Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) and the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) are necessarily absent.

Madam President, I rise today to offer belated birthday wishes and heartfelt thanks to a man who has devoted more than five decades of his life to serving the people of Illinois.

Neil Hartigan made history in 1972 when he became Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. He was just 34 years old, making him, at that time, the youngest person ever elected Lieutenant Governor of any State. In 1973, Time magazine named him as one of the ``Future 200 Leaders'' in the country.

He was recruited to run by Illinois' then-Lieutenant Governor, an ambitious young man who planned to run for Governor and wanted Neil Hartigan as his running mate. That other man was Paul Simon, my political inspiration and the man whose Senate seat I now hold.

Paul Simon lost his 1972 bid for Governor by a razor thin vote. But Neil Hartigan won his race and, as Lieutenant Governor, became a champion for seniors. He pushed through the State legislature a bill that consolidated the

State's numerous programs for the elderly into a single, cabinet-level department of aging. It was the first department of aging in the Nation, and it became a national model.

His inspiration for that change were the mothers of his childhood friends in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. As he often said, growing up in that enclave of mostly Irish and Jewish families, he didn't have just one mother; he had 50. Years later, when he was running for political office and knocking on doors in his old neighborhood, he saw these women again; they were now elderly, often lonely, and unsure of where to turn for help.

In 1976, the last year of his term, he was elected chairman of the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors.

The belief that the purpose of government is to make life better for others is a conviction that Neil inherited from his parents. His father David Hartigan was the youngest of 14 children in an Irish Catholic family on the South Side of Chicago. The family fell on hard times after David's father--Neil's grandfather--was badly injured in a work accident which left him unable to ever work again. David's mother supported the family on her small salary as a teacher. Neil says his dad worked ``every job under the sun'' to put himself through college and then law school.

David Hartigan served two terms as Chicago's deputy city treasurer and briefly as city treasurer, before being twice elected alderman in the 49th Ward.

When Neil was a senior at Georgetown University, his dad died at the age of 57. The cause was complications of diabetes, which had stolen most of his dad's eyesight and ravaged his body for years.

Two things happened to change Neil's life when he returned to Chicago after graduating from Georgetown. Loyola University Chicago, offered him a scholarship to study law--a generosity he has repaid many times over by establishing a scholarship for third-year Loyola law students in his father's name. And the city of Chicago offered him a job. This was no cushy ``nepo baby'' position. It was physical labor, shoveling coal in the basement of the city board of health building.

Neil didn't stay in the basement long. He soon became a trusted assistant to the city health commissioner. After he passed the bar, he became attorney for the board of health. He spent a year representing the board in Springfield. It was a short time, but he made a long list of friends, including Paul Simon.

At the age of 27, he was hired by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley as the mayor's administrative assistant. He became a rising star in Illinois Democratic politics, Chicago's chief lobbyist in Springfield, and later deputy mayor.

He won his first political race in 1968, when he was elected Democratic committeeman for the 49th Ward, the same ward his father had led.

In 1982, he was elected attorney general of Illinois. In his two terms as AG, he managed to get nearly 90 bills through the State legislature. One of his bills was the 1983 Illinois Violent Crime Victims Assistance Act, which uses fines paid by convicted individuals to fund shelters and services for survivors of domestic violence, survivors of child abuse, and other survivors of violent crime.

He sued the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to recover benefits for 30,000 people with disabilities in Illinois whose Federal assistance had been cut off by the Reagan administration. His victory in that case became the basis for similar suits in other States.

He persuaded the general assembly to override a Governor's veto and establish a plan to provide medical services for the indigent.

Another bill he championed amended the State criminal code to hold corporate executives and directors accountable for their companies' criminal violations of the State's Environmental Protection Act.

In 1990, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor, a race he lost narrowly to then-Secretary of State Jim Edgar.

He left politics and government for a while after that, becoming chairman of the World Trade Center Illinois.

In 2002, he was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court from the First District, which serves Cook County. One of his role models was his paternal uncle Matthew Hartigan, a longtime and respected judge on the city's South Side. He stepped down from the bench voluntarily in 2004.

Earlier this month, this once Wiz Kid of Illinois politics turned 86. He has outlived two spouses, including his first wife and longtime political partner Marge. He and his third wife Mary Lou were married last year. He remains as interested as ever in politics and good government.

I will close with a story Neil tells about an interview he had with Mayor Richard J. Daley when he was 27 and applying for the job as assistant to the mayor. Mayor Daley, then at the height of his power, asked simply: ``Neil, why do you want to be in government?''

