All of these recommendations raise serious concerns about the way director mayorkas was overseeing the eb5 program and in turn should be considered as a qualifying factor to determine his fitness to be secondincommand in charge at the department of Homeland Security. To summarize, we know that the National Security staff and the department of Homeland Security conducted reviews of the Investor Visa Program that mr. Mayorkas has been overseeing since 2009. These reviews found that the program created a danger to National Security, including the threat of exploitation by spies, criminals, and other National Security threats. I and others have asked for more information about the potential National Security vulnerabilities in the program and we have received no answers. What we do know is that director mayorkas dramatically expanded a program that the administration, even d. H. S. , believes for a threat to National Security. And according to a draft report by the Inspector General, he did not take the actions that he should have taken that were at his disposal to fix these vulnerabilities and make sure that this visa program wasnt bringing spies, terrorists and other threats into the country. Finally, i would say that this vote is not fair to the department of Homeland Security. D. H. S. Is the agency we trust to secure our borders, make our skies safe and help our nation protect ourselves from terrorism. We know that the department has faced many challenges and has often struggled to execute its responsibility over the past ten years since its inception. And d. H. S. Has had some of the lowest morale in the government. This week the senate voted with strong bipartisan support to approve jeh johnsons nomination to be the secretary of d. H. S. I was proud to support his nomination. Hes the kind of leader that d. H. S. Needs to help it address its many challenges and to fulfilfull to fulfill its misf making our nation a strong. It is this bodys job to vet those leaders to ensure their beyond reproach. With a cloud of this investigation with many of our Unanswered Questions about director mayorkass tenure, we do not have full confidence that he should be in second schand at d. H. S. By voting on him now, this body is sending the wrong message to all d. H. S. Employees. Right now we cannot let me repeat we cannot determine whether mr. Mayorkas is fit or unfit for this important position. And then finally i would say that this vote is not fair to the American People. In confirming the nominee for such an important position who has not been properly vetted, the American Public depends on us to fulfill our constitutional mandate, to properly advise the president on Certain Executive Branch nominees. Here we are not doing that. We are not doing that. In fact, we are voting to install a nominee that could be seen as unfit to serve in the numbertwo position at d. H. S. He may be fit, but this agency is tasked with protecting our country from terrorists. It is our responsibility to guarantee to the American Public the leaders at d. H. S. Are beyond reproach. In this vote, leader reid is not only ignoring the rights of the minority, but the longstanding precedent of the senate. Hes ignoring history and hes inchviting us all to do the same and hes inviting us all to do the same. But history has a wai way of teaching us lessons. It is up to the senate to remember these lessons so the country does not have to suffer geng anagain and again. Those who are going to vote for mr. Mayorkas do so at the rick of not at the risk of not knowing what the investigation shows. They also do so at the risk of obviating their oath that they swore when they came to this body to fairly and appropriately evaluate their decisions about advise and consent. My hope is that mr. Mayorkas is clear. But, unfortunately, he wont have my vote and several of my colleagues because we dont have the information with which to make that judgment. With that, i yield the floor. Mr. Inhofe madam president . The presiding officer the senator from oklahoma. Mr. Inhofe madam president , let me first of all acknowledge that at 11 15 tonight were going to be voting on the National Defense authorization act. This is one this is a mustpass bill, it is one that has passed prior to december 31 every year for the last 53 years. So it is very significant that and i think people are tired of hearing about it because they recognize the significance and the enact it has to be done now and the fact that it has to be done now. I originally came down, madam president , to talk about in my state of oklahoma the problems that we are having with individuals. And i have a long list of people from all throughout the state who have talked about their insurance being canceled, talking about the increase in the deductibles, in the cost of insurance, and about the crisis that were facing in the state of oklahoma with obamacare. Now, since i just found out there are several senators who want to talk about their states, i will merely submit for the record a list of individuals who are having a very serious problem in my state of oklahoma with obamacare. And so i ask unanimous consent that be included in the record at this point. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Inhofe instead of that i just want to mention one thing that is has been overlooked in this debate. I mentioned it once b a lot of people have not recognized that. That is, the ultimate goal of obamacare and this has come from the leaders on the democratic side including the president of the United States would be a singlepayer system. A singlepayer system is socialized medicine. Its kind of interesting. I remember back when we had Hillary Health care back in the recallly 190early 1990s, if ik in sweden, denmark, canada, the u. K. , why would it work here . They never say it but they were thinking, if i were running it, it would work here. So, anyway, thats the ultimate goal. And i want to are share a personal experience, then ill yield to th the rest of the members. I had a personal experience two months asmght i went in for a colonoscopy, just a routine thing. After checking me, and going through the thing, they came and said, well, i have good news and bad news. I said, all right, it is what . The good news is your colon is fine. The bad news is, youre about to die because you have destruction 100 obstruction in two valves, 90 in two other valves art rirks i shoul arteries, e other arteries. Any washings so anyway, i had ey bypasses. If i had been in the u. K. At my age, there would be a mandatory sixmonth waiting period, and i wouldnt be standing here today. If i had been i think it was canada, its two years. So all of these it lets you know that ultimately and ive heard from our good friends, the doctors that are members of the senate, like senator barrasso, talking about what is happening in these other countries. I was visiting with Jackie Davidson just a few minutes ago, who is scheduled for openheart surgery on this monday. I was talking to about how much easier it was that inthought it was going to be. But the point is this the same thing happened with my wife. At a certain age, if you are to have this, in these countries, you are denied the opportunity to have surgery. And so that, to me, i think needs to be back in our minds as we talk about the current problems were having with obamacare and the fact that what the ultimate goal is and lastly ill say, i have been contacted by two of my good friends who are members of parliament from the u. K. They asked me the question, why is it that you in your country are now trying to adopt something that were traig to get away from were trying to get away from here in the u. K. . There is one big overriding problem. If we cave in now, we will be reaching. With thairks yield to my colleagues who want to speak. Mr. Thune er i know my colleagues have come down here. Weve done this on several occasions. Because most of us are get being emails and phone calls and letters in our offices of realworld, reallife experiences that people are having with obamacare. And its a reminder that the things that we do here have realworld impacts out there across the country. And i know, as someone who represents the state of south dakota, i have come down heard and shared a number of come down here and shared a number of stories of constituents of mine who have been impacted by higher premiums, canceled coverage, higher deductibles, all things that are doing great economic harm to the people in our respective states. So i just want to share quickly here a note that i got from a constituent in rapid city, south dafnlg he says as my congressional representative, you need to know how obamacare is harming life and health care. My Insurance Company canceled my policy. Im currently paying over 800 a month for a family of four. If i sign up for obamacare, i would be paying over 2,500 a month. I cannot think of any way that this is considered Affordable Health care. Madam president , this is just another of many examples that i have from my state of south dakota, that my colleagues have, that point out why this flaw is flawed this law is flawed, the economic harm it is doing to the American People, why it is so important that we here in the United States senate take steps to change this and do it soon before it is too late. A senator madam president . Mr. Johnson madam president . The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Johnson madam president . The presiding officer the senator from wisconsin. Mr. Johnson madam president , like the senator from south dakota, our office continues to get emails and phone calls and contacts from our constituents. Tonight id like to read an email we received from david and shannon mckitchen. They write, i am trying to contact you with very little left to do. My wife and i, as of of i ha to, received a notice that our Health Policy is going up from 389 a month to 1,177 per mon month. Thats more than 200 increase. Basically, it is going from 4,600 per year to 14,000 per year. This is for the same level we have, which is an h. S. A. Policy, 5,000 maximum outofpocket per year. This policy works for us, as we both selfemployed Small Business owners. We have been hammered during the economic downturn and this is the straw that breaks the came camels back. We feel that our government is attacking us, and we have nowhere to turn. We are both in our mid50s, and if things stay the same, well be without Health Insurance. I have always provided for my own needs, but this is making things impossible. Please advise. What are we to do . Please fight for us and know we do not have a voice without you. I was a City Council Representative for 15 years and always fought for the working man, but i now know that it is become ago losing battle becoming a losing battle. Madam president , this is just one eafntle last week i was on the floor and i read a umin of emails with comments saying things like, you need to understand how cheated we feel. This is not right. I cannot afford this. Why are we being forced to change to a plan that has benefits we dont need . Please help. Circumstance i asir, iblg im b. This is unfair and hurting working families. This law is hurting us. Be our voice. We need our help. I guess we are the Collateral Damage . Why are they trying to destroy us in the process . We are scared. Madam president , we are hearing the voice of the American People. We are hearing the voice of wisconsinites. The senate must hear the voice of the American People and act. The sooner the better. I yield the floor. Mr. Grassley madam president . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley pliek my colleagues and like i have done several times before, i come to the floor to share the voice of one of many iowans who have contacted me over the sticker shock that theyre experiencing under the Affordable Care act. So this time i quote a constituent from sioux county, iowa, northwest iowa. That constituent writes, and i quote, i am a pastor in rural iowa, and early this past summer, trusting naively in the integrity of our president s repeated promise that if you like your Health Insurance you can keep it, period, i made a change in my policy. Moving to a higher deductible to save the church money. Now i have been informed that because of that change, my policy is no longer grandfathered, and therefore i will be forced out of it in a year and compelled to purchase a more expensive, unAffordable Care actcompliant policy. I am young, male, healthy and will not qualify for any subsidy. In effect, because of legislation democrats supported, my government is kicking me off from Health Coverage that i carefully researched, chose and like a lot and forcing me to buy coverage that i do not need at a price i scarcely can afford, and the government has the audacity to resort to the orwellian doublespeak and call such a draconian policy the Affordable Care act. Please convey to your democratic colleagues that i grew up on a dairy farm and now pastor a church of farmers. I am the epitome of middleclass america that they claim to champion. This bill is unjust. It is based on lies to americans like myself. It hurts real people, including the church i serve, end of quote. I have done my job, mr. President. I have shared this constituents message with my colleagues as he asked me to do. I hope that they were listening. I yield the floor. Mr. Barrasso madam president . The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso thank you, madam president. Madam president , i join my colleagues on the floor tonight to tell stories of what we are hearing from our constituents at home, and i would say, madam president , that the the newspaper from madam president s home state, the New York Times, this morning, frontpage story, uninsured, uninsured skeptical of Health Care Law in poll. This whole law was passed to try to deal with issues of the uninsured. This article on the front page of todays New York Times says 53 of the uninsured disapprove of the law. 53 of the uninsured disapprove of the law. Then they go through some of the numbers, and it looks like the same number of people who think they will be helped, an equal number of people who are uninsured think they will actually be hurt by this law. Another headline, wall street journal, errors continue to plague health site. But the Health Care Web site is just the tip of the iceberg. Sure, there have been web site failures, but the thing that is hurting americans all around the country are the higher premiums that the senator from iowa talked about, the canceled coverage that the senator from iowa talked about, people who cant keep their doctor in spite of the president s promise, fraud and Identity Theft and higher copays and deductibles which we now know are actually going to be higher after the law has been passed, specifically for the bronze policies, than they were all last year before the law came into effect. So id like to share a letter from a a woman in carbon county, wyoming, who writes about the harmful effect of the Health Care Law for her life and for her health care. She says i currently have Health Insurance through thigh husbands employer, but the reality is that the current Health Insurance we that we have may not be available much longer. This is scary to me since i recently did some insurance shopping for my mother. She said her mother is 63 years old and in good health. She said i was only able to get two quotes. The cheapest quote was for 756 a month, with a 6,000 deductible. So we see higher premiums and we see higher copays and deductibles. The prescription deductible for that particular plan was also 500, and then the copay for the prescription was still around 35. The other quote seemed like a better plan and had better copay on prescriptions, but that premium was 985 a month. That is also with the 6,000 deductible. She says what the heck, who can afford these kinds of premiums . This is more than most mortgage payments. Yet, madam president , the president of the United States said if you like your coverage, you can keep your coverage. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Went on national tv, sat with bill clinton a few days before the web site was opened, and he said its going to be easier to use than amazon, cheaper than your cell phone bill, and if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Its fascinateing that the president was so clueless about his own law, and here we are today, people suffering all around the country and the president doing nothing about it. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor. Mr. Burr madam president . The presiding officer the senator from north carolina. Mr. Burr madam president , i came to the floor last week, and for 45 minutes i pulled this folder out of my desk. It was my notes that i talked about in 2009 about the Affordable Care act before it became law. It talked about the increases that were projected in premiums, the deductibles. It talked about the networks that were changed, the doctors that wouldnt be available. You know, i wasnt a prophet. I was reporting what people reich the chief actuary were saying at c. M. S. At the time. Hospitals were going to close, doctors werent going to take be