mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: i ask the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. on september 5 of last year president trump announced the repeal of the deferred action for childhood arrival program known as daca. as a result of that decision by president trump, hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the united states as children, known as dreamers, face losing their work permits and their right to stay in america without deportation. they are threatened with being returned to countries which many of them barely remember, if at all. you see, these dreamers were brought here as children, infants, toddlers, young kids, brought here by parents to america, and they grew up here. they went to school in america, to our public schools and other schools that were available to them. they stood up in their classrooms every morning and pledged allegiance to that flag. they grew

mr. durbin: mr. president, today is the day. march 5, the deadline imposed by president trump on those who are being protected and allowed to stay in the united states under the daca program. it was last september 5 when president trump held a press conference. the attorney general backed him up and said that's it. the protection that is currently given to 780,000 young people in america allowing them to stay in this country and pursue their dreams will end on march 5 of 2018. today. 780,000 who were brought to the united states as infant, toddlers, children, and teenagers who've lived their lives in this country, gone to school, never had a serious run-in with the law, went through criminal background checks, came up with a $500 filing fee, and were given permission under an executive order of president obama to legally stay in this country for two years at a time. during that period they would not be deported and they would be allowed to work. who are these young people? well, they are known as the dreamers, although president

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise today on this side of the aisle to start thanking my friend, senator cochran. yesterday i made a longer speech in the "congressional record," but i didn't want this moment to go by without tributes from both sides of the aisle while you're personally present on the floor. my relationship with senator cochran was fortuitous. there used to be two giants of the senate here, ted stevens and danny inouye. they were the two people in charge of the department of defense aopenings pros bill and we bowed to their knowledge and wisdom. then the day came from their both gone and the new people stepping in with thad cochran and dick durbin. i felt totally undeserving to be give than kind of responsibility and would never follow dan chin know way, as great as he was serving our country both in the military and the united states senate, and thad had the responsibility following ted stevens as the defense committee chair. well, we both knew that we were being held to high standards

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise today on this side of the aisle to start thanking my friend, senator cochran. yesterday i made a longer speech in the "congressional record," but i didn't want this moment to go by without tributes from both sides of the aisle while you're personally present on the floor. my relationship with senator cochran was fortuitous. there used to be two giants of the senate here, ted stevens and danny inouye. they were the two people in charge of the department of defense aopenings pros bill and we bowed to their knowledge and wisdom. then the day came from their both gone and the new people stepping in with thad cochran and dick durbin. i felt totally undeserving to be give than kind of responsibility and would never follow dan chin know way, as great as he was serving our country both in the military and the united states senate, and thad had the responsibility following ted stevens as the defense committee chair. well, we both knew that we were being held to high standards

mr. durbin: mr. president, i thank the senator from north carolina, and i believe he does have a genuine interest in this issue. i attended several our meetings to discuss a bipartisan compromise and i -- compromise and i hope we can continue to do that. in the meantime what he's offered is the grassley approach, which was president trump's immigration approach, which limited legal migration to the united states so members of families that wanted to be reunified, some of whom have waited 10 or 20 years to rejoin their families in the united states, unfortunately it also included the $25 billion wall, which may be the price that has to be paid to spare these young daca dreamers. but i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there objection to the original request? mr. tillis: i or, mr. president. i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. ms. collins: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, i ask consent that when the senate pro

mr. durbin and others. 5 of us sitting around the cabinet table, mr. speaker. when the president said we'll take care of daca and he said, you send me a bill, i'll sign t, and i'll take the heat. i was not telling the truth, mr. speaker. because we had the bill called the commonsense crowd, about 29 state senators brought a bill to the floor and it took care of a couple things the president wanted to take care of. but it it wasn't good enough for him. notwithstanding the fact he said, you send me a bill, you decide, i.e. the congress. co-equal branch of government. who now stands supplant in the face of saying we'll pass something only if the president will sign it. that's not what the framers eant, mr. speaker. we're co-equal branch. not a subcertificate veeant branch of the congress of the -- we're subselfant branch of the congress of the united states. if we brought those three bills to the floor i just referred to, the dream act co-sponsored by ileana ros-lehtinen, a republican, and lucille and, -allard a. democrat, a democrat, and the goodlatte bill to the

