Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I have been on the floor quite a few times about an industry which is controversial: for-profit schools. If you want to know about for-profit colleges and universities, you have to remember two numbers, and the numbers are these: 8 and 33. Eight percent of the graduates of high schools go to for-profit colleges and universities; 33 percent of all the student loan defaults are students who started out at for-profit colleges and universities.

They are students who didn't finish or ended up with a worthless degree, couldn't make enough money, and defaulted on their student loans. That is an industry that deserves close scrutiny, because, you see, they operate almost exclusively with Federal taxpayers' dollars.

I believe that they have really posed an unscrupulous threat to unsuspecting students, to taxpayers, and to the solvency of Federal student aid programs.

Corinthian Colleges, sounds great, doesn't it? That was one of them, one of the largest for-profit college companies, and one of the worst.

It operated more than a hundred campuses, including six in my home State of Illinois, under names like Everest Colleges, WyoTech, and Heald Colleges.

At its peak, Corinthian enrolled more than 110,000 students, raking in a $1.4 billion sum from the Federal Treasury every year, 1.4 billion for Corinthian. How did Corinthian attract its students? It lied. It invested heavily in marketing and advertising. It created a business model that relied heavily on predatory sales practices. It deliberately misled students into taking on more debt than they could ever, ever repay.

They lied to potential students about the school's job placement rates. They lied about the students' future salary prospects. They lied about whether Corinthian credits could be transferred to another college. Most appallingly, Corinthian recruiters were sent out to look for the most vulnerable targets: high school students whose families had no experience with higher education--minority students.

An internal company document described Corinthian's target demographic as ``isolated people'' with ``low self-esteem.'' People who have ``few people in their lives who care about them'' and people who are ``stuck, unable to see and plan for the future.'' They preyed on these people.

Single moms living close to poverty were the best targets. In 2013, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was then California's attorney general, sued this company for predatory and deceptive business practices. That lawsuit was followed by investigations by four different Federal agencies and more than 20 State attorneys general for consumer fraud on all of their campuses.

Corinthian's enrollment numbers and stock prices tumbled with these investigations, and on April 26, 2015, the whole Corinthian College house of cards collapsed. The company announced abruptly it would close all of its schools the following day.

The announcement left 16,000 students stunned and worried about how they were ever going to pay off the debts they had incurred and about the degrees that they wouldn't be able to finish.

Back in 2015, I called for widespread relief for borrowers defrauded by Corinthian. And last week, these borrowers finally received some long overdue relief. Seven years after they closed Corinthian, they finally got relief from the student loans they incurred because of the fraud of Corinthian Colleges.

In its largest student loan forgiveness action ever, the Education Department recognized the rot that was at the core of Corinthian Colleges and announced it was going to wipe out $5.8

billion in student loan debt owed by 560,000 borrowers who attended the company's for-profit schools.

You see, the Federal Government was saying to the students: These schools are OK. You can borrow Federal money going to these schools.

These students said, well, I couldn't get a Federal loan unless it was a real college or university, and, in fact, they were wrong.

For former Corinthian students, this loan forgiveness means finally their credit scores will start to get above sinking, fewer garnished paychecks, and calls from collection agencies may just slow down. I applaud Education Secretary Cardona and President Biden for their leadership on this simple issue of justice.

This is the latest step the Biden administration has taken to ease the crush of student loan debt.

The administration has used relief programs aimed at a variety of borrowers, including public service workers and people with disabilities. It also paused loan repayment during the pandemic.

President Biden reportedly is considering a broader student loan forgiveness program that would benefit more borrowers, such a program-- if it is responsibly crafted--would be a boon not only to individual borrowers and their families, but also to our economy. It would make it possible for young people to finally restart their lives, buy a car, maybe even a home, start a business, maybe even a family--the kinds of investments that make America grow the right way.

I also believe we need to rethink the provisions in our Federal bankruptcy laws that make student loan debt one of the few debts that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. If you declare bankruptcy, you can basically be discharged from any obligation to pay back your mortgage, even your mortgage on a second home, your car loan, or even money that you borrowed for a boat. You can discharge all those in bankruptcies, but you cannot discharge your student loan, in all practical purposes.

Bankruptcy should be allowed to be used as a last resort for borrowers who have no other place to turn. I expect to have more to say about that in the near future.

