Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print the following letter in the Record.

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

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

Madam President, it was 10 years ago today that President Obama walked into the White House Rose Garden and said he had an announcement to make.

He made an announcement which changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people living in America. He announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Now, we call it DACA.

And with that announcement, I joined with, I guess, thousands of young leaders across this country and breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the past decade, DACA has allowed more than 800,000 Dreamers to remain in the only home they have ever known: America. These young people we call Dreamers came to this

country as children, some as young as a few months old. They grew up studying in our classrooms. They grew up befriending our children and grandchildren. They went to church with us, and when they were kids, every morning they stood up in that classroom and pledged allegiance to that flag. And the reason they did it, of course, is they believed it was their flag.

In the years since DACA was announced, a lot has changed in the world. Presidents have come and gone, wars have ended, and a once-in-a- century pandemic has rocked the world.

But in the face of all these changes and upheavals, one thing remains steady, constant, and predictable: the devotion of Dreamers to America. These young people have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to America. They served as our school teachers, first responders, members of the military, essential workers in the pandemic.

More than 200,000 DACA recipients were classified by our government as ``essential critical infrastructure workers'' during the pandemic-- 200,000 of them. And, remember, they don't enjoy the benefit of citizenship yet. Among them are 40,000 healthcare industry workers, doctors, nurses, paramedics.

Over the years, I have come to the floor of the Senate over 125 different times to tell the stories of the Dreamers. These stories show us what is at stake when we consider the fate of DACA and the Dream Act.

Today, I want to tell you the story of Yazmin Ruiz. She is the 130th Dreamer story that I have told on the Senate floor.

This is a photograph of Yazmin.

She arrived in this country at the age of 3, along with her twin sister and her mom. And even though her extended family remained in Mexico, she said she never felt alone growing up in Arizona because ``we were surrounded by community.''

But when Yazmin was 16, the family suffered a tragedy that ignited her passion for medicine. Her mother had a stroke, and when the family arrived at the hospital, they were shocked to discover that none of the healthcare providers spoke Spanish.

At a young age, Yazmin, who was grappling with the trauma and fear that her mother might die, was forced to play the role of interpreter and translator to save her mother's life.

It was at that moment, even as a terrified 16-year-old, that Yazmin resolved to become a healthcare hero if her mom needed her.

She studied hard in high school. She graduated with honors. She made her way to the University of New Mexico, where she earned a bachelor of science in biology and Spanish.

Yazmin then matriculated to the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, but then she hit a speed bump. She discovered that her immigration status was going to stop her from receiving a professional license to practice medicine. Her dream was interrupted.

What did she do? She said: No way. She wouldn't accept no for an answer.

She joined a coalition of like-minded students and rallied support in the New Mexico Legislature to change the State law on licensure.

Now Yazmin Ruiz is fulfilling her childhood dream. Every day she delivers care and support to families like her own and offers the guidance that she once sought as a teenager lost in our healthcare system.

Yazmin is in the third year of her general surgeon residency at the University of New Mexico. And at the height of the pandemic, she was deep in the trenches of our healthcare system.

Back in the summer of 2020, when COVID was new and basically unknown, Yazmin was working 80 hours a week, providing daily care to COVID- positive patients, performing CPR, and wearing protective gear from head to toe.

Like so many Dreamers, Yazmin's commitment to serving her community was unshakeable. Even when her own family members came down with COVID, she didn't stay home and take care of them. She went to work. Day after day, she put her life on the line to save the lives of others.

And she has continued that journey as a healthcare professional against improbable odds.

Yazmin considers it ``a privilege and an honor to serve America in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis.''

I want to thank Yazmin Ruiz for her service on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. She is an immigrant health hero. She is a DACA health hero. She has put herself and her family at risk to protect American lives. She shouldn't also have to worry about whether she is going to be deported tomorrow and whether her family will be deported as well.

Think about that for one moment. This young woman, against all the odds, is pursuing her residency in surgery. She is determined to serve this Nation and to make people's lives better.

And what is our response, our official government response? Sorry. You are not a citizen, and under the current law, you never will be.

So you ask yourself, what are we thinking? If a quality, contributing person like Yazmin Ruiz is willing to defy the odds and to risk everything to be a doctor, why aren't we applauding that, rewarding that, giving her an incentive and others like her to be a generation of service to America?

Basic question we have to ask, would we be a better nation, a better country, if we deported Yazmin Ruiz? I hope the answer is pretty obvious. It is to me.

Over the past 20 years or more, I have had the privilege of sharing more than 100 stories like Yazmin's on the floor of the Senate--the stories of Dreamers who have given everything they can to America and who have more than earned their place in America's story.

Yet these brilliant young people are still waiting on us, on Congress, to finish the job that President Obama started with DACA. This program was always supposed to be a temporary solution. Ten years ago we knew that. The permanent solution was enacting a piece of legislation that I introduced 20 years ago called the DREAM Act. It provides a path to citizenship for Dreamers, including young immigrants eligible for DACA.

Congress has been on the cusp of passing the DREAM Act for years. In 2013, we included it in a larger immigration package that passed the Senate with 68 votes. It was a glorious day. Can you imagine it--68 votes in the Senate for anything?

