Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Clean Shipping Act of 2023. This legislation aims to reduce harmful emissions from ocean going vessels and improve air quality for the nearly 40 percent of Americans who live within 3 miles of a port.

Globally, maritime shipping is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, emitting an estimated 1 billion tons of GHG emissions per year and roughly 3 percent of total anthropogenic global-warming carbon-dioxide

emissions. According to the International Maritime Organization, global shipping emissions could more than double between 2018 and 2050.

That is why the United States signed two shipping declarations at COP26 to call for zero-emission fuels on international commercial vessels by 2030 and the establishment of zero-emission shipping routes by the middle of the 2020 decade.

This legislation would set a path to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from all oceangoing vessels that do business with the United States.

The Clean Shipping Act will help reduce emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect air quality and public health for near-port communities, reduce climate pollution emissions from large marine vessels that call on U.S. ports, and ensure that the global maritime sector reduces, while providing the EPA with the flexibility needed to ensure smooth implementation.

The bill would direct the EPA to set progressively tighter carbon intensity standards for fuels used by ships consistent with a 1.5 deg.C decarbonization pathway, and to eliminate in-port ship emissions by 2030 for all ships at-berth or at-anchor in U.S. ports.

Importantly, this legislation is supported by global industry leaders and environmental advocates and will ensure that the global maritime sector reducesemissions consistent with the Paris Agreement, while providing the EPA with the flexibility needed to ensure smooth implementation.

More than 90 percent of global trade is transported by oceangoing vessels, which produce an estimated 3 percent of global anthropogenic emissions, yet these emissions are unregulated in the United States.

The International Maritime Organization's Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships plans to meet at the end of the month.

This bill would send a strong signal of our commitment to our international partners, empower the EPA to set standards to reduce harmful pollution in accordance with our national and international climate goals, provide certainty to the global shipping industry, and catalyze research and development to transition oceangoing vessels that rely on diesel engines.

This bill enjoys the support of environmentalists and industry stakeholders alike who recognize the urgent need to reduce emissions from the shipping sector.

I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Robert Garcia and Nanette Barragan for championing this bill in the House.

I Look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Clean Shipping Act as quickly as possible.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the harmful CRA resolution that would cause tens of millions of hard-working Americans to see their monthly budgets get even further squeezed, making it harder to pay their bills or afford basic necessities.

I rise to defend one of the largest efforts to close the racial wealth gap in our Nation's history.

As we debate student debt relief, it would be remarkably tone deaf for this body to spend an entire debate on the life-changing student debt forgiveness plan without acknowledging who it is that is at the decision-making table and who is not.

Most people consider this body, the U.S. Senate, as being deliberative. Many Members take pride in this being the most deliberative body in the world. While we may be deliberative, we are clearly far from diverse--at least far from reflecting the diversity of our great Nation.

Most Members of this body are decades removed from when they earned their undergraduate degrees. And many are at least years, if not, years and years removed from even having to sit down to plan how they would pay for their kids' college education.

So before we even get into the merits of President Biden's plan to uplift millions of hard-working Americans, I urge my colleagues to step outside the Senate for a moment. Let's step outside the Senate and step into the homes of working-class and middle-class families across the country who see skyrocketing rates of tuition and wonder if college just isn't for people like them anymore. Step into the family room of parents praying that scholarships might make a college degree possible for their children or talk to the student who is just as smart, just as hard-working as anybody else but because of student loans and higher interest rates, sees the door to higher education as closed to them.

We live in a nation where the dreams of too many are determined by their parents' paycheck. And in 2023, that means working- and middle- class families--with a disproportionate burden on communities of color, by the way--have to risk dangerous levels of debt just for a chance at achieving their American dream.

I remember what it felt like filling out financial aid forms and facing the brutal reality that when I was looking forward to attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the cost of tuition alone was bigger than my dad's W-2. I was only able to make it through because of Pell grants, scholarships, work study, and, yes, student loans, which took years to pay off.

So I know the real weight of student debt. And I also know what it is like to start thinking ahead to prepare my own son's college education.

