mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: democratic whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, let me try to put this in perspective and let me start with something that i hope we all agree on. i think there are three things about immigration that democrats and republicans can agree on. let's see if we can say those three things and all agree. we need border security in the united states. we cannot have open borders. we need border security. number two, if someone is dangerous, trying to get in america, we don't want them here. and if there's someone undocumented in america who's dangerous, we want them to leave. those two things i think both parties can agree on. the third thing, it really gets to the heart of it. we need comprehensive immigration reform. it isn't just a matter of solving the issue of the day. it's a matter of looking at all of our immigration laws and saying we've got to make this all work. the senator from north carolina has undoubtedly heard what i've heard from our friends in agriculture, whether it's ranching or dairy or picking fruit, they nee

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, senator wicker of mississippi and i have a bipartisan amendment that means a lot to thousands of people who use amtrak. it's been ten years since we asked the inspector general amtrak to do a study on on-time performance. ontime performance has a direct impact on the number of people who ride on amtrak trains, how frequently they use them and how much they rely upon them. but there's a problem. amtrak owns very few railroad tracks in america. they share the tracks with freight trains and the freight trains have been pushing ahead of them and making the amtrak trains wait. how long did they wait? between one year, 2,016 and 2,017, 17,000 hours of delay on amtrak trains directly attributable to freight trains that didn't yield the way to the amtrak trains. that's just one factor. so senator wicker and i have asked the inspector general to do a report on on-time performance that we can consider in making amtrak more efficient, more profitable and popular with america. i hope o

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the minority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, back in the day when i was a trial lawyer and you had a witness come to the stand who made a big mistake, said something that would hurt you case, maybe even decide it the wrong way or misrepresent something, you went through a period of rehabilitating the question, which is basically asking friendly questions and getting the witness back into a better position. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. this afternoon president trump attempted to rehabilitate himself for his performance in helz helsinki, finland. he said i great meeting with the president of russia. sadly it's not reported that way. the fake news is going crazy. i don't think that comment is going to rehabilitate president trump from his performance in helsinki. it was sad, heartbreaking, and in many ways infuriating to think he stood within a few feet of this russian tyrant and said he believed that man, vladimir putin, more than he believed the intelligence agencies, the department of defense, and the dep

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, the world breathed a sigh of relief. for almost two weeks now we've had our attention focused on 12 children, thai soccer team players who were lured into a cave with their coach and were thought to be lost for days. they couldn't be found in this flooded cave. and then the good news that they were discovered. they were still alive. it was a miracle. but then came an extraordinary challenge, how to safely bring these children, these 12 children out of this trap that they were in, to bring them to safety. i cannot imagine the effort that was undertaken. it included countries from around the world and the united states coming together to provide extraordinary levels of assistance at great cost to save the lives of these 12 children, to bring them out of this trap that they were in, to reunite them with their families. but all the prayers and all the hard work, all the bravery and all the investment paid off. these children are safe, as is their coach. they are currently being

mr. durbin: thank you very much, madam president. first, let me thank my colleague and friend from maine. if you ask the american people from one corner of this country to the other, what are they worried about? what are they concerned? what you just talked about is the top one, two, three issues. the accessibility and affordability of health insurance. time and time again as some of us have been in a predicament when someone in our family was very sick, you have no health insurance, you will never forget it. and there are some who live with not having health insurance or it is so darned expensive, they can't afford it. thank you for the effort that you have made. it's one thing to say you're against obamacare, you're against the affordable care act, the obvious question is, well, what would you replace it with when given a chance the other side of the aisle had nothing, and that's why, thankfully, we stopped their efforts to repeal it. you and i are open to making it better, reach more people in an efficient way. but saying we'll ge

mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise to speak in morning business. unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, from the earliest moments in the presidential campaign, donald trump made it clear that immigration was an important issue to his election. you recall statements that he made about the construction of a wall on the southern border of the united states. he called it big glorious, 2,000 mile wall and he promised us the mexicans would pay for it. over and over he promised us they would pay for it. that wasn't the only recognition made during the campaign so it came as no surprise when president trump was elected immigration was an issue in his administration. it is ironic in a way that this nation of immigrants called america would have such struggles these days with the issue of immigration. many of us can trace our origins to recent immigrants. in my own case, my mother who was an immigrant to this country, and here her son turned out to have a full-ti

