Floor Statements

Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for today's vote

on the confirmation of Steven Mnuchin to be Secretary of the Treasury. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?

I say to the Senator, it is my understanding that the essence of Mrs. DeVos's career has been an effort to impose on States programs--and now a Federal Government program--that will take money out of public schools to provide for parents and students to then go to private schools. Is it a fair characterization of the essence of her career that parents should have a choice with public money to decide whether they want to attend a public school or a private school?

So I am confused.

We just had an election. In my State, the reddest parts of my State are parts of the State where there are no private schools--rural Missouri. I am a daughter of rural Missouri. My father went to public school in Houston, MO. My mother went to public school in Lebanon, MO. I attended public school in Lebanon, MO, and Columbia, MO. In fact, I am a product of public education from beginning to end. Both of my parents went to the University of Missouri, and so did I.

In rural areas of this country, there are no private schools for parents and kids to choose. They would have to drive miles. By the way, in my State, the newly elected Governor just cut transportation funds for public schools--just cut them. So they now have less money for transportation than they had last year. And, by the way, it isn't like public schools are getting fully funded in my State. They are not.

So I guess what I am confused about--I know what public schools mean to rural Missouri. I know they are the essence of the community. If the essence of this woman's career is to take money out of public schools in rural communities and put them in private schools that will never exist in many of these small communities, they are kicking the shins of the very voters who put them in power.

I don't get that. I don't get that, Senator. I don't understand how you could give the back of your hand to rural America with this decision. I would implore my colleagues who understand that rural America is where their base is in large part that they are misreading this vote if they think that rural America is going to forget that this woman wants to rob the public schools of rural America and put in private schools in the cities, which they will never be able to attend.

I thank the Senator.

Mr. President, will the Senator yield for 1 sentence?

Thank you so much. I yield the remainder of my postcloture debate time to Senator Feinstein.

I thank Senator Shaheen. I apologize for interrupting.

Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?

It is my understanding that not only are we fighting shoulder to shoulder with Iraqis against ISIL, on the day these orders were signed, we had Iraqi pilots in the United States of America training to bomb ISIS. If they had come days after the signing of this order instead of days before, they would not have been allowed to enter the country for this important training; is that correct?

Sorry. I heard you talking about Iraqis, and I wanted to make sure everyone in America understood that they were here training with our military to fight ISIS, and the President of the United States told them they were no longer welcome.

Mr. President, I am going to make a couple of brief comments and then yield my hour of postcloture debate.

Let me just say that nothing the President did made us safer. And one of the most outrageous claims the President made was that we don't have extreme vetting.

The Presiding Officer and I both serve on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and after we realized that we needed to take a closer look at refugees and making sure bad guys weren't getting into this country, we instituted an amazing array of vetting processes.

Let me first start with this important principle. Nobody applies to the United States for refugee status; they apply to the United Nations. Less than 1 percent of the people who apply for refugee status with the United Nations are granted the opportunity to go forward. So we start out with 99-plus percent of the people who apply to be a refugee turned down at the United Nations, so the less than 1 percent who come to us, come to us for another aggressive screening process. I went to Jordan and watched it. There are multiple interviews. It takes 18 months to 2 years. They are vetted through every possible intelligence agency, every possible database. And by the way, we check what they are saying even if they don't have papers. There are iris scans. It is the most extreme vet you can imagine. Of course, because it was so extreme, we realized that the hole in our system was not the refugees; it was, in fact, the Visa Waiver Program, which is why we passed a law after Paris to make sure that anybody who was in certain countries had to get a visa. Obama didn't do a travel ban. Obama never identified countries for a travel ban. All President Obama did was say: If you have been in these countries, you have to have a visa so we have information on you.

I wanted to clarify that because the misinformation that is coming out of the White House about what we currently have and what is in place is an insult. I wish they understood the vetting processes we have in place now for refugees; then maybe we could get back to really joining arms and trying to figure out what we can do for national security. One thing we need to do for national security is not give the back of our hand to the pilots and the other soldiers who are fighting shoulder to shoulder with us in Iraq against ISIS.

