Our refuge in lifes stormy seasons. Inspire our lawmakers to place their trust in you. Lift them above divisions and cynicism, as they depend upon the unfolding of your powerful providence. May they find peace because of your redemptive love. Remind them that you are faithful to help those who ask you for guidance and strength. 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 today, President Trump will put forward his budget requests for the next fiscal year. I look forward to reviewing the president s priorities. The bipartisan with a bipartisan Funding Agreement now in place, congress and the white house can Work Together to begin rebuilding our military, improve care for veterans, and tackle other urgent matters from Disaster Relief to the fight against drug addiction. I especially appreciate the president s focus on improving americas infrastructure. The quality of our countrys infrastructure affects everything from our longterm Economic Future to working americans every day americans everyday routines. As of 2016, nearly one in ten bridges in our nation is structurally deficient. The average commuter loses 42 hours per year to delays. And the average age of our inland waterways, lox and dams is over 50 years oalt. Were intimately familiar with this in kentucky where we ship millions of tons of coal, agricultural products, and other cargo on more than 1,900 miles of inland waterways. The problem runs deeper than dollars and cents. American workers built skyscrapers in less time than our government now spends reviewing, not even building, but reviewing plans for new bridges and stretches of highway. So im particularly happy that the president is proposing to eliminate regulatory barriers and streamline lengthy and overcomplicated permitting processes. Historically, infrastructure has been an area of bipartisan cooperation. Our last three highway bills passed with large bipartisan majorities, averaging more than 80 yes votes. So did our last three wrda bills and our last three f. A. A. Bills. I hope we can build on this record and make more bipartisan progress on this subject. Now, on another matter, as i have repeatedly stated, now that there is an agreement on longterm government funding, the senate will proceed to a fair debate over the daca issue, Border Security, and other matters pertaining to the subject of immigration. This process begins in just a few hours. We will vote to proceed to an unrelated, neutral housepassed bill that will serve as a vehicle for any legislation that succeeds here in the senate. As i have repeated many times, i will ensure that a fair amendment process gives senators the opportunity to submit proposals for consideration and votes. I hope this body can seize this opportunity and deliver Real Progress toward securing our border, reforming aspects of immigration policy, and achieving a resolution for individuals who are brought to our country illegal when they were young. The American People have heard no shortage of rhetoric on this issue. They have heard many of my colleagues across the aisle insist this issue requires swift action. Now is the time to back up the talk with the hard work of finding a workable solution. That means finding an agreement that can pass the senate, pass the house, and which the president will sign. Not just making a point. A number of my colleagues, senator grassley, cornyn, tillis, perdue, lankford, cotton, and ernst will introduce a balanced proposal that tries to meet these requirements. I support the president s proposal and my colleagues legislation to implement it. The secure and succeed act is fair, addresses both sides most pressing concerns, conforming to the conditions the president has put forward. It offers a compassionate resolution for 1. 8 million Illegal Immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. In exchange, this solution delivers funding for President Trumps promise to fully secure the border, reforms our approach to extended family chain migration, and reallocates our arbitrary visa lottery into a more sensible meritbased system. This legislation is a fair compromise that addresses the stated priorities of all sides. Its our best chance to producing a solution that can actually resolve these matters. Which requires that a bill pass the senate, pass the house, and earn the president s signature. It has my support. The time for political posturing is behind us. Now we have an opportunity to resolve the issues. I hope we make the most of it. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. And under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h. R. 2579, which the clerk will report. The clerk motion to proceed to calendar number 302, h. R. 2579, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986, and so forth. Mr. Mcconnell i notice the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer good p afternoon. I ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer before i begin, id like to thank the majority leader for the invitation to louisville this morning. It was at great pleasure to speak to hundreds of bright kentucky students interested in the future of this great country. Seeing these kids gives you faith in the future of america despite what we witness in this city. And it was my distinct pleasure to give the majority leader a bottle of brooklyn bourbon. It was not to suggest anything. Our craft distilling industry and we have very good bourbon made no place other that brooklyn, new york. Its called, by the way, as long as its made in america, it can be called bourbon. Im not sure if it can be called kentucky bourbon, but it can be called