mr. richard durbin. also longtime judiciary committee member -- you are. no, i said no. i said, longtime member of judiciary committee. >> [applause] the leadership: conference on civil rights, alliance for justice, and people for the american way. thank you all for joining us. we have invited these legal experts to speak today, because what we are here to discuss isn't political. it is about the constitutional duty of the united states senate to advise and consent on the most important issues that ever comes before us, a nomination of a supreme court justice. in order to fulfill that duty, the senate must have the records spanning judge kavanaugh's career as a public servant, including his time as staff secretary for the bush administration. just this morning, senator feinstein released a letter to the national archives, signed by all members of the senate judiciary committee, including longtime member dick durbin. thank you. requesting the full set of documents. senator feinstein's leadership on this issue has been extraordinary. before we continue, i want to how clear

mr. durbin: i join the senator from arkansas in commending those who are involved in law enforcement risking their lives for the safety of this nation at all levels. federal, state, and local. they put their badges on every single day and risk their lives for us. and that's a fact. and within the department of homeland security, there are men and women who are cons yens shusly trying to keep america safe. i commend them as well. i believe they are doing their job as they understand it and they are risking their lives many times to achieve it. to not only stop the illegal flow of drugs into our country but to deter crime, to ferret out criminals where possible and they risk their lives to achieve that goal. i have not joined in the call for the abolition of i.c.e., but i will not join in a call for the add der ration of i.c.e. because -- adoration of i.c.e. because of one specific issue. the zero tolerance of the trump administration resulted in our agents, the department of homeland security, forcibly separating children from their parents. forcibly separating up to 3,000 children from their

mr. durbin: mr. president, i thank the senator from connecticut. i'm happy he's bringing to the attention of the senate this critical issue of the future of the supreme court and the impact it will have on families across america. certainly when it comes to something as basic as our health insurance, we understand this. there are forces in work in washington in the trump administration that are trying to put in the affordable care act and in congress many members of congress, the house and senate, have voted 60 times to appeal the affordable care act. we barely saw it survive just a few months ago when senator john mccain in the middle of the night came and stood in that well and voted no along with two other republican senators. they saved the affordable care act. most americans had their own questions about the affordable care act and how important it was, but they couldn't understand how the republicans would come to us and say get rid of it and have no replacement. we realized as the senator from connecticut just explained that under the old ru

mr. kavanaugh's responses to written follow-up questions from senator durbin reinforced the impression thatcav anyhow had no awareness or involvement in the policy of detainees until it became public. senator durbin told roll call this month that his office had no record of a response from kavanaugh to that letter that they sent him 11 years ago. obviously the justice department never prosecuted him. but dick durbin is still on the judiciary committee. democratic senator pat leahy is also still on the committee. are they going to resurface this is now? does this end up being a bigger deal now that kavanaugh is back in front of the committee he reportedly lied to? when he was before them last time, 12 years ago. joining us now, sherrilyn ifill, president and director counsel of the naacp legal defense and education fund. it is nice to see you. thank you for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> i wanted to ask about how you foresee the fight over judge kavanaugh's nomination? how you foresee it unfolding and whether we should look to the previous battles over his confirmation fur a lower c

mr. kavanaugh: i knew manny miranda, because he was a member of senator hatch's staff. sen. durbin did you ever worked with him in terms of judicial nominations? mr. kavanaugh: he was part of a group of senate staffers cited work on judicial nominations with the people on the department of justice and the white house counsel's office. we talked about the lag time. i did not know a lot of the memos from the democratic side. i did not suspect that. had i known horses that, i would -- had i knowny or suspected akamai would have immediately told judge gonzales. sen. durbin: all right, my time is of some of what i think you bar with the american association when they downgraded your rating was they thought you were dismissive of this, that au did not take this as serious problem, that a republican staffer had broken into computers of democratic senators and their staff, sealing documents and steering than with those plotting strategy for the white house. would you like to respond as to whether or not you think this is? a serious matter, perhaps criminal? senator, i do not know what the

durbin: of course he is. every president would be. but you just had a man on your show, mr.who has an extraordinary position. he is involves not only in the selection process, he is key to it. when the white house chose neil gorsuch, they didn't call mr. or such to tell them, they called mr. leo and they said would you like to call the judge and tell him the good news, he's going to be the president's nominee? that's what's going on here. the federalist society is going through a clearance process, make no mistake. they make sure before any neighborly reaches the final they know exactly what issues. >> chris: let me just ask you, so what? the fact is the federalist society has vetted these people, they are all distinguished jurists. they are obviously conservative, what you don't like, but how can you say anybody who is on that list is out? >> senator durbin: i didn't say that. what i will say is this. i can tell you this, i think the chris wallace second debate, if that's what it was question two then candidate donald trump nailed it. at the president is looking for someone