America needs more trained nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers, mechanics, and skilled professionals and trade workers than ever before. It is in America's national and economic interest to make sure that student loans are a prudent investment and to protect unsuspecting students from unscrupulous organizations like these for-profit colleges and universities.

We should have learned our lesson as a Nation.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) is necessarily absent.

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

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

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

Madam President, the name ``John Edward Porter'' may not be well known to many people now, but there was a time when he had a special impact on America.

I was proud to call him a colleague and my friend. John Porter was a Congressman from Illinois who served at the same time I was a Member of the House. He did some remarkable things in his life. In the famous 10th District, he was a real leader on many issues. He represented that district in Chicago's northern suburbs from 1980 until the year 2001 and for most of the time we served together in the House. I admired him. We always had a good, positive working relationship although we were of different political faiths. He was a leader and a voice for principled, bipartisan cooperation within our Illinois congressional delegation.

John Porter passed away last Friday. He was raised in a family where public service was a way of life. He took it to heart. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1958 to 1964 and as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice during the Kennedy administration.

He was elected to the House in 1980 when his predecessor, Abner Mikva, resigned to become a Federal judge. The two men were different in political faith, but in many regards, they were the same. Ab Mikva, you see, was a legendary liberal Democrat, the son of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine who relied on welfare to survive the Great Depression. John Porter was a fiscally conservative Republican whose father was a judge. But they shared many values. They believed that public service was a noble profession and that government could make life better and that America must remain a beacon of hope for the world.

John Porter supported efforts to protect the environment in the earliest days. He championed human rights efforts across the globe and efforts to protect the environment at home. He was the founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. He was a key supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

John Porter was an independent thinker who defied the National Rifle Association to support a national ban on assault weapons in 1994. It took guts. John Porter did the right thing.

His greatest and most visionary contribution to America was in the field of biomedical research. He was chair of the powerful House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. He was a driving force in the House behind the successful effort to double the funding for the National Institutes of Health.

For those who may not know, the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC, is the leading medical research agency in the world--in the world--and John Porter, this Congressman from Illinois, teamed up with two Senators to take on what seemed like an impossible assignment. He joined with Tom Harkin, a Senator from Iowa, a Democrat, and Arlen Specter, a Senator from Pennsylvania, a Republican. They set out to do the politically impossible--to double the budget for the National Institutes of Health.

The new funding came at a critical moment in history. It made possible discoveries that literally changed the

world, including the famous Human Genome Project, which Dr. Francis Collins headed up at that time. It was one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century, and it happened because John Porter and the Senators I mentioned decided to make certain that the NIH had the resources when they needed it.

The mapping of the human genome continues to transform medicine on a daily basis and has provided lifesaving cures all around the world. It is the leadership of NIH Director Dr. Collins and the inspiring example of John Porter that convinced me to try to team up with Senators on the other side of the aisle and do the same in my time in the Senate. I admired John's success so much that I decided to try to make it my own. So I teamed up with Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, and also, of course, with Patty Murray, a Democrat from the State of Washington, and we started our effort to see if we could increase dramatically the National Institutes of Health's budget. We did. We increased it by over 40 percent in the period of time that we have taken on this assignment and more to follow.

The NIH recognized Congressman John Porter's invaluable contributions in 2014 by naming its new Neuroscience Research Center in his honor.

Loretta and I send our condolences to his wife Amy, their children, stepchildren, and grandchildren, to John's friends and colleagues, and to all who were inspired by his example to make our world and our Nation a better, healthier, safer place.

I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla), the Senator from New York (Mr. Schumer), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, this morning we are going to consider H.R. 350, which is legislation which I introduced some time ago. I want to describe it because it has been inaccurately described before and let Members know what they are voting on.

First, what does it relate to? Domestic terrorism. Is that a Federal crime? You bet it is, and this particular bill makes reference to that crime. Hate crimes? It refers to that too. Is that a real crime? It is a Federal crime, and we refer to it specifically.

So what new crimes are created in this bill? None. Not one. What we are doing is asking the Federal Agencies that have the responsibility of national security to give us timely reports on the incidence of domestic terrorism, and we say to them there are categories which the FBI has already established of domestic terrorism. And those categories--I would like to spell out a couple of them to you so it is pretty clear what we are going after here: racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism; anti-government, anti-authority violent extremism; animal rights and environmental violent extremism; abortion- related violent extremism and others.

