mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise to speak in morning business. mr. president, the statement just made by the democratic senate leader on the zika challenge to the united states is well documented. what is well documented is the president of the united states came to congress four months ago and said we are facing a public health threat. do something. and for four months, the republican-led congress has done nothing, nothing. meanwhile, mosquitoes carrying this deadly virus are on the march. this is a report from the "new york times" from last week which i ask unanimous consent be placed in the record in its entirety. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, this report says u.s. officials are surprised by the zika rate in puerto rico. and it goes on, roughly 1% of recent blood donors in puerto rico showed signs of active infection with the zika virus, suggesting a substantial portion of the island's population will become infected. federal health officials reported on fri

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the minority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, 15 years ago i introduced a bill called the dream act. the dream act was designed to give children brought to the united states by their parents who were undocumented a chance, a path toward legalization, a path towards citizenship. these were people now in their teens and early 20's who were brought to the united states as infants and children. it was not their conscious decision to come to this country. it was a decision by their parents. they've grown up in the united states. it is estimated 2.5 million young people came to this country under these circumstances. so many of them have done everything they have been asked to do. completed their education, stood up in the classroom every morning and pledged allegiance to that flag, the only flag they've ever known, become part of america, excelled academically, started dreaming about what they might do as americans t

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, is there an order of business that's been agreed to by unanimous consent? the presiding officer: the time until 4:00 p.m. is equally divided. mr. durbin: thank you very much. mr. president, i find it hard to understand why anyone would want to eliminate funding for militarily relevant defense medical research, research that offers families hope, research that improves lives, research that saves lives, especially now. when you look at the body of medical research across all federal agencies, we are getting closer to finding cures for certain cancers, closer than ever to understanding how to delay the onset of neurological diseases like alzheimer's and parkinson's, closer than ever to developing a universal flu vaccine. now is not the time to be ramping -- pardon me. now is the time to be ramping up our investment in medical research, not scaling it back. yet there are two provisions in this defense authorization bill which would effectively end the department of defense medi

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the minority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, 15 years ago i introduced a bill called the dream act. the dream act was designed to give children brought to the united states by their parents who were undocumented a chance, a path toward legalization, a path towards citizenship. these were people now in their teens and early 20's who were brought to the united states as infants and children. it was not their conscious decision to come to this country. it was a decision by their parents. they've grown up in the united states. it is estimated 2.5 million young people came to this country under these circumstances. so many of them have done everything they have been asked to do. completed their education, stood up in the classroom every morning and pledged allegiance to that flag, the only flag they've ever known, become part of america, excelled academically, started dreaming about what they might do as americans t

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the minority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, 15 years ago i introduced a bill called the dream act. the dream act was designed to give children brought to the united states by their parents who were undocumented a chance, a path toward legalization, a path towards citizenship. these were people now in their teens and early 20's who were brought to the united states as infants and children. it was not their conscious decision to come to this country. it was a decision by their parents. they've grown up in the united states. it is estimated 2.5 million young people came to this country under these circumstances. so many of them have done everything they have been asked to do. completed their education, stood up in the classroom every morning and pledged allegiance to that flag, the only flag they've ever known, become part of america, excelled academically, started dreaming about what they might do as americans t

mr. durbin: mr.president, do the math. a federal prisoner held in a federal prison in america today costs us about $30,000 a year. the most serious and dangerous criminal prisoners held in the federal prison system are put in super max facilities for $86,000 a year. that's what it costs. not a single prisoner has ever escaped from a super max facility in the united states. ever. $30,000 for routine prisoners. $86,000 for the most dangerous. what does it cost us to incarcerate one detainee each year at guantanamo? $5 million a piece. $5 million for each detainee. the budget to keep guantanamo open is about $500 million a year, and we have fewer than 100 detainees there. and there's a request for another $200 million in construction at guantanamo. so when senators come to the floor and say we've got to keep guantanamo open for less, fewer than 100 detainees, you obviously have to ask the question, is there another place where they can be held just as safely, just as securely at considerably less cost?