mr. durbin: thank you very much. let me close by saying on march 24, students and americans of all ages will march in the streets to honor those who have been lost to senseless gun violence and to call on their elected representatives to step up. i support the marchers, and i will continue to work for meaningful action to help reduce gun violence. i'm going to keep doing everything i can to put the safety of our kids and our neighborhoods ahead of the gun lobby's agenda. i don't have any obligation to the national rifle association whatsoever, but i do have an obligation to a granddaughter living in brooklyn, new york, in the first grade who has been warned about what to do if a shooter comes into her classroom. i hope my colleagues from across the aisle will join me. it's time to take a stand and show leadership. america's waiting. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. lee: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: madam president, i'd like to speak for a few minutes about ryan nelson

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be dus spended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, we are in the process of considering an omnibus budget bill. it's over 2,000 pages long. in fairness, it includes many provisions of legislation that's been worked on by many of us for months. so it isn't a surprise package by and large. there are elements in it that are new, that have been recently negotiated, but the underlying bill, the appropriation bills included in it have been the subject of committee hearings and negotiations literally for months. i know that because since last year, we've been working on the defense department appropriation which is included in the bill. my reason for coming to the floor, though, is to address an issue that is not included in the omnibus bill, one that i believe should be, one that is timely and compelling and there's no reason why it's not included. it relates to those young people brought to the united states by their pa

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. durbin: most people cannot remember what happened in the first grade. i have vague memories of being a first grader. but there are certain things that may happen even at that young stage in your life that will be remembered. my six-year-old granddaughter who attends first grade in brooklyn, new york, a few weeks ago was told by her teacher what to do if a shooter, if a gunman came into the first grade of her classroom. my little granddaughter was told don't get by -- stand by the windows. you could get shot. if they enter the classroom with a gun, get down to the floor. is there any sane person in america who believes that's what the founding fathers had in mind when they wrote the second amendment to the bill of rights, the right to bear arms, that we would have reached a point in america where the prospects of gun violence in the first grade classrooms all the way through school, through high school and college, would become a reality in america? i can't imagine anyone in their wilde

mr. durbin: are we in quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: i ask that it be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: this afternoon there will be a vote on the senate floor which is of historic importance. it's rare i use those words to describe what is going on in the senate chamber. it's equally rare for us to actually take up an issue and debate it in this chamber. but this afternoon we'll face a critical vote. i can recall as most members can many votes that they've cast in the course of service in the congress, both the house and senate. but the votes that cause lost sleep and worry time and again are votes involving war. you see, part of my responsibility in the senate shared by my colleagues under article 1, section 8, is to actually vote to decide whether the united states of america shall go to war. the founding fathers were explicit. they wanted to give to congress that responsibility so members of congress could represent their constituents, house districts and states that we all represent. and that c

mr. durbin and others. 5 of us sitting around the cabinet table, mr. speaker. when the president said we'll take care of daca and he said, you send me a bill, i'll sign t, and i'll take the heat. i was not telling the truth, mr. speaker. because we had the bill called the commonsense crowd, about 29 state senators brought a bill to the floor and it took care of a couple things the president wanted to take care of. but it it wasn't good enough for him. notwithstanding the fact he said, you send me a bill, you decide, i.e. the congress. co-equal branch of government. who now stands supplant in the face of saying we'll pass something only if the president will sign it. that's not what the framers eant, mr. speaker. we're co-equal branch. not a subcertificate veeant branch of the congress of the -- we're subselfant branch of the congress of the united states. if we brought those three bills to the floor i just referred to, the dream act co-sponsored by ileana ros-lehtinen, a republican, and lucille and, -allard a. democrat, a democrat, and the goodlatte bill to the

mr. durbin: mr. president, i thank my colleague from texas, and i listened carefully to his words about gun safety, and i agree with so much of what he said. he talked about bringing his bill to the floor. i think his bill is a good bill. his bill tries to literally provide more information into the nics system. we do. we definitely need to do that. he also said he was open to amendments on the floor. i am as well. i think that there are other aspects of gun safety that we may even find common ground on as well. but i might rye mind him that the decision about the business on the floor of the senate is in the hands of his side of the aisle. it is your decision to decide through your majority leader as to what we consider on the floor of the senate. an effort to do this by unanimous consent is certainly understandable in light of the events of the last few weeks, but if senator mcconnell were to announce that as soon as we finish this banking bill, we are going to move to the fix nics bill and have it

mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, for the past six years, senator sheldon whitehouse of rhode island has delivered weekly addresses on the senate floor on climate change saying, quote, "time to wake up". each time he discusses the disastrous effect of global warming. climate change threatens our national security and our local communities. climate change drives global conflict and its far-reaching national security issues. there is growing evidence that climate change is making drought more frequent and severe. it has contributed to the drought in syria and rapid urbanization in somalia. the pbs news hour reported that more than a million smoilies -- smolis were forced from their home. increasingly severe drought has led to a scarety of land and water. farmers who fled the city claim herders burned down their home and turned their farmland into grass land. this has pushed farmers and herders to the city and most end up in camps, burdened by poverty, a tinderbox. last march 110 people died from starvation pr

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i thank my colleague from connecticut as well as my colleague from rhode island for calling us together on the floor of the senate today to discuss a timely and important topic. mr. president, we know that vladimir putin and russia attacked america's democracy in 2016. and it's clear that vladimir putin will try again. c.i.a. director pompeo recently said he had, quote, every expectation russia would try to influence our 2018 mid-term election. we've been warned. we can expect russia to continue to use the tactics they've used before and to come up with new ones. we can expect them to hack and leak sensitive information. we can expect these russians to use social media and propaganda to spread false information. we see it almost every week. we can expect them to try to hack into state election systems and more. mr. president, i was home over the weekend in sprin springfiel, illinois, of course the state capital, and ransom into a fella who works for the state board of elections

mr. durbin: would the senator yield for a brief question? mr. corker: yes. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i appreciate the leadership of the chairman of the foreign reels committee -- and i agree with hit proposed cut come of this vote. that's not to diminish the importance of issues raised by the senator from utah, the senator from vermont. i do agree with him, it is the preferred, careful, cautious way of dealing with competing interests in a complex world. but i would just ask the senator further to that point whether he can confirm my understanding that actually using this unique process, is it his understanding, as it is mine that there actually be a vote-a-rama? that is, we would end up voting on multiple different proposals, not just this one proposal and create perhaps some confusion and some more chaos into what is admittedly a complex and sensitive foreign relations and national security matter? mr. corker: that is correct. so in closing, mr. president, i would just ask, just like every other committee here in the senate, hopefully takes its work seriously and does wo

mr. mueller during the investigation. and of course there is dick durbinsenator from illinois who talked about the potential if mr. mueller is fired for a constitutional crisis. here is what he said. >> if the president reaches out and stops this investigation, that is a constitutional crisis in this country that has been said by democrats and republicans alike. what it means is, it would be incumbent of congress on bipartisan basis to use the tools at its disposal. reporter: one of the republican who you might call a warning to president trump over the weekend dismissing mr. mueller who issued a warning was chuck grassley, the chairman of the senate judiciary committee. listen to what he said, not only about the investigation of mueller having to continue but also about the potential for an investigation of the fbi's use of the fisa warrant to initiate parts of this investigation. >> particularly in the fbi and the justice department there should be no political interference whatsoever. so if there is political interference, let's say in trump, in regard

mr. chairman. >> you bet. senator durbin? >> thanks, mr. chairman. and thanks to the panel. mr. petty, i wasn't here as you made your statement, but i read it in its entirety. it's touching and i know it came from your heart. and our hearts are with you and your family at this time of loss. you talk about reaching out to these young people before they reach the point where they're dangerous. and thank you. that is a noble statement from a person who has suffered as your family has suffered. i'm focussing on trauma and the impact of trauma on children. and what i find gun violence in chicago and go into the jails and ask about these teenagers, most all of them have been victims of violent trauma or have witnessed trauma and are -- they're changed by it and they need help. i'm glad you made that point. ms. posada, i want to ask you something you may not be able to answer, but i reflect on it a lot. why? why did this incident on february 14th have such an impact on america? it's not the first mass shooting by any means. it's not the first shooting in a school by any means. sadly it