And that broad bipartisan support reflected America's public opinion; that the Dream Act was the right thing to do. In fact, over the years, ``Dreamers'' have become a household word. When we came up with the name for this legislation over 20 years ago, and you said the word ``Dreamers,'' people would say: Oh, I know that. That is a rock group, a British rock group, and it might have been Freddie and the Dreamers, but that wasn't the group we were describing at all.

These Dreamers have touched the hearts of America because in the Dreamers we see our own history as a nation of immigrants. We know that they deserve permanent status in this country, their home. They have earned it, but time and again the Senate has failed DACA recipients.

Instead of making these protections permanent, we have left them in doubt. The former President of the United States, Donald Trump, even attempted to terminate the DACA Program to turn people like Yazmin Ruiz away from the country.

Can you imagine what that would have meant to her, to her family, to New Mexico, to America, for all the Americans whose lives have been saved by Dreamers like Yazmin or for the Nation's classrooms and businesses that count on these idealistic, hard-working people who want to be part of our future?

And our failure to protect Dreamers is not only a human disaster, it is an economic disaster. It doesn't add up.

DACA recipients and their households pay more than $5 billion in Federal taxes, more than $3 billion in State and local taxes every single year. That is money that funds the construction of roads and bridges, pays Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. And the economic upside of enacting the Dream Act is even bigger.

Last year, the House passed the bipartisan Dream and Promise Act. If the Senate just followed their lead and passed that legislation today, we could increase America's GDP by more than $800 billion over the next decade and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process.

Our broken immigration system is embarrassing. It is failing America, and it is failing our families. It is also failing our economy. Beyond the Dream Act, Congress on both sides of the political spectrum agree, comprehensive immigration reform would boost our economic growth and help ease inflationary pressures in the United States. The United States Chamber of Commerce even called for doubling the number of legal immigrants in America to address the worker shortage and in turn alleviate inflation. With the Dream Act, we are talking about a bipartisan measure that is very simple in scope. It allows young people who have grown up in America to continue contributing to our economy. For decades now, Dreamers have been stuck in legislative purgatory. Only a subset of them have been able to secure DACA protections, and even for those who do, they have to renew their status every 2 years, which means they can only plan their lives in uncertain 2-year increments. That is unfair. No, it is cruel.

Dreamers are living with the sword of Damocles hanging over their head. In the coming weeks, a Federal judge could strike down DACA and deport these young people to countries they barely remember, if they remember at all. Just last year, a Federal judge in Texas limited the program to only renewing applications. That ruling was wrong. It excluded a whole generation of Dreamers from stepping out of the shadows of a broken immigration system.

If there is one lesson we can learn from the bipartisan gun safety framework that is being debated this week in Washington, it is that the Members of this Senate are not as divided as the American people think. We can come together to support commonsense policies that secure a brighter future for America. That is exactly the opportunity we have with the Dream Act.

I can think of no better way to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of DACA than by finally passing this legislation, offering every one of our amazing Dreamers a path to American citizenship, which they deserve and they have earned. An overwhelming bipartisan majority of voters want Congress to pass the Dream Act. They know it will dramatically grow our economy and strengthen our Nation. Most importantly, it is the right thing to do.

It is time for Congress to step up and meet our responsibility-- Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. Let's get this done.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. WHITEHOUSE) is necessarily absent.

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

Mr. President, it is hard to believe it was 50 years ago this week--50 years ago--when five men were caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee here in Washington.

Two years after that, the so-called Watergate break-in and the coverup by the Nixon White House, it brought down the President.

For nearly half a century, the Watergate scandal really ranked as America's greatest constitutional test since

the Civil War--then came January 6, 2021.

An angry mob, summoned by a defeated President, attacked this Capitol building, attacked this Chamber, and those of us who were in it knew it was an attempt to overthrow an election, an election which Donald Trump lost but never admitted.

How did we respond?

Well, the proposal was made--the right proposal--to create a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened on January 6, 2021. Unfortunately, the Republicans, led by Senator McConnell in the Senate, filibustered the creation of an independent commission to investigate January 6. Fortunately, the House went forward to proceed on its own on a bipartisan basis to get to the truth.

Now, after 11 months and 1,000 interviews--more than 1,000--the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol is sharing its findings with America, and the revelations are so damning.

In its first two public hearings, the committee has shown that the attack on the Capitol was not a demonstration that changed spontaneously and became a riot. The attack on our Nation's Capitol, the attack on this Chamber, was the result of a plan: a violent effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from the Trump administration to the Biden administration, to stop the peaceful transition of power in America for the first time in our history.

To quote Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the former President Donald Trump ``summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.''

When the mob beat our police officers and ransacked the Capitol-- going through our desks here on the floor, posing for pictures where the Presiding Officer is now sitting, all sorts of things to make them look famous with their friends at the expense of the integrity of this building and this Chamber.

They beat the police officers. Donald Trump did nothing to stop them--nothing. He wouldn't order the National Guard to defend the Capitol, the Senate, the House. He watched the mayhem on TV, rewinding it to watch it over and over again. He gloried in the moment.