mr. durbin: would the senator yield for a question? mr. murphy: i would. mr. durbin: i would like to thank the senator from connecticut, senator murphy. you have been on the floor for a little over three years in the process of raising an important issue about gun violence in america. i think it's important for us from time to time to remind those who might just be joining this conversation why we're here. you are certainly a leader in this, as is senator blumenthal, senator booker, so many others, because we've each in our own ways been touched by gun violence, the terrible trag dhai occurred at sandy hook, in connecticut, the tragedies that we see every weekend, every day in the city of chicago, in newark, all across the united states, and i thank the senator for bringing this to our attention. certainly it is orlando that has focused our attention these days, and as i understood your earlier statement, you came to the floor because there was no indication from the republican leadership that we would even have a debate on the issue of guns, terrorists, and ke

mr. durbin: mr. president? -p. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak in morning business. we know the senate of the united states is composed of two senators from each state. today i have news. my home state of illinois picked up a third senator. last month the irish prime minister announced eight appointees to the irish senate. one of the appointees is my dear friend in chicago, billy lawless. billy is the first irish citizen living in the united states to be appointed to the irish senate. this is truly historic. today billy takes his seat in the irish senate ireland will get a senator who will fight for the disenfranchised, the dispossess and those yearning to work hard for a better life. no one has been a stronger voice for the irish diaspora and immigration reform than billy lawless of chicago, illinois. prime minister kin ni couldn't have made a better voice. for generations sons and daughters of the emerald isle landed here in search of the american dream. as a young boy billy grew up in a city in western ireland del

mr. durbin: 18 minutes aside. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. durbin: is that divided on position on the bill or on a partisan basis? the presiding officer: between the two leaders or their designees. mr. durbin: thank you. i see the senator from oklahoma seeking recognition. mr. inhofe: i thank the senator from illinois. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, first of all i've been told take i'll have the time -- our time that i can use and i appreciate that very much. we heard this morning from the ranking member and from the -- from both sides. i'm going to bring some up here that everyone agrees on. that is with the things that we do in our committee, we passed a highway bill. we passed the tsca bill and now i want to talk about the wrda bill coming up. i want to address the urgency regarding water infrastructure. my nearly five decades in elected office, i watched the impacts of congress prioritizing and failing to prioritize our nation's water system. in 1986, congress enacted the cornerstone wrda legis

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, it was four years ago that president barack obama announced a new program through executive order. it was called the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, known as daca. this was action by the president which i had asked him to consider. i had written a letter with senator richard lugar, republican of indiana, and later with another 20 senators asking president obama to consider the creation of this program because many of us believed it was the right thing to do and a fair thing to do. it was 15 years ago that i introduced the dream act. the dream act was really a response to a constituent case in my home state of illinois. a young woman, korean, had been brought to this country at the age of two, came in on a visitor's visa. when the visa expired, she and her mother and the rest of the family stayed. papers were filed for everyone in the family but her. and now she was here in the unite

mr. durbin: mr. president, almost a year ago exactly, i met with a remarkable woman. she was wise, gracious and funny. i think what struck me the most about her was her idealism. cassandra butts believed that all men and women are created equal, and she spent her entire working life trying to expand that promise. on the day we met, her nomination to serve as u.s. ambassador to the bahamas had been blocked for more than a year for reasons entirely unrelated to her qualifications. that didn't make her cynical. it didn't diminish her desire to serve. she just wanted to know if there was anything she could do to help. it was typical. ca sand a butts -- cassandra butts asked the question how can i help? sadly, miss butts will never receive the votes she deserved on her nomination to be ambassador. she died a little over a week ago at the far too young age of 50. she felt ill for a few days, had seen a doctor and died peacefully in her sleep before learning of her diagnosis, acute leukemia. cassandra butts was a long-time friend of president obama and first lady michelle ob