mr. kava would answer some of the questions that he has not appeared in your written questions to senator durbin, you said you were not involved in the nomination process either of mr. haynes or judge bybee. he said that before. brett kavanaugh: i did not have primary responsibility. senator schumer: were you involved? brett kavanaugh: there is a committee that needs to discuss prospective judicial nominees. senator schumer: did you voice opinions about them at that committee? brett kavanaugh: i don't remember the timing, that if it was when i was in the counsel's office, it would've come to the judicial selection committee when i was part of it and have been part of the committee. senator schumer: can you give me a yes or no answer? poor you involved in discussions involving the nominations of bee.es or by brett kavanaugh: i believe those were still -- work when i was still in the counsel's office. so the answer is yes. senator schumer: thank you. here is what you said in your written questions in response, you said it is fair to say that all of the attorneys and the white house counsel's offic

durbin. >> thank you mr. chairman. a judge appointed by a republican president george w. bush ordered the reunification of separated families. the practice of separating families was implemented without any effective system or procedure for tracking the children, after they were separated from parents. the enabling communication between parents and communication after separation, reuniting the parents and children. " commander, your expertise as public health. were you consulted? was your agency consulted before the zero-tolerance policy was put into effect so that you could address the issues that the judge raised? >> senator, to be clear, my last 15, three was march weeks prior to the announcement. as of that date, neither i nor any staff reporting to me were advised of the impending zero-tolerance policy announcement. the factou aware of that the zero-tolerance policy was going to be proposed? >> i was aware because i had been in discussions at that point for more than a year, of policies which could result in the separation of children from family units and their refe

senator durbin, as usual, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> mr. breaking news. i'll speak live with the health and human services secretary, there you see him, standing by. and i will ask him why the trump administration is missing a deadline to reunite migrant children under the age of 5 and their parents. plus, we'll have much more on the president's escalating fight, with nato allies, how will it play out, at the summit. just another day on the farm. or is it? this farmer's morning starts in outer space. where satellites feed infrared images of his land into a system built with ai. he uses watson to analyze his data with millions of weather forecasts from the cloud, and iot sensors down here, for precise monitoring of irrigation. it's a smart way to help increase yields, all before the rest of us get out of bed. these are the specialists we're proud to call our own. experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. expert medicine works here. learn more at cancercenter.com [ coughs ] ♪ ♪ [ screams ] ♪ [ laugh

onill call it out on waters, illinois senator richard durbin, in this case, mr. scott pruitt.ost:, as far as hypocrisy what would you list chief among them? caller: in the position he held of the epa, you should strike a balance between the industries, coal, for individuals who want to save forests from being chopped down. host: are you saying he did not achieve that balance? why? let personalse he greed get in the way of what he was supposed to do, of his job. ont: massachusetts, janet, democrat line. caller: hi. i got a request and a comment. the comment on scott pruitt. , thatk we can all thank woman with her baby on her hip , stood there and confronted him, you could see it in his face, he was resigning then. that is my comment. host: you think it is the public pressure that forced him to make the decision? caller: yes. he finally found his heart. she found it for him. anyway. she talked about how her baby will be affected by the pollution. that he is creating. my request, would you please limit the time you put on the air, donald trump's diatribes. tvave to go running to

democrats like dick douche ira durbin and harris wrote it doesn't do enough like sentencing guidelines and there are concerns about how truly the white house is in the process. mron crime and suggesting the death penalty for drug dealers. >> that means if we catch a drug dealer, death penalty. that's right. >> reporter: still he has shown a desire to give convicted criminals a second chance. he has pardoned several of his political allies, jack johnson and the sentence of another man who is serving a life sentence due to a drug crime. the president was made aware of the case by kim kardashian who came to the white house to lobby for johnson. >> serves thousands and thousands of people that deserve commutations and deserve pardons and shouldn't take kim kardashian going to the white house to get something like that done. >> reporter: the problems with cory booker they are concerned the name first step this could be the end of the process as opposed to the beginning. there are a number of reforms they would like to see included in this package and they fear that if this bill becomes law, politicians will last the motivation to keep the progress going. back to you

>> this is one of dick durbin's few moments of complete clarity that a vote against mr.t the polls. i think there is another possibility that he said. he talked about if they vote for -- they vote one way and lose their seats its possible they lose their seats and the president's pick is confirmed and i would be betting on mitch mcconnell for that. >> bill: in a pickel? >> it seems to me you'll get tremendous resistance to, quote, from democrats on this. i don't think there is any question the democratic base is energized. the polls favor the democrats when it comes to issues like abortion, healthcare, gay rights that really this would be a rubber stamp for a conservative agenda on the court. so you will get a lot of people, especially the swing voters, who might regard it as a vote of conscience on the part of a red state democrat and not punish them for it. even if it costs you a seat there are other ways for democrats to take care the likes of a joe donnelly and joe manchin. they can give them other positions later on. you might see it as an endgame as if it's a piece