When the crowd threatened to hang Vice President Pence, Donald Trump said, ``He deserves it.'' Deserves it. The Vice President of the United States deserves it.

His own advisers told him repeatedly that the voter fraud conspiracy theories that he was pedaling were false. They were called ``idiotic,'' ``amateurish,'' ``detached from reality.'' Who said that? The former Attorney General serving Donald Trump said it in describing the false claims that President Trump continued to pedal.

Donald Trump was told the truth over and over again, and yet he continued to push his deadly Big Lie.

He deliberately--the former President of the United States-- deliberately undermined America's faith in our election process to overturn the election and to hold onto power no matter what.

He used the Big Lie to make big bucks. We learned that yesterday-- quarter of a million dollars--quarter of a billion dollars in donations, including millions of dollars for an election defense fund that didn't exist.

In a coming hearing, the committee will show how Donald Trump pressured the Justice Department into helping him overturn the election. I know a little bit about that. Our Senate Judiciary Committee, which I chair, documented this attempt to subvert the Justice Department in an 8-month investigation and report that we produced last fall. We produced this report in a bipartisan fashion, inviting Republican and Democratic Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to witness the testimony of key individuals and to ask questions themselves.

We interviewed former Justice officials like Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue, the then-acting Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, who resisted Donald Trump's pressure to take over the Justice Department.

They told us how repeatedly they informed the former President that his bogus election claims were false. They told us how Trump, nevertheless, asked the Justice Department to ``Just say the election was corrupt--and leave the rest to me and Republican Congressmen.''

And they resisted Donald Trump's plan to replace Jeffrey Rosen with the Big Lie lawyer Jeffrey Clark, who wanted the Justice Department to help overturn the election.

The facts that the Senate Judiciary Committee uncovered are damning. The January 6 committee will unveil those--many of their own discovery and reporting and some that we sent to them from our testimony that we gathered in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

We came close to losing this democracy in America on January 6. I believe that by laying out the truth for us and for future generations, members of the committee are performing a public service of heroic proportions.

It is sad--sad--that given an opportunity of a bipartisan commission, just as we had with 9/11, that the Senate Republicans stopped it. Why? It is a question they are going to have to answer.

Political Prisoners

Mr. President, on another topic, we speak often in the Senate about threats to peace and freedom around the world: Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, China's brutal repression of the Uighurs, the dismantling of democracy in Hong Kong, Nicaragua's repressive dictatorship, and more.

In each of these struggles, there are some brave men and women who are prepared to risk their liberty and their lives to defend democracy and dignity. Many of them languish in prison as political prisoners. Their captors often try to torment them by telling them: The world has forgotten you; no one knows you are here.

Well, I want to make sure that that doesn't happen by coming to floor of the Senate and sharing some of these stories. Today, let me tell you about a few of them.

Let me start with a Russian opposition leader of remarkable courage: Vladimir Kara-Murza. He was poisoned twice by the Russian spy agency FSB, in 2015 and 2017. He not only survived that, but he continued his work for a democratic Russia.

He was a close friend of Senator John McCain, who asked him personally to serve as a pallbearer at his funeral.

I met Mr. Kara-Murza in March, 3 weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. He was living in Washington at the time with his wife and three children, and he told me he was going back to Russia. He had work to do.

On April 11, he was arrested in Moscow, 1 day after giving an interview in which he called Vladimir Putin's government a ``team of murderers.''

His wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, also an advocate for democracy in Russia, who I expect to meet with later on this week, said: ``He's doing as well as you can do in a Russian prison that is notorious for torture, humiliation, and mistreatment.''

Earlier this month, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution I led with Senator Marco Rubio, calling on Russia to release Vladimir Kara- Murza immediately, along with Alexei Navalny, another Russian opposition leader, and thousands of others--Russians jailed for speaking up against repression, for even mentioning the possibility of the murderous war in Ukraine.

It is time for America to stand up for Mr. Kara-Murza and those like him who have shown extraordinary courage.

Senator Leila DeLima is a leading human rights advocate in the Philippines. She is a state senator who just passed her fifth year in jail.

Here she is in her cell.

Why is she in prison for 5 years? She criticized the repressive regime of President Rodrigo Duterte.

From time to time, she writes to me from her prison cell. Let me share a short excerpt of a recent letter:

Warm greetings from my detention headquarters . . . I do

not know for how long I will remain behind bars but there is

one thing that I am sure of--my will to fight for what is

right continues to be undeterred.

Recently, two key witnesses in the sham case against Senator DeLima recanted their testimony, proving what we already know: The case against her is contrived. It is a travesty of justice.

Many Filipino Americans in Illinois tell me they are deeply concerned about the accountability and democracy and its prospects in the Philippines.

The incoming Marcos regime can demonstrate its commitment to a democratic Philippines by ending the harassment of journalists and making Senator DeLima's release one of its first priorities.

Let me now turn to Saudi Arabia--timely.

I have been troubled by the human rights record of this Kingdom, including the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, for which there is no real accountability yet.

