mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, would you like to announce the business of the senate. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the bradbury nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of transportation, steven gill bradbury of virginia to be general counsel. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, it was 16 years ago when i introduced a bill known as the dream act. the purpose of the dream act was to give to undocumented young people brought to the united states under the age of 18 an opportunity to go through a background check and to earn their way to legal status. 16 years ago. the bill passed the senate at various times.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: and consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i came to the floor yesterday to speak on the devastating impact that the republican tax plan would have on working families in my home state of illinois and other states across the nation. it's no secret take the republican plan would finance massive tax cuts for the wealthiest people in america. they just can't help themselves. every time they look at the tax code, they think there has to be a way to help the wealthiest people in our country. they usually look at the estate tax which is paid for by one out of every thousand americans and say we've just got to spare these poor people who have a net worth of over $11 million from paying any taxes to the government. we've got to spare them from paying this government for

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended and to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, this week many things will happen in washington, but the focus of the senate chamber later on this week will be on the republican tax plan. it is a plan which has come upon us very quickly, in a matter of weeks, and it literally will affect the economy of the united states and virtually every taxpayer. there's hardly a measure we could entertain that has such broad and far-reaching impact on the future of this country and its economy. what we are trying to do now is to analyze this plan. it has been put on a fast schedule. i can guarantee you, as i stand here, that because of this hurry-up approach on the tax reform, when it is all said and done, if it is all enacted into law, we look back with regret not having taken the time to do it correctly, not having to do it for changes on the family and the economy. so far we have a plan

mr. durbin: mr. president, i would like to speak a moment about veterans day which is two days away on saturday, november is 11, america will honor america's veterans they have served from bunker hill to baghdad and beyond. i have been thinking about the worts of one of the brave patriots. he is the son and grandson of military leaders. when his time came, he too went to war and suffered excruciating injuries. he said when wars are fought, quote, a million tragedies ensue. war is retch retched -- retched beyond description. those are the words of a man i'm privileged to call a colleague and friend, the senior senator from arizona, john mccain. we owe him and all of our nation's veterans and their families our respect for their courage, sacrifice and hardships that they endured for all of us. senator mccain endured more than 5 naf naf years as torture as a prisoner of war during the vietnam conflict. he when -- when he finally came whom he found another way to serve our nation with honor. we thank him

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to thank the democratic leader. his strong support of the dream act encourages me but more importantly gives hope to the dreamers across america, young men and women just like the one he described who are living in fear, fear that their time in america is coming to an end. it's the only country they have ever known. they have stood in classroom after classroom and pledged allegiance to the american flag, the only flag they have ever known. they sing the national anthem. they believe they are part of america, but as senator schumer has reminded us, they are missing their paperwork. their parents brought them here as infants, toddlers, children, and never filed the paperwork and never made them legal, and here they are. in this country, searching for an answer, searching for some hope. my basic question to the united states senate and to my colleagues is why do we make this so hard? why is this so difficult? don't we all fundamentally agree on the premise that no young

mr. durbin's 10 to 1 ratio, y'all decided on 18 to 1. you were a good negotiator. mr. durbin took what he could get. should have been 1 to 1. but you admitted in that hearing it could discriminate against the disparity against african-americans and minorities and you ought it lock look at that. >> the net effect of that legislation was to reduce the penalty one is subjected to for dealing with crack cocaine. >> yes, sir. >> that may be a better analysis than the 18 to 1 of whatever it is. it's generally considered a more dangerous drug. >> marijuana is no the as dangerous as heroin, would you agree with that? >> i think that's correct. >> well thank you, sir. i would hope in your enforcement that you would look at the limitations you've got. there's always an opportunity cost. and put your opportunity costs, your enforcement on crack, on cocaine, on meth, an opioids and heroin. marijuana is the least bothersome of all. 28 states or 29 states and the district of columbia have legalized it for medical purposes. saturday states and the district of columbia for recreational