bourbon. Anyway. Now on to the business of the stay day of the day. On the heels of passing a significant bipartisan budget deal, the Senate Returns this week to grapple with one of the most contentious of issues, immigration. Leader mcconnell, to his credit, has promised debate on a neutral bill with amendment process fair to both sides. Democrats and republicans are working hard to find a bill to protect the dreamers and brief Border Security that will garner 60 votes. No easy task. Im sure well have an opportunity to vote on a few ways to do it, but the key is to find a consensus bill largely acceptable to a significant number of members in both parties. The purpose here is not to make a point, as the republican leader just said, thats easy. The purpose is to get something done. Thats hard, but it really is so important. It wont be easy, its certainly achievable. Democrats are fully committed to protecting dreamers and we have long supported effective Border Security. Many republicans are in the same boat. The only enemy here is overreach. Now is not the time to place now is not the time, nor the place, to reform the entire Legal Immigration system. Rather, this is the moment for a narrow bill and every ounce of our energy is going into finding one that can pass. Just like on the budget, this an opportunity for the senate to lead the nation. Let the same spirit of bipartisanship and compromise that generated the budget deal Carry Forward this week as we debate the fate of the dreamers. Now on infrastructure. Today the Trump Administration released its infrastructure plan. Democrats released our own plan over a year ago and have waited just as long to see this plan because infrastructure is an issue where we thought we could find some common ground. Unfortunately, despite a glaring need, the president s proposal would do very little to make our ailing infrastructure better. Instead of proposing direct federal investments to help all parts of the country, the trump infrastructure plan relies on private parties or state and localities to put up the lions share of the money. In turn, those entities would either have to charge local taxpayers now tolls or raise taxes and other fees to pay for the new infrastructure. So a word that describes so much of the president s bill, probably about 80 of it, is trump tolls. The trump infrastructure plan is like a hollywood facade. It may look real from afar, but in true its a flat mirage. It has the skin of an infrastructure plan but lacks the guts. It would leave out large parts of america, particularly Rural America where local governments dont have the money to attract private investment. Small town cities throughout the heartland have waited too long for upgrades to their schools, roads, and Water Systems as well as access to highspeed internet. Just as Franklin Roosevelt said, every rural home should have electricity in the 1930s, democrats believe every rural home should have access to highspeed internet in the 21st century. Roosevelt called for the r. E. A. In the 1930s, and soon enough, it took a while, every rural home had electricity. We democrats are calling for the 21st century vision of roosevelts vision. Every rural home should have access to highspeed internet and that should be one of our goals. Very little could be done more to revitalize the rural area. We democrats insisted on a certain amount of money be allocated for that, not enough to get it done, but a start. Now the administrations infrastructure would also result in trump tolls across america. Wealthy investors, large banks will only invest in projects that generate a profit. How do they get the profit . They charge middleclass americans hundreds of dollars a year in tolls. In fact, its written into page 20 in the plan. Page 20 of the trump infrastructure proposal has a section entitled, providing states tolling flexibility. So, mr. President , the middle class need not ask for whom this bill tolls, it tolls for thee. The middle class is already struggling with ever rising costs of health care and child care, college tuition, prescription drugs. They dont neat higher local taxes they dont need higher local taxes and trump tolls on top of all of that. This is the kind of plan you would expect from a president who surrounds himself with bankers and financiers and wealthy people. Its a plan designed to reward rich developers, large banks and the president s political allies, not to rebuild the country. It would put unsustainable burdens on local governments which are hurting right now and it would lead to trump tolls all over the country, particularly in middlesized cities, small cities, and Rural America. No investor is going to invest in a bridge in springfield or hannibel, missouri, to pick a couple of places, because they dont have the revenue to repay it. So those places will be stuck just as so much of america. And at the same time the trump proposal undermines protection like buy america. We believe if were going to put some Real Investment into this, the stuff, the steel, the pipes, the concrete, and Everything Else ought to be made in america and employ people, americans. They left that out of the bill, unfortunately. Democrats want to work in a bipartisan way to improve our infrastructure, which is why we put forward a real plan that would expand access to highspeed internet across the country, rebuild our roads and bridges, modernize our electric grid while creating millions and millions of goodpaying, middleclass construction jobs. Unfortunately, the president s plan falls short on all of these fronts. Id remind my republican colleagues, the