This year brought a bit of welcome news. Writer Raif Badawi was finally freed from prison after completing a 10-year prison sentence for dubious charges about his peaceful writings.

I hope that the Saudis will allow Raif the dignity of reuniting with his brave wife, Ensaf Haidar, who I met in Washington, and their three children, now living in Canada.

Badawi's lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, a leading human rights defender, is still in prison. He was convicted in Saudi Arabia's Specialized Criminal Court, usually reserved for terrorists.

I appeal to the Saudi Government to free Waleed and to allow Raif to be reunited with his family.

These gestures would be particularly notable in light of President Biden's upcoming visit.

Finally, let me turn to the United Arab Emirates.

This is Ahmed Mansoor, one of the last major human rights voices in the Emirates.

He was arrested in 2017 for using blog posts to advocate for reform and human rights in his nation. He was convicted of charges of threatening the UAE's state security and social harmony, they sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He has been there for more than 5, at times, in solitary confinement, isolated from other prisoners, no contact with his family. He has reportedly been tortured.

Despite the dismal conditions of his incarceration, he remains steadfast in his commitment to human rights. He has conducted multiple hunger strikes to protest prison conditions.

I appeal to the United Arab Emirates' new President, Muhammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, to take this opportunity early in his Presidency to demonstrate compassion and courage by releasing Mr. Mansoor.

America's strength around the world comes not only from our military and economic might but from the power of our values. Over the years, I have heard from many political prisoners. They tell me the support this body, of Congress, of America, and so many others in our government sustained them through the lonely, desperate times they spent in jail for days and weeks and months and years.

I will close with the words of Vladimir Kara-Murza. This is from a recent op-ed he wrote for the Washington Post from his Russian prison. He wrote:

The prisoner's worst nightmare is the thought of being

forgotten . . . I always knew how true those words were--and

how important were international campaigns of solidarity with

prisoners of conscience. I now feel it with my own skin.

To Vladimir Kara-Murza, Raif Badawi, Waleed Abulkhair, Senator Leila de Lima, and Ahmed Mansoor, I say: You are not forgotten, and we will continue to advocate for your freedom.

Let me also close by acknowledging that a member of my staff, Chris Homan, has really inspired me to take on this cause, and he works at it diligently--our reward, an occasional political prisoner makes it here to my office here in Washington. One of them from Africa presented me with basically a baton that he had made while in prison with my name on it because he heard that I remembered him and spoke of him on the floor of the Senate.

I would say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: Make this part of your responsibility as a U.S. Senator. Find these people, these heroes who are sadly wasting away in prison and remember them on this floor. It can make a difference. Some will be released; all will remember the fact that you stood up for them at a time of great need.

I yield the floor.

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

Madam President, I got the news, along with others, Sunday morning about the decision of 10 Republican and Democratic Senators to move forward with the proposal to deal with our Nation's epidemic of gun violence. I had a conversation with Senator Chris Murphy, who has been one of our leaders on the Democratic side, about exactly what that meant and the help that we might be able to offer to him from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I just want to say, at this moment, that I really want to commend my colleagues on both sides, Democrats and Republicans. I believe they made a good-faith effort to negotiate a package of reforms. Senator Murphy, Senator Cornyn of Texas, made it bipartisan, timely, and I believe did an excellent job. Is it the package that I would have written? No--nor yours, Madam President. You would have included things, and I would have included others. But it is within our reach.

We have a bitterly politically divided nation. That is a fact. We have a Senate Judiciary Committee evenly divided 50-50. We have a Chamber evenly divided 50-50. So it is difficult to say that any one party or one person will get exactly what they want in this political atmosphere, but it is equally important to note that we have all gone home and gotten the message over and over again. Whether it was in reference to the supermarket killing in Buffalo, the fourth grade school class in Uvalde, TX, or the doctor and other bystanders being killed in a Tulsa, OK, hospital, all of that has occurred in the last few days.

The American people have reacted with one voice, and they have said to us two words: ``Do something.'' To Members of Congress, don't just tell us you are going to give us your thoughts and prayers. Do something.

Well, I think this decision to move forward could help. Every provision in this agreement could save a life. For that reason, if for no other, I will be supporting it.

This agreement would support ``red flag'' laws. It is one way they characterize them. ``Crisis intervention orders'' is another. Many States--19--already have them. It would also close dangerous gaps in Federal law that enable domestic abusive boyfriends to get guns.

I want to commend Senator Klobuchar, who has been the leader in the U.S. Senate on that issue. We tried to help her on a previous piece of legislation, and it didn't have the votes to do it, but if it is included in this package, I will definitely support it, and I thank her for her leadership.

It also would strengthen the background check system by clarifying which gun sellers would be required to conduct background checks. That is a step in the right direction. I hope there is more coming.

The agreement would provide funds for desperately needed mental health and trauma support services, including more school counselors for enhanced school safety.

I can't tell you how critically important that is. Half of the people who die because of a gun in America commit suicide. It is a plea for help that we should be answering. This could help. We also know that some of the people who pick up these guns and go shooting children and innocent people have serious mental illness problems. They need counseling, too, and we need to find ways to reach them.