Neil said he was later embarrassed by the simple sincerity of his answer. He replied, ``Frankly, Mayor, I consider it sort of like a religious calling. It's the next highest place after the church where you can help people.''

It was a belief inherited from his father and one that has guided Neil Hartigan's long life in public service. I am grateful for his service and proud to be his friend.

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

Mr. President, last week, we learned the most recent winners of the Pulitzer Prize. I am pleased that among this year's winners is a friend of mine who made it his life's work to help bring democracy and freedom to his home country of Russia: Vladimir Kara- Murza.

This is a photograph of him in Moscow at an earlier time.

Vladimir Putin's government has tried to kill this man repeatedly, to silence him in the uniquely Vladimir Putin way--poison him--but each time, Vladimir survived and continued his work, including writing a regular column for the Washington Post about the need for change in Russia.

While he and his family became residents of the United States, he insisted on maintaining his home in Russia. Two years ago, he came to see me before returning to Russia. I will never forget asking Vladimir about his decision to return. He was unequivocal. He felt he had to return. His aspirations were simple. He believed in a better future for Russia, one in which Russians could live in a free and prosperous society and be at peace with their neighbors.

Unsurprisingly, shortly after he returned to Russia after visiting with me, Vladimir Putin had him arrested and jailed. But Kara-Murza has remained steadfast in his opposition to Putin. He continues his writings from Putin's gulag--deeply thoughtful pieces that offer a different vision of Russia's future. For example, the titles of recent pieces he has written include ``Even from a Russian prison, I can see Putin's weakness'' and ``I am proud to have spoken out against Putin's crimes in Ukraine.'' It was this powerful writing that won him international recognition and a Pulitzer Prize.

I want to congratulate him and to thank his family for their courage on receiving this prestigious award. Most importantly, I want to remind him that what he is doing is not ignored, nor forgotten.

To Vladimir Putin, I say: Your folly in Ukraine and domestic repression cannot hide the light of Kara-Murza's moving words.

Mr. President, on a different subject, I want to speak on President Biden's recent decision to withhold certain offensive U.S. weapons from Israel that might be used in an assault on Rafah.

I support President Biden.

It is not, as some have characterized, a failure to support Israel in a dangerous region after a genuinely horrific Hamas attack--and October 7 was such an attack. It is instead a warning from one of the most pro- Israeli U.S. Presidents to an ally that a full-scale assault on Rafah could not only add to the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza but undermine any long-term stability in the region.

Let me also remind those critics that President Biden recently helped coordinate, with the use of American forces, a dramatic defense of Israel against an Iranian assault.

Anyone who doubts Joe Biden's commitment to Israel is misguided. But he has reached his limit with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his response in Gaza and focus on his own political survival more than anything else.

His blunders protecting civilians and allowing the flow of aid were noted in the national security memo reported to Congress last week. Let me elaborate. Last week, several of us met with the Jordanian King, Abdullah II--a deeply thoughtful leader who knows the region well. He is a key ally of the United States, and he has made peace with Israel. He, like Middle East expert Tom Friedman, argued that simply leveling Gaza and furthering the humanitarian crisis without a long-term strategy for peace is no strategy at all for Israel. A path forward can only happen with the support of Arab nations in the region.

President Biden has been urging Prime Minister Netanyahu to offer this broader vision, one that likely includes normalization with Saudi Arabia and eventual peace with a Palestinian State--a vision that could be undermined with a massive assault on Rafah.

As Tom Friedman posed to Netanyahu in a recent column, ``What do you want more--Rafah or Riyadh? Do you want to mount a full-scale invasion of Rafah to try to finish off Hamas--if that is even possible--without offering any Israeli exit strategy from Gaza or any political horizon for a two-state solution with non-Hamas-led Palestinians?''

Shortly after the horrific attack on October 7, I warned our Israeli friends to learn from our mistakes made in the fog of rage and pain after September 11. You do not want ill-thought occupation of Gaza to become your Fallujah, and, as also learned in Iraq, one needs the trust of the local civilian population to help counter terrorist groups.

We were speculating recently on how many innocent civilians have been killed in Gaza in an effort to eliminate Hamas. The number is staggering. This is another reason President Biden reached his limit with Netanyahu. The devastating civilian toll in Gaza is not only a moral and humanitarian problem; it is a strategic failure.