mr. durbin: if the senator would yield further for a question mufer i would -- mr. murphy: i would. mr. durbin: without yielding the floor. despite the worst mass murder in the united states of america that occurred in orlando, florida, despite the national reaction and international reaction to this tragedy, there was no issue scheduled this week in the united states senate on the issue of firearms and terrorism, not one, not until the senator from connecticut took the floor ten hours and 20 minutes ago and said i'm not going to sit down until there's an agreement that we're going to debate this issue on the floor of the united states senate. it was not even on the schedule of things for us to discuss this week until this senator from connecticut and his friends and colleagues decided to make an issue of it. and i ask the senator if he is aware of the fact that today the american medical association put out a press release in chicago. i think it's historic and i'd like to read it if my colleagues will bear with me for a minute. the word -- when is from the american medical association.

mr. durbin: would the senator yield for a question? mr. nelson: the senator from arizona has the floor. mr. durbin: if i could ask for the floor for two minutes. i want to thank the senator from florida for his leadership on this issue. it has been a contentious, in some ways divisive issue between appropriations and authorization committees in the united states senate. when senator nelson told p me that he was willing to step up and try to be that bridge over troubled waters, i welcomed his entry into that conversation. i want to thank him, senator gardner, senator bennet, senator cochran, senator shelby, senator mccain and all who have engaged in this. i think we've come to the right place where we're going to be promoting competition, which is good for taxpayers, and we're going to also be doing it in a way to protect our national security interests. thank you to the senator from florida for his leadership on this issue. mr. mccain: madam president, a vote is scheduled for 11:00 this morning, and we will be voting on the defense authorization bill. unfortunately we have a situation w

mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: the whole world knows that on june 12, a gunman shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in the worst mass shooting in modern american history, but what you may not know is that there have been at least ten other mass shooting incidents in america since orlando. by mass shootings, i mean incidents where at least four people were injured or killed by gunfire. two of those mass shootings were in chicago, in my home state of illinois. on june 13, five men were shot in the east garfield park naked. and on june 18 -- park neighborhood. on june 18, four people were shot in the middle of the afternoon in the north shore neighborhood. fortunately, none of the victims in these mass shootings were fatally wounded, but since the orlando shooting, there have been many other gun violence victims in chicago who have lost their lives. last friday, yvonne nelson, a city worker, was shot and killed walking out of a coffee shop on the south sid

mr. durbin, the senator from washington, miss murry. the senator from michigan, ms. senator from minnesota, miss klobuchar. the senator from maryland, mr. ardin. the speaker: the members of the escort committee will exit the chamber through the lobby doors. >> mr. speaker, the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the president's cabinet. sergeant at arms: mr. speaker, the prime minister of the republic of india. -- e minister modi: the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and the distinct honor in presenting to you his excellency, narendra modi, prime minister of the republic f india. prime minister modi: mr. speaker, mr. vice president, distinguished members of the u.s. congress, ladies and gentlemen, i am deeply honored the invitation to address this joint meeting of the u.s. congress. thank you, mr. speaker, for opening the doors of this magnificent capitol. this temple of democracy has other ed and empowered emocracies the world over. it manifests the spirit of this in abraham which incoln's words, "was conceived n liberty and de

mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. acics has shown time and again it is not a reliable authority when it comes to the quality of education. it is not a responsible steward of taxpayers' dollars. follow the money in this case. think of schools like corinthian that took billions of dollars out of the federal treasury through loans that are assigned to students paid into corinthian so they can maintain their operations and pay handsome salaries to their c.e.o. now they go bankrupt. at that point the students of corinthian have a choice. they can keep their worthless semester hours from corinthian and keep their debt, or they can walk awray interest both -- away from both. and when they walk away, they wasted years of their lives but even more important, taxpayers have just taken a beating. these are corrupt capitalist ventures that rely for 85% to 95% of their revenue directly from the federal government. these are not free-market entities. these are not for-profit corporations. it's crony capitalism at its worst. so i wa