durbin: thank you, mr. chairman. chairman grassely: after senator blumenthal, if they are here, koontz.and harris and i am going to step out for three or four minutes. you are always on the honor system. sen. blumenthal: first of all, etty, thank you for being here. i know it involves relieving the pain and grief you suffered in this very room. parents of the sandy hook victims came to talk to us about their grief and pain in similar testimony and nothing happened. congress has been complicit. has continuedcity to cause death every day, 90 of them everyday, this day in america on average. my hope is that something has changed. ms. poseidon, not only because your students are intelligent and active, but the young people of america are saying enough is enough. the sign that one of them carried the other day -- our blood your hands. thousands of them today, i just left them out on the front steps change.apitol demanding the title of this hearing is "see something say something."? we have to do something, not just talk a

mr. chairman. >> i have a letter and requested to introduce into the record from the american federation of teachers, national education association, be entered without objection. senator durbin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it's ban long time. i don't have a lot of memoryies about what it was like to be in the first grade, but i do know this, my six-year-old granddaughter, who goes to a first-grade public school, in brooklyn, new york, has memory of what happened after parkland, florida. she told me about it. teacher told the first graders in her school that if there's a shooter in your school, stay away from the windows and get down on the floor. there is any sane person in america who believes that is what the found fathers had in mind with the second amendment? that's why we're here today. that's why the students from parkland inspired students across the united states of america to finally stand up and say, to us, to the politicians, enough. enough. i just have to say and put it in straight term i can, 17 lives in parkland, florida, are worth a lot more than the weak response from this committee and from the president. [applause] >> i believe when 97% of the american peop

mr. mueller that he is conducting. here is first what dick durbin, the senator from illinois said, should the president one day fire rod rosenstein to put someone in place who would then fire mr. mueller. >> if the president reaches out and stops this investigation, that is a constitutional crisis in this country. that has been said by democrats and republicans alike. what it means is, it would be incumbent on congress, on a bipartisan basis to use the tools at its disposal. reporter: but here is what chuck grassley said, someone who said mr. mueller should be allowed to conclude his investigation but also looking at the department of justice and the fbi may not be a bad idea. >> particularly in the fbi and the justice department there should be no political interference whatsoever. so if there is political interference, let's say in trump, in regard to russia or trump and anything else, then perfectly legitimate to look into it in the previous administration. political interference under republican or democrat in the justice department is just plai

durbin, senator warren and senator booker for coming on board that resolution. and i hope this bipartisan resolution will gain more and more support in the coming days. mr. president, many americans are unaware that the people of yemen are suffering today in a devastating civil war with saudi arabia and their allies on one side and houthi rebels on the other. in november of last year, the united nations emergency relief coordinator said that yemen was on the brink of, quote, the largest famine the world has seen for many decades. end quote. so far at least 10,000 civilians have died. three million have been displaced and over 40,000 have been wounded in this war. 15 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation. more than 20 million people in yemen, over two-thirds of that country's population, need some kind of humanitarian support with nearly 10 million in acute need of assistance. more than one million suspected cholera cases have been reported, one million cholera cases have been reported representing potentially the worst cholera outbreak in world history. many americans probably are also not aware that u.s. forces have been actively enga

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise to speak in morning business and ask unanimous consent -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, back in 1985 i was a second-term member of the house of representatives and a member, i was proud to say, of the house appropriations committee. the committee chairman was a man by the name of jamie whitley. he was from the state of mississippi. he was a mississippi democrat. yes, there used to be mississippi democrats. jamie whitten had been a witness to a great deal of american history. he was on the floor of the house as a newly minted congressman from mississippi. on december 8, 1941, when franklin roosevelt delivered his day of infamiliary speech. here i was speaking to this same man 44 years later, and i was a junior member of his appropriations committee. i knew that aopenings pros under the house rules had several -- i knew that appropriations under the house

mr. durbin: mr. president, on september 5 of last year, president trump made an announcement. it's an announcement that affected the lives of about 800,000 people living in america. the announcement was that the president was going to abolish the daca program. daca was a program created by president obama by executive order. and under that executive order, if you were brought to the united states as an i infant, a toddler, a young child, if you grew up in this country, educated in this country, had no criminal record of any consequence, the president, president obama, said you have a chance to apply to stay in this country on a temporary renewable basis two years at a time and you won't be deported and you can take a job. 800,000 young people came forward under president obama's executive order. under this daca order. what did they do with their lives? many of them went to school and had to work at the same time because being undocumented, they didn't wall identify for any -- didn't qualify for any student assistance. a lot of them took jobs all across the country. about 20,00