[Pages S261-S267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

   BORN-ALIVE ABORTION SURVIVORS PROTECTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--
                                Resumed

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 6, which the clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 4, S. 6, a bill to amend 
     title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a health care 
     practitioner from failing to exercise the proper degree of 
     care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or 
     attempted abortion.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask consent to speak for 3 minutes as 
in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


        National Trafficking and Modern Slavery Prevention Month

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, January is National Trafficking and 
Modern Slavery Prevention Month, so today, Senator Cortez Masto and I 
are introducing a resolution to honor victims and to raise very needed 
awareness.
  As I speak, victims are being trafficked across our southern border. 
We each have a role to play in protecting the most vulnerable among us, 
especially women and children, from becoming victims of trafficking.
  As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I am committed to 
making human trafficking prevention a priority in this Congress, and I 
thank the Senator from Nevada for leading this effort.


                          Biden Administration

  Mr. President, on his watch, President Biden wiped away student debt 
for more than 5 million borrowers, stiffing taxpayers with a heavier 
burden. That is on top of trillions of dollars in partisan deficit 
spending that fueled the fires of inflation to 20 percent during his 
administration.
  His failed border policies allowed more than 10 million people to 
come into the country illegally.
  I remember, during his inaugural address, President Biden pledged to 
unite Americans. At that time, I welcomed that very much. 
Unfortunately, his administration's actions did not match those lofty 
words of uniting Americans.
  During his 4 years in the Oval Office, the 46th President adopted the 
divisive policies of leftwing ideologues and the more radical 
candidates that he beat in the Presidential primary. It was a notable 
departure from my 28 years serving together with him here in the U.S. 
Senate.
  Even on his way out the door, President Biden doubled down on the 
dark and divisive rhetoric that failed his party in this most recent 
election. He put illegal immigrants before the security of Americans. 
He doubled down on class warfare, hammering, as you so often hear, the 
same nail that the ``wealthy'' need to pay their ``fair share'' when 
our Tax Code is among the most progressive in the world.
  Many Iowans question the fairness of pardoning the President's son, 
including for tax evasion and crimes not even specified, especially 
when President Biden promised that he would not pardon his son. Iowans 
also tell me that wiping away student debt isn't fair to those who 
saved and sacrificed to pay their fair share.
  In this Congress, I will work with President Trump to put America 
first and strengthen the economy so hard-working families, farmers, and 
small businesses can get ahead and, of course, stay ahead. That 
includes renewing the Trump tax cuts, securing our border, and securing 
peace through strength.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.

[[Page S262]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The majority leader is recognized.


                          Cabinet Nominations

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, in his inaugural address yesterday, 
President Trump spoke of his confidence in America. He spoke of the 
country's future: prosperity, security, strength. And I share the 
President's confidence and his optimism about what we can accomplish in 
the coming years.
  President Trump has brought a new direction to Washington, and 
yesterday marked the beginning of a new era.
  Here in the Senate, we have begun the process of confirming the 
President's Cabinet. Within hours of President Trump taking office, we 
confirmed the first of his Cabinet nominees--Marco Rubio to be 
Secretary of State--in a unanimous vote.
  Secretary Rubio demonstrated his command of foreign policy last week 
at his confirmation hearing. He made it clear that under his 
leadership, the State Department will be focused on its core mission.
  In his own words, that mission is ``to promote peace abroad, and 
security and prosperity here at home.''
  Gone are the days of a foreign policy exporting progressive 
ideologies, appeasing our adversaries, and demonstrating weakness on 
the world stage. The State Department is back in the business of 
advancing America's interests.
  This is a welcome change in direction to our foreign policy, and 
Secretary Rubio is ready to hit the ground running. During his time in 
the Senate, he was a leading voice, articulating America's role in the 
world, and he has a clear command of the issues facing the world today.
  As a Senator, he was vocal about the threat the Chinese Communist 
Party poses and the stakes of the competition between the United States 
and China. He recognizes the need for American leadership in Latin 
America to promote democracy and justice.
  And he is clear-eyed about the threats that America faces from other 
countries as well as from nonstate actors.
  I look forward to working with Secretary Rubio and the Trump 
administration to restore American strength abroad and promote peace 
and prosperity here at home.
  In the coming days, the Senate will hold additional votes on the 
President's national security team. We expect a vote on the nomination 
of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the CIA later today. Mr. Ratcliffe, 
like Secretary Rubio, earned bipartisan support after his confirmation 
hearing last week.
  He was reported out of the Intelligence Committee with a bipartisan 
vote yesterday, and he will bring valuable knowledge and experience to 
his new post, including from his time on the House Intelligence 
Committee and as Director of National Intelligence in the first Trump 
administration.
  Under the Biden administration, the intelligence community made some 
notable misses. In 2021, the intelligence community failed to 
anticipate the swift collapse of Afghanistan in response to President 
Biden's decision to go ahead with the withdrawal, a withdrawal that 
cost the lives of 13 American servicemembers.
  In 2022, the intelligence community warned that Ukraine would fall in 
days in the face of a Russian attack. Yet Kyiv is still firmly in 
Ukrainian hands almost 3 years later.
  And in 2023, Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel took place with 
little or no warning from the intelligence community. And 
unfortunately, the list goes on. We need a return to fundamentals.
  Last week, in his confirmation hearing, Mr. Ratcliffe promised to 
return to the CIA's core mission. That means recruiting spies to 
collect intelligence and providing objective intelligence analysis 
without bias.
  Mr. Ratcliffe brings the right experience and the right approach to 
the CIA, and I look forward to working with him in this position.