And as it turns out, President Biden's plan is not just good for everybody; I mentioned earlier that it is a part of helping address the racial wealth gap in America. One statistic alone, his plan would mean almost half of Latino borrowers would see their entire debt forgiven. That is not just liberating. That is a wise investment for all of us.

The increased relief for Pell grants that is part of the plan would uplift communities of color and cut into the racial wealth gap in America. Two more statistics that are worth noting: Almost 71 percent of Black undergraduate borrowers and 65 percent of Latino students receive this grant.

The President's plan will mean that a generation of students would be able to begin their careers and build a life without the weight of student debt holding them back.

In California alone, it would bring relief to over 3.5 million eligible borrowers, an undeniable boost to our economy and to families throughout the State.

Let me underscore something else about this CRA. It is not just about what it threatens prospectively. If this program is overturned, if this resolution were to pass, 43 million Federal student loan borrowers would have to pay back months of payments and interest that had been relieved, forcing Americans into delinquency or worse: default.

Republicans seem determined to prevent relief to tens of millions of Americans, despite the fact that 90 percent of the relief would go to those earning less than $75,000 a year.

In one fell swoop, it would cause unthinkable confusion and chaos for Federal student loan borrowers and make clear that, once again, Republicans view the American dream as a premium and higher education as a luxury, only for the wealthiest, only for those who can afford it.

I refuse to accept that fate. I urge my colleagues to see the real cost of today's CRA on working families. I assure you that the real impact won't fall on the wealthy families. It will be the working families of California and across the country whose lives will be fundamentally altered should we fail them today.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today as chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife to express my strong disapproval of Republican efforts to undermine the integrity and authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Now, around the world, scientists tell us that 1 million species face extinction, including 40 percent of animals in the United States. This is nothing short of a biodiversity crisis, one that will have dire impacts on the ecosystems around us and the clean air and clean water that we need to survive.

Yet, last week, for the second and the third time in just 2 weeks, Republicans passed a Congressional Review Act resolution to constrain the Fish and Wildlife Service and their ability to protect our planet.

Three times now we have had to stop all other business of the Senate and devote valuable floor time that we could have used to pass legislation to confirm or promote military leaders and

otherwise do the people's business. Instead, we had to stop to debate the merits of protecting threatened and endangered species from extinction. That is not a joke--for the folks watching at home--and this is not an exaggeration either.

Let's review. It was a half a century ago that Congress acknowledged the reality of habitat destruction and the threats to America's unique biodiversity. And, yes, Congress gave the Fish and Wildlife Service the power to administer a process for designating and protecting newly endangered species. Congress intentionally and purposefully handed the power over to experts in habitat loss and wildlife biologists--who are actually educated and trained--to determine which species are most at risk and what we need to do to protect them.

It is no different than how we regulate prescription drugs, for example. We rely on the FDA and their experts and their scientists to protect the American people rather than trying to individually legislate every single medication. Imagine trying to legislate every single medication in this body.

So the real effect of these CRAs is to set a precedent for personal grievances and for the folks who deny the science and prefer gridlock to prevail. Passage of these CRAs is the equivalent of saying that, whenever a powerful industry or a lone Member of Congress dislikes a rule that scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service issue in the future, they are entitled to a vote to second-guess and overturn the actual experts.

I may be wrong, but I am not aware of any wildlife biologists currently serving in this Senate. At a time when more and more wildlife species are at risk of extinction, we can't constrain the ability of the Fish and Wildlife Service from following the science and issuing rules to protect them or, in the case of the critical habitat designation CRA, my colleagues are blatantly ignoring the realities of climate change and limiting our Nation's ability to react and respond in the years ahead.

I suggest that, rather than grinding Congress to a halt, those of us who voted to follow the process that Congress itself created is the responsible way to allow the scientists and experts to do their job. Rather than ignore the science of the climate crisis, I voted to live up to the responsibilities that we have as stewards of this great land.

