mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to enter into a colloquy with senators carper, warren murphy, bloom that you will schatz and brown for up to one hour, if my voice lasts. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you. today i come to the senate floor to discuss the issue of for-profit colleges. you may wonder how a member of the united states senate takes up an issue. this came to my attention when a young woman in chicago illinois illinois contacted our office and told her story. she was a conscientious young woman who wanted a college education. and having graduated high school she shopped around on the internet and she found the degree that she wanted. it was a degree in law enforcement offered by westwood college. westwood is a for-profit college based in colorado. she enrolled in westwood and five years later -- five years of classes later she got her diploma from westwood in law enforcement. she took it to every law enforcement agency in the chicagoland area

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president first let me thank my colleague from connecticut, senator blumenthal. i join him in condemning the violence that is taking place in the streets of the middle east, jerusalem and other places. i also join him in calling for a two-state solution so that we can have both the palestinian people and the people of israel living safely and securely without fear of any kind of military action from one against the other. that should be our ultimate goal and we should renew that goal regularly. i join him in what he has had to say. mr. president, on another topic topic -- you can't serve in the united states senate without some level of patience. it takes forever to get things done around here. that is the big things. 15 years ago i introduced a bill called the dream act. 15 years ago the year 2000. what were we going to do with these young people who came to the united states, brought here as babies infants toddlers, children what were we going to do with them when they finished high

mr. durbin: madam 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: madam president, having just finished the thanksgiving holiday season, many of us had a chance to be with our families and give thanks for all the great goodness that we have had showered on us, as individuals and as those lucky enough to live in this great nation, but for many families, this was a painful holiday weekend. it is sobering to realize how many american families have their lives impacted by gun violence in america every single day, and sadly the past holiday weekend was no exception. in my home state of illinois, in the city of chicago, gun violence has taken a devastate ing toll. there have been 436 homicides in chicago this year, most of them by gunfire. in chicago, the news this morning was that eight people were killed and at least 20 others wounded in shootings over the holiday weekend. today the university of chicago has closed its campus in hyde park b

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, let me say at the outset that the initial unanimous consent request made by the junior senator from texas was a bill which he had pending before the senate judiciary committee today. he did not attend that meeting in the senate judiciary committee. i wish he had. and i think we should have all been there if we wanted to take this up and debate it. i objected on behalf of myself and senator leahy and the senator has spoken to the reason for that objection. let me address the second part of this bill relative to refugees. we will reflect in years to come about what happened in this world in the last week and ten days. we will reflect on the terrible tragedy that occurred in paris, france, and in beirut and other nations that was led by the isis terrorists. we will reflect on those poor victims who died as a result of their terrorist acts. and we will also reflect on acts of heroism and wisdom that emerged from this terrible tragedy. heroism on the ground in paris and other pl

mr. durbin: mr. president earlier in this session we observed a moment of silence to exhibit our solidarity with the people of france. i want to add my voice to others here today in sharing my deepest condolences and solidarity with the people of that great nation. as a result of the barbaric violence that occurred over the weekend, we are finding this solidarity coming together from across the world standing behind the people of france in their hour of need. these events that occurred in paris were heartbreaking and infuriating. america knows well from the tragic events of september 11 this kind of savagery is a challenge to the civilized world, one which we must collectively stand and defeat. as french president hollande said to a joint session of the french parliament, when france is attacked in such a manner, the whole world is attacked. i agree. people of russia are also victims of such violence. in the recent downing of their airplane departing egypt another tragedy which isis has claimed credi

mr. durbin: mr.ent, earlier in this session, we observed a moment of silence to exhibit our solidarity with the people of france. i want to add my voice to others here today in sharing my deepest condolences and solidarity with the people of that great nation. as a result of the barbaric violence that occurred over the weekend, we are finding this solidarity coming together from across the world, standing behind the people of france in their hour of need. these events that occurred in paris were heartbreaking and infuriating. america knows well from the tragic events of september 11 this kind of savagery is a challenge to the civilized world, one which we must collectively stand and defeat. as french president hollande said to a joint session of the french parliament, when france is attacked in such a manner, the whole world is attacked. i agree. people of russia are also victims of such violence. in the recent downing of their airplane departing egypt, another tragedy which isis has claimed credit f