                       Republican Senators-Elect

  Mr. President, before I close, I want to say a word about two new 
Senators who will take office later today. I am very pleased to welcome 
Ashley Moody of Florida and John Husted of Ohio to the U.S. Senate. 
Ashley Moody began her career as a lawyer in private practice, and in 
all the spare time that a young lawyer has, she volunteered to help 
domestic violence victims seeking protection in court.
  At the age of 31, after already practicing at a law firm and as a 
Federal prosecutor, she became the youngest judge in the State of 
Florida. During her time as a judge, she recruited volunteer attorneys 
to stand with children whose parents did not appear in court with them 
and developed a mentoring program for at-risk youth.
  In 2018, she was elected attorney general in Florida, a post from 
which she held the Biden administration accountable and defended 
Florida law. And now, she is bringing her energy and experience here to 
the U.S. Senate.
  Being sworn in alongside Ashley Moody today will be Jon Husted, 
Ohio's new Senator. ``Senator'' is just the latest title that Ohioans 
have called Jon Husted. He has been a State representative, speaker of 
the statehouse, a State senator, secretary of state for Ohio, 
Lieutenant Governor, and now U.S. Senator.
  No matter his title, Ohioans know that they can depend on Jon Husted 
to fight for a smaller and more efficient government that genuinely 
serves its citizens. And I am very pleased to welcome him here to the 
Senate.
  Both our new Senators bring valuable experience, expertise, and 
perspective to the Senate Republican majority. And the whole Senate 
will benefit from their joining our ranks. I look forward to working 
with them.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The Democratic leader is recognized.


                              Ryan Corbett

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this morning I have some amazingly great 
news. After more than 2 years of being unjustly detained by the 
Taliban, Ryan Corbett from Dansville, NY, is finally free and on his 
way home. In just a few hours--praise God--Ryan will be back on 
American soil and will be able to hug his wife Anna and his beautiful 
children, Miriam and Caleb and Ketsie. They represent the very best of 
Upstate New York--hard-working, God-fearing, persistent, and humble. 
Soon, Ryan will be back home in Western New York in the community he 
loved so much and that waited so desperately for his return.
  I met with the Corbett family repeatedly. Every time I met with them, 
his wonderful wife Anna--strong but quiet--never gave up; and his 
beautiful children who so miss their dad, you could just feel it. And 
every time I met with them, just my heart went out, and I said ``I have 
to do more and more and more.'' It is a moment we have all prayed for 
and hoped for. And thank God this day has finally come. What a 
blessing. What an amazing day.
  When I heard Ryan's story from his family and listened to them as 
they pushed and pushed for his release, I saw that even in the darkest 
moment, even when hope seemed lost, the Corbett family never, never 
gave up, and they never got angry. They never pointed fingers or called 
names. They just kept persisting and persisting and persisting. And 
their beautiful, hard, unrelenting, patient persistence has paid off.
  I worked very closely with the Corbett family to build bipartisan 
support for Ryan's release. We brought attention to his imprisonment 
and made dozens of calls to elevate his case to the very highest levels 
of government. I want to thank President Biden and his administration's 
negotiating team as well as my colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
for helping bring Ryan back.
  We can finally, finally say these five amazing words: Ryan Corbett is 
coming home. He is coming home to New York. He is coming home to 
Dansville.

[[Page S263]]

I can't wait to see him and welcome him back very, very soon.