And while this last week Senate Republicans got their way, I am proud to have a President in the White House who takes seriously our sacred responsibility to our planet and who refuses to overrule the experts and the scientists. But I also know that this is not the end of the CRAs and that our Republican colleagues will attempt to overrule the Fish and Wildlife Service and choose to put their personal grievances over progress in Congress.

So when that day comes again--because there will be future attempts-- I will proudly, once again, stand with the experts and vote no.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Supercomputing for Safer Chemicals Act or the SUPERSAFE Act. Through the use of supercomputing and artificial intelligence, we have an opportunity to transform our scientific understanding of the detrimental effects associated with certain industrial chemical uses and to shift American commerce towards safer and more sustainable products and manufacturing.

The legislation would establish a SUPERSAFE Consortium to be led by the Environmental Protection Agency in consultation with the heads of relevant Federal Agencies, the National Labs, academic and other research institutions, State agencies, and other entities as determined by the EPA. The purpose of the SUPERSAFE Consortium is to identify exposures to toxic substance and chemicals that are safer to use in commerce.

Specifically, the SUPERSAFE Consortium established by this bill would use supercomputing, machine learning, and other similar capabilities to establish rapid approaches for large-scale identification of toxic substances and the development of safer alternatives to toxic substances by developing and validating computational toxicology methods; address the need to identify safe chemicals for use in consumer and industrial products and in their manufacture to support the move away from toxic substances and toward safe-by-design alternatives; and make recommendations on how the information produced can be applied in risk assessments and other characterizations for use by the Environmental Protection Agency and other Agencies in regulatory decisions and by industry in identifying toxic and safer chemicals.

Importantly, establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium would encourage interagency collaboration and leverage the best scientific ideas through inclusion of State agencies and public and academic research institutions.

Currently, tens of thousands of untested chemicals can be used in commercial products, resulting in consumer, community, and worker exposures to potentially toxic chemicals. Too often, there is insufficient scientific data for evaluating health effects or identifying safer chemicals, and existing approaches to generating this data are slow, costly, and rely on animal testing.

We are well poised to address this problem and discover safer chemicals by establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium to use supercomputing, machine learning, and other similar capabilities. These technologies can be developed and applied to rapidly provide information to evaluate chemical safety to identify safe chemicals that avoid the chronic diseases and environmental harm caused by toxic chemicals.

Unfortunately, too many Americans are exposed to toxic chemicals such as PFAS and lead. Congress has stepped up and provided billions to remediate toxic exposures, including via the bipartisan infrastructure law, to address PFAS and lead pollution. Establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium in Federal law could help avoid the widespread pollution that our communities face so we can address potential pollution challenges before they become widespread.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this bill as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Supercomputing for Safer Chemicals Act or the SUPERSAFE Act. Through the use of supercomputing and artificial intelligence, we have an opportunity to transform our scientific understanding of the detrimental effects associated with certain industrial chemical uses and to shift American commerce towards safer and more sustainable products and manufacturing.

The legislation would establish a SUPERSAFE Consortium to be led by the Environmental Protection Agency in consultation with the heads of relevant Federal Agencies, the National Labs, academic and other research institutions, State agencies, and other entities as determined by the EPA. The purpose of the SUPERSAFE Consortium is to identify exposures to toxic substance and chemicals that are safer to use in commerce.

Specifically, the SUPERSAFE Consortium established by this bill would use supercomputing, machine learning, and other similar capabilities to establish rapid approaches for large-scale identification of toxic substances and the development of safer alternatives to toxic substances by developing and validating computational toxicology methods; address the need to identify safe chemicals for use in consumer and industrial products and in their manufacture to support the move away from toxic substances and toward safe-by-design alternatives; and make recommendations on how the information produced can be applied in risk assessments and other characterizations for use by the Environmental Protection Agency and other Agencies in regulatory decisions and by industry in identifying toxic and safer chemicals.

Importantly, establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium would encourage interagency collaboration and leverage the best scientific ideas through inclusion of State agencies and public and academic research institutions.

