Did everything exactly the way you were supposed to do it. And this debate largely driven by the most sympathetic of all those groups, and that group of people who came here, who were brought here by someone else, often their own parents, who were brought here by someone else, who entered the country illegally but have grown up in america. Now, my First Response to that and i think the response of most americans when theyve thought about that is kids who grew up here, kids who went to school here, kids who havent gotten in bad trouble while they were here, kids who have no real memory or connection with the country that they were brought from, of course we want them to stay. Of course we want them to be part of our economy. Of course we want them to be part of a vital and because they are who they are an, an even younger society, then we would be without them, why would we want that to happen. So we have two issues here. The idea of people who are raised here who have done everything that anybody else would do to acclimate as an american in all ways, who went to school here, who did Everything Else here, 70 or 80 of the American People i occasionally see a number even higher than that believe they should be allowed to stay. More and more as people think about that, they also believe that after theyve been here like any other immigrant who came to the country legally, that they would eventually be able to take the test, to go through the process to become a citizen, that is a widely accepted premise that this debate should be built on. Another widely accepted premise that this debate should be built on is 70 or so of the American People and a higher percentage if people really knew the facts believe that the government has not met its responsibility to secure our own borders. So lets assume that that number you have two 70 issues, that you would assume that a working congress could take two 70 issues and come up with a solution that makes its way to the president s desk and solves both of these problems. Now, were not going to solve these problems by saying, okay, were going to solve the problem for people who are already here, but were not going to do anything that makes it harder for others to be brought here illegally by someone who has control of them. Were not going to solve that part of course thats not going to work. I know there was one bill at least proposed where the daca kids, and whether you signed up or not, i dont think that should be a determiner. Apparently the president agrees if youre here in that category of kids who were brought here and grew up here, it doesnt matter if you what reason you had for not signing up as a daca kid. You can still be part of that overall discussion of how you get to stay and you still get to stay if we can come up with a solution for you to do that. Were not going to solve that problem and say were going to have a study of the other problem to see whats wrong. If by now we dont know whats wrong with the other problem, were never going to figure out whats wrong with the other problem. In 1986, mr. President , long before i came to either of us came to congress and maybe long before some of us graduated from high school, in 1986 we were going to solve this problem. Everybody who was here illegally could stay if they wanted to and the border would be made secure. So here we are, over three decades later still debating the same thing. We need to solve these problems, both of them. And if we can solve other problems while were doing it, thats fine, too. But we need to be able to come up with a solution. That means if there are a number of ideas out there as to how the senate should move forward and one of them is, well, lets let these kids stay that signed up. By the way, on the daca issue, its important to remember here, President Trump said said im going to give the congress six more months to solve this problem up until march 5. Its also important to know that the courts have allowed people to continue to sign up. So really the march 5 deadline is somewhere between march 5. But the president said, im going to give the congress six more months. But the president the president before him, president obama, didnt do anything about this for years, not because he didnt want to, i believe, but because he said he didnt have the ability to. President obama repeatedly said the president cannot solve this problem. This has to be the congress solving the problem. And he ultimately decided well, in spite of six or seven years of saying i cant solve this problem on my own, im going to try to with an executive order. And the truth is that that executive order was never going to do the job. I think president obama knew that. President trump when he extended when he did his own order, he probably also knew he didnt have the ability to do that any more than president obama had to do what he did. But both of these president s in their own way have tried to drive the congress toward making a decision that comes up with a plan that works, a plan that works for kids who were brought here with no choice in the matter and a planning for seeing that kids still cant be easily brought here with no choice. We dont need we need to let young people come here because we need them here as part of our workforce, as part of our country. Legal immigration is what made america great. The rule of law is also what makes our country what it is, and you cant continue to let immigration be an area where we have decided there are laws that we will not enforce. And so the challenge for the congress right now is to come up with a combination of this problem is not going to continue to be the same problem it is today, but for the problem today, were going to solve it. And were going to solve it in a way that lets kids who grew up here become part of the solution. I continue to be committed to strengthening our boarders. I continue to be committed to stemming the tide of ilLegal Immigration. Frankly, i continue to be committed to the idea of Legal Immigration as part of continually reinforcing and reenthusing