                          Trump Administration

  Mr. President, now on the first day of President Trump's presidency, 
moments after taking the oath of office, President Trump declared that 
it was the dawning of a golden age here in America. But on day one into 
his presidency, it is clear that Donald Trump's golden age is not for 
the working and middle class. His golden age, rather, is for the 
special interests, the wealthy elite, and the corporate insiders he 
promised to take on as President. Just look at his first day in the 
White House, which shows exactly what I am saying.
  On day one, President Trump, in his Executive orders, made it harder 
for Americans to save on prescription drug costs. President Trump 
cleared the way for Big Oil and polluters and halted leasing of 
offshore wind farms. He took steps to make it harder to enroll in the 
ACA and made Medicaid less generous. He removed the United States from 
the Paris Climate Accords.
  Nothing the President did on day one lowered grocery prices. Nothing 
helped Americans achieve their dream of owning a home. Nothing will 
help working families earn more and save more. Their drug costs will go 
up. The cost of buying and maintaining a home will go up. The cost of 
healthcare will go up. The cost of energy will go up.
  So who is exactly Donald Trump's golden age for? Not for working 
Americans; that is for sure. President Trump's golden age is one for 
America's biggest drug companies, who can now worry less about lowering 
their prices. It is a golden age for America's richest oil executives, 
who want nothing more than to kill clean jobs and deepen America's 
dependence on fossil fuels. It is a golden age for America's top 1 
percent, who want another trillion-dollar tax break, paid for on the 
backs of workers in the middle class.
  And, sadly, it is a golden age for lawlessness and lawbreakers who 
were pardoned yesterday by President Trump. There is no other way to 
describe President Trump's pardon of January 6 offenders than un-
American. Let's be clear. President Trump didn't just pardon 
protesters; he pardoned some people convicted of assaulting police 
officers and seditious conspiracy. It is a betrayal of the highest 
order of our Capitol police officers who risked their lives to keep us 
safe.
  When President Trump talks about a golden age, he is talking about a 
golden age for drug companies, powerful oil executives, and rioters who 
attack our police and attack our democracy. That is not the golden age 
Americans want.


                              Nominations

  Mr. President, nominations, this week the Senate will continue 
exercising its constitutional duty to offer advice and consent on the 
President's nominees.
  Last night, the Senate unanimously confirmed our former colleague, 
Senator Rubio, as Secretary of State. Even though Senator Rubio and 
Democrats differ on many issues, it was clear he was very well-
qualified for the job and deserved confirmation.
  Now, if every one of President Trump's nominees were as qualified and 
experienced as Senator Rubio, they would sail through the Senate with 
bipartisan support. But, sadly, too many of the President's nominees do 
not match Senator Rubio's caliber, too many have troubling backgrounds, 
too many seem unprepared for the job and proved so during testimony, 
too many nominees have been rushed through before their paperwork has 
been submitted.
  Senator Rubio was thorough and quick with his background checks and 
documentation. He did it the right way. But too many other nominees 
have delayed and dragged their feet. So it is wrong to try and rush 
them through.
  And too many of the President's nominees seem more interested in 
pushing the ultraright's extremist agenda than in fighting for working- 
and middle-class families.
  Later today, I will meet with President Trump's nominee for OMB 
Director, Russell Vought. Mr. Vought is one of the most troubling 
nominees that President Trump has selected. He is about as ultraright 
as they come. So during our meeting, I hope to get a clarity on a 
simple question: Who will Mr. Vought fight for if confirmed? Is it the 
American people, or is it Project 2025, which Americans have already 
rejected?
  I look forward to our conversation because I believe it is important 
both sides hear directly and candidly from the President's nominees 
before we are asked to vote on their nomination. After all, the debate 
over President Trump's nominees is not just about senior-level 
positions in the administration; the debate on nominees is a debate 
about the President's very agenda and about who will benefit. Whose 
side are these nominees on?
  President Trump promised an agenda that will fight for the working 
and middle class. He promised a golden age for the country, but actions 
speak louder than words. And so far, the President's nominees suggest 
that if there is any golden age coming, it is only one for the very, 
very elite.
  So Democrats will continue to get the President's nominees on the 
record on very important questions. Will Donald Trump's nominees focus 
on cutting costs, or will they be more interested in cutting sweetheart 
deals for big businesses? Will they protect our communities, or will 
they focus more on protecting special interests? Will they serve 
middle-class and working families, or will they serve the swamp? That 
is what the American people want to know.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                              Immigration