Currently, tens of thousands of untested chemicals can be used in commercial products, resulting in consumer, community, and worker exposures to potentially toxic chemicals. Too often, there is insufficient scientific data for evaluating health effects or identifying safer chemicals, and existing approaches to generating this data are slow, costly, and rely on animal testing.

We are well poised to address this problem and discover safer chemicals by establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium to use supercomputing, machine learning, and other similar capabilities. These technologies can be developed and applied to rapidly provide information to evaluate chemical safety to identify safe chemicals that avoid the chronic diseases and environmental harm caused by toxic chemicals.

Unfortunately, too many Americans are exposed to toxic chemicals such as PFAS and lead. Congress has stepped up and provided billions to remediate toxic exposures, including via the bipartisan infrastructure law, to address PFAS and lead pollution. Establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium in Federal law could help avoid the widespread pollution that our communities face so we can address potential pollution challenges before they become widespread.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this bill as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Madam President, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Dr. Daisy Gonzales, who later this month will end her tenure as interim chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Nation's largest system of higher education.

Born in Southern California to immigrant parents and a former foster child, Dr. Gonzales was among the first in her family to go to college when she attended Los Angeles Valley College, a public community college.

Because of her intellect, her work ethic, and the opportunity provided by California's community college system, Dr. Gonzales would go on to earn her bachelor's degree, her master's degree, and her Ph.D., and eventually become the first Latina--and second woman--to serve as chancellor. She is a shining example of the American dream in action.

Dr. Gonzales first joined the California Community Colleges as the system's deputy chancellor in early 2018. Since then, she has helped guide the system through some of its most tumultuous times. Throughout a global pandemic that forced nearly all instruction to move online and exacerbated the basic needs crisis surrounding issues like food and housing insecurity, Dr. Gonzales provided steady leadership for a system of 116 colleges and 1.8 million students across the State.

She has been an unrelenting champion for Vision for Success--the system's north star--helping achieve meaningful progress in improving graduation and transfer rates, expanding access to on-campus basic needs services, and implementing groundbreaking reforms to faculty hiring and tenure policies that will ensure California Community College instructors are representative of the students they teach.

As she transitions back to her role as deputy chancellor--and as the system welcomes its new permanent chancellor, Dr. Sonya Christian--I am grateful for the years of dedication and hard work that Dr. Gonzales has given to the State of California and to the pursuit of quality higher education for all.

Felicidades, Dr. Gonzales, and thank you for your service.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act.

This legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for these workers and their families, who have played a critical role in getting us through the pandemic and are helping with recovery efforts.

A little over 2 years ago, after I was first sworn into the U.S. Senate, this was the very first bill I introduced.

Every day, over 5 million essential workers without permanent legal status kept Americans healthy, fed, and safe during the COVID pandemic--all while risking their own health and the health of their families.

They couldn't just Zoom into the office.

Many served us while living in constant fear of deportation.

Back then, for the first time, Americans were waking up to a reality what families like mine knew for years: that not only were these immigrant workers saving lives in a time of need but that their work had always been essential to our country.

As the proud son of immigrants from Mexico whose mother worked as a housekeeper and father a short order cook--two jobs that today would be deemed essential--I can only imagine the fear and uncertainty my family would have experienced every day my dad walked out the door or my mom set off to enter another family's home in the middle of a pandemic.

The Federal COVID-19 public health emergency comes to an end next month, but we can't forget the sacrifices these workers made--and still make every single day--for our country.

And my legislation not only honors their sacrifice but also recognizes how critical essential workers are to our

economy even beyond a public health emergency.

They have earned their place in this country.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act.

This legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for these workers and their families, who have played a critical role in getting us through the pandemic and are helping with recovery efforts.

A little over 2 years ago, after I was first sworn into the U.S. Senate, this was the very first bill I introduced.

Every day, over 5 million essential workers without permanent legal status kept Americans healthy, fed, and safe during the COVID pandemic--all while risking their own health and the health of their families.

They couldn't just Zoom into the office.

Many served us while living in constant fear of deportation.