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: early in the morning this past -p sunday the worst mass shooting in america's history took place. 49 people were killed, 53 more wounded at the pulse nightclub in orlando, florida. we don't know all the details, but we know this was an act of terror and it was an act of hate and it was directed at the lgbt community. i want to begin by expressing my condolences to the victims, their families and loved ones and to the city of orlando. i want to thank the first responders who ran toward the sound of gunfire, who literally risked their lives to save the lives of others. i want to express my support and solidarity with the lgbt community in orlando and throughout the nation. many of the patrons at the pulse nightclub were members of that community. they were simply enjoying a fun night out at an establishment that welcomed them. june is pride month. it's a month where we should take pr

mr. murphy: i would just say in yielding to senator durbin for a question, just personally it has meant so much to me to have senator durbin on the floor for almost the entirety of the now-13-plus hours, as frankly a hero to those of us who showed up relatively late to this fight for justice on the issue of combating gun violence. i'm just so thankful to senator durbin for being here consistently with us, and i yield the floor to him for a question. mr. durbin: i'd like to propose a question to the senator from connecticut, but before i do, first i would like to thank the senator who is presiding this early morning hour. thank you and your fellow senators who have made this possible, and special thanks to the staff. they have been thanked before and they should be thanked again for their diligence and patience during this conversation and debate on the floor of the senate. a special, special thanks to the pages who have stayed late, late tonight and will have stories to tell about that night in the senate that went into the morning, and we were there. so you will be able to tell those stor

mr. durbin: if the senator from connecticut would yield for a question. i thank him for his leadership. i am happy to join with this willful band who feel, as he does, that this is an issue long overdue, that the american people have asked us over rand - over and over again, when is congress going to do something about these mass shootings and the carnage which is taking place? i would like to ask a specific question, though, about an element here. we have talked about terrorism, those who may be on a terrorism watchlist or some version of it, which senator feinstein will address in her amendment. but there is a second part to this which is equally, if not more important, in my perspective. we define mass murder, but many of us are living and representing communities where there is massive murder taking place over long periods of time, maybe not so many deaths in one particular incident but over a long period of time. yesterday our colleague from new jersey eloquently explained to us in our private caucus luncheon about the carnage that has taken place in new jersey for a long, long tim

mr. durbin: if the senator from connecticut would yield for a question. i thank him for his leadership. i am happy to join with this willful band who feel, as he does, that this is an issue long overdue, that the american people have asked us over rand - over and over again, when is congress going to do something about these mass shootings and the carnage which is taking place? i would like to ask a specific question, though, about an element here. we have talked about terrorism, those who may be on a terrorism watchlist or some version of it, which senator feinstein will address in her amendment. but there is a second part to this which is equally, if not more important, in my perspective. we define mass murder, but many of us are living and representing communities where there is massive murder taking place over long periods of time, maybe not so many deaths in one particular incident but over a long period of time. yesterday our colleague from new jersey eloquently explained to us in our private caucus luncheon about the carnage that has taken place in new jersey for a long, long tim

mr. chairman, could i just respond to something said earlier during this panel questioning? >> we will recognize senator durbin and he may well give you the opportunity. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i listened to senator session's questions. he is moving us to where we ought to be. mr. cohen, when you went after or your organization went after the ku klux klan, you were aware their symbol was a flaming cross? >> yes, sir. >> and that they believe somehow they were espousing the teachings of christ? >> they were purifying the race, yes. >> these race purifications ended up in hateful and violent and murd yus tactics against african-americans? >> that was the way they did business, yes. >> catholics, jews? they were a hate-filled group that used the flaming cross and their purified christianity for justification? >> yes. >> westboro baptist church sends demonstrators to the funerals of our fallen soldiers and put up these hateful signs that say this soldier died because of sodomy, because of gay marriage. their homophobia, they believe, is part of their christian belief. i think the point that has been made over