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there are certain things we all agree on, 
I believe. No. 1, our border must be secure, and, No. 2, we should 
deport any dangerous individuals who are here illegally, period. But 
the Executive order signed by President Trump last night did not target 
criminals or even those who entered our country without authorization.
  For example, the President suspended the task force on the 
reunification families created in the aftermath of his disastrous 
family separation policy of his first Presidency. Over 1,000 families 
remain separated today--in other words, children who don't know where 
their parents are. This task force was created to reunite them--simply 
that--and, now, it has been suspended. Stopping this task force does 
not make us a safer Nation and certainly doesn't help these children.
  The President also suspended the Refugee Admissions Program, which 
provides a safe haven for those fleeing oppressive regimes around the 
world. They include Afghans, Afghan women, Uighurs, and Rohingya. Many 
refugee applicants wait decades to come to the United States lawfully, 
and every single one of them must undergo a rigorous vetting, more than 
any other group of immigrants coming into the United States. I have 
worked in and with these refugee camps. They literally stay in tents 
and temporary shelters for months and years, going through background 
checks before they are even considered eligible for coming to the 
United States. Yet the Trump administration has already canceled 
flights for over 1,600 Afghan refugees scheduled to come here.
  Who are these people? Many of them are families of Active-Duty U.S. 
military personnel and those who are at risk because they fought on our 
side, defending our troops in the Afghan theater. Stopping these 
flights of friendly refugees coming to America, after having helped us 
and risked their lives to help us, doesn't make America safe. It sends 
a message, sadly, to allies supporting our troops around the world that 
we may not be there to support them when they need us.
  The President also announced his plan to attempt to deny citizenship 
to children born in the United States if their parents are not citizens 
or lawful permanent residents. I ask anyone who is interested in this 
issue to do something very basic: Read the first sentence of the 14th 
Amendment to the Constitution. It is in clear violation of our 
Constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship. It does nothing to 
make our country safer--nothing.

[[Page S264]]

  We need to secure our border. That is why I worked for years to pass 
bipartisan legislation that fixes our broken immigration system.
  Mr. President, before you came to the Senate, we considered 
comprehensive immigration reform on a bipartisan basis. I was part of 
an eight Senators task force--Democrats and Republicans, equal numbers. 
We wrote a bill, brought it to the floor, and got over 60 votes for the 
bill. Unfortunately, the House, under Republican control at the time, 
wouldn't take up the issue. We had an approach that still ought to be 
considered when it comes to changing our immigration system to make it 
safer for America.
  But we also need to protect millions of noncitizens who Americans 
rely on each day. All across America this morning, many parents headed 
off to work and stopped to drop their kid off at daycare. They handed 
their child over to an undocumented person who works during the course 
of the day to keep your child safe and to make sure they are there at 
night when you return to pick them up.
  The same thing is true about nursing homes and a lot of care 
facilities. Parents and grandparents are being carefully watched every 
minute of every day by undocumented people who are working there, whose 
wages aren't the greatest, but these people are willing to take on this 
job. For most people, it is a critically important job for their 
family. They want their mom to not only go to breakfast with a smile 
but to be escorted back to her room safely. They need undocumented 
people for that to happen. A high percentage of those who work in these 
facilities qualify as undocumented.
  Immigrants have been a key part of America. I know that, and I say 
that as a son of an immigrant to this country. Our Nation has always 
needed immigrants. It still does. They put food on our tables, they 
care for our kids, and they help care for our parents and grandparents. 
What would we do without them? They don't deserve to live in fear every 
single day that they are going to be part of a mass deportation.
  Any real solution to our immigration challenge must give them 
stability. Americans deserve a real fix to our broken immigration 
system that protects America, protects American workers, and treats 
immigrants fairly.
  Mr. President, 13 years ago, in response to a bipartisan request from 
myself and the late Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, 
President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, 
or the DACA Program. DACA has protected from deportation over 800,000 
young people, all of whom arrived in our country as children, some as 
young as a few months old.
  These young kids are known as Dreamers. I know a little bit about 
that. I was the sponsor of the original DREAM Act, over 20 years ago. 
They grew up alongside our kids, with the same hopes and ambitions. 
They stood up in a classroom every morning and pledged allegiance to 
that flag, believing it was their flag too. Many have gone on to serve 
our Nation as servicemembers, doctors, and first responders. They 
believe in the American dream just as much as we do.
  Without permanent legal protection, these young people have been 
forced to live in uncertainty. They have to renew their DACA status 
every 2 years, go through a background check, and pay a filing fee.

  In December, President Trump committed to work with Congress on a 
plan to protect Dreamers. I am looking forward to that. I worked with 
the President in his first term, and I am ready to work with him again. 
Let's get this done as part of immigration reform.
  But, last Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declared the 
DACA Program illegal again. The decision left in place protections for 
current DACA recipients, while the appeal is pending, but left other 
Dreamers in limbo. The time to act is now.
  I urge the President to come to the table to negotiate a solution for 
Dreamers as part of immigration reform.