Back then, for the first time, Americans were waking up to a reality what families like mine knew for years: that not only were these immigrant workers saving lives in a time of need but that their work had always been essential to our country.

As the proud son of immigrants from Mexico whose mother worked as a housekeeper and father a short order cook--two jobs that today would be deemed essential--I can only imagine the fear and uncertainty my family would have experienced every day my dad walked out the door or my mom set off to enter another family's home in the middle of a pandemic.

The Federal COVID-19 public health emergency comes to an end next month, but we can't forget the sacrifices these workers made--and still make every single day--for our country.

And my legislation not only honors their sacrifice but also recognizes how critical essential workers are to our

economy even beyond a public health emergency.

They have earned their place in this country.

Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support President Biden's nominee to serve as Secretary of Labor, current Acting Secretary Julie Su.

Julie is a proud Californian and a champion for workers everywhere. She was a tireless advocate for workers in California for years. I was honored to introduce her before the HELP Committee 2 years ago when she was first nominated to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor.

I should note that, that year, I was also proud to see every single Democratic Senator vote to confirm her nomination. In the time since, I think it is perfect to ask, what has happened? I will tell you what has happened. She has gained even more experience in defending workers nationwide and in managing a Federal Department.

As a highly effective Deputy Secretary of Labor and now as Acting Secretary, she has played a critical role in helping the administration add 12.6 million jobs to the American economy, which is more job gains than any previous President has achieved in a 4-year term. It is further proof that job creation and strong labor protections are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand in hand in building a strong, resilient economy.

Julie's service and track record come as no surprise, frankly, when you understand where she came from. She is the daughter of immigrants and a native of California. She knows personally the sacrifices that many working families make to make ends meet. Her parents worked hard for decades in minimum wage jobs before establishing and growing their own small business.

So, yes, colleagues, Julie Su and her family have seen both sides of a paycheck. They instilled in Julie a strong work ethic, which has led her to take on tough fights as a labor lawyer, as labor secretary for the State of California, as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, and now as Acting Secretary.

I also have to note, as the secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency--the then-fifth largest economy in the world and now the fourth largest economy in the world--she was a strong manager who led a number of major departments, boards, and panels at the State level.

Her experience and qualifications are unmatched. As former Secretary Walsh put it, Julie is a ``lifelong champion of America's workers.''

I will end with this: If confirmed, she would be the first Asian American to serve as a Secretary in President Biden's Cabinet. Millions of Americans will see themselves represented at the highest levels of government and take pride in her story as a daughter of working-class immigrants.

I was proud to hear her impressive recent testimony in the HELP Committee when I introduced her once again and where she was successfully voted out of committee. She is exactly the type of labor champion we need at this critical time.

I urge my colleagues to join me in once again confirming her nomination.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act.

This legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for these workers and their families, who have played a critical role in getting us through the pandemic and are helping with recovery efforts.

A little over 2 years ago, after I was first sworn into the U.S. Senate, this was the very first bill I introduced.

Every day, over 5 million essential workers without permanent legal status kept Americans healthy, fed, and safe during the COVID pandemic--all while risking their own health and the health of their families.

They couldn't just Zoom into the office.

Many served us while living in constant fear of deportation.

Back then, for the first time, Americans were waking up to a reality what families like mine knew for years: that not only were these immigrant workers saving lives in a time of need but that their work had always been essential to our country.

As the proud son of immigrants from Mexico whose mother worked as a housekeeper and father a short order cook--two jobs that today would be deemed essential--I can only imagine the fear and uncertainty my family would have experienced every day my dad walked out the door or my mom set off to enter another family's home in the middle of a pandemic.

The Federal COVID-19 public health emergency comes to an end next month, but we can't forget the sacrifices these workers made--and still make every single day--for our country.

My legislation not only honors their sacrifice but also recognizes how critical essential workers are to our economy even beyond a public health emergency.

They have earned their place in this country.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act.

This legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for these workers and their families, who have played a critical role in getting us through the pandemic and are helping with recovery efforts.