I also want to add that we have a different form of gun violence in big cities like Chicago. Many of these crimes are committed by kids and gangs, and these kids--90 percent-plus of them--have been victims of trauma in their lives. Things have happened to them which they can never forget, and they need help to deal with them. So mental health counseling and trauma counseling are critical to reducing gun violence at all of these different levels.

Importantly, the framework would crack down on the straw purchasing and the illicit trafficking of guns. Last August, an amazing young woman who was a Chicago policewoman, Ella French, was on duty with her partner, sitting in the squad car, when a man walked up and shot her in the head and killed her. Then he shot the other officer and blinded him in one eye. The gun that he used to kill the policewoman was the subject of a straw purchase.

What does that mean? That means that he could never have cleared a background check. He was a convicted felon. So he finds a friend or a girlfriend to go in and buy it--someone who has no criminal record--and then he hands the gun over to him, and he turns around and kills a wonderful Chicago policewoman. The outpouring of sentiment in favor of Ella French and her family was overwhelming.

I hope that we can get this provision, which I have worked on with Senators Collins and Leahy, included in the final passage so as to tighten up the penalties on those who make straw purchases.

If you are going to stand up and lie to buy a gun so that you can give it to someone who can't pass a background check, you ought to pay dearly for that. It cost Ella French her life, and I hope that we stick with this provision all the way through.

The last point is especially important because I have met her mother; I have met the officer who was in the car with her; and I met his family. I know how much this particular incident has meant to each and every one of their lives.

Does an agreement like this do everything that I would like? No, it doesn't, but this, if we can pass it, will be the most significant gun violence reform in 30 years in Congress--30 years. We now have more guns than people in this country. They estimate some 400 million guns. They can't even give me anywhere close to an exact number of how many AR-15s we have in this country. I have heard estimates that people are convinced the number ranges from 10 to 20 million of these AR-15 military assault-type weapons.

We have a long way to go before we reach the finish line, but I want to commend those Senators who have worked so hard to bring us to this point. I will just make it very clear: I am prepared to do everything I can as a Senator and as whip to bring the votes together to get this done as quickly as possible.

Student Loan Forgiveness

Now, Madam President, on another matter, 2 weeks ago, the Education Department announced it would wipe out $5.8 billion in student loan debt owed by 560,000 borrowers who had attended for-profit Corinthian Colleges in the last 20 years. Corinthian Colleges was one of the largest, most corrupt, most unscrupulous companies in the for-profit college industry, but it wasn't alone in its shady dealings--far from it.

So the basic primer on for-profit colleges and universities--the question that you are going to face on the final exam--is this: What two numbers tell the whole story about for-profit colleges and universities? The numbers 8 and 30. What do they mean? Eight percent of high school graduates go to for-profit colleges and universities--8 percent. Thirty percent of all of the student loan defaults in the United States are of students from for-profit colleges and universities.

Why? Why are these students who attend for-profit schools failing to make their student loan payments?

Well, first, these for-profit industry schools charge too much in tuition. The students can't keep up with the debt, so they borrow more. They reach a point where something happens, and they have to drop out-- afraid of the debt they have accumulated.

At the next stage, some finish. They take their diplomas from their for-profit schools, and they learn, unfortunately, that they are almost worthless. Westwood College is one of those fraudulent for-profit colleges. It operated 15 campuses in 5 different States, including Illinois--Westwood College. I remember driving out to O'Hare Airport and looking up at the side of one of those tall office buildings. They had a sign for Westwood College, and I thought: What a fraud.

Like the Corinthian Colleges, Westwood used high-pressure sales and marketing tactics and outright lies to pressure students to take on huge amounts of student debt. Students in Westwood's criminal justice program in Illinois were told that a Westwood

criminal justice degree would all but guarantee them a good-paying job with the local police department, maybe even with the FBI. What a lie.

Victoria Vences is one of the thousands of Illinois students who heard those lies and is paying the price for it. Victoria is the first person in her family ever to attend college, and that is the case more often than not. These students come from families with no college experience and don't know where to turn. They look at the advertising and, unfortunately, fall for it. They sign up for these for-profit schools like Westwood.

Victoria enrolled in the criminal justice program at Westwood in 2007, believing it would help her land a job as a probation officer or maybe even with the Immigration Services. After 3 years of juggling full-time jobs and going to school full time, Victoria was shocked to learn that a Westwood degree would not pay off at all. At that time, she owed $50,000 in student loans that she had taken out at Westwood. Not wanting to take out more loans for a useless degree, she dropped out. She started applying for law enforcement jobs, showing them the certificate of her transcript from Westwood, and they told her that it was worthless.

Victoria now works for the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline. She likes her job, and she helps a lot of people, but she has never earned enough of an income to make the monthly payments on her student loans. Victoria Vences isn't someone who shirks responsibility. She is helping to raise a niece and a nephew who live with her. She doesn't believe that she should have to pay back $50,000 in loans because of the deception. I agree.

Last week, I wrote to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, asking him for a second time--and I like him, but if he doesn't start answering my letters, I am going to have to think of a way to get his attention. I asked him to cancel the student loan debt of all former Westwood criminal justice students in Illinois who were defrauded by this company.

