Human Services Secretary on cspan. Org. And you can see the vote for mr. Azar at 2 15 eastern. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Our father, the center of our joy, we thank you that you are in the midst of lifes battles with us, bringing good even from the abnormalities of our pilgrimage. Lord, we are grateful that throh the struggles and tear you stand thin the shadows, keeping watch over your people. Lord, even though our lawmakers may not know how all the pieces fit together, we are grateful that they can still strive with grateful hearts to do your will. May they remember your command in 1 thessalonians 5 18; in everything give thanks for this is gods will for your life. We pray in your great name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell yesterday morning senseless violence struck the community of benton in western kentucky. A shooting at Marshall County high school has claimed two lives, left more than a dozen injured and thursday an entire thrust an entire community into grief. This is a parents worst nightmare. School should be a haven where students and teachers can work without fear of violence. Elaine and i send our thoughts and prayers to them. There were 20 prayer vigils and services across the region. Though few can understand their grief, an entire nation stands in solidarity at tir side. Now, mr. President , on an entirely different matter. Yesterday the senate took another important step in confirming President Trumps qualified nominees. In strong bipartisan fashion we confirmed Jerome Powell to serve as chairman of the reserve by a vote of 8413. He is a fine choice to lead the Federal Reserve system. He has received accolades from across the political spectrum. He joined the board of governors of the Federal Reserve in 2012 and hes demonstrated an expert grasp of Monetary Policy and a commitment to improve the feds accountability to the public. I look forward to his service in this new position. The position of fed chairman is integral to the health of the u. S. Economy. Washington must empower the American People to create prosperity through sound policy that gets the government out of the way of workers and job creators. Jay powell is up to the task. I was proud to confirm him yesterday. The senate advanced the nomination of another highly call fied nomee, alex qualified nominee, alex azar. Mr. Azar discussed his intention to confront headon the Opioid Crisis that is hurting so many families across the country, including in my home state of kentucky. He made clear that he will place an important priority on education and enforcement to halt the advance of the scourge. But he recognizes that we need effective, compassionate Treatment Options for those seeking recovery. For all americans he will work to expand access to highquality Affordable Health care options. His distinguished record including prior h. H. S. Service and private sector work shows he is the right man for the job. It is vital that this department be headed by a leader with mr. Azars reputation. He will oversee 1. 13 trillion in department depending, supervising Critical Research and administering and reforming programs that touch millions of american lives, such as medicare and medicaid. I look forward to voting soon in support of his confirmation. Now, o the rising tide of Economic Optimism ive been high lighting on the floor is not showing any signs of subsiding. Yesterday alone three of the Largest Companies announced investments in the economy and work force. It is due to the tax reform overhaul Congress Passed last year. First, verizon announced plans to invest a chunk of its tax reform savings right back into its employees. Next month about 155,000 verizon workers, including Senior Management will receive stock bonuses valued around 2,500. Additional savings will go to expanded philanthropy and Infrastructure Investments here in america. The Walt Disney Company announced a new investment of 175 million in its u. S. Workforce. Over 125,000 employees will receive cash bonuses and disney will invest 50 million in an Employee Program to help employees to access Higher Education and vocational training. Jp morgan chase announced a fiveyear comprehensive instment pla to support Economic Growth and American Workers. That plan includes permanent raises for 22,000 employees, hundreds of new Bank Branches across the country, thousands of new jobs, expanded philanthropy and an increase in loans for Affordable Housing and Small Business development. And just this morning starbucks announced it is permanently raising pay and and onetime stock bonuses. This major investment will affect 150,000 employees. So, mr. President , the good news about tax reform and its benefits is rolling in almost faster than i can keep up with it. In retrospect the surprise here is not that the tax reform boasted the economy boo ted the economy boasted the economy, the real surprise is that there are those who didnt see it coming. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. The senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of theollong minati which t clerk will report. The clerk nomination, Department O Health and Human Services, Alex Michael Azar ii to be secretary. Mr. Durbin we have 14 kays days to do something about the dreamers issue, about daca. Why do we find ourselves at this place . Because on september 5 of last year, president obama President Trump, as well as attorney general sessions, announced the end of the daca Protection Program as of march 5 this year. 780,000 young people who were undocumented in the United States but came here as children were given a chance by president obama to stay legally, be able to work locally, and not fear deportation. 