mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended and consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, it was in i believe april of 2009 that i picked up a new yorker magazine and read an article which had a real impact on me. it was an article quinn by dr. atul gahwandi who is a practicing surgeon at brigham women's hospital in boston. an amazing man. in addition to his medical responsibilities, he is a person with a very inquisitive mind and a real knack when it comes to investigating challenging issues. the article that i read in "the new yorker" by dr. gahwandi examined the human impact of long-term solitary confinement and asked, i quote," if prolonged isolation is, as research and experience have confirmed for decades, so objectively horrifying, so interrapins cally cruel, how did we end up with a prison system that may subject more of our citizens-to-it than any other country in history has?" his article inspired me, mot

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. the year was 1939. the nazis were in control in germany. kristallnacht had occurred. it was the night of broken glass. it was the night when nazi storm troopers literally invaded the shops and the homes of the jewish citizens who were living in germany. they harassed them, they beat them, they killed them. it was pretty clear where this was headed. the nazis had targeted jewish people, and those jewish people, innocent people were going to be their victims. some of them decided that the only place to go was to leave germany, to come to the united states of america. they boarded a ship called the s.s. st. louis, and they set sail for the united states. they first arrived in havana, cuba, seeking refuge to escape the nazis. the cubans turned them away. and they next came to miami, florida, and they asked the united states of america if these 900 innocent jewish citizens of germany could seek refugee, to become refugees in the united states. they were tur

mr. durbin: mr.president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, tomorrow evening president obama will come before congress to deliver his annual state of the union address. america has changed a great deal since president obama delivered his first state of the union address seven years ago. we remember. he inherited an economy in freefall. there was a real danger that the united state would face another great depression. instead we slid into a great recession, and the president -- president obama -- did all that he could to bring our economy back to life. recent economic indicators show that his strategy moved us in the right direction. more americans are working. we are seeing prosperity and opportunity return. o there's still challenges ahead. we still face income inequality, and there are many things that we must do to make this a fairer nation when this comes to our economy. but we avoid add great depression because americans are resilient, and because

mr. durbin: mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> so the senate has gaveled out. earlier today members confirmed a judicial nomination for the district of minnesota. tomorrow work turns to a bill that prevents syrian and iraqi refugees from being admitterred into the united states -- admitted into the united states unless they pass background check and are deemed not to be a threat to u.s. security. the house passed the legislation before christmas, but the white house opposes it. procedural vote to advance the measure takes place on wednesday with 60 votes needed to move forward. follow the senate live here on c-span2 when members return on wednesday. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," adam green of the progressive change campaign committee looks at the role progressives will play in the 2016 campaign. then russell moore of the southern baptist convention's ethics and religious liberty commission, discusses conservative christians and what is

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, a few minutes ago, my colleague from missouri, senator blunt, took the floor and spoke to two issues that we have in common. i'll speak to one of them in a moment, the flooding in the midwest, but i'd like to also address another one which he raised on the floor. senator blunt has been in an extraordinary position, given an opportunity to handle the appropriation bill for health and human services. within the health and human services appropriation bill is funding for most of the biomedical research by the federal government. i have spoken to senator blunt over the past year and even before about my strong feelings on the subject. i feel as most americans do that our investment in biomedical research is a wise investment. scaring people from the disease and death that could follow, from an illness, but also making an investment in america's innovative econo

mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise today to speak to two separate issues. first, i'd like to speak to the issue of for-profit colleges and universities. yesterday another for-profit college was accused by the federal, by a federal agency of misleading and deceiving students. the federal trade commission announced it filed suit against devry universities for advertisements that deceived students about the likelihood they would find jobs and earn money after they graduate. devry's advertisements date back to at least 2008, about nine years that they have been claiming -- quote -- "since 1975, 90% of devry graduates system wide and the active job market held positions in their fields of study within six months of graduation." end of quote. they also claimed, starting in 2013 that devry graduates -- quote -- "had 15% higher incomes one year after graduation on average than graduates of all other colleges and universities." end quote. the department of education started investigating these claims in august

mr. durbin: i withhold. mr. brown: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: we're not in a quorum, correct? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. after months of delay, last fall, we were finally able to see the text of the transpassing partnership, text that corporate lobbyists had access to long before the american people and members of congress and their staffs did. after examining the provisions in this deal, it's clear that far too many of them, of these provisions sell out american workers and american jobs. in the months leading up to the release of this deal, i warned that too often our trade agreements as far back as nafta and the permanent normal trade relations with china, not per se a trade agreement but had the same effect in many ways, the central american free trade agreement, the south american free trade agreement. these trade agreements amounted to worker handouts. i wanted to make sure the deals created a truly level playing field for american workers and american businesses. unfortunately, that's

durbin: sadly, we' re in the midst of a presidential campaign ravings of mr. trump and others are leading efforts in congress to validate some of their bizarre suggestions. think of this. if a refugee wants to come to the united states, they submit themselves to a background check that can last for up to two years and maybe beyond. they have to meet higher standards than virtually any other visitor to this country. but mr. trump and republicans have focused on these refugees, these sad stories. we can and we should make america safer from those who would come and harm us, but focusing on helpless refugees who have to go through an extensive background check is the wrong priority. fernando: as you know, the department of homeland security has begun a process of deporting families -- a certain group of families, i think about 100 people or so -- that seems in dissonance with what the president has said is his policy and i know many people in , congress, democrats in particular, are against this selective deportation of groups of people. you make sense of it? sen

durbin: sadly, we're in the midst of a presidential campaign and on the republican side, the ravings of mr. trump and others are leading efforts in congress to validate some of their bizarre suggestions. if a refugee wants to come to the united states, they submit themselves to a background check that can last for up to two years and maybe beyond. they have to meet higher standards than virtually any other visitor to this country. but mr. trump and republicans have focused on these refugees, these sad stories. we can and we should make amica safer from those wh would come and harm us, but focusing on helpless refugees who have to go through an extensive background check is the wrong priority. fernando: as you know, the department of homeland security has begun a process of deporting families -- a certain group of families, i think about 100 people or so -- that seems in dissonance with what the president has said is his policy and i know many people in , congress, democrats in particular, are against this selective deportation of groups of people. how do you see that and how do you make se

durbin. >> thanks very much, mr. chairman. we were just talking with members of my staff. i was trying to remember a 72-hour period in chicago last year when there -- i don't know if there was 74 heroin/fentanyl overdoses or deaths. could have been deaths. it was just horrendous when it came in to the supply there. and as i've mentioned earlier, i've traveled around my state. it isn't a chicago problem. it's an american problem, sadly, in every town, large and small, that we get into. when i went to dixon, illinois, population 20,000, inspired by the chief of police in gloucester to have people step up and admit their addiction, they weren't arrested. they were taken to treatment. and petty crime in the community disappeared, virtually disappeared as a result of it. but they were saying to me, what are you going to do about treatment? you know, now that they've stepped up and now that they are acknowledging, well, it's an hour and a half from dixon, illinois, to the closest treatment facility. if the person who is a user happens to have the good fortune of someone who will