I first made this request in April of last year. It is time for a response, Mr. Secretary.

Last July, the Education Secretary canceled the student loan debts of 1,600 former Westwood students. Among them were 488 Illinois students who had taken on debt to enroll in Westwood's worthless criminal justice program. These students had all applied for relief under something known as borrower defense that allows the Education Department to cancel their student debts.

There are still more than 3,000 Westwood criminal justice students in Illinois who haven't gotten that same break. Some of them, like Victoria Vences, have carried that debt for more than 10 years. It has ruined their credit ratings, and it has made it harder for them to find a job, rent an apartment, or think about a future.

We have known for more than a decade that Westwood used misleading marketing tactics. Now they have to be called to account. The unethical behavior was documented in detail by Illinois' former attorney general, Lisa Madigan, who sued Westwood 10 years ago. I remember that. I joined her in a press conference announcing it.

The Education Department also has concluded that Westwood defrauded its criminal justice program students in Illinois. The Education Department should grant automatic loan forgiveness for all of the approximately 3,000 students who are still burdened with Westwood's criminal justice program deception.

During the Trump years, the Education Department decided to take a blind eye to the situation of these for-profit schools. The Trump administration actually hired people who worked in that industry--for these schools--to regulate them. You can guess what happened--no regulation.

It is time for the Education Department to make a difference, and let me say that it is time for us to make a difference when it comes to student loan debt. It was in 1998 when we decided--in a bill which was loaded with extras that people didn't discover until long after it passed--that you couldn't discard your student loan in bankruptcy. If you had a mortgage on a home and filed for bankruptcy, you could discharge that mortgage, even on a second home, even on a car loan, even on a loan for a boat, even on a loan for appliances--just about everything except a student loan.

Well, that was the wrong decision. That was the wrong policy. There are more than 3 million student loan borrowers who owe more than $100,000 in student loans, but we have decided these would be nondischargeable in bankruptcy. There is a provision in there that says, if there is an undue hardship, you might be able to discharge your loan. Almost never does a court rule that there is an undue hardship.

This situation is unsustainable. Senator John Cornyn of Texas and I have introduced a bipartisan bill to change it to make sure the Bankruptcy Code gives student debt a break. I will continue working with him and others to get this done. Bankruptcy should always be the last resort, but it ought to be an option for those who truly need relief, and these student borrowers do.

The bottom line: Even with other reform measures, like relief for the Corinthian Colleges students, bankruptcy reform ought to be part of the solution to the student debt crisis. I hope that it will.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) is necessarily absent.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, at 11:45 a.m. today, the Senate proceed to executive session and vote on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 856, the nomination of Robert Steven Huie, as provided under the previous order, and that, following the vote, the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. President, this evening, the Select Committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold its first public hearing.

For more than 10 months, the January 6 Select Committee has labored diligently to discover and document the truth about the day we nearly lost our democracy. This evening, the committee will begin to lay out publicly, for the first time, the coordinated plan in place to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election and prevent the peaceful transition of power to a new administration in America. Those are incredible words that I have just spoken, but they reflect the reality of January 6, 2021.

Among the witnesses will be Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, one of the more than 140 Capitol and Metropolitan police officers who was injured when the mob attacked the Capitol.

To Officer Edwards and all of the police officers who defended American democracy that day and who continue to protect this Capitol every day, we owe more than our thanks.

January 6 revealed to the world how fragile democracy can be, even in America. Keeping our democracy requires vigilance and truth. Often, it requires sacrifice, and there must be a willingness to accept that truth. It is regrettable--no, it is shameful--that our Republican colleagues in the Senate filibustered the creation of an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate what happened on January 6.

I recall that moment, and I am sure the Presiding Officer does as well. It was slightly after 2 o'clock, just a few minutes after 2 o'clock. Vice President Pence was presiding over the U.S. Senate as we went through the orderly, constitutional process of counting the electoral votes. I looked up from my chair to see the Secret Service come in and physically remove--quickly remove--the Vice President from that chair. The events that unfolded in the next few minutes were hard to imagine could ever occur in the United States of America. We were told to sit safely in our chairs, in that this was a secure Chamber, and be prepared for other staffers from around the Capitol to join us. Not 10 minutes later, a member of the Capitol Police stood before us and said: As quickly as possible, evacuate this Chamber.

It is hard to imagine this in the United States of America. We have seen the videos. We know what happened. There is no doubt as to what happened that day and what an impression it must have left on the rest of the world. What would we think, at this moment in time, if a mob with battering rams beat down the doors of Parliament and entered the House of Commons and the House of Lords? Would we not say on this side of the ocean, my God, what has happened to the United Kingdom? Can this government survive? Can that country survive? The same questions were being asked about America because of that insurrectionist mob on January 6.

The proposal was made--and it was a legitimate, thoughtful, good- faith proposal--to establish a bipartisan commission to get to the bottom of it--who was behind it?--and to ask the hard questions. What role did President Donald Trump play in what unfolded after his rally on January 6, 2021? Some people don't even want to raise the question, let alone hear the answer.