inhofe, thune, hatch, murkowski, fischer, barrasso, cornyn, boxer, brown, nelson, wyden, durbin and schumer. mr. blunt: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: mr. president, i would ask that i be allowed to speak for up to 15 minutes as i approach my remarks right now. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: mr. president, i'm honored to represent nearly 500,000 missouri veterans in the senate. tomorrow on veterans day, we pause to reflect on the countless contributions and sacrifices that the men and women who serve in uniform and have served in uniform have made to our country. i hope that we will all use this opportunity to recommit ourselves not only to appreciate their service but to be sure that the commitments that our government has made to them, -- to them are commitments that we are sure that we move forward on, that they are commitments that we l

durbin. >> thanks mr. chairman. the title of this hearing is the the war on police, how the federal government undermines state and local law enforcement. i know there was an effort to make this a neutral title for this hearing. but i think it leans a little bit in a provocative way. so i asked my staff, take a look at the initial investigations initiated by the obama administration police departments. it came up with the fact that there were some 17,000 departments. i heard senator kuntz say 18 departments in the united states. under the obama administration, they opened up investigations on 23 police departments. about one-tenth of 1% of the police departments across the united states. and this is being characterized by some, as a war on police. i'd like to ask you, senator, and chief davis, isn't it true that many investigations were requested by local agencies? >> thank you, senator. that is indeed the case. in many of the jurisdictions we ended up going into, they were initially requested. and it was only after

mr. reed -- senator reed and senator durbin system of we understand the mentality of appropriators. and that is to try to work in a bipartisan way to get the job done with a time fuse there. so we salute their work. that's what they are doing in preparing for where we go here except now we've lifted the caps, there's more investments to be made and they have to do their 302-b allocations as to how much they're going to spend and what committees it goes to. that will be a republican decision and then they'll act in a bipartisan way to implement it. so -- and we have until december 11 to put that omnibus together, just remembering that september 30, in time for the end of the fiscal year, 151 republicans have voted to keep -- to shut down government. not -- to support. and sadly tied to that, they did not renew funding for planned parenthood. and the speaker would have to give up his gavel which he did, sad to say. we welcome the new speaker, with -- him luck and cooperation. i'm happy we're moving forward with a modest transportation bill, wish it could be bigger, reflecting new tech

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator durbin. senator sessions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and this is a hearing i think that is important. we need to talk about some of these issues and there is a perception, not altogether unjustified, that this department, civil rights division, goes beyond fair and balanced treatment. but as an agenda, that's been a troubling issue for a number of years, frankly. your predecessor nominee was rejected for this job, the civil rights division job. was calling to the fraternal order of police, they wrote a letter and noted that under his leadership, the legal defense fund for the naacp volunteered their services to represent wesley cook, better known as moonia abu jamal, our countries most notorious cop killer. this nomination could be interpresented only -- interpreted only one way, a thumb in the eye of our nation's law enforcement officers it. demonstrates a lack of regard orem pathy for those two strive to serve you and everyone in our nation and keep them safe in their streets and homes. and we believe that law enforcement in minority

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator durbin. senator sessions? >> thank you, mr. chairman, and this is a hearing that i think important. we need to talk about some of these issues and there is a perceptions but -- not all together unjustified -- that this civil rights division goes beyond fair and balanced treatment but as an agenda. that's been a troubling issue for a number of years, frankly. your predecessor nominee was rejected for this job, the civil rights division job was according accord ing to fraternal order of police they wrote a letter noting that under his legalship the legal defense fund for the naacp volunteered their services to represent wesley cook, better known as mumia abuja mall, our country's most notorious cop killer. this nomination can be interpreted only one way, it's a thumb in the eye of our nation's law enforcement officers. it demonstrates a lack of regard or empathy for those who strive to serve you and everyone in our nation and keep them safe in our streets and homes and we believe that law enforcement in minority communities need