I yield the remainder of my hour of postclosure debate time under rule XXII to Senator Schumer.

Because there is no replace, I vote no.

Mr. President, I have to say that I am a little confused about what is happening right now. The Republican Party is in charge--totally in charge of Congress. I am sure Speaker Boehner's and Majority Leader McConnell's staffs talk on a daily basis. I am sure they are talking, coordinating, and realizing the Republican Party now has the responsibility of showing this country they can run Congress.

So what do we do right out of the gate? We threaten to shut down the Department of our government that protects our homeland while ISIS is burning prisoners alive on film? The irony of this is Republicans are in charge. All they have to do is present a clean funding bill for Homeland Security, and the very next day take up immigration reform and debate it. But they are trying to play a political trick and trying to make it look as if somehow their disagreement with the President on immigration trumps the protection of our country and that somehow we will all go along with that.

Speaker Boehner mentioned me. My friend and my colleague from Texas just mentioned me. Yes, I said it. I am uncomfortable with the President issuing Executive orders such as this--no matter what party it is, no matter who the President is. But what I said when I made that statement is--I pivoted, and I said: Do you know how we prevent that from happening? We have a House of Representatives that is willing to take up and debate immigration reform. This body passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill by a wide margin. It wasn't even a squeaker. Many of my Republican colleagues voted for it, understanding this is a public policy area in our country that needs to be addressed.

We can't make it a political punching bag on either side. My party can't say: We are for the immigrants; we get their votes. And the Republican Party can't say: Well, we are for the tea party, and we are against all immigrants. We need to come together and do public policy in a system that is broken. The bill we passed here was amazing in terms of border security. But Speaker Boehner wouldn't take it up for more than 18 months. Speaker Boehner wouldn't even allow it to be debated on the floor of the House.

Now the Republicans are in charge. Do they take up immigration reform? Do they have a proposal? By the way, that is the way you get rid of the President's Executive order; that is, we do our jobs. We do our job. It is a little bit like ``replace'' for health care. I have heard repeal and replace for 4 years. Has anybody seen replace? Has it been identified anywhere? If it is out there, I would love to see it. It has been talked about a lot. The same thing for immigration. If you don't like what the President has done, then put up a bill and let's debate it.

By the way, the Republicans have the power to do that immediately after we fund Homeland Security. We don't have to talk about anything else. We can

stay on immigration reform and pound out a compromise and public policy that won't please everyone but will do exactly what the American people want us to do, and that is find a compromise that works.

As countries around the world have united in their opposition to ISIS and the barbarians who are participating in ISIS activities, as all of our allies and some who haven't traditionally been our allies are beefing up their cyber security, their border security, beefing up their homeland security, their airport security, adding more resources, what are we doing in America? Talk about a mixed signal--we are threatening to shut ours down. We are threatening to shut ours down to score political points.

I know there would be tough votes on immigration reform when we debate it, for me in my State and for many in their States. We had those tough votes last year and the year before. We pounded out a bill that nobody loved, but it was pretty good. It made sure, by the way, that people who had broken the rules went to the back of the line. If you want people who break the rules to go to the back of the line, then let's get busy on immigration reform. But this is exactly the nonsense that frustrates Americans--threatening to shut down a vital part of protecting our country in the name of politics.

The notion that the senior Senator from Texas, the assistant majority floor leader, just said--that we were denying a debate--is absurd on its face. We debate whatever the Republican Party wants us to debate now. They are in charge. So step up, fund Homeland Security, and move on to an immigration debate. You will find a lot of willing partners trying to find a way forward but not with this gamesmanship. It is not going to happen. It isn't going to happen because homeland security is too important, especially at this moment in our history.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, people who work in politics sometimes suffer a bad image. People who run for office, obviously, sometimes suffer a bad image. But sometimes even worse is the image that what we call the political handlers have--those people who have made a career of professionally helping people get elected. They are seen as ruthless, as hired guns, as aggressive, even soulless, unprincipled. I am here to talk about one of those political operatives, but this political operative was special. This political operative was my friend. He was principled, he was brave, but most of all he was a patriot. Pat Gray passed away very recently and he will be missed.

