Services, Alex Michael Azar ii services, Alex Michael Azar ii mr. President we have 14 days by our own established deadline to do something about the dreamers issue about daca. We find ourselves at this place because september 5 of last year President Trump as well as attorney general sessions announce the end of the daca Protection Program as of march 5 this year 780,000 hundred 80000 people who are undocumented came here as children were given a chance by president obama to stay legally, work legally and not fear deportation. 780,000. For the most part students and workers that have done good things in their lives and promised to do more but the decision was made by President Trump to put an end to the h programal. He also challenged congress. If we end the executive order, do something and pass a law. Here we are at the fifth month out of a six month period to get to work and nothing has happened. Some of us have been working on a bipartisan basis with the hopes the Republican Controlled Congress could join democrats to solve the problem which the president presented. I work with five of my colleagues to craft a bill which we believe a addressed issue in a fair way. A compromise was included some i did not like t at all but that is the nature of a compromise with bipartisanship. We presented the bill to our colleagues and also attended a meeting on january 9 with the president where he addressed this issue. Four months after he issued a challenge and basically told us it was time to get it done. This was televised you can check my remarks and he said basically send me a bill and i will sign it. I will take the political heat on this issue. Then the republican leader on the house side said to include the four elements including daca, Border Security, family reunification issues and the b cell lottery system which we established years ago. That is when i sat down with my fellow senators we have to get this done. The president has challenged us in this prepared to move forwar forward. So we did it came to an agreement among ourselves and presented to the president through senator Lindsey Graham ofep South Carolina january 11 and he rejected it. As of today we dont have a bill before us and we are starting brandnew. To meet the president s challenge to say those who were eligible this is what your future will be. We have had our ups and downs and a rocky weekend a few days ago relative to funding the government if we would take this issueer up, i thought it ended on a positive note with senator mcconnell came to then floor and made the express promise to this chamber and two members of both sides of the aisle, i will characterize iter but i think it is accurate but check the record if you dont think i said it quite right. But if we have not reached an agreement by february 8, at that point will open the process on the floor of the United States senate which he characterized a level Playing Field with an open amendment process. To me that is an opportunity but i hope we can avoid that and reach an agreement. We have 14 days left. I would like to involve the house in this conversation to reach a common agreement unfortunately they are on recess this week it we dont have a chance to get together with them. But i important a number my colleagues on the republican side will join members of the other side this afternoon to start a productive process to reach a bipartisan agreement in a timely way as suggested and challenged by senator mcconnell. We understand we have to will be mindful of one another and our realities a lot of issues relative to immigration. And important issues. It is unrealistic to we will propose or agree on a bipartisan immigration bill in 14 days but we can address the president s challenge and address Border Security and a realistic way. I left this morning at department of Homeland Security to get an understanding of our challenges when it comes to undocumented in the United States. Where did it come from rex how do they stay without Legal Authority . Each year the department of Homeland Security tells us 50 million visitors come to the United States from visa waiver countries those that are visiting have not gone through an application process to fit a carry a from a country we have anac understanding or agreement with to travel back of for like the European Countries we travel extensively between the United States. Of those 50,000,001. 5 million 1. 5 stay longer than they are we end up with hundreds of thousands of undocumented people from the fees that overstay. Ase 40 of all of those in this country undocumented came here from the visa overstay. No wall you can build on the border to solve that problem. This relies on technology. If your goal was the true reduction of the undocumented b and looking at the incremental growth you will look to the visa overstay before the border. They are slipping through the system and should be policed and monitored with technology. No wall will solve that problem. In addition with the asylum , i would say i am interested that is raised by the department of Homeland Security at the border or otherwise it is interesting to look at those statistics even though there is the notion from mexico they are not. Primarily from countries in the northern triangle of Central America about a large contingent from china each year. Talking about asylum and the major suppliers ended like to mention in with the deportation. There is a lot we can do that china and those countriese comply that we find to be a danger to us. Talk of the issues of undocumented many cannot be solved without wall. And with honest terms of those coming from different parts of the world. Addressing this issue of unaccompanied