780,000 of them. For the most part, they are students and workers who are a vital part of the community and theyve done good things in their lives and promise to do even more. But the decision was made by President Trump to put an end to this program. When he made that decision, he also challenged congress. He said, if were going to end this executive order, do something. Pass a law. Well, here we are just about at the fifth month of the sixmonth period that he gave us to do our work and nothing has happened. Some of us have been working on this issue trying to address i on a bipartisan basis hoping in this Republicancontrolled Congress will help to solve the problem which the president presented. I worked with five of my colleagues, three democrats, three republicans together, to craft a bill which we believe addresses the issue in a fair way. Compromise was included in that bill, some that i didnt like at all, but thats the nature of a compromise and bipartisanship. We presented this bill to our colleagues and we also attended a meeting on january 9, most of us, with President Trump where he addressed this issue. Here it was four months after he gave us the challenge and he said it is time to get this done. He said this and this was televiced televised. He said to us, send me a bill and i will sign it. I will take the political heat on this issue. And then the republican leader on the house side, kevin mccarthy, said it should include the following four elements, first daca and the dreamers, second, Border Security, third, family reunification issues, and, finally, the visa lottery system, diversity system that we established years ago. Thats when i sat down with my colleagues, democrats and plugs, our little gang, we have to get this done. The president challenged us and he said hes prepared to move forward if we come up with a response. And we did, we came up with an agreement. We presented it to the president through senator Lindsey Graham of south carolina, a republican, on january 11. He rejected it. So, as of today, we really dont have a bill before us, and woe are starting anew with a conversation about what to do to meet the president s challenge and more important to say to the 780,000 young people, this is what your future will be. We had our ups and downs, a rocky weekend. Just a few days ago relative to funding the government and whether we were going to take this issue up, i thought it ended on a positive note whe senator mcconnell came to the floor and made an express promis to this chamber and members on both sides of the aisle. I will try to characterize it and i think it is accurate. Check the record if you dont think i say it quite right. But he said, if we have not reached an agreement on this issue by february 8, at that point we will open a process on the floor of the United States senate with what he characterized as a level Playing Field and aopen amendment an open amendment process. That, to me, is an opportunity, but i hope we can avoid that opportunity and reach an agreement as he asked us to by february 8. We have 14 days left. I would like to involve the house in this conversation, so we might reach a common agreement, but unfortunately they are on recess this week and those of us sitting and talking about it dont have a chance to get together with them. However, i am heartened by the fact that a number of my colleagues on the republican side of the aisle are going to join a number on the democratic side of the aisle this afternoon and start what we hope will be a productive process to reach a bipartisan agreement and do it in a timely way as suggested and challenged by senator mcconnell. Now to achieve this goal, think we understand we have to be mindful of one another and the realities we face. There are a lot of issues relative to immigration. And there are important issues that should be considered. It is unrealistic to think that we are going to propose our even agree on a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration bill in 14 days. What we can do is to address the president s challenge dealing with daca and those dacaeligible socalled dreamers. What we can do is address Border Security in a realistic and honest way. I took a look this morning at some of the publications of the department of Homeland Security to try to get an understanding of what our challenge it when it comes to undocumented in the United States. Where do they come from . How do they come to this country and how do they stay in this country if they dont have Legal Authority to do so . It turns out that each year, for example, the department of Homeland Security tells us 50 million, 50 million visitors come to the United States from visawaiver countries. Those who are visiting from those countries have not gone through an application process to visit the United States. They carry a passport from a country that we have an understanding or agreement with, that we can travel back and forth. Think about european countries, for example, that we travel extensively back and forth between the United States. Out of those 50 million, about 1. 