durbin. >> thanks mr. chairman.e title of this hearing is the the war on police, how the federal government undermines state and local law enforcement. i know there was an effort to make this a neutral title for this hearing. but i think it leans a little bit in a provocative way. so i asked my staff, take a look at the initial investigations initiated by the obama administration police departments. it came up with the fact that there were some 17,000 departments. i heard senator kuntz say 18 departments in the united states. under the obama administration, they opened up investigations on 23 police departments. about one-tenth of 1% of the police departments across the united states. and this is being characterized by some, as a war on police. i'd like to ask you, senator, and chief davis, isn't it true that many investigations were requested by local agencies? >> thank you, senator. that is indeed the case. in many of the jurisdictions we ended up going into, they were initially requested. and it was only after we

durbin. with that ms. edwards is recognized for an opening statement. >> thank you very much mr. shuster and also to senator inhofe for today and for your commitment to the long-term surface transportation reauthorization. as a member but the transportation and infrastructure committee and the science committee i look forward to working with you and the other members here to send a good bill to the president. for decades or transportation network was robust investment in research and development at its core supporters strong american economy. transportation innovation stretched across all modes from advances to highway pavement material to mass transit technology to innovate of railroad track and pipeline and likewise in the transportation systems research connected vehicle research and autonomous research to make transportation safer faster and more environment with friendly for the 21st century. making her the structure work smarter for us is critical and as the representative of maryland for the district i am personally invested in a federal efforts to make congestion in this

mr. president, is important because it could be the difference between life and death for those individuals. that's why i was proud to join senator durbin and other members to urge the white house to do more, because we can and we should do more. mr. president, the united states has always been a refuge for the vulnerable, for those who are fleeing political repression, or those who are persecuted simply because of their religion. and the syrian refugees that the administration is prioritizing for entry are, in fact, the most vulnerable. these are survivors of violence and torture, people with medical conditions and women and children. mr. president, the news site buzzfeed has published a series of images of children, of young syrian refugees. i encourage everyone to look at these images because they capture the vulnerability and debt operation of the people that we're trying to help. children like ahmed. we're showing -- this is him sleeping in this image behind me. as the buzzfeed story says, "ahmed is a 6-year-old who carries his own bag over the long stretches that his family walks by foot. his father says -- his uncle, his uncle sa

durbin. veryu iith that, miss edwards is recognized for an opening toda statement. your >> thank you, very much mr. rm shuster and also to senator em inhofe for today and for your commitment, obvious commitment to a long-term surface c comm transportation reauthorize. b as a member of the committee and science committee i look forward to working with you and the other members here to send a good bill to the president. for decades, our transportation network with robust investments. and research and development at its core supported a strong es american economy. transportation innovations across all modes from highway pavement steelers to mass transit technologies to innovative railroad track and pipeline inspection.utonomorch likewise, intelligent transportation systems research connected vehicle research and autonomous vehicle research wilt make transportation safer, faster and more environmentally friendly for the 21st century. making our infrastructure work smarter for us is critical. as a representative of the fourth district of maryland which borders the nation's vatie capital, i'm personally

durbin. with that, miss edwards is recognized for an opening statement. >> thank you, very much mr. shuster and also to senator inhofe for today and for your commitment, obvious commitment to a long-term surface transportation reauthorize. as a member of the committee and science committee i look forward to working with you and the other members here to send a good bill to the president. for decades, our transportation network with robust investments and research and development at its core supported a strong american committee. innovations stretch from advances to highway pavement materials to mass transit technologies to innovative railroad track and pipeline inspection. likewise, intelligent transportation systems research connected vehicle research and autonomous vehicle research will make transportation safer, faster and more environmentally friendly. it is critical. as a representative of the fourth district which borders the nation's capital, i'm personally invested in our federal efforts to mitigate congestion in this fast growing region as well as across the nation, especia

mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: at 11:00, the senate will vote on the defense appropriations bill. this is a bill i worked on with senator cochran of mississippi. he not only chairs the appropriation committee but this subcommittee on defense on which i serve as vice chair and ranking member on as well. excuse my voice. the effort in this bill is extraordinary because it comprises 60%, virtually 60% of the domestic discretionary spending of our government. it of course deals with the department of defense and defense agencies. i just want to say that we've worked on this on a bipartisan basis from the start. it's been a real pleasure to work with senator cochran. i want to commend him for his leadership and his gentility, thank him for all of the good work that he's put into this bill. now it's going to be a procedural vote which we anticipate is not going to allow this bill to go forward. it is not a reflection on the substance of the bill at all. although we may disagree with one or two provisions in the bi