children come i understand that challenge. I followed some of those childrens from the border to a protective gathering in chicago and i was shocked going into the cafeteria is where john is six years of age. So what circumstances . And then to end up with the child across the border from the Border Patrol agent that is possible. That is the exploitation of thatus child likely to be abused in the process but to turn away children at the border is dangerous. What do we do from that sexual . When they establish that they are returning to the country . Do we ignore that or turn our backs . You better be careful and what about the 12 or 13yearold girl who was a victim of rape or Sexual Assault sent to the United States because her parents believed she was about to be raped again or killed . Do we send her back and ignore the reality . So to my colleagues and others in article was written last week in the new yorker entitled when deportation is a death sentence. She followed a terrible story of ang young woman undocumented who said over and over again. And from protective orders issued as a dangerous man. She was sent back anyway and was killed. And with that common if anybody is presented at the border is turned away without theo consideration. Human lives hang in the balance. As a caring principled nation. We need to do the right thing but also to be mindful and sensitive that many people who do present themselves are so they tried to find a safe place. So the conversation continues but then to come up with bipartisan nature. I could not express it after the experience we had a couple weeks ago. I dont know where he stands or even a suggested piece ofe legislation. Or hope that the house is but actually created september 5 of last year. I yield the floor. The majority whip . Remake i ask you this consent. Democrats were winded after three long days allowing them to reopen and to pass the government until february 8 i am glad they decidede to fund the military and those entities that could not operate during the shutdown but first is disaster aid in which it has been held up for months. But then that exacerbates the hardships of hurricane and. But to get access to the 81 billion of disaster but but in my home state of texas i just got off the phone talking to Governor Abbott and why would we continue to long delay to those who suffered as a result from Hurricane Harvey . I am sure Governor Scott kneels the same way. I am sure Governor Brown feels the same way and the governor of puerto rico or the Virgin Islands feels the same way. What is wrong with congress they cannot pass an 81 billiondollar Disaster Relief that shops and businesses remain closed and houses are renovated or being rebuilt. It is hard to but it is hard to get them to rebuild homes and businesses. But harvey made landfall with pit to hundred 84 families but some people are living in prairie housing or head but according to fema one third is so badly damaged it will be impossible to rebuild. But 70 of those businesses shut down that that includes Corpus Christi but then to marshal the full extent but completely unacceptable and and not only acting she that is why we need to have additional disaster funds but as part of floridians arepe puerto rican and the senate has been dragging their feet long enough. The more people have leaders on both sides say we want to help but this is the notice of such but we cannot get started until we have a but knowing that these are the spending levels for the current fiscal year. You know from october 1 to september 301 but we are already well into the fiscal year. January. Es we have already been on continuing resolutions has the spending caps have not been agreed to and we all know why. That i am worried about its impact but even with that spending cap agreed to it would take the Appropriations Committee additional weeks to come up with bill but even if the spending caps were agreed upon,in but it was a situation for them to manage but the military was funded for fewer than nine months that way. But the consequences are clear. And deadly. So the budgets are spread thin. Or for that the but the army is prepared to fight. Because i know americans well enough to know that there was an threat, we revised the either for policy or fiscal reasons, other people are more than happy to fill the void. But unfortunately the general is right. So we need to quit fooling ourselves into believing our security is not negatively impacted by the current funding approach but that is like the military. Or yesterday when the Senate Democratic leader spoke he said that common sense andrt bipartisanship one when the government reopened. Those two things continue to prevail. Common sense and bipartisanship, particularly when it comes to funding our military and other critical government functions, to make sure that they are no longer held hostage to an unrelated immigration issue that we are working on as hard as we know how to do. And we understand the clock is ticking. And both Political Parties are demonstrating their good faith in working to solve that problem. So lets let these other hostag mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer well, the government funding bill that passed on monday left us, all of us, with three weeks to come to a resolution on legislation to protect the dreamers, at the same time we must be working on legislation to improve American Health care. I see the senator from washington state, who has been so vigilant in that area, a budget agreement that supports our military and our middle class, delivering longawaited funds. We democrats will insist on these for opioid epidemic, Veterans Health care, pensions. We should feel uen