who we are. But im also committed to finding a permanent solution for young people who would be in that category of kids who were brought here, grew up here, havent gotten in trouble while they were here, and have every reason to want to be part of the American Dream and part of the American People that they have been part of up until now. I hope we can find Common Ground on a bill that does that. I hope we can pass a bill from the senate that the house will also pass. If the senators think theyve done their job by passing a bill that cant possibly pass the house, thats just another kicking the can down the road. We need to find a solution here that really solves this problem, and you solve this problem by putting a bill on the president s desk. To do that were going to have to vote. We cant do that by just having a quorum call or a vacancy here on the senate floor. We have to be willing to vote. Theres some things i can that ill enthusiastically vote for and some things that i will reluctantly not be able to be for. But that doesnt mean that i should if i cant be for whatever is brought to the senate floor, i dont want to vote on it, i dont want to debate it. We cant continue to tune into a vacant screen of the United States senate floor and say this is the week weve all committed. Were going to have a real debate about solving as many problems as we can that relate to kids who grew up here, and were not ever here in ways that they should have been here and solving that problem so other kids are not likely in these numbers to face that same problem in the future. So, mr. President , i would yield the floor and hope that the floor is filled over the next couple of day, with a vigorous debate about the best way to solve the problem before us in a way that the people we work for will feel good about it and the people who are most impacted by our decision will feel equally the concern, the warmth, the desire of our country to have a vibrant economy that has people who want to be part of it able to be part of it and particularly people who grew up in the United States of america be part of it. I would yield. Mr. Barrasso mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , it seems just about every day we get more good news about the tax relief law that republicans have passed. This week the news is getting even better for a lot of people all across the country. By the end of this month, 90 of workers across the country will see more money in their takehome paychecks. It doesnt matter where they are. They can be in mateetsie, wiel, and they will see an increase in chair paychecks this week. Thats because this thursday, february 15, is a deadline for employers to start using the new i. R. S. Tax withholding tables. The i. R. S. Tells employers how much mean to withhold from much money to withhold from peoples paychecks so that the taxes work out pretty close at the end of the year. Thats the way its set up. Well, the i. R. S. Looked at the new tax law. And they saw that people were going to be paying lower taxes at the end of the year. So they put out the new tax tables. They told businesses to adjust how much money they withhold, how much to withhold from a persons paycheck, and to do it by february 15, tomorrow. So for 90 of americans, this tax amount is going to be lower, which means that their paychecks are going to be larger. A tax cut is the same as a raise. Thats what were seeing all across the country, people getting a raise in their pay. Now, some people have already gotten a paycheck with the new higher wages. Others are going to get it very soon. The website Yahoo Finance crunched the numbers. This is what they said. They found that a typical worker making 60,000 a year will get an extra 112 in their paychecks every month because of the tax law. Well, thats over 1,300 for the year. Now, to me thats very good news for american workers. I was at home in wyoming this past weekend traveling arp the state, around the state and im hearing about it in all the different communities that i go to that people have been saying this is better for me and my family personally. So on top of this, a lot of workers are getting special bonuses and raises because of the tax law. So not only are they getting more money because of the fact that the tax rates have been lowered, theyre additionally getting more money because theyve gotten a raise or a bonus. Well, it seems like there are about four million hardworking americans who are getting bonuses of hundreds or even thousands of dollars that theyre seeing as a result of the new tax reform law. Theyre also getting extra money in their retirement plans. Theyre getting higher starting wainls. Were see wages. Were seeing many places increasing the starting wages, some up to 15 an hour. More than 300 companies, mr. President , have said theyre increasing all of these kinds of compensations as a direct result of the tax law. So in my home state of wyoming, people across the state are getting bonuses, bonuses. These are people who work at home depot, at lowes, at walmart, at starbucks, at wells fargo, and other businesses that have familiar names to people across the country. But, mr. President , there are also people who are working in smaller businesses, like the jonah bank in wyoming. They have branches in casper and in cheyenne. Its not a nationally known bank, but its very important in our state, in our communities. Every employee of this bank is getting a 1,000 bonus. The bank is also increasing its giving in the communities where they have branches. Workers benefit. The community benefits. Thats what happens when we change the tax law so washington gets less and taxpayers get to keep more. Thats why i voted for this tax law, mr. President , to give the kind of tax relief that made these bonuses and these pay raises possible. Its good for wyoming. Its good for people all across the country. You know, mr. President , its interesting. Its even good for people in states where their senators voted against the tax law. 90 of people across the country are seeing the benefits no