was provided in the last session. i did these before that session. this is basically saying this is the unrestrained young children out ther

rockefeller, dorgan, kerry, whitehouse, pryor, casey, durbin, warner, shaheen, nelson of nebraska, bayh, dodd, conrad, webb, nelson of florida and klobuchar. mr. reid: i move to send it to the finance committee with instruction to report back with the following amendment. mr. reid: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to refer the house message to the senate committee on finance with instructions to report back forth with with an amendment numbered 4755. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have an amendment to my instructions that is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 4756 to the instructions to the motion to refer h.r. 4853. mr. reid: on that, mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment to my instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk wil

mr. barton. but i do want it known were it not for the labors of three great men in the other body we would not be where we are. senator harkin, senator durbin, and senator reid have contributed mightily to the success which we have in making the american consuming public safe. i hope that the people will understand we have served them well and i urge my colleagues to vote for this bill secure in the knowledge that you are protecting americans and you are saving their lives and the health and well-being of the american people by passing h.r. 2751. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 1781, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion by the gentleman from michigan, mr. dingell. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the agreed to. mr. pitts: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to the order of the house for today for the proceeding

illinois democratic senator dick durbin says that vastly improves its prospects for passing the senate, perhaps as early as today and making it on through the house. mrhe vote yesterday that nobody is completely happy with it, but he said the lop sided vote proves that the two parties can work together. >> i recognize that folks on both sides of the political spectrum are unhappy with certain parts of the package and i understand those concerns. i share some of them. but that's the nature of compromise. sacrificing something that each of us cares about to move forward on what matters to all of us. right now that's growing the economy and creating jobs. >> aides say he told a number of senators lining up support before yesterday's vote, he can now turn his attention to the house where the vote is likely to be much closer. democrats in the house are going to try and adjust the estate tax cut, but maryland congressman chris houston holland says they won't try and block the bill. nobody wants to be responsible for giving the middle class a tax increase for christmas. guy, back to you. >> steve: no kidding. wendell goler with a preview of coming attractio

mr. president, and thank you, members of congress. >> the jury has received two questions for both sides. one from senator durbin and the other from senator leahy. >> senator durbin's question to both sides. what is the standard of proof for the motive or partition near in impeachment proceedings? >> you wish to respond? >> senator durbin, the standard which we will be addressing in the merits of the case, has been subject to historical debate. i'll give you what i believe is the weight of the record. it is true the constitution does not annunciate a specific standard in terms of a burden of proof. we do not agree with the house that they refer to high crimes of misdemeanors as standard. that's not a standard of proof but the definition of a reremovable offense. we suggest the senate can look at a known standards such as beyond a reasonable doubt. beyond a reasonable doubt is a standard for a criminal case. the constitution is written in criminal terms of high crimes and misdemeanors. that is why you had these articles crafted closely to the criminal code. in fact many impeachments actually took directly from a

durbin, thank you, sir. i have been honored to serve with you. director rivlin, the godmother of fiscal responsibility, who taught me my first thing about the budget, mr. cote, who somehow found the time to come to every meeting -- all of expressed their desire to vote yes, and i really appreciate it. i think you have done a great service for your country. today, several members have said they will vote no, and these numbers are great patriots and great people and they have been constructive participants in this effort. folks like congressman camp and congressman ryan has said that while they are voting no, 80% of what we're recommending will wind up in their budgets, and i think that is a good thing. congresswoman schakowsky and mr. stern have come out with forward-looking plans that recognize that the deficit has to be dealt with, and they have dealt with it in a very positive manner, and i thank you. today we are going to hear from several of our members who have not expressed their opinion yet, and several others of you who would like to make a statement. i will recognize you now. we will start with senator durbin, and then we will go to congressm

mr. durbin: mr. president, the senate's not in order. mr. president, with rein a roll call vote? the president pro tempore: the senator is correct, we're in a roll call vote. it has started. vote: the president pro tempore: we are still in session. vote: vote: the president pro tempore: on thisssociate the yeas are 94, the nays are 2. the senate, having tried g. thomas porteous jr. u.s. district judge for the east district of louisiana, upon four articles of impeachment exhibited against him by the house and two-thirds of the senators present having found him guilty of charges contained in articles i, ii, iii, and iv of the articles of impeachment, it is therefore ordered and adjudged that the said g. thomas porteous jr. be and is hereby removed from office and that he be and is hereby forever disqualified to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the united states. mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the president pro tempore: the leader is recognized. the chair will clarify that it requires a motion that the convicted official be disqualified from ever h

mr. president, i hope it passes. as my friend, senator durbin said, i hope it passes today, but it's going to pass. millions of children who grew up in america as americans will be able to get the education they need to support our economy. many who volunteered to defend our country will no longer have to fear being deported. democrats know this is a good policy. republicans know it's a good policy. that's why senator orrin hatch co-authored it ten years ago and why the "wall street journal," a very conservative editorial board, called it a worthy immigration bill just within the last few weeks. the only question is whether we will let good policy inform our votes or let partisan politics get in the way of so many futures. not these children, but our own. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany h.r. 5281. the clerk: motion to concur in the house amendment to senate amendment to h.r. 5281, an act to amend title 28 united states code, and so

durbin and senator kyl. and before i begin my statement tonight, mr. president, i just want to express my thanks to them. this is a textbook for how the senate ought to work together on an important issue on a bipartisan way. and i'm very, very grateful to my colleagues for their leadership. when i first approached senator cornyn on this, he said in our very first conversation, this has nothing to do with democrats and republicans, this is about what's doing right for young people. so i'm very grateful to my colleague on both sides of the aisle for want support they have shown on this matter. mr. president, each year an estimated 100,000 children in america are trafficked for sex. they are recruited by violent criminals and their average age is between 12 and 14. the fact is, sex trafficking in children is modern day slavery, pure and simple. tragically, my home state of oregon has become a hub for those who would exploit women and young girls. and the tragedy is, my state is not alone. what we have seen, mr. preside mr. president -- and this was brought out in hearings -- that the reason this is such a