mr. durbin's was 10 to 1. you decided on 18 to 1. mr. durbin took what he could get t should have been one to one. you admitted in that hearing it could discriminate against the disparity against african-americans and minorities . mr. sessions: i would just say the net effect that have legislation was to significantly -- mr. cohen: it was good, sir. mr. sessions: reduce the penalty one is subjected to for dealing with crack cocaine. mr. cohen: yes, sir. that was good. mr. sessions: there may be a better analysis of the 18 to one. generally considered a more dangerous drug. mr. cohen: marijuana is not as dangerous as heroin, would you agree? mr. sessions: i think that's correct. mr. cohen: i would hope in your enforcement you would look at the limitations you got. there's always an opportunity cost. and put your opportunity cost, your enforcement, on crack, on cocaine, on meth, on opioids, and on heroin. marijuana is the least bother some of all. 28 states or 29 states and the district of columbia have legalized it for medical purposes. ei

mr. durbin: mr. president, i ase leader. i was going to ask about my colleague, senator paul. i ask consent to be recognized. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: first, let me say at the outset, many of us have extended well wishes to our colleague, senator paul, who was injured over the weekend. i wish him a speedy recovery, and hope that he returns soon to be a part of the senate. he is an important part of the senate and important here. mr. president, another gun massacre. horrible circumstances. i know you came to the floor earlier today to say a word about your feelings, the feelings of your family. they are shared by all of us. it's heart breaking to think that some person so demented, so unusual would come into a worship setting and kill innocent people. this man, the reported shooter, devin kelley, used an assault rifle to kill 26 people in sutherland springs, texas, wounding 20 others. the victims range in age from 18 months to 77 years. about a dozen of those who were killed were children. it included the daughter of the church's pastor. the

mr. durbin: i come to the floor to speak about daca. daca, an executive order of president obama, provided temporary, renewable legal status for immigrant students if they registered with the government, paid a filing fee of $500, passed a criminal and national security background check. 780,000 young people stepped forward and did something which they have been warned their entire lives never to do. their parents knew they were undocumented. they knew that they had been brought to this country at an early age. they knew this they weren't technically legal, and their parents warned them, stay away from cops and government, all that can happen is they discover you're undocumented and deport you and maybe your family as well. be careful. so president obama stepped up and said, if you will step forward, tell us who you are and let us do a background check on you, we're going to give you a chance, a chance to earn your way to legal status in america. 708,000 young people took -- 780,000 young people took that chance and signedder up for dac

mr. durbin? i could just wrap up on this, and there's nobody like senator grassley on transparency. and i really call him mr. transparency. he and i are the cochairs of the whistleblowers caucus and honored to be his junior partner. i would only say with respect to my friend, a key distinction here is yes, there have been 70 general hearings, but there haven't been hearings on actual legislative text. so the senate finance committee doesn't have books like this, like they had in 1986 when james baker came in and let off the hearing. there were 27 hearings on actual legislative text. so it's hard to disagree with mr. transparency, but i think that distinction is really critical and why we feel so strongly about both the hearings and getting the score -- >> mr. chairman? >> if you could recognize them and then we will wrap up and go to a vote. >> let's let senator grassley take a crack at his first. >> well, from the standpoint of what you said, you know the tradition of this committee, you use the term legislative text. we don't operate in this committee only offer all of our content.

mr. durbin: mr. president, i would like to speak a moment about veterans day which is two days away on saturday, november is 11, america will honor america's veterans they have served from bunker hill to baghdad a

mr. durbin: let me thank my colleague from ohio for raising this issue. we have a tax code that creates incentives and penalties for certain conduct. we encourage americans to give to charities. we give them a deduction. we encourag -- we encourages americans to own homes and let them deduct the cost of interest. we encourage them in so many ways. why shouldn't we encourage american businesses to hire american workers? why shouldn't we reward american businesses that keep their businesses in america and not move them overseas? why shouldn't we incentivize businesses and corporations to pay a decent living wage to their employees to provide basic benefits when it comes to health insurance and health care, a good retirement plan? why shouldn't we incentivize american companies to hire veterans? why don't we put in our tax codes ?embts -- incentives that create stronger, better american corporations? i'm going to wave the flag here. i think there are great corporations in america that really do care for this country. some don't. i don't think they should be