5 end up staying longer than theyre supposed to. We endp with hundreds of thousands of undocumented people here by visa overstays. 40 of all those who are in this country undocumented came here by visa overstays. There is no wall that you can build on the border with mexico or canada thats going to solve that problem. This is a problem that really relies on technology, which we should be investing in, which we can invest in on a bipartisan basis. So if your true goal is the reduction of the undocumented in america and trying to make sure there is legal status for as many as possible and youre looking at the incremental growth each year, you wouldnt look to the border first. You would look to the visa overstays first. Those are the ones who are slipping through the system who should be policed and monitored with new technology. We have talked about it for decades. Its time to do something about it, but also to concede, as i said, no wall is going to stop that problem. No wall is going to solve that problem. In addition to that, when i take a look at the asylum issue, which i wouldnt say im amused but i would say im interested, is the one thats always raised by the department of Homeland Security. Those who present themselves in the United States at the border or otherwise and suggest that they have aredibleear i returning to tir home country. Its interesting to look at the statistics because you find out that even though there may be this notion that theyre primarily from mexico, theyre not. They are primarily from countries in the northern triangle of central america, but there is a large contingent each year from china. So if were talking about an asylum issue and not addressing all of the countries, the major suppliers of those seeking asylum in the United States, then were not talking about it in honest terms. Or in its entirety, as we should. And i might mention that china, along with 22 other countries, does not even have an agreement with the United States in terms of deportation, according to the report of the department of Homeland Security. Theres a lot we could do there to make sure that china and those countries comply with the United States when we say were deporting someone from your country that we find to be a danger to us, and rather than incarcerate them here, you get to have them back. Theyre yours. They shouldnt be here in the first place. So when we talk about dealing with the issues of undocumented, the issues of security in this country, many of these are not going to be solved with a wall. They are going to be solved if we deal with technology and look in honest terms and count real numbers about those coming from different parts of the world. I also want to address this issue about unaccompanied children coming to our border. I understand that challenge. The numbers have risen dramatically in prior years, and we have to take it seriously. I followed some of those children from the border to a protective gathering that they have in chicago at a place called heartland alliance, and i went in to meet them. I was shocked when i went into the cafeteria to see that some of these children were as young as 6 years of age. 6 years old, presenting themselves at the border of the United States. What circumstances could have led to that . Its possible it was a smuggler who either threatened or exploited a family and ended up with a child, pushed them across the border into the arms of one of our Border Patrol agents. Thats possible. And that is something we should do everything we can to stop. Thats an exploitation of that child. That child is likely to be abused in the process of this immigration. Its something that we ought to do everything we can to discourage. But to simply turn away children at the border is a dangerous thing. What are we going to do with that 6yearold from honduras or el salvador or guatemala . At the border when they establish through a written note or whatever that theres a credible fear for their returning to their country . Do we ignore it . Do we turn them backo their country regardless . We better be careful. Awful things can happen. And what do we do with the 12yearold, 13yearold girl who is a victim of rape and Sexual Assault in one of those countries who was sent to the United States and our border because her parents believe she was about to be raped again or killed. Do we turn her back and send her back and ignore the reality . I commend to my colleagues and others who follow this debate an article that was written in the new yorker last week by sara stillman, and it was entitled when deportation becomes a death sentence. She followed the terrible support of a young woman who was undocumented, who was stopped, who said over and over again if you send me back to mexico, that husband of mine is going to kill me. There has been protective orders issued. Hes a dangerous man. She was sent back anyway, and she was killed. So these are complex situations, not easily answered with the common definition that anyone who presents themselves at the border and says credible fear is going to be turned away without any consideration about the merits of of that claim. We have got to be careful. Human lives hang in the balance. Our reputation as a caring, principled nation hangs in the balance as well. We need to do the right thin