Pat grew up in Oklahoma. After serving 4 years in the Navy, he moved to Kansas City where he took a job with the Kansas City Power and Light Company. He also became very active in the Jaycees. He found that work as part of the Jaycee organization was exhilarating. He had his first taste of working on campaigns to improve the community and he was hooked.

Very quickly he moved into advertising. That advertising job then morphed into working on political campaigns. Pat made his bones in 1982 as a political consultant when he took on the city incumbent county executive in Jackson County, MO. Jackson County is the county where the person who used to have this desk is from, Harry Truman. Jackson County is the county that contains Kansas City.

It was then and still is a place where Democrats do well. So for Pat Gray to take on a candidate to be a sitting incumbent county executive was quite brave because, as I am sure the Presiding Officer understands, politics is rough locally. When someone takes on a powerful person in the predominating party in a community, there is usually a price to pay, but Pat was not deterred. His candidate, Bill Waris, beat that sitting county executive, Dale Baumgardner, in 1982.

The following year Pat was hired in an important mayoral campaign where he was also successful, electing the Kansas City mayor. Pat was low key, but he was aggressive. Pat had little ego but lots of laser- like strategy. He was very easy going, but he was very hard on his opponents. As one Kansas Citian put it after Pat had passed away: Pat slid into second with his spikes in the air. So you either had to make a very good throw or get out of the way.

That was his style, very hands-on. He wanted to win badly. Pat was instrumental in electing the first woman as Jackson County executive, the first woman as Jackson County prosecutor--my campaign for that office in 1992--and the first woman as mayor of Kansas City.

He helped to elect mayors, legislators, city council members, too many for me to name, too many campaigns, too many candidates. Nine out of ten times he was successful. He helped me throughout my career. I remember vividly in 1990, when I was running for the county legislature, his coming to my home in Coleman Highlands with a camera and shooting a commercial with me sitting on my living room couch, just the two of us. He became a trusted advisor and my dear friend until his death.

As I stand at the very desk Harry Truman used in the Senate, I stand here in part because of his help and his loyalty. I will be reaching for the phone to call Pat Gray countless times in the coming years. While he helped many candidates, including me, it was on community issues that his record was particularly impressive. The e-tax renewal in Kansas City, which many thought had no chance, Pat successfully steered; the renewal and invigoration of our sports complex in Kansas City, the home of the division champion Kansas City Royals and our Kansas City Chiefs. Pat Gray strategized a brilliant campaign to revitalize downtown Kansas City through the building of a major sports arena, which has now resulted in blocks and blocks of revitalization. In fact, real estate in Kansas City--residential real estate in downtown Kansas City--is now a hot ticket in large part because of Pat Gray; the very first area transportation tax, which gave a lifeline to thousands of Kansas Citians in the urban center, allowing them to find that way to get to work; a property tax for indigent care at Truman Medical Center.

Can you imagine anything that might be more difficult to pass? Asking people to pay more property taxes to help care for the poor who were turning up in the emergency room at our major local hospital, Pat Gray did that; additional tax moneys for both police and

fire and an issue very near and dear to my heart. He helped me renew the community antidrug tax in Kansas City, which has been so instrumental in doing research and development on the antidrug strategies that work--not just more police, not just more prosecutors, not just more jail space but also prevention and treatment. Pat Gray was there helping me as we started one of the very first drug courts in the country in Kansas City, as a result of his help with the COMBAT tax initiative.

Pat adored his family. His wife Brenda always patient and smiling, he really adored Brenda. She climbed into the roller coaster with Pat Gray in the late 1970s. While she had to hold on hard during part of the ride, there was never any question that they were a team and she was his rock.

His children, Christopher, Donna, and Lauren, he was their guiding light and they were his pride and joy. Pat loved this country. He loved his family. He loved his city. He loved his friends and he loved his work. But most of all, he loved this country.

Pat's biggest secret, as a sometimes rough-and-tumble political brawler: he was an idealist who was inspired every day by our grand and glorious democracy. He had deep respect for the system he worked within. He understood that in America a good idea is sometimes enough; a good idea helped along by a professional consultant who was a patriot.