                           January 6 Pardons

  Mr. President, on another matter, on January 6, 2021, I was seated in 
the chair right here on the floor of the Senate. A solemn 
constitutional proceeding was disrupted when a mob of thugs attacked 
and trashed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn a free and fair 
election.
  I remember it well.
  Vice President Pence was sitting in the chair that you are occupying 
now. The Secret Service came in and, literally, physically removed him, 
out that door of the Chamber.
  They then announced to us to sit tight. This was going to be a safe 
room in the Capitol. There was a mob that was descending on the Capitol 
at the moment. We are going to keep everybody safe. They warned us that 
there were a lot of people coming into this Chamber to line the walls 
because they wanted to be kept safe from this mob that was coming into 
the Capitol.
  Ten minutes later, a Capitol Hill policeman stood up and said: New 
plans. We are all leaving immediately. Get out of your chairs and go 
out that door. We will lead you to another safe room.
  That was the circumstance of January 6, 2021. I remember it well. I 
saw the mob as we went outside. It was growing in size, thousands of 
people descending on the Capitol. That was the grim reality of that 
day.
  At the end of the day, the mob confronted the Capitol Hill police and 
the DC police who were here, trying to keep this building and keep us 
safe as Members of Congress who were doing our constitutional duty.
  The subsequent deaths of five of our law enforcement officers because 
of that mob and the injuries to approximately 140 others are a matter 
of fact, many of whom still pay a price day for what happened on 
January 6, 2021.
  And now the attackers have been pardoned by President Trump, who 
literally sent them from a rally to come up here, and what happened 
happened.
  Consider the following individuals who received their pardon 
yesterday from President Trump:
  David Dempsey was one of them. He was convicted of assaulting police 
officers by using ``his hands, feet, flagpoles, crutches, pepper spray, 
broken pieces of furniture, and anything else he could get his hands 
on'' as weapons.
  Shane Jenkins was another one, convicted of using two tomahawk axes 
to break into the Capitol and assaulting police officers by throwing a 
wooden desk drawer and flagpole at them.
  Kyle Fitzsimons was convicted for five separate assaults against law 
enforcement, including one that caused career-ending and life-altering 
injuries to U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell.
  And Kenneth Bonawitz, a member of the so-called Proud Boys, assaulted 
at least six officers, including placing one officer in a chokehold and 
lifting him up by the neck. Bonawitz injured one officer so severely 
that the officer has been forced to retire.
  All of these people were among the roughly 1,500 January 6 
insurrectionists who President Trump pardoned last night.
  What happened to claims by a party of being in favor of law and 
order?
  Even President Trump's own Vice President said last week--the Senator 
from the State of Ohio:

       If you committed violence on [January 6], obviously you 
     shouldn't be pardoned.

  That didn't apply last night. All the people I just described were 
pardoned by President Trump for their actions in harming law 
enforcement in the Capitol on January 6.
  Last week, I asked President Trump's Attorney General nominee, Pam 
Bondi, about pardoning January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers. 
She said: ``I condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer.''
  Don't we all?
  One of my Judiciary Committee Republican colleagues actually 
criticized me last week for even asking that question. Here is what he 
said:

       I find it hard to believe that the President of the United 
     States . . . would look at facts that were used to convict 
     the violent people on January 6th and say it was just an 
     intemperate moment. . . . it's an absurd and unfair 
     hypothetical.

  The action by President Trump is unfair, but, unfortunately, it is no 
longer hypothetical. These law enforcement officers risk their lives 
for us--literally, all of us, not just the elected officials but the 
thousands of visitors who come to this Capitol. They stand quietly by, 
watching to make sure that nothing goes wrong, but they are literally 
risking their lives for us every single day.
  What was the message last night of pardoning the people who assaulted 
them on January 6, 2021?

[[Page S265]]

  Some people died as a result of that attack. Every American should be 
appalled.
  I am very unhappy that these men and women who give us so much every 
single day are taken for granted so much that the President pardoned 
those who attacked them. That was wrong. We should stand by those who 
stand by us, and we should be willing to say to them: Thank you. Thank 
you for risking your lives for our visitors, for Members of Congress. 
And those who assaulted you were not just on a pleasant Capitol tour; 
they had a goal in mind. That goal, unfortunately, was at the expense 
of these men and women in uniform.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Curtis). The Senator from Texas.


                          Trump Administration

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as the world knows by now, yesterday, 
President Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United 
States. I think he is only the second President who has been sworn in 
on two different occasions. He is both the 45th and the 47th President 
of the United States.
  It was an honor to see him take the oath of office yesterday in the 
Capitol Rotunda. I only regret, because of the weather, that more 
people weren't able to see that in person. I was with a number of my 
Texas constituents this morning. They are not accustomed to the cold 
temperatures, but they were prepared to dress warmly and to deal with 
it. They all seemed to be in good spirits because of the outcome of the 
election, and they were happy to see the President sworn in, as was I.
  I want to express my personal congratulations, along with that of 
millions of people across the country, to President Trump and our 
former colleague J.D. Vance.
  I have told people, when J.D. Vance came to the Senate, I actually 
had met him before because when he went to Yale Law School, he actually 
was an intern on the Judiciary Committee that I serve on, and he worked 
in my office for a very brief period of time. I didn't know him then. 
As I told him, I knew him before he was famous, before he wrote 
``Hillbilly Elegy'' and his career took off like a rocket ship. I am 
proud of what Vice President Vance has been able to accomplish.
  If you think about it, here is a guy who at 40 years old is Vice 
President of the United States, and if you read or listen to 
``Hillbilly Elegy''--about the circumstances under which J.D. Vance was 
raised--you can see that he has overcome a lot of obstacles in life. He 
served as a U.S. marine, and I know he was celebrating last night with 
the Ohio State championship win, being a graduate of that school. It 
was great to see him get sworn in yesterday as well. Again, only in 
America--only in America--can something like that happen.