More than 40 years ago, an American President was furious about the photos of civilians killed by Israeli shelling in Lebanon. That President then called Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, dressed him down sharply, and told him the excessive assault had to end. Over the course of this President's term, he used the power of U.S. weapons sales, including delaying or withholding certain warplanes and arms, to influence Israeli war policy as well as to criticize Israeli actions in the region at the U.N. Security Council. That President was Ronald Reagan.

Reagan wrote in his diary about the difficult call with Begin:

I was angry. . . . I told him it had to stop or our entire

future relationship was endangered.

So I urge those who are resistant and vocal about President Biden's actions to reflect on Ronald Reagan's similar moves to help our Israeli allies from making strategic, tragic mistakes four decades ago or reflect on the words of former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, who before his death concluded that Israel over the years ``achieved a long string of impressive tactical successes but also disastrous strategic failures.''

I have long supported a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. In fact, out of the devastating Yom Kippur War came an unimaginable yet lasting peace between Egypt and Israel. It can happen.

So with the right leaders on both sides, it can be done, and we have a responsibility in the United States for a renewed push on all sides towards this goal--one in which Israeli and Palestinian children can once and forever live in safety, peace, and dignity.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, we all answer calls to serve in different ways. For me, that has meant representing the great State of Illinois in the U.S. Senate. But on May 8, 1974, a young priest answered the call to serve by receiving his ordination as a priest. Father Cletus Kiley could not have known the impact he would make on Chicago, and on people across the Nation, on that day in 1974. But as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination as a priest, it is clear that his dedication to spiritual and social well-being has been nothing short of remarkable.

Father Kiley was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, and he found spiritual and education homes in several of the Catholic schools in the city. Following his seminary education, Father Kiley earned a master's degree in applied spirituality from the University of San Francisco and a doctorate in ministry from the University of St. Mary of the Lake. He developed an affinity for languages--becoming fluent in Spanish, Italian, and French--which helped broaden his impact and touch the lives of even more communities.

Much of Father Kiley's time as a young priest was spent in Chicago. He served as an associate pastor of Epiphany Parish and, later, as pastor of St. Agnes of Bohemia. During the first chapter of his life in Chicago, he also took on the roles of associate dean of Mundelein Seminary's formation team, director of the Archdiocese of Chicago's Department of Personnel Services, rector of Niles College Seminary, and a member of the College of Consultors for the Archdiocese of Chicago. It is safe to say Father Kiley's legacy in Chicago will not soon be forgotten.

After decades spent serving the spiritual needs of the people of Chicago, Father Kiley's call to service took him to Washington, DC-- where, in 1997, his affinity for politics and passion for helping people led him to work as the executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Priestly Life and Ministry and as assistant to the General Secretary for Child and Youth Protection. Father Kiley excelled in these roles. And, shortly thereafter, he was named president and CEO of the Faith & Politics Institute and served as a senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America. In both roles, he was able to apply his deep faith to his interest in policy.

But Father Kiley's call to serve extended far beyond the realm of religion. In 2010, with the permission of the Archdiocese of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George, Father Kiley became the director of immigration policy for UNITE HERE International Union, where he championed issues of immigration, workers' rights, and economic justice. In this role, Father Kiley began organizing a new generation of priests dedicated to furthering the mission of the labor movement. And, in 2012, he founded the Priest-Labor Initiative with a group of bishops, priests, and scholars committed to supporting to worker justice.

To Father Kiley, the compatibility of his faith and the labor movement was obvious: Catholic social values taught him about the dignity of work that underpinned the fight for workers' rights. His faith informed his advocacy work, and his advocacy work strengthened his faith.

In 2015, Father Kiley received a call from Chicago's Cardinal Blase Cupich. He wanted Father Kiley to return to Chicago. And, as Father Kiley put it, ``You don't say no to your Cardinal.'' So, after nearly two decades advancing spiritual and social well-being in our Nation's Capital, Father Kiley returned home to Chicago to begin another chapter in his long career as a priest.

Today, Father Kiley continues his work with the Archdiocese of Chicago as special adviser and delegate for labor in the office of the cardinal. Because of his deep spiritual, social, and moral convictions, and because of his vast knowledge of Chicago, language, theology, and politics, Father Kiley's counsel is widely sought after. So it is hardly surprising that Father Kiley also serves as the Chaplain of the Chicago Federation of Labor, an adviser to UNITE HERE, a mentor to the leadership team of UNITE HERE Local 1, and a board member of Misericordia and UNITE HERE Health.

Father Kiley has been a tremendous advocate, adviser, and friend to so many leaders and working people. I thank him for all he has done in Chicago and beyond to make our country a more just, equitable, and empathetic place.