mr. chairman can i respond to something that was said earlier? >> we are going to recognize senator durbin. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. i listened to senator sessions questions and i think he is moving us to where we had to be. mr. cohen when the organization would have to the ku klux klan you are where that symbol was a flaming cross and that they believed somehow they were espousing the teachings of christ. >> they were purifying the race, yes. >> these race perfect haitians ended up in hateful and violent murderous tactics against african-americans. >> that was the way they did business. >> catholics and jewish. they were a hate filled group that used a flaming cross in your purse by christianity for justification. westboro baptist church sends demonstrators to the funerals of our fallen soldiers. i've seen them and they'll annoy and they put up these hateful signs that say the soldier died excessive and because of marriage. their they believe is part of their christian belief. i think the point that has been made over and over by three members of this panel is it is a mistake

by the supreme court, we heard more about that on the senate floor from the minority whip dick durbin. >> mr. president? >> minority whip. >> i ask consent to speak in morning business. >> without objection. >> fifteen years ago introduced a bill called the dream act. the d.r.e.a.m. act was designed to give children brought to the united states by their parents who were undocumented a chance, path toward legalization.es a path toward citizenship. these were people now in their teens and early 20s who were brought to the united states as infants and children. it was not their conscious decision to come to this country. it was a decision by their parents. they had grown up in the united states. it is estimated 2.5 million young people came to this country under the circumstances. so many of them have been everything they have been asked to do, completed theirll education, stood up in the classroom every morning and pledged allegiance to that flight, the only flag they've ever known, become part of america, excelled academically, started dreaming about what they might as americans to make their

mr. murphy: that is the -- we had senator our din on -- durbin on the floor earlier today telling the horrific tales of chicago in which the strong background checks laws in illinois make almost no difference on the streets of chicago because the weak background checks laws of indiana allow for individuals to go there and buy guns online or at gun shows and then ferry them back into the streets of chicago. and so without that federal law that creates a uniformed standard that you need to go through a background check through whatever commercial means you attempt to buy a gun, then there are criminals every single day who are getting their hands on weapons separate and aside, as you said from this question of terrorist access. mr. whitehouse: if the senator would yield for another question. mr. murphy: i would. mr. whitehouse: i have some statistics here that i find a little surprising and i'd love to ask you about your explanation of them. and the statistics that i have are that 76% of gun owners and 71% of national rifle association members support prohibiting people on the terror watch list

mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent the following amendments be in order to be offered. durbin 4369 inhofe 4204. i further ask the time until 4:00 p.m. be equally divided between the managers or their designees and that the senate then proceed to vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed with no second-degree amendments to these amendments in order prior to the votes and that there be two minutes equally divided prior to each vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc. 4138 peters, 4293 baldwin, 4112 jill brand, 4354 leahy, 4079 heitkamp, 4317 hirono, 4031 cardin, 4169 coats, 4236 portman, 4119 roberts, 4095 ernst, 4086 mu murkowski, 4247 danes, 4344 sullivan. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendments by number. the clerk: the senator from arizona mr. mccain reports amendments en bloc -- mr. mccain: i ask that further reading be dispensed with. the clerk: 4138, 4293, 4112, 4177, 4354, 4079, 4317, 40

mr. durbin: i am going to speak. i know my colleague and friend from new jersey's here and opposes the measure. i have been given eight minutes, and i don't know how much of that time i will use. i'll try to leave whatever is left for his use. i know he spoke yesterday, but i'm sure he wants to speak again this morning. so i will yield whatever is left. the other remaining time, as i understand it, is controlled by the other side. i'm sorry. i ask for clarification. is there still five minutes remaining for the senator from new jersey? the presiding officer: the senator from washington consumed five of nine minutes, leaving four minutes remaining for the opponents of the bill. mr. durbin: if i don't use my entire time, i will yield the remainder to the senator from new jersey although we have opposing positions. mr. president, many times on the floor of the senate we are faced with difficult, sometimes impossible choices. at the end of the day, you wish that you could sit down and write a solution that you believe wo