Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise today to discuss an issue I have been working on for 23 years, the plight of America's Dreamers. I first introduced the DREAM Act more than two decades ago with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who was then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This bipartisan bill would provide a pathway to citizenship for young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and allow them to remain in this country, the only home many of them had ever known.

Dreamers grew up alongside our kids, with the same hopes and dreams of getting their first job, their driver's license, even going to college. Many have gone on to serve our Nation as doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, and first responders. Some have shown their loyalty to this country by serving in the Armed Forces.

Yet without congressional action, Dreamers spend every day in fear of

their lives being uprooted by the threat of deportation. Twelve years ago, in response to a bipartisan request from myself and Senator Richard Lugar, President Obama established the DACA Program.

DACA has protected more than 830,000 young people from deportation, all of whom were brought to this country as children, some as young as a few months old.

Now, I realize for many of us the outcome of this month's elections was not what we wanted, fought for, or voted for. However, my priority of providing a safe pathway to citizenship for Dreamers has not changed because of the election. No matter who sits in the Oval Office, I will work with the President in good faith to help provide these young adults a chance, finally, at the American dream.

I would like to share the story of a talented Dreamer. He is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for this country. He is the 146th story of Dreamers that I have highlighted on the Senate floor. His name is Chieh Wi Chen, brought to the United States from Taiwan when he was 11 years old, grew up in New York City, and believed in the importance of community and country. He eagerly registered for Junior ROTC in high school, enlisted in the Army in 2016, and earned his associate's degree in criminal justice from Queensborough Community College.

He was on Active Duty for 4 years, stationed at Fort Jackson, which was then known as Fort Lee, before being deployed to countries including Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

While he was deployed in South Korea, Chieh was able to take his oath of allegiance to the United States and become a citizen. Today, as an Army veteran, he is a proud owner of his own tea shop, creating jobs for others and supporting the local economy.

DACA opened a path for Chieh that allowed him to pursue the American dream. DACA was always intended as a temporary stopgap until Congress finally got around to fixing this broken immigration system in America. In Chieh's case, DACA was the stepping stone he needed to finally serve our Nation and reach his full potential.

Yet, since President Obama established the program, Republicans have waged a relentless campaign to overturn DACA and deport these Dreamers back to countries they never remember. Now this program is hanging by a thread in the courts due to legal challenges from Republican State attorneys general, and DACA recipients are forced to live with uncertainty every day.

Last September, a Federal judge in Texas declared the DACA Program illegal. Though the decision left in place protections for current DACA recipients while it is on appeal, Dreamers live in constant fear that the next court decision will upend their lives. The litigation has also prevented at least 100,000 additional Dreamers from registering for the program.

Madam President, our military is facing the most serious recruitment challenge in modern time. Only a quarter of Americans meet recruitment standards that would qualify them to serve in the military without receiving a waiver.

We have seen time and again that DACA holders and Dreamers are ready and willing to serve America, to risk their lives for this country. But despite the success of veterans like Chieh, DACA holders can no longer enlist in the military, even though they went to school in the United States, pledged allegiance to our flag for decades, and know no other country.

During his first term, then-President Trump tried to shut down the DACA Program, but his effort was blocked by the Supreme Court.

On a personal note, the first time I ever met Donald Trump was just minutes after he had been sworn in as President of the United States for his first term. I had a chance at a luncheon to walk up and shake his hand and congratulate him and to ask a question. My question to him was: What are you going to do about the Dreamers? What about these kids who are here in the United States, brought here as children who want to be part of our future--what will you do about them, Mr. President?

He said: Don't worry. We'll take care of those kids.

Sadly, in the 4 years of the first term of President Trump, that didn't happen. The opposite did. Many efforts were made by his Department of Justice and other Agencies to stop the DACA Program and to stop any effort to create a Dreamers Program. That is a sad reality.

I urge my colleagues to meet with these Dreamers personally. That is all I ask. Whether you support DACA or support the Dream Act, meet with them and hear their stories. Understand that decisions were made by their family which may have violated the law, but they were kids at the time those decisions were made. They have proven with their own personal lives and commitment that they truly want to be part of the future of America.

Are we better served because this man decided to enlist in the military and protect our country? Of course. His return to Taiwan would be at the expense of the safety and security of the United States.

Dreamers like Chieh have earned the right to put down roots, start their families, further their education, and continue to contribute to America. It is time for Congress to do something on a bipartisan basis and pass the Dream Act. It is not only the right thing to do; it is long overdue.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the rollcall vote begin immediately.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Sooknanan cloture motion be waived.

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) is necessarily absent.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the next and all subsequent rollcalls be 10 minutes in duration.

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) is necessarily absent.-

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) is necessarily absent.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that Paul Ghiotto, a State Department fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 118th Congress.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey, (Mr. Booker), the Senator from California (Ms. Butler), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand) the Senator from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Mustafa Kasubhai to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

Judge Kasubhai received his B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley and his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law before working as a reference librarian at the University of Oregon School of Law Library. He then entered private practice in Eugene, where he specialized in workers' compensation cases and personal injury law. From 2003 to 2007, he served on the Oregon Workers' Compensation Board, where he reviewed workers' compensation appeals of administrative law judges' final orders for work-related injury claims involving Oregon employers.

In 2007, Judge Kasubhai was appointed to the Oregon State Circuit Court in Lane County by then-Governor Theodore Kulongoski. He was reelected to a 6-year term in 2014. As a State court judge, he presided over judicial settlement conferences, appeals from administrative and municipal courts, and matters involving civil, criminal, family, and juvenile cases. Since 2018, Judge Kasubhai has served as a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

in Eugene. During his time on the bench, he has handled a wide variety of both civil and criminal matters, and he has presided over four jury trials as a magistrate judge.

Judge Kasubhai has deep ties to Oregon and enjoys the strong support of both of his home State Senators, Mr. Wyden and Mr. Merkley. The American Bar Association unanimously rated him as ``well qualified'' to serve on the District of Oregon, and in a letter supporting Judge Kasubhai's nomination, a former chief judge of the District of Oregon praised him as ``the very soul of fairness,'' a tribute to his judicial temperament.

Judge Kasubhai's litigation background and his courtroom experience as an advocate, State court judge, and magistrate judge ensure that he will continue to be an asset to the district court. I am proud to support his nomination, and I urge my colleagues to join me.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Sarah F. Russell to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Born in Boston, MA, Russell earned her B.A., magna cum laude, at Yale College in 1998 and her J.D. at Yale Law School in 2002. After graduating from law school, Russell served as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2002 to 2003 and the Honorable Chester J. Straub on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2005. Russell then served as an assistant Federal public defender between 2005 and 2007 in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut. In this role, she tried five jury trials to verdict. She then served as director of the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program, lecturer in law, and associate research scholar in law at Yale Law School from 2007 to 2010.

Since 2011, Russell has taught law at the Quinnipiac University School of Law in various roles, including most recently as a professor of law and the director of the legal clinic. Russell's scholarship has primarily centered on topics related to juvenile justice.

The American Bar Association rated Russell as ``well qualified,'' and her nomination is strongly supported by her home State Senators, Mr. Blumenthal and Mr. Murphy.

Russell is an academic and former Federal public defender whose litigation experience and deep commitment to equal justice will be an asset to the District of Connecticut.

I am proud to support her nomination.