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc. the heller amendment, 3405 ; the durbin amendment ; 34 -- durbin amendment, 3422. i further ask consent that at 2:15 p.m. today there be five minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of that time, that the senate vote in relation to the heller and durbin amendments in the order listed and that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments prior to the votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendments. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins, for others proposes amendments numbered 3405 and 3422 en bloc to amendment numbered 3399. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate previous order, the senate 2019 spending on the agenda for most of the week including a package that has been for five different departments. we'll bring you back to the senate live when they gavel back in after their lunch in at 2:15 p.m. we will be in kansas city, missouri, where president trump will be

mr. putin to advance a well-coordinated u.s. message supported by senior leaders in your administration to hold russia accountable where it's unacceptable behavior. it was signed by yourself, chuck schumer, mark warner, dick durbin others, dianne feinstein, et cetera. why did you go from calling for the meeting to be canceled to saying don't meet him alone. do you feel there is no chance he would cancel? >> well, very little chance he would cancel and i think it was very important for us to also state as you point out that if there is a meeting, the meeting has to be staffed by his foreign policy specialist. the last meeting he had with kim jong-un was a disaster. he went in by himself unprepared, ill informed, he gave up our military exercises with the south koreans. he chose to describe them the way the north koreass and chinese do, as provocative war games. if there's another repetition of this, it will be disastrous and one way to stop it would be to not meet with putin but at a minimum to have skilled foreign policy experts with you at the meeting. >> what are your top three fears about what it is that donald trump would do or say at a meeting with putin without anyone else in the room? >> he would likely a

mr. gonzales concluded with the attorney general. this is the first time you have ever made a comment on the bybee memorandum? you respond to senator durbin and said in a follow-up question that you did not agree with the reasoning or rationale. this is the first time you have ever said anything about the bybee? >> it is possible i said something to people i worked with but this is sort of the first time i've been questioned about it. >> but prior to this time, you have not made a comment to others indicating you found it particularly offensive? because it has been a major issue out there. please. senator, no judge gonzalez had a press conference where the memo was repealed and talked about this issue. i think also at his confirmation hearing he said he disagreed i believe with the legal analysis, that the legal analysis and there was incorrect. so i know members of the administration have repudiated that memorandum or at least the legal analysis of that memorandum. >> your testimony is you had nothing to do with the promotion of bybee to the 19th circuit. is that correct? >> that is not one of the nominees i worked on. i knew he was bein

mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. urbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, i'm at a loss for words to describe what happened yesterday in helsinki, finland. i'm disappointed as well by the stunning silence of some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in response to it. when each of us is elected to serve in congress, the house and the senate, we are asked to take an oath and a very serious oath. in it, we swear to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. the president of the united states similarly swears to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states. madam president, yesterday in helsinki, finland, the president of the united states was engaged in an appalling display. what we saw at that press conference, standing just several feet away from vladimir putin, the leader of russia, was the president's decision to turn his back on the organizations

mr. durbin: i would like to thank the senator for joining in this statement about i.c.e. which is in the department of homeland security. there are certain things that even democrats and republicans coming together could agree on. let me tell you what i think they are. border security. the united states needs security at its borders. there's no question about that, whoever the president may be. the second thing that we agree on is that no one -- no one that is dangerous should be allowed to come into this country and anybody who is undocumented and dangerous should be removed. 68 senators agreed on comprehensive immigration reform. our immigration laws are a mess, an absolute mess. that's why we continue to debate the topic. 68 of us came to the floor here and voted for a bipartisan measure five years ago to fix the whole system. it passed the senate, died in the house. now where are we today? we're here today debating on the floor the future of i.c.e. there are parts of the functionability of this agency of i.c.e. which all of us would agree on. the fact that i.c.e. has

mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to thank my colleague from rhode island as well as those who were on the floor earlier. the remarks address our future with the relationship with our nato alliance and particularly in light of the visit that president trump is now making with vladimir putin of russia. i'm glad that many of my colleagues came here to speak on the threats posed by president trump to america's core national security alliance, something that would have once been unimaginable. in fact, there was a time when a republican president named ronald reagan really inspired the united states and the world by noting how important the nato alliance is to the world and to the united states. in a speech which he gave to the parliament of great britain in 1982, ronald reagan said, we're approaching the end of a bloody century plagued by a terrible political invention, totalitarianism. it is not that democracy less vig rugs, but they have refined their instruments of repression. optimism is an order, pr