federal government has invested in infrastructure and road building for a very long time. Henry clay, from the great state of kentucky, called for internal improvements. I believe it was in the in the mid1800s because he wanted and knew the economic benefits of connecting places that were called the far west in those days, kentucky, tennessee, ohio with all the people who lived on the eastern seaboard. Dwight d. Eisenhower and henry clay was not a republican, he was a wig. Dwight d. Eisenhower, republican president in the 1950s started that interstate Highway Program that benefited so much of america for so many decades. And Ronald Reagan never cut back on infrastructure, even though he cut back on lots of or lots of other programs. Its brandnew that President Trump is the first president in a long, long line of democrats and republicans who doesnt really believe that the federal government should be at the forefront of building our infrastructure whether its highways, roads, bridges, water sewer, power grid, highspeed internet. I hope i hope that democrats and republicans can do what we did on the budget, sort of ignore President Trump because hes way off base on this, and come together ourselves because people on both sides of the aisle have always believed in investing in infrastructure. Now, a final word on the president s budget request for next year. We already now have dealt with this years budget request, but he put in a budget request for next year that was just sent to congress. We passed a twoyear budget on friday. So the Trump Administration should have no illusions about its budget becoming law. It wont become law. President ial budgets are still important as a statement of the administrations priorities. Now, unfortunately, the president s priorities are so far away from what the American People want in terms of how he portrays his budget. The president s budget request just six weeks after slashing taxes on the wealthiest, biggest corporations, after creating a massive deficit, who does the president ask to pay for this . Middle class and Older Americans. He slashes education, Environmental Protection and medicare and medicaid. While corporations reap billions in tax giveaways, Older Americans now have to worry about the Trump Administration cutting medicare and medicaid. Its in his budget. Many others, including children and working families, would be hurt by the budget as well. If americans want a picture of who President Trump works for, the combination of the tax bill and this budget that he approached today make it crystal clear. Hes for the rich, the powerful at the expense of the middle class. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Durbin mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin mr. President , this week in washington, were going to do something that hasnt been seen for a long time. For over a year. If youre not careful, you may tune in and see an actual debate on the floor of the senate, real senators, democrat, republicans coming to the floor actually debating an issue. Im not sure whats going to happen because its been so long since weve tried this, but it really is exciting to think about that men and women elected to this body known as the greatest deliberative body in america are finally going to deliberate. Its true. And its by design, not by accident. After a lot of negotiation back and forth, senator mcconnell, the republican leader, agreed that this week we would debate immigration and daca, the dream act. It would come to the floor of the United States senate. Im excited about it, although i have no idea how this debate will end. Most good debates you dont know. It depends on the strength of an argument as to whether a measure is going to pass or not pass. But its certainly an issue ive been waiting for. In fact, ive been waiting five years for it. Its a long time, even by senate standards. Its been five years since we actually debated immigration on the floor of the United States senate. Its not because the immigration laws of america are so perfect. Far from that. Its because its a tough issue. Its a delicate issue. It always has been in america. I just have this notion that as soon as the mayflower landed and the passengers governor off that boat, they got off that boat, they looked over their shoulder and said i hope no more people are coming. Were perfectly happy with this country, the way we see it. Because throughout history, waves of immigrants have come to make america what it is today and theres always been resi assistance from resistance from those already here from new people from new places with different languages, cultures, religion and food. Weve done things in the past which are not exactly things to brag about. It was 1924 when we passed an immigration bill. There was a fear after world war i that because europe was in shambles, all of these people would come flooding into america. And so the congress right here in this chamber and in the house of representatives passed the immigration act of 1924. It was horrible. It was horrible. It expressly exclude groups that we didnt want to be part of americas future, groups like people of the jewish religion, italians, people from eastern europe, the japanese, and many others. That immigration act said we dont want any more of those people. And for 41 years that was the law of the land. There were slight modifications, but that was the basic standard for immigration in america. Not until 1965 did we look at immigration again with a different view to a broader acceptance of the world as part of our future. And since then, weve continued to have proble