                              Immigration

  It is no secret either that in the last 4 years, the Biden 
administration's policies have been nothing but a disaster for the 
Nation, and no State has been more negatively affected than my State, 
the State of Texas. We have 1,200 miles of common border with Mexico, 
and the open border policies of the Biden administration have been an 
unmitigated disaster from a public health standpoint and a public 
safety standpoint. Many of our border communities have simply been 
overwhelmed and overrun just by the sheer volume of people coming from 
all around the world.
  This is not the sort of immigration that you have seen in the past 
where poor people have come to the United States across the border to 
work and send money home. You literally have seen, with the Biden open 
border policies, people from all around the world show up and claim 
asylum or be paroled into the interior of the United States, which is 
like a blinking green light to anybody and everybody who wants to come 
to America, knowing they would be released under the Biden 
administration's policies.
  We have seen millions. Nobody really knows for sure how many millions 
of people come and basically move into the United States outside of our 
legal immigration program, which I think is very important, but there 
are also the roughly 2 million, we think, ``got-aways''--people evading 
law enforcement--and you can only imagine what they are up to. We know 
that there was no reason to evade law enforcement under the Biden 
administration if you didn't have a criminal record or if you weren't 
up to no good, because you knew you would be released. So it only was 
logical--it only made sense--that these were people who were either 
carrying drugs or had criminal records or were otherwise engaged in 
antisocial activities. Like I said, we think maybe about 2 million of 
those people made their way into the interior of the United States.
  One of the most important ways that President Trump began with his 
signature on these Executive orders, beginning yesterday, was to 
reverse the policies of the Biden administration and to get our country 
back on track in securing our southern border. This border crisis, as I 
indicated, is one that President Biden himself practically invited--
invited--during his first campaign when he encouraged migrants to 
``immediately surge the border.'' I mean, this is crazy talk if you 
think about it, but that is what he said. Of course, this is perhaps 
the one campaign promise President Biden actually kept.
  In the early months of 2021, President Biden appointed Vice President 
Harris--we all remember this--as his border czar. Well, he tasked her 
with the role of managing this growing surge of migrants. Even back 
then, in the early stages of what was to become a historic humanitarian 
disaster, some expressed concerns that Ms. Harris might not be up to 
the task, but when she was made aware of and made to answer for her 
lack of qualifications, she hadn't actually been to the border.
  Specifically, as to the fact she hadn't been there, Kamala Harris 
made light of the question with a famous quip.
  She said:

       And I haven't been to Europe. . . . I don't understand the 
     point you're making.

  Somebody pointed out that she hadn't been to the border. She said, 
``I haven't been to Europe,'' and she didn't understand the point. 
Well, everybody else got it even if she didn't. She was singularly 
unqualified, and she bore this out, I think, by her service as the 
border czar. She was singularly unqualified to be the border czar, and 
it took another 3 months for her to accomplish her one and only visit 
to the Texas-Mexico border.
  I can tell you that, as I said, Texas has a 1,200-mile common border, 
and the United States has a 2,000-mile common border, and not every 
piece of the border is the same. If you go to Arizona or California or 
New Mexico, many of those places are very different from the border 
with Texas and Mexico. But on this one visit to the border in Texas, 
Vice President Harris steered clear of ground zero of the surge of 
illegal immigration, which is the Rio Grande Valley. That was the 
epicenter of the border crisis, yet she was a no-show. Instead, she 
traveled to El Paso--which is another border town but very, very 
different--for a sanitized, made-for-TV visit.