We will miss you, Pat Gray. We will miss you, Pat Gray, the patriot.

I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask the Senate to join me today in honoring the 150th anniversary of the State of Missouri's Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery in the State of Missouri. This proclamation of freedom was imperative for democracy and progress in our State. It is undoubtedly a landmark in Missouri's history.

In 1720, the arrival of 500 slaves to the areas presently known as St. Louis

County and Jefferson County, marked the beginning of slavery in Missouri. Those slaves, who were brought to work in the lead mines in those counties, experienced great discrimination over the course of 1\1/2\ centuries. When the Territorial Slave Codes were created in 1804, slaves were banned from using firearms, participating in assemblies, holding church services and selling alcohol. Under the codes, slaves were also punished severely for participating in resistance efforts and the mutilation of slaves for the sexual assault of white women was made legal. White men who sexually assaulted slave women, however, were charged for trespassing upon a slave owner's property.

Retained by the State Constitution in 1820, the Territorial Slave Codes were only a premonition of more to come. In 1821, Missouri entered the Union as a slave State with the passing of the Missouri Compromise and in 1825, the Missouri Legislature passed a law which declared slaves to be incompetent as witnesses in legal cases involving whites. That gloomy trend continued as the education of slaves was banned in an 1847 ordinance. One of the most foreboding events, however, occurred in 1857 with the infamous Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford when the judicial system in the state of Missouri and the wider judicial system in the United States decided that persons of African descent were not U.S. citizens.

At the time of the Civil War, over 100,000 slaves were living in the State of Missouri and when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Missouri's slaves were not freed as Missouri was not officially in rebellion against the United States. Missouri's slaves received their freedom on January 11, 1865, when the Emancipation Ordinance was signed at a State convention in St. Louis. That ordinance was made effective immediately and the strict codes of the past were eliminated.

I ask that the Senate join me in reflecting upon this difficult time in Missouri's history and honoring the historical significance of the Emancipation Ordinance which ended slavery in the State of Missouri, 150 years ago.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I wish to talk about Senator Levin from a different perspective than my colleagues have. There is a seduction that goes on around here. You can get lulled into a false sense of security by excellent staff. Carl Levin is fortunate that he has excellent staff, but what many of us are tempted to do at times is to allow staff to do the arcane and tedious work of checking statutory language.

I have been blessed to have a front-row seat to watch Carl Levin work. From my seat on the Armed Services Committee and on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I have not only watched his excellent staff, I have watched Carl Levin. This is a man who understands every nook and cranny of statutory construction. He would never be lulled into a false sense of security that he understood the bill just because of what he was told.

I will think of Carl Levin fondly in one way: his shoulders slightly stooped, his hand grasping a piece of paper, not an electronic device, him walking quickly toward me with his head down, peering over those ubiquitous glasses, saying: Claire, have you read the language? Claire, have you read the language? Read the language. Read the language.

He understands the hazards of a misplaced comma. He understands the danger of using an ``and'' instead of an ``or.'' He understands that the essence of our work is to make sure we craft language that lives up to our purpose and ideals.

Carl Levin is a Senator's Senator. There are no sharp elbows, no heated rhetoric, and, frankly, there is no star power on cable TV. No one is dying to get Carl in front of a camera because he will say something incendiary or pick a fight, which all of our friends are anxious for us to do--if we would only pick a fight.

Carl is methodically doing the grind-it-out work of legislating. He has the tools of a great Senator: intellect, integrity, good manners, and an unsurpassed work ethic. I will always call him my most important mentor in the Senate. He has taught me more than I can ever say. I will try desperately to live up to the ideal he has set for all of us.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

I yield back all time.