History demands the truth, unless we have reached the point that we saw in the times of the Soviet Union when they refused to print in their daily newspapers plane crashes. It was bad news, and they didn't want to peddle any bad news in the official partisan organ, Izvestia. No. That was the reality of the Soviet Union--deny the truth, rewrite history. We see the same thing occurring today, but the American people are going to learn the truth.

All three major broadcast networks and all but one cable news network will carry this evening's hearing live. What cable news network might not require the broadcast of this? I am going to guess FOX News, and I am right. Think about that for a second. Clearly, to FOX News, which profits off the Big Lie of Donald Trump, it matters more to continue that relationship than to tell the truth to their viewers.

The members of the Select Committee have undertaken their duty with uncommon courage, and I want to single out, in particular, Congressman Adam Kinzinger from the State of Illinois. We are not close friends, but we have worked on a few things together. I have the highest regard and admiration for the courage that he has shown throughout this travail; and the fact that he would volunteer, against the wishes of the Republican House leadership, to make this committee bipartisan is a tribute to his citizenship and to his commitment to this Nation.

The same thing, of course, is true for Representative Liz Cheney. She has a lot at stake. Representative Kinzinger has announced his retirement. She continues to represent Wyoming, and I hope she will for many years to come. I may disagree with her on virtually every other issue, but I have respect for her courage in serving on this bipartisan committee.

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Mr. President, on another topic, it is no secret that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has been plagued by misconduct. One investigation after another has revealed a culture of abuse, mismanagement, corruption, torture, and death that reaches all the way to the top.

One of the most troubling investigations was published last week by National Public Radio and the Marshall Project. The title of the report reads: ``How the Newest Federal Prison Became One of the Deadliest''-- the facility in question I know well: U.S. Penitentiary Thomson. It is located in my home State of Illinois. In fact, it is a facility that I officially and originally encouraged the Federal Government to purchase in order to reduce overcrowding in high security prisons. The opening of U.S. Penitentiary Thomson was supposed to improve safety within the Bureau of Prisons, but the reality, sadly, has been the exact opposite.

According to this report, seven inmates at U.S. Penitentiary Thomson have died in just 2 years. Five of them were reportedly murdered by other inmates; two died by suicide. And those deaths are just a snapshot of the grim reality of this facility--the deadly, grim reality. The investigation paints a picture of rampant abuse by prison staff. This alleged abuse includes the excessive use of two kinds of painful restraints--ambulatory restraints and four-point restraints. The ``four'' refers to each of a person's limbs, which, under this technique, are chained to a concrete bed, rendering the individual immobile.

This is an American penitentiary. The Bureau of Prisons' protocol says

that these restraints should be used sparingly and only to momentarily--momentarily--restrain an inmate who presents an active danger to himself or others.

According to this report, some guards at U.S. Penitentiary Thomson have, apparently, made a habit of regularly using these restraints on inmates--not momentarily but regularly. In some cases, inmates have reportedly been left chained for hours and days.

A lawyer who has spoken with U.S. Penitentiary Thomson inmates said:

[The inmates] are denied food. They are denied water. Many

of them report being left in their own waste. It's really

akin to a torture chamber.

This is an American prison in my State.

The use of restraints and shackles has become so common, inmates have coined a term to describe the scars they leave on their arms and legs. It is known as the ``Thomson tattoo.''

The report also alleges that the staff at U.S. Penitentiary Thomson have gained a reputation for stoking tensions between cellmates. Make no mistake, this is a special management unit. These are inmates who can be very dangerous, and I understand that. I understood it when the penitentiary was opened.

One example that was highlighted in this report is indicative of the challenge. It was the murder of Matthew Phillips, a U.S. Penitentiary Thomson inmate who died in 2020. Mr. Phillips was a Jewish man with a visible Star of David tattoo. The corrections officers at U.S. Penitentiary Thomson reportedly locked Mr. Phillips in a recreation cage with two known White supremacists. These inmates beat Mr. Phillips until he was unconscious, and he died from his injuries 3 days later. Both men have since been indicted by the Justice Department on murder and hate crime charges.

Following the publication of this shocking report, I joined Senator Duckworth, my colleague from Illinois, and Illinois Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, sending a letter to the Justice Department's Inspector General Michael Horowitz. In it, we urged him to launch a full-scale, immediate investigation into the failures at Thomson prison.

I spoke with General Horowitz yesterday. He confirmed that his office is investigating the deaths at Thomson, along with many other abuses in the Bureau of Prisons.

But this report about U.S. Penitentiary Thomson is only the most recent look into the house of horrors that is the Bureau of Prisons, the Federal Bureau of Prisons. We already have ample evidence of a pattern of neglect and abuse that has been embedded in their bureaucracy.

Consider, for instance, the Bureau's overuse of restricted housing-- the practice of separating inmates from the general prison population, isolating them alone or with one other person for 24 hours at a time. The practice can cause severe mental anguish for inmates and can severely harm the prospects for ever reentering society.

Much like the use of four-point restraints, restricted housing should, as the Justice Department noted in 2016, ``be used rarely, applied fairly, and subjected to reasonable constraints.'' That is the standard, the published standard, of the Bureau of Prisons.