A little over 2 years ago, after I was first sworn into the U.S. Senate, this was the very first bill I introduced.

Every day, over 5 million essential workers without permanent legal status kept Americans healthy, fed, and safe during the COVID pandemic--all while risking their own health and the health of their families.

They couldn't just Zoom into the office.

Many served us while living in constant fear of deportation.

Back then, for the first time, Americans were waking up to a reality what families like mine knew for years: that not only were these immigrant workers saving lives in a time of need but that their work had always been essential to our country.

As the proud son of immigrants from Mexico whose mother worked as a housekeeper and father a short order cook--two jobs that today would be deemed essential--I can only imagine the fear and uncertainty my family would have experienced every day my dad walked out the door or my mom set off to enter another family's home in the middle of a pandemic.

The Federal COVID-19 public health emergency comes to an end next month, but we can't forget the sacrifices these workers made--and still make every single day--for our country.

My legislation not only honors their sacrifice but also recognizes how critical essential workers are to our economy even beyond a public health emergency.

They have earned their place in this country.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act.

This legislation would ensure that immigrants with criminal convictions do not face barriers to naturalization and experience unfair removals after their convictions have been dismissed, expunged, or pardoned by a Federal or State locality.

The Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act is important in ensuring immigrants are not unjustly treated after receiving a criminal charge that never resulted in a conviction or after a previous conviction no longer stands.

Specifically, this bill would ensure that immigrants whose convictions have been overturned are not penalized when they are no longer considered valid in the court of conviction or for sentences that have been fully suspended by the sentencing court.

By redefining the term ``conviction'' in the Immigration and Nationality Act, this legislation also clarifies that any adjudication that is appealable or in which the court has issued a judicial recommendation against removal or probation without judgment will not count as a conviction.

The bill would apply retroactively to any conviction, adjudication, or judgement entered before, on, or after the enactment of this bill. Finally, it establishes that an immigrant cannot be removed on the basis of a conviction if the sentencing court issues a recommendation against removal to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Under current law, rather than having access to many rehabilitative measures that are afforded in the criminal justice system, immigrants with dismissed criminal charges, suspended sentences, or criminal convictions that are no longer considered valid in the court of conviction still face severe consequences in the immigration court system.

Some of the immigration consequences that immigrants can face include unjust removals, mandatory detention, and barriers to naturalization.

It is imperative that we resolve this disparity between immigration and criminal law to prevent those immigrants with dismissed criminal charges or with convictions that are no longer considered valid in the court of conviction from continuing to face punitive immigration consequences.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act.

This legislation would ensure that immigrants with criminal convictions do not face barriers to naturalization and experience unfair removals after their convictions have been dismissed, expunged, or pardoned by a Federal or State locality.

The Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act is important in ensuring immigrants are not unjustly treated after receiving a criminal charge that never resulted in a conviction or after a previous conviction no longer stands.

Specifically, this bill would ensure that immigrants whose convictions have been overturned are not penalized when they are no longer considered valid in the court of conviction or for sentences that have been fully suspended by the sentencing court.

By redefining the term ``conviction'' in the Immigration and Nationality Act, this legislation also clarifies that any adjudication that is appealable or in which the court has issued a judicial recommendation against removal or probation without judgment will not count as a conviction.

The bill would apply retroactively to any conviction, adjudication, or judgement entered before, on, or after the enactment of this bill. Finally, it establishes that an immigrant cannot be removed on the basis of a conviction if the sentencing court issues a recommendation against removal to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Under current law, rather than having access to many rehabilitative measures that are afforded in the criminal justice system, immigrants with dismissed criminal charges, suspended sentences, or criminal convictions that are no longer considered valid in the court of conviction still face severe consequences in the immigration court system.

Some of the immigration consequences that immigrants can face include unjust removals, mandatory detention, and barriers to naturalization.

It is imperative that we resolve this disparity between immigration and criminal law to prevent those immigrants with dismissed criminal charges or with convictions that are no longer considered valid in the court of conviction from continuing to face punitive immigration consequences.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.