ms. saldana is a true american success story. she rose from beginnings in south texas as the youngest of the seven children. she went on to become an accomplished partner at major law firm. she is now one of the nation's top law enforcement officers. she couldn't be more qualified to lead immigration and customs enforcement. don't take my word for it. one of our good friends here in the senate, senator john cornyn, the senior senator from texas, felt strongly enough about her qualifications that he was good enough and introduce ms. saldana at her confirmation hearing before the committee i chair and that the presiding officer serves on, the committee on homeland security and government affairs. senator cornyn told us that day that she was highly qualified, fiercely independent and served his state with honor. here's what he said "with respect to the law, the rule of law is our standard and i think it should be, we would be hard pressed to find a person more qualified to enforce the law than ms. saldana." his comments. that's high

ms. saldana is the first latina u.s. attorney in texas history and only the second woman to hold that position in the 135-year history of texas northern district. in her role as u.s. attorney and prosecutor over the past decade, ms. saldana has served our state with honor, fighting corrupt public officials, organized crime, sex traffickers and other dangerous criminals. throughout her career, mrs. saldana has developed a reputation for her decisive and fair temperament and her commitment to excellence." end of quote. what is the source of this glowing tribute to mrs. saldana? it turns out the source is the senator from just left the floor, the senior senator from texas, who announced today he is voting against her. after this, he is voting against her. why? he said because she would aid and abet this president of the united states in implementing his executive order. well, mr. president, elections have consequences. i noted that president obama was re-elected by the people of the united states of america and given the re

ms. saldana is the first latina united states attorney in texas history. she's only the second woman to hold that position in the 135-year history of the texas northern district of the federal courts. second woman. in her role as u.s. attorney and prosecutor over the past decade, ms. saldana has served our state with honor, this person said, fighting corrupt public officials, organized crime, sex traffickers and other dangerous criminals. throughout her career, ms. saldana has developed a reputation for her decisive and fair temperament and her commitment to excellence. can you imagine a more ringing endorsement for someone to head up i.c.e., immigration, customs and enforcement? you would expect that came from the white house, wouldn't you? you would think this must have been sent by president obama personally, such glowing tribute to this nominee. no, the -- quote -- "that i've read -- the quote that i've read to you comes from the senior senator from texas, senator john cornyn. senator cornyn, of course, sits on the republican side of the aisle. senator

ms. saldana, the first hispanic person -- second woman to run i.c.e. does not fall victim to politics here in the u.s. senate. she is by all accounts exactly what this critical agency needs -- a proven leader, a respected member of the law enforcement community. what do they say about integrity, mr. president? if you've got it, nothing else matters. integrity, if you don't have it, nothing else matters. she has it. she has it. she is going to have a tough job ahead of her if she is confirmed this week. but i believe that she's more than up to the tafnlgt i urge db i urge so strongly for our colleagues to join me, to join senator cornyn and others to support her. you'll never regret it. with that, mr. president, i'm looking around the senate chamber, and i know we're going to have a lot of folks here in about an hour and a half voting. but right now i don't see anybody waiting to speak, so i'll note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. carper: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator fro

ms. saldana has embraced those policies. i believe that if the recent election was a mandate for us to work together on bipartisan solutions to our country's biggest challenges, but apparently the president didn't get the memo. i was actually at a lunch at the white house with other leaders of both parties across the capitol where speaker boehner, the incoming majority leader, and i, the current majority leader in the house, asked the president please don't do this. don't poison the well, give us a chance to do our job as the new majority in the house and the senate and try to pass consensus immigration reform bills and put them on your desk. the president ignored that. so the president chose to poison the well and to make it harder for us to do what we know we all have to do and that is to fix our broken immigration system to the best of our ability. but the president's reckless executive actions have done further damage. they are deeply unfair to people who have been waiting patiently in line according to the written immig