mr. durbin took what he could get. it should have been one to one. you admitted in that hearing it could discriminate against the disparity against african-americans and minorities. >> i would say the effect of that legislation was to reduce the penalty one is subjected to for dealing with crack cocaine. analysis the 18 to one of whatever it is. generally considered a more dangerous drug. >> marijuana is not as dangerous as heroin. >> i think that is correct. >> i would hope that in your enforcement that you would look at the limitations you've got to read there's always an opportunity cost. your enforcement on crack, , opioids and heroin. marijuana is the least bother some of all. 29 states in the district of columbia have legalized it for medical purposes. eight states and the district of columbia for recreational purposes. states brandeis said the are the laboratories of democracy. i would hope you would look at the states as laboratories of democracy and see how they have helped. in states where they've got medical marijuana, they have 25% less o

senator durbin: thank you, mr. chairman. >> gentlemen, i am very proud that the three companies you're representing here today are american companies. and i think you do enormous good. senator kennedy: but your power sometimes scares me. mr. stretch, how many advertisers does facebook have? mr. stretch: we have approximately five million advertisers on a monthly basis, senator. senator kennedy: did china run ads in the last election cycle that tried to impact our election? mr. stretch: not that i'm aware of, senator. senator kennedy: not that you're aware of. did turk minute stan? mr. stretch: no, senator, not that i am aware of. senator kennedy: how about north korea? mr. stretch: i am not aware of other foreign actors running the same sort of -- senator kennedy: how could you be aware? you got five million advertisers, and you're going to tell me that you're able to trace the origin of all of those advertisements? if i want to hire a lawyer, if i wanted to hire you when you were in private practice -- you have an

senator durbin: thanks, mr. chairman. mr. duncan, more and more we are bringing up the issue of religious liberty in this committee. it's always been an important constitutional issue but it seems more timely. and part of the reason was the hobby lobby decision because that brought the issue of religious belief, religious freedom, religious liberty home to us where a decision was made that a company, in this case a corporation, hobby lobby, would be treated as a person. step aside from that aspect of the decision, but more importantly, that the religious beliefs, the sincerely held, i believe, religious beliefs of the owners of the corporation should be given deference when it came to their business decision. in this case the business decision to offer health insurance coverage to 13,000 employees. and the argument from the owners was, i sincerely held religious beliefs preclude us from spending our money as a corporation to give to these employees who wish it health care coverage, including contraception. birth control. that

here's a look at what dick durbin had to say on thursday from the senate floor. >> mr. president, i would like to speak for a moment about the veterans day, which is just two days away. on saturday, the 11th of november, americans will honor the courage and sacrifice of veterans. more than 40 million have served our nation in uniform, from bunker hill, baghdad and beyond. i've been thinking about the words of one of those brave patriots, the son and grandson of military leaders. when his time came, he too went to war, and he suffered horrific deprivation and excruciating injuries. years later, he said few veterans chair a romantic remembrance of war. he said, a million tragedies ensue when wars are fought. war is wretched beyond description, and only a fool or a fraud can sentimentalize its cruel reality. those are words of a friend and colleague, john mccain. we owe him and all of our nation's veterans and families our profound gratitude and respect. senator mccain endured more than 5 1/2 years, 5 1/2 years of torture as a prisoner of war during the vietnam conflict. w

here's a look at what dick durbin had to say on thursday from the senate floor. >> mr. president, i would like to speak for a moment about the veterans day, which is just two days away. on saturday, the 11th of november, americans will honor the courage and sacrifice of veterans. more than 40 million have served our nation in uniform, from bunker hill, baghdad and beyond. i've been thinking about the words of one of those brave patriots, the son and grandson of military