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

Mr. President, one of our important responsibilities in Congress is to protect American consumers. But allies of Big Business and Wall Street, who always fear threats to their bottom lines, have been working overtime to convince consumers that a bill that I have introduced with Senator Marshall, the Credit Card Competition Act, will do more harm than good.

Their latest tactic, they are recruiting allies from the airline industry. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby recently said that our bill would ``kill rewards programs.''

Let me be very clear. This is false. Moreover, this past July, Forbes published an article saying that compared to other nations, airline rewards programs in the United States have made it more challenging to earn and redeem miles.

Because while the airline industry is trying to argue that my bill would stifle competition and their loyalty programs, it is actually their own questionable practices that threaten American consumers' ability to redeem rewards.

Let me explain. The airline industry knows how much consumers value rewards programs that over 100 million Americans participate in. These programs originated as a way to reward true frequent flyers for their loyalty and patronage. And, today, millions of Americans participate.

But these programs have evolved to include cobranded credit cards that focus on dollars spent using those cards.

The Presiding Officer and I spend a big part of our lives on airplanes. I don't know about your experience, but I will tell you what mine is: As soon as they have us in our seats buckled in, they start advertising their credit cards.

I have seen times when the flight attendants walk up and down the aisles

passing out brochures for people to consider enlisting in their credit card program. And then as you are leaving the plane, they are once again passing them out.

They seem to focus as much on credit cards as they do on safety in these airplanes. You have to ask yourself why. It turns out there is one basic reason for it. Airlines make more money off the cobranded credit cards they issue than they do from aviation programs.

At the same time, they are showing troubling reports that airlines use their loyalty programs to engage in abusive, unfair, and sometimes deceptive practices.

Airlines incentivize Americans to purchase goods and services, obtain certain credit cards, and spend as much money as they can on the cards in exchange for promised rewards. And all the while, they retain the right to strip consumers of these rewards or alter the terms of these programs at will.

For example, there are troubling reports that airlines may be devaluing the miles that you accumulate making it harder for consumers to ever achieve promised rewards.

At certain times, the cost of purchasing points from airlines' websites may be up to three times the value of the points at redemption. This is a rip-off with wings. We must do more to protect American consumers.

In October, I wrote to the Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. I expressed my concern about these unfair practices, and in March, he replied. I was pleased to read that DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection is using its authority to initiate a review of airlines' rewards programs.

DOT has been meeting with major U.S. airlines to get more information on exactly how these frequent flyer programs work. Secretary Buttigieg shared with me that DOT has the necessary authority to investigate these programs and take enforcement action where appropriate.

The Secretary also announced a joint hearing with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That is good news for consumers. That meeting took place this morning to discuss airline credit cards and frequent flyer programs with industry representatives, labor leaders, and consumers. These are important steps forward in the conversation, and I thank Secretary Buttigieg for showing this initiative. Just last week, I had a chance to raise the issue directly with him at an open hearing during the Senate's Appropriations Subcommittee. Once again, I was glad to hear the Department of Transportation also is concerned with airline shady practices and seeks to protect Americans.

This week, the Senate has been considering the FAA reauthorization bill. I support a provision, which made the final bill, that would create a Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for the Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection. I think it is important to put someone in this post to have better oversight of frequent flyer programs for the consumers of America.

We should pass the reauthorization bill as quickly as possible to ensure there is no lapse in resources for our Nation's airports, air traffic controllers, aviation industry, and all the passengers.

Employed by the credit card and airline industries, critics have accused me of jeopardizing Americans' airline rewards with my idea of competition among credit cards. This isn't true. Modern-day airlines have become credit card companies that also happen to own airplanes. It is their deceptive practices that threaten Americans' ability to redeem rewards that they have earned. I am committed to holding both industries accountable for exploiting hard-working consumers to further line their own pockets.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, the Senate has begun a crucial task: consideration of a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA's authorization expired on September 30, and Congress has since passed three short-term extensions--the latest of which will expire on May 10.

For weeks, the House and Senate have been engaged in negotiations to work through differences in the long-term extension bill. Last week, negotiators released a compromise bill. Here in the Senate, my colleague Senator Duckworth had an important role in authoring the bill. She is a former Blackhawk helicopter pilot and an Iraq War veteran. I can think of no better person to lead this effort than her.

The compromise bill addresses several pressing issues for our national aviation system.

One priority I advocated for, which was included, is increased funding for the Airport Improvement Program. This program provides grants to airports for planning and development projects, through both entitlement and competitive awards.