matter which state theyre from, theyre seeing the benefits. Theres a business in grand rapids, michigan. Its called the mill steel company. They said last week theyre giving an extra 1,000 to their workers because of the tax law. Every republican voted for and every democrat voted against. Now, 400 people at that company are getting the bonus. Michigan has two democrat senators. They both voted against the tax relief law. Still led to 1,000 bonuses for these 400 workers. Well, what do the senators have to say about it now . Are they proud that they voted against the tax law . Are they glad they said no to these sorts of raises that made it possible for people in their home states to get the bonuses . We know what nancy pelosi thinks. First she talked about the tax law saying it was armageddon and then she said it was the end of the law. She said the benefits that people are getting under the tax law are just crumbs. For her it may be different, but for a lot of americans a dz sdz a 1,000 bonus is much more than crumbs. Mr. President , an extra 1,300 i talked about the worker earlier in this talk, in that paycheck, it is much more than crumbs, 15 starting wage is more than crumbs. Democrats voted against it because they didnt want people to get the extra money. It seems to me hard to believe they would continue this way and continue to take pride in voting against it, but they did. Now it seems democrats want to insult people by saying that what they are seeing and what their benefits are is simply crumbs. These are some of the cash benefits workers are getting from the tax law. Republicans predicted over the debate of this law that there would be other benefits as well. We said that businesses would pay less in taxes and some of them would be able to additionally cut prices for consumers, let people buy things more cheaply. Americans are starting to see this prediction come true as well. One of the first places they are seeing it in this their utility bills. Gas, electric, and Water Utilities are cutting their rates because their taxes are going down under the law. Until vermont vermont, mr. President , vermonts only Gas Utility Company is cutting their rates 5 because of the tax law. Both of the senators from vermont voted against the law. But it was because of the republican law that passed that caused these rates to go down. In fact, 23 states and the district of columbia will pay lower utility bills because of the tax relief law. Other states are looking at cutting rates. Rates are going down in california, new york, massachusetts, connecticut, states where every democrat senator voted against the tax law. What do these democrat senators have to say now . Are they proud of the fact that they voted against the tax cuts that made it possible for people to have lower utility bills in their states . When peoples monthly bills get cut, its like a pay hike, more money in their own pockets. They have more money to either save or spend on other things or to invest. The owner of a gym in cincinati, ohio, spoke with his local Radio Station about what the tax break means to him. He said that when people have extra money to spend, they spend it. They go out to eat, buy gym memberships and they enjoy themselves. People have that extra money top spend now, today because of the tax law republicans passed. They have the extra money, despite every democrat in this body voting against tax relief. Every one of them said no. They all voted no. Democrats voted no to tax relief for American Families, essentially voted yes to keep the extra money in washington so they could decide how to spend it. Mr. President , i have much more faith in people at home in wyoming deciding how to spend their money than any faith i have in washington, d. C. For so Many Americans every dollar helps, and, mr. President , they are not crumbs. Democrats may not know the difference but the American Families do. People in every state of this country know the difference. The American People understand what republicans did with this tax law. They are seeing more money in their paychecks, more take home pay, more money to decide what to spend, what to invest, what to save. They know that republicans promised to cut peoples taxes and people know that republicans delivered on the promise. They know the benefits they have gotten already and they are confident that the economy will continue to grow stronger day by day. People across the country also know the fact that every democrat voted against this law, voted against giving them a tax break, voted against having them keep more of their hardearned money. The American People know who took their side, who voted for the American Public versus who said no. Hardworking americans asked us to do a job for them. Republicans are doing a job, democrats in washington, mr. President , certainly are not. Republicans are going to keep doing that job for the American People, a job that we have promised and a job in which we have delivered. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from hawaii. Ms. Hirono are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer the senate is indeed in a quorum call. Ms. Hirono we are . The presiding officer yes, the senate is in a quorum call. Ms. Hirono im sorry. Mr. President , i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Hirono mr. President , its time for the senate to do its job as a separate branch of government. This week we can come together in a bipartisan basis to resolve the crisis donald trump created when he canceled daca. We can provide hundreds of thousands of young people in our country their shot at pursuing the American Dream without fear of deportation. Right now these young people who are brought to this country as children are terrified that they will be separated from their families and the lives they built here in the only country they know at love. Ive met and spoken with so many dreamers in the halls of congress these past months. Their focus, determination, and commit mrchts in commitment in this fight continues to be extraordinary and inspir