During the Obama administration, I held two hearings, which are still fresh on my mind they were so gripping, on the issue of solitary confinement. Following those hearings, the Justice Department took steps to reduce and reform the Bureau of Prisons' use of restricted housing. We started to make real progress.

Unfortunately, the progress was erased during the Trump administration. And since the former President left office, the Biden Department of Justice has had plenty of time to change course and leadership. And I have urged them to do so.

A year and a half into this administration, nearly 8 percent of BOP inmates are still being held in restricted housing. That is the same level it was under President Trump. That is just plain unacceptable. The continued overuse of restricted housing and the alleged abuses at Thomson are among the many instances of misconduct and mismanagement that have occurred under the failed leadership of Bureau of Prisons' Director Michael Carvajal.

In light of those earlier reports detailing similar failures, I called for Mr. Carvajal's resignation last November. So it was welcome news when, about 6 weeks after I asked for his resignation, he announced it. Mr. Carvajal said he was going to resign.

But that was January. Now we are in June, and the Justice Department has shown little progress or urgency in naming Carvajal's replacement. As a result, he is still running and mismanaging the Bureau of Prisons.

This recent investigation at Thomson makes it clear there are no excuses for further delay. So today I am calling on President Biden, Attorney General Garland, and Deputy Attorney General Monaco to do one of two things; either name a new reform-minded Director to replace Carvajal immediately or appoint an Acting Director until a permanent selection is made. This cannot wait. We need to act before another inmate dies in the custody and care of this Federal Government.

In the coming weeks, the Senate Judiciary Committee, which I chair, will be holding a hearing on the Bureau of Prisons. We will examine these allegations of abuse at Thomson and other facilities. We need answers from the Biden administration on the failure to reduce the use of restricted housing, and we will discuss what BOP must do to address the staffing crisis that has contributed to this disastrous situation.

The crisis demands the attention of the highest ranking officials within the Department of Justice. It has been long overdue. It is time for us to have competent, principled leadership at the Bureau of Prisons.

I am not condemning every person who works at that Agency, for sure. I have met many of them and respect them. But those who are guilty of this misconduct need to be held accountable, and new leadership is imperative.

It has been a long time since we have had that kind of competent, principled leadership. I believe that Attorney General Garland and Deputy Attorney General Monaco will choose the right leader to clear out the bureaucratic rot and improve with significant reforms. But we need to act quickly. Lives are at stake.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) is necessarily absent.

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

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Madam President, yesterday, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I had the honor of welcoming a group of important guests to Washington.

The committee was joined by the families of some of the victims in last month's mass shooting in Buffalo, NY, when a White supremacist marched into the Tops Grocery store with an assault rifle and massacred 10 Black Americans in cold blood and wounded three others. Just weeks after laying their loved ones to rest, these families flew to Washington to deliver one very simple, straightforward message to Congress: Do something. Do something to prevent the next mass shooting, to combat the lethal threat posed by violent White supremacists, to honor the memory of those who were slain in this horrifying act of racist violence.

One of the family members who attended yesterday was Garnell Whitfield, Jr., and his brother Raymond. Their mother Ruth Whitfield was the eldest victim in this Buffalo shooting. She was 86 years old.

In the hours before her murder, Mrs. Whitfield just finished her regular daily ritual, visiting her husband, Mr. Whitfield's father, at his nursing home. The two had been married for 68 years, and in an instant, she was gone. Her family is shattered.

During yesterday's hearing, Mr. Whitfield courageously voiced what millions of Americans feel about the devastating run of mass shootings in America: outrage. He asked me and the fellow committee members there a really important question:

What are you doing? You were elected to protect us. Is

there nothing that you [can] personally [be] willing to do to

stop the cancer of White supremacy and the domestic terrorism

it inspires?

Mr. Whitfield concluded his testimony with the following words I hope every Member of the Senate will hear. He said:

Mrs. Ruth Whitfield's life mattered. Your actions here will

tell us if and how much it mattered to you.

We heard the same sentiment from across the country--from Uvalde, TX, to Chicago, IL. It is impossible to keep track of these mass shootings. They have claimed so many innocent lives.

During this past weekend alone, our Nation was hit with at least 10 of them--10. Think about it: In this country, 10 in one weekend. In many countries--most countries around the world--there are none. No other developed Nation on Earth experiences this degree of bloody carnage every day, every week. And if we want to prove to Americans like Garnell Whitfield that the lives of their loved ones who were lost really do matter to us, we have to do something in the Senate.

The first thing is simple: close the loopholes on the purchase of guns. Currently, there is a bipartisan group of Senators working on this issue. I commend this group, especially Senators Murphy and Cornyn--Democrat and Republican--who are leading this effort.

We are also going to hold a hearing next week in the Judiciary Committee over a phenomena which is equally embarrassing. Gunfire is now the leading cause of death for kids in America. Did you hear that? Gunfire, the leading cause of death of children in America.

We talk about protecting our kids, our highest priority. Well, the guns are killing our kids more than automobiles, more than poison, more than accidents in the home.

I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein), the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), and the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein) and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) are necessarily absent.