More than 80 airports in Illinois receive funding through this program, and the awards have had a significant effect on enhancing the safety and efficiency of our State's airports. Just last spring, Quincy Regional Airport was awarded a $14 million competitive AIP grant for its runway reconstruction project. I was pleased to see that the bill will increase annual AIP funding from $3.3 billion to $4 billion.

I also supported the inclusion of a new grant program to help airports dispose of and replace a type of harmful

``forever chemicals,'' called PFAS, found in firefighting foam. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to cancer and other serious health effects--and now, efforts to combat exposure at airports thankfully will have a dedicated funding stream.

Another crucial issue the bill addresses is the air traffic controller shortage. My office has heard from air traffic controllers in Illinois whose towers have long been understaffed. Air traffic controllers work 10-hour days up to 6 days per week, in one of the most stressful and exhausting jobs in America. Their work is critical to the safety of our national aviation system--and we owe it to them to provide relief and better working conditions. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am glad our fiscal year 2024 transportation appropriations bill increased FAA funding to hire 1,800 new controllers and improve training facilities.

This FAA reauthorization bill builds upon this by requiring the FAA to improve staffing standards and set maximum hiring targets. I advocated for a provision in the Senate FAA bill that would have established another FAA training academy. Unfortunately, this was not included. But the bill directs the FAA to develop a plan to expand its training capacity and submit it to the Commerce Committee. I hope we continue this discussion.

As commercial travel has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the aviation industry has sounded alarms that the demand for aviation professionals may soon exceed supply. That is why another priority of mine has been to expand funding for Aviation Workforce Development grants. The bill authorizes $60 million annually to invest in three grant programs to recruit and prepare aviation professionals and pilots. In Illinois, the aviation industry is an economic engine, generating more than $95 billion in economic activity across 500,000 jobs. We need to continue our investments in its future leaders.

My other priorities have been focused on consumer protections. In October, I wrote to Secretary Buttigieg and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Chopra about troubling reports that airlines are engaging in unfair, abusive, and deceptive practices related to their loyalty programs. I worry that airlines are making it harder to redeem rewards.

I supported a provision, secured by my colleague Senator Markey of Massachusetts, in the Senate FAA bill that would have required airline frequent flyer programs to provide at least 90 days' notice before reducing or devaluing rewards. This was not included in the final bill; however, Senator Markey and I are introducing an amendment that would restore this provision. The bill does include some other consumer protections, including the creation of create Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary position at the Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.

I have also been focused on ensuring Illinois communities have adequate air service. I have heard from constituents in my hometown of Springfield that the current flights to and from Chicago offered by American Airlines do not reflect demand. The Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield is neither a hub airport nor an Essential Air Service community. This places it in a gray area for Federal resources to ensure air service.

I requested language that would have directed DOT, in coordination with the FAA, to study ways to improve existing Federal programs--and explore new ones--to help communities like this retain sufficient flight service and schedules that reflect demand. This was not included in the final bill, but I have introduced an amendment with Senator Grassley to add this study to the bill.

I am also pleased to see the FAA bill would allow DOT to impose penalties for Essential Air Service providers that try to terminate or reduce service to these communities.

I will continue advocating for these priorities throughout the Senate process. And I urge my colleagues to swiftly pass the FAA reauthorization bill to prevent a lapse in resources for our aviation system, those who operate it, and all who fly.

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 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.

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

Mr. President, as you well know, the Senate has confirmed 194 of President Biden's judicial nominees to lifetime appointments. Each of these nominees has been questioned about their qualifications and credentials. And as the Senate provided advice and consent on their nominations, they move forward.

But Adeel Mangi, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has faced unprecedented and fundamentally unfair personal attacks. Senate Republicans and dark money groups have made bigoted and false claims about Mr. Mangi, the first Muslim American nominated to the Federal Appellate Court.

Rather than focusing on Mr. Mangi's qualifications or credentials during the hearing that he was subjected to in December, Republicans subjected him to irrelevant, combative lines of questioning about the Israel-Hamas war. They even asked--they even asked--whether he celebrated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Can you imagine? With no basis in his life experience, the fact that he was Muslim gave them license to ask whether or not, in his home, they celebrated September 11.

Throughout his confirmation process, Mr. Mangi has unequivocally condemned anti-Semitism and acts of terrorism. Republican Senators have tried to scapegoat Mr. Mangi for statements made by other people and for events he didn't even attend and wasn't even aware of. That is simply guilt by association, and it is wrong.