Mr President, I wish to recognize a noble Missourian, the spirited and courageous Mrs. Frankie Muse Freeman. Fifty years ago today, this body confirmed Mrs. Freeman as President Lyndon B. Johnson's choice to be the first female Commissioner to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She served honorably in this capacity for 16 years, having been reappointed by Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

By the time President Johnson first nominated Mrs. Freeman to the Civil Rights Commission, she had worked tirelessly to end racial discrimination and secure equality, justice and fairness for every citizen. Born Marie Frankie Muse on November 24, 1916 in Danville, VA to parents who experienced the benefits of formal education and who in turn supported their daughter's educational pursuits, Frankie was educated in Virginia and attended college at the distinguished and well-known historically black college Hampton University. Almost 10 years after she started college, Frankie began her law school career at Howard University School of Law, where she graduated second in her class. Soon afterward, Frankie settled in St. Louis, MO, and began her successful career as a civil rights attorney. She worked on a variety of important civil rights issues ranging from education to hiring practices. Most notably in 1954, Frankie argued and won the fight against racial discrimination in public housing in the landmark NAACP case Davis et al. v. St. Louis Housing Authority. The following year, Frankie became the first associate general counsel of the St. Louis Housing Authority and Land Clearance Authority. Three years later in 1958, she joined the Missouri advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The quality and breadth of her work combined with her passion for advocacy eventually led to her selection as a U.S. Civil Rights commissioner.

In the five decades since her historic appointment, Frankie's energy and devotion to justice has not diminished. She has received appointments from former Presidents to serve on other service-related commissions. In addition, she worked as a municipal court judge for many years and was instrumental in the formation of the Citizens Commission on Civil Rights, an organization that seeks to ensure the Federal Government's vigilance in its enforcement of anti- discrimination laws. In addition to this public service, Frankie wrote a book about her storied life and career. Just 6 years ago at the age of 92, she retired after spending the latter part of her career in private practice. Not surprisingly, even retirement has not slowed Frankie down. She remains active on a number of urban and community service-based social welfare boards.

To countless residents of my State and across the country, Frankie Muse Freeman is a hero. She is a woman who grew up in Jim Crow-era South when racial segregation was legal. Growing up, if Frankie wanted to go somewhere, her options were to either walk or take the segregated streetcar. She witnessed first hand the harsh consequences of racial inequality and she chose to devote her entire career to ending that injustice. Frankie is an inspiration to so many Americans, across all racial lines, and to me personally. She is a public servant whom my children and grandchildren can look up to. Because of leaders like her, who fought and sacrificed but ultimately believed in our country's ability to empathize and change, we are all better off and our lives more enriched.

Therefore, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Mrs. Frankie Muse Freeman on the 50th anniversary of her Senate confirmation to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. In addition, I ask my colleagues to recognize Frankie's distinguished service to the people of this country.

Madam President, today I congratulate Judge Edith Messina on her retirement from the 16th Circuit Judicial Court of Jackson County and to thank her for her many years of leadership and service. For over 30 years, Judge Messina demonstrated exceptional litigation skills, judicial integrity, and professionalism while serving the State of Missouri. I am pleased to recognize her outstanding career today.

Judge Messina, a native of Kansas City, MO, received her bachelor's degree in English Literature and her master of science in counseling psychology from Avila University. Upon graduation, Judge Messina served in the Peace Corps in northern Nigeria where she taught and worked to advance community development. She returned to Kansas City and obtained her juris doctor degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1974.

Prior to her appointment by Governor Bond in 1984, Judge Messina worked in private practice and as an assistant public defender. She became the first female circuit judge in Jackson County, and in January 1998 the first woman to serve as the 16th Circuit Court's presiding judge. As an administrative judge for the Criminal Court and Family Court, she played an instrumental role in establishing the Family Court Division, which remains in place today.

In 2008, Judge Messina was honored by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, KCMBA, with the ``Dean of the Trial Bar'' award for her longstanding commitment to law, legal knowledge and professionalism. She is well-known and admired for guiding and helping young lawyers develop their skills and pursue their passions which has made a positive impact in the legal community. Beyond the courtroom, Judge Messina is an adjunct instructor for Avila University's MBA program.

Judge Messina's dedication to Missouri's judiciary for over 30 years has helped improve the way our courts function today. Judge Messina is a much-loved member of the Kansas City community and has left a lasting legacy of public service.

I ask that the Senate join me in congratulating and honoring Judge Edith Messina.

I yield back time.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.