  To add insult to injury, the Vice President visited Texas multiple 
times last summer to fundraise and to campaign for President, but she 
didn't take the time to go to the border at all. But this should come 
as no surprise because she seemed completely disinterested in 
performing any function as the border czar. Under her negligent watch, 
the surge at the beginning of President Biden's Presidency only went 
from bad to worse.
  The Biden-Harris administration presided over daily, weekly, and 
monthly records of illegal crossings across the border. Customs and 
Border Protection, the Federal Agency responsible, has tracked more 
than 10 million encounters across the Nation under President Biden's 
leadership, including 8.7 million at the southern border. More than 
400,000 unaccompanied children--to me, this is one of the scandals that 
really hasn't gotten adequate attention--400,000 unaccompanied children 
have been encountered at the border and placed with sponsors in the 
United States.
  Now, the Biden administration resisted any sort of background checks 
on the sponsors. As a matter of fact, they placed these children with 
other illegal immigrants in the country and in homes where we didn't 
know whether there were either gang members or people with records as 
sex offenders, for example. And the sad truth is that these children, 
like the 10 million or so other migrants that came across the

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border, ended up in the United States courtesy of the cartels, criminal 
organizations that get rich smuggling people into the United States. 
But they don't just smuggle people; they smuggle drugs and other 
contraband too.
  But these children in particular, once they arrive in the United 
States, many of them are exploited, treated as indentured servants 
until they pay back the debt they owe their traffickers. And those are 
the lucky ones. Others are trafficked for sex, recruited into gangs, 
neglected. We don't know.
  The Biden administration couldn't tell you whether these children 
were going to school or getting the healthcare they need or the like. 
As a matter of fact, they said: We have no responsibility. That is the 
responsibility of the State child welfare organizations.
  We know they are overwhelmed, and here are 400,000 more children that 
are dumped into their hands. As a result of the shelter facilities 
becoming increasingly crowded, the Biden administration rushed the 
placement process of these children and now has completely lost track 
of at least 85,000 of those unaccompanied minors. That is according to 
a New York Times investigative story where they actually followed up 
calling the sponsors, only to get no answer. Knocking on the door, 
nobody would come to the door. So we don't know--they don't know--what 
happened to these children.
  We also know the cartels are getting richer trafficking in drugs, as 
I mentioned, including fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is very 
different from heroin and cocaine, which require a lengthy process of 
growing a plant and then processing the drug. Cartels are selling 
fentanyl, which uses chemical precursors that come from China that then 
go to Mexico and are mixed up and then pressed to look like a 
pharmaceutical drug. But they are counterfeit drugs, and they killed 
more than 70,000 people last year alone.
  This drug that comes across the southern border with very little--
well, we just don't know how much of it actually makes its way across. 
We know how much is interdicted, but it could be just a fraction of the 
number that actually makes its way across the border. And here is the 
tragic statistic. This is the leading cause of death for young people 
between the age of 18 and 45 in America.
  I have been to numerous high schools in Texas where grieving parents 
said: Well, our child ate dinner at the dinner table; then, the next 
morning, we went and found him or her dead in her room--having taken 
something they thought was a relatively innocuous drug, only to find 
out the hard way that it was laced with fentanyl, which took their 
life.
  Well, our Border Patrol has simply been overwhelmed by the volume of 
people coming across the border because there is no such thing as 
deterrence. One of the things about law enforcement you learn is, by 
enforcing the law, you can discourage other people from violating the 
law. And by actually enforcing border security, you can deter people 
from coming in the first place.
  But without deterrence, under the Biden administration, the Border 
Patrol has simply been overwhelmed. With historic numbers of people 
attempting to cross and successfully crossing, they have not gotten the 
support they need to handle the magnitude of challenges they face every 
day.
  The men and women who serve in the Border Patrol are my heroes. They 
are loyal, patriotic Americans who put on the uniform and do what their 
government has asked them to do, until they are told that you have to 
tie one hand behind your back and you can't actually do your job 
because you just have to welcome people into the country, and you can't 
keep people out who are violating the law.
  So I am going to extend my gratitude to the men and women who serve 
in the Border Patrol, as well as the National Border Patrol Council, 
which has been enormously helpful as a credible source of what actual 
conditions have been along the border so that the American people can 
know how bad it has gotten to be. The National Border Patrol Council 
has been our partner and friend and helped as Senator Cruz and I have 
welcomed many of our colleagues to the border so that they can see 
firsthand what we have learned as a result of our many times visiting 
there.
  And I particularly want to express my gratitude to Jason Owens, who 
is the outgoing Border Patrol Chief. Even when the administration did 
not provide adequate support to handle this historic crisis, Jason had 
the backs of the men and women of the Border Patrol.
  But the good news is that, under President Trump, all of our Border 
Patrol agents will start receiving the support that they need and that 
they deserve from the Federal Government.
  President Trump used his first day in office to make a number of 
actions addressing this crisis. He declared that this historic, ongoing 
crisis is a national emergency, which it is. He designated the cartels 
that smuggle the people and the drugs into the country as foreign 
terrorist organizations. He directed the Departments of State and 
Homeland Security to resume the migrant protection protocols, otherwise 
known as the ``Remain in Mexico'' program.
  So people who want to come to the United States legally through the 
asylum system, they can't come to the interior of the United States and 
simply be released; they have to remain in Mexico and await the 
processing of their claim for asylum. This will, of course, deter 
economic migrants from making this dangerous journey by having them 
await their asylum hearings in Mexico.
  At the same time, the President directed the Department of Homeland 
Security to stop catch-and-release. If you ask the Border Patrol: How 
do you explain all of this, this huge mass of humanity, this tsunami of 
people coming across the border, they say: There are no consequences 
for coming illegally under the Biden administration. And one of those 
incentives for people to continue to come is employing a catch-and-
release policy because, without detention, you are never going to stop 
the flow. And this was a primary pull factor of migrants under the 
Biden administration.
  President Trump also terminated the Biden administration's unlawful 
Cuban-Haitian-Nicaraguan-Venezuelan parole program. So ``parole'' is a 
word that people may be familiar with in a criminal context, where 
people can be paroled out of prison. This is a little different. In the 
immigration context, this means that individuals who meet certain 
select criteria can be released into the interior of the United States, 
but it is supposed to be done on a hardship, case-by-case basis.
  The Biden administration completely transformed parole by doing it 
categorically. In other words, they said 30,000 migrants per month are 
allowed to be released in the United States if you come from Cuba, 
Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela. That is 360,000 a year just released 
into the interior of the United States and not done on a case-by-case 
basis. It violated the law Congress put in place, but the Biden 
administration didn't really seem to care about what the law was; they 
were going to do what they wanted to do.
  I am pleased that President Trump has directed the Department of 
Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to completely fulfill 
the requirements of the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005, a bill that the 
former Senator from Arizona, Senator Jon Kyl, and I worked to enact. 
Under that law, the Department of Homeland Security will protect 
Americans from dangerous criminal illegal immigrants by collecting DNA 
samples from migrants apprehended at the border. In many instances, it 
can just be a cheek swab, but that DNA allows you to positively 
identify people who may be criminal aliens.
  President Trump's order that the Department of Homeland Security 
verify the relationships claimed by family units apprehended at the 
border will help put an end to the cartels' child trafficking that the 
Biden administration policies enabled. Because the cartels are smart 
and they knew what the policies were, if a family unit--that is, an 
adult and a child--came together, they were treated a little bit 
differently. But we found out the hard way that the cartels would 
simply hire out these children so that the adults could get into the 
country claiming to be a family unit. Again, more child trafficking--
child abuse, if you will. President Trump's order that the Department 
of Homeland Security verify