mr. sessions: yes. i would just respond and cite senator durbin and i worked together to reduce the crack cocaine penalties some years ago. it probably -- ms. jackson lee: would you -- >> the time of the gentlewoman has expired. the witness is allowed to answer the last question. the time of the gentlewoman has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. issa, for five minutes. mr. issa: thank you, mr. chairman. general sessions, it's good to see you again. i don't speak russian and i don't meet with the russians and i don't really want to ask about those questions today. but i do have some very important questions. mr. sessions: congressman issa, you way that but i bet you have met with some russians. and if you in your lifetime, and taking those words at face value, somebody might accuse you of not being honest. that's what they have done to me. mr. issa: you are absolutely right. that is the challenge as a member of the foreign affairs committee i meet with lots of ambassadors. i don't want to try to remember everyone and everything that was discussed in what i thought was a pro for

durbin and i worked together to release crack cocaine penalties some years ag ago. >> the time of the gentlewoman has expired. >> i'm sorry. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. iser for 5 minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. general sessions, it's good to see you again. i don't speak russian, and i don't meet with russians, and i don't really want to ask about those questions today, but i do have some very important questions. >> you said that, but i bet you have met with some russian in your lifetime and taking those words at face value, somebody might accuse you of not being honest. that's what they've done to me. >> you're absolutely right, general sessions. it is the challenge that is a member of the foreign affairs committee, i meet with lots of ambassadors. i don't want to try to remember everyone and everything that was discussed and what i thought was a performa meeting. there were a couple of areas that were left over from previous administrations that i like to talk to you about. one of them was we sent loretta lynch, general lynch a letter related to sober homes and a predicament and the agreement is fairly straightforward. in her answer to the c

durbin. >> it's a watchdog agency. wall street hates it like the devil hates holy water. and they are trying to put an end to it with mrpping into mr. cordray's spot. >> agency created by elizabeth warren before she was a senator and enacted under dodd frank in 2010 in response to the financial collapse. here is what the legislative director for the white house mark short has to say about it. >> we're not supposed to be creating agencies that are not accountable to the american people that's what we have done with cfpb. mick mulvaney will do a good job making sure it's will fair and not killing jobs. >> the administration argues that the federal agency's format gives president trump the authority to name mick mulvaney as director. we are hearing reports from reuters that the general counsel at cfpb is siding with president trump. we don't have that hard on fox news but it is going to play out and it is indeed a fight over the administration and what many people think of as the swamp. brian: it's all about the acting. if thacting when the president names somebody this going to go up in smoke. just go ahead and name some

features about senator durbin's bill is not only that it was required institutionalizing the focus on it, it also requires annual reports on the threat of white supremacist violence. i know mr. rogers, who is not here today, there was a bill that went through this committee and was passed into the house, talking about having annual reports on hate -- on issues of terrorism. it should include a focus on domestic terrorism, as well. >> i'm glad to hear you say that, because acting secretary duke just mentioned the blurring of that line. i think it's absolutely correct. you can't focus on one versus the other. you know, every american life is sacred, like all life. we've got to make sure we go after every threat that there is to our citizenry. >> congressman, i'd like to come back to a point. i don't know about anyone else. i was very humbled and impressed by the first panel, and how they stepped up over the course of the last 15 years in a whole different level to protect our citizens. but they were very careful to emphasize at every opportunity that they're not -- in the quote, unquote, ideology business. when you start getting that level, where you have that kind of power t

mr. mulvaney could set foot in the door. over the weekend on some of the sunday talk shows, we had dick durbin, senator from illinois, lindseyraham, senator from north carolina. they were asked about this issue. [video clip] >> you can turn to dodd-frank, the cosponsors of the legislation. i read the provision. when the director steps aside, that deputy director shall be in charge of the agency. not "may." "shall be" in charge. now there's an effort to push mick mulvaney into power. this was the agency that fined wells fargo. it's a watchdog agency. wall street hates it like the devil hates holy water. trying to end it. but the statue is clear. >> who do you think is in charge of the consumer financial protection agency? >> i think the president is on good grounds to appoint someone. in terms of the agency, it is the most out-of-control federal agency in washington. no oversight at all. they can get into anybody's business. i do not think they do much in consumer protection. find midsized banks that had nothing to do with the financial collapse. host: safe to assume we will hear more on the cfpb position. again, congress in