Any claim that Mr. Mangi is anti-Semitic is simply false. Yet just this week, the Republican leader falsely claimed that Mr. Mangi's confirmation would lead to ``radicalism on the Federal bench.'' The fact that this man will be the first Muslim American allows these wild accusations to take place, and it is unfair.

To claim that Mr. Mangi is ``radical'' ignores his record. For more than two

decades, he has focused on commercial litigation at a top-tier law firm. He has served as counsel of record in more than 30 matters before Federal appellate courts, as well as eight amicus briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, Mr. Mangi has devoted more than 4,000 hours to his pro bono practice, representing clients in religious discrimination and employment discrimination cases.

Mr. Mangi deserves to be evaluated based on his record, not on bad- faith falsehoods and innuendo. I urge my colleagues to dismiss the smear campaign against him and support his nomination.

Dream Act

Mr. President, on another matter, I would like to discuss an issue that has been personal to me and a priority for more than 20 years, the young immigrants known as the Dreamers. It was a little over 20 years ago that I introduced the first DREAM Act. Before that, people discussed the Dreamers in terms of a rock-and-roll group from Great Britain. Now the Dreamers are known as young people who were brought to the United States as children, with no decision on their own part, grew up in this country, pledged allegiance to this American flag in their classrooms, and simply want to be part of the future of America. That is what this is all about. Many have gone on to serve our Nation as first responders, nurses, and members of the Armed Forces. They are American in every way, except under our law. And without congressional action, they still spend each day in fear of deportation.

I first introduced the DREAM Act 23 years ago. I have reintroduced it for the last several Congresses with my friend, the senior Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham. The DREAM Act would provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. On several occasions, a bipartisan majority of Senators have voted for the DREAM Act on the floor of the Senate, but it has been blocked by filibuster each time.

Twelve years ago, in response to a bipartisan request from myself and the late Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, President Obama established DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. Since 2012, DACA has protected from deportation more than 830,000 young people, all of whom arrived in our country as children, some as young as a few months old.

Today, I want to share the story of one of those impressive individuals who has received DACA protection. This is the 142nd story of a Dreamer that I have shared on the Senate floor.

Brian Garcia Valdez came to the United States from Mexico when he was 10 years old. He grew up in South Texas. He graduated from high school with honors in the top 10 percent of his class.

Because of Brian's immigration status, he wasn't eligible for financial aid to go to college, so he worked jobs, multiple jobs-- waiter, washing cars, construction--all to support his tuition cost at Texas A&M. After 4 years of hard work, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology in 2017. Brian is now a medical student at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in my home State of Illinois.

I want to give a shout-out to the school. Loyola School of Medicine was the first in the Nation to open up the competition for the limited number of slots they have to DACA students. They have had over 30 so far. There is no quota. There is no allotment of a certain number. These students just have to compete with everyone else and show that they are ready to excel in medicine.

In addition to a busy academic schedule, Brian has worked as a clinic coordinator in a health clinic assisting medically underserved communities. He also received the 2023 Dream M.D. Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship for academic excellence. Brian will graduate next week. He plans to attend the University of Rochester Medical Center for his medical residency.

After completing his training, he hopes to return to South Texas to serve medically underserved areas.

DACA allowed Brian to pursue his dream of being a doctor, but his life is still in limbo because of the inaction of Congress. Since President Obama established the DACA program, Republicans--many Republicans--have waged a relentless campaign to overturn DACA and deport the Dreamers back to the countries that many of them don't even remember being part of.

Last September, one Federal judge in Texas declared DACA illegal as a program. The decision left in place protections for current DACA recipients while the appeal is pending, but has left them in constant fear that any day another court decision will upend their lives. The lower court decision also has prevented any more Dreamers from registering for the program. This means that without congressional action, thousands of Dreamers who already serve our country as doctors, teachers, or first responders may never have that opportunity.

Next week, I will hold a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the urgent need to protect these aspiring young people. It is time for Congress to grant them the stability and certainty in their lives that they so richly deserve.

When you look at this individual, Brian Garcia Valdez, ask yourself the question: Now as he is on his path, on his way, becoming a medical doctor in the United States and he wants to serve underserved people in South Texas who don't have access to a good doctor, is our message from Congress to him to go back to where you came from? That basically is the issue before us. Is America a better country with Dr. Brian Garcia Valdez in its ranks? You bet it is. Let's not lose this opportunity to bring these quality individuals into full citizenship.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), are necessarily absent.