[[Page S267]]

these relationships will help put an end to the cartels' child 
trafficking which the Biden administration enabled.
  I am pleased that President Trump has also ended the use of the 
Customs and Border Protection One app. This was an app that you could 
download on your phone that allowed migrants to more quickly and 
efficiently cross the open border.
  Under the Biden administration, you could simply make an appointment 
using this app on your phone, meaning the Federal Government would 
facilitate your entry into the United States on a quicker basis. It is 
really bizarre if you think about it. But it gave the cartels other 
ways to make money by selling appointments that they had made on the 
app. It was obviously hijacked by the cartels, who are not dumb--they 
are smart--and they are driven by a profit motive.
  I am glad that President Trump made border security a day one 
priority of his administration. I look forward to continuing to work 
with him to help improve the safety for communities all across Texas 
and all across the Nation.
  But I am also thrilled that President Trump has chosen a new U.S. 
Border Patrol Chief, a Texan, Mike Banks. People may have heard of Mike 
Banks before because he was Governor Abbott's border chief.
  Mike brings incredible credentials to this job. While the Vice 
President made only one trip to the Texas-Mexico border during her 
entire tenure, Mike is a former Border Patrol agent. He has got vast 
experience at the border.
  He understands firsthand the impact on our border communities and 
what our Border Patrol agents have been through. He spent two-thirds of 
his more than three decades of Federal law enforcement at the United 
States-Mexico border. As I indicated, Governor Abbott had selected him 
to serve as the Texas border czar, and Mike has also served in the U.S. 
Navy military police.
  So I have had the privilege of getting to know Mike, and I know his 
qualifications, his experience and his competence and his firsthand 
experience dealing with the challenges at our border, and I have no 
doubt that he will make an outstanding 27th head of the U.S. Border 
Patrol.
  I look forward to working with him and President Trump to secure our 
borders and to make our community safe again.
  This is one of the main reasons that President Trump was elected, 
along with sky-high inflation, and the very dangerous world that seems 
to have grown up in the face of the weakness projected by the Biden 
administration around the world. But job No. 1 is to secure our borders 
and protect the American people. And I am proud of the fact that 
President Trump has, on day one, taken such important steps to begin 
that process.

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