So those are already categories of domestic terrorism that the FBI reports on. What we are saying is, give us those reports in a timely fashion so we can see the incidence of these forms of extremism and the commission of crimes.

But there is one correction that we are making that is very important. During the Trump administration, they eliminated reference in this list of categories of domestic terrorism of White supremacist activity. The reason why it is important for us to include that is that we have the sworn testimony of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that this is a category of crime and terrorism in America that is ``metastasizing''--his word, metastasizing. So we believe it is important that we be given information about the incidence of violent extremism, domestic terrorism, that relates to this type of activity, this White supremacy.

I will tell you, it is not an imagined crime. We see the reality of it way too often. We just saw it 2 weeks ago in Buffalo, NY. That shooter put his so-called manifesto on the internet and declared, among other things, his support for the ``great replacement theory.''

The ``great replacement theory'' is a thinly veiled White supremacist theory that tries to suggest that immigrants to America are somehow only arriving at the expense of those already here, particularly White Americans. That sort of theory has been out there since the days of the Ku Klux Klan, maybe even before it. But it is White supremacy. It inspired this man to do terrible things in Buffalo and kill innocent people at that grocery store.

So we are asking the FBI to give us this information. We will draw conclusions as we will, but that is basically it. No new crime is created nor is any new authority being created in the process. I think that is a critical element.

But there is one other thing that is part of this exercise this morning in voting for H.R. 350. The majority leader, Senator Schumer, after the events in Uvalde, TX, declared that we are going to try to reach out, on a bipartisan basis, to come up with legislation to deal with gun safety and safety in schools. His first effort to do this is this bill.

What we are voting on is a motion to proceed to the bill. He has invited colleagues, on a bipartisan basis, to come forward and to offer their amendments in the field of gun safety and school safety. That is why this motion to proceed is more than just the bill I described. It is an opportunity for amendments on the floor.

This morning, I had an interview with CNN, and they talked about the fact that we are leaving for a week for Memorial Day to honor our veterans and be home and then return. Why aren't we staying and working? Well, here is the chance for us to make it clear that we are going to work on what happened in these terrible tragedies in Uvalde, TX, and Buffalo, NY, and so many others.

So I am appealing to my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, if you have any ideas, and I hope you do, for gun safety, school safety, and to make this a safer nation, this is the vehicle to do it. A ``yes'' vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 350 is your opportunity to open a process where we can consider amendments.

Senator Schumer was very explicit. He invited Democrats as well as Republicans to come forward with their best ideas on a bipartisan basis. And isn't that what the people of the country are actually asking for, more than anything; that we roll up our sleeves and face this challenge which has taken so many innocent lives?

In the newspaper yesterday, in the New York Times, they did a feature on those wonderful little kids and the teachers who lost their lives in Uvalde, TX. It is heartbreaking to see those kids, those beautiful little children, and to realize that they are no longer with us and that their families are grieving in a way they never imagined they would.

Isn't it up to us to do something about it rather than just give press releases? Isn't it up to us as legislators to legislate and try to find solutions? This opportunity, the motion to proceed, opens the door to that possibility.

We can return the week after Memorial Day recess and start in earnest considering amendments offered by Democrats and Republicans which deal with this issue. We owe the American people that. We are elected to this job to legislate, not just to give speeches but to change the laws in this country to make it safer. This is our chance to do it. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, vote for H.R. 350. This is an important bill in and of itself, but equally important is the fact that it opens a process Americans are longing to hear that we take seriously. I urge my colleagues to support the motion to proceed on

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, this coming Monday is Memorial Day, the day we set aside to honor the more than 1.1 million Americans who have given their lives in military service to our Nation.

It is a solemn day of remembrance and has a special resonance in my state. One of America's first Memorial Day ceremonies occurred in Illinois. It was April 1866--barely a year after the end of America's terrible Civil War.

Three returning veterans from that great conflict were waiting for services to begin at a church in Carbondale when they saw a young woman with two infants approach a small, unmarked grave in the church cemetery, place flowers on the grave, and kneel in prayer. The veterans, deeply moved, collected wildflowers and placed them at all of the veterans' graves in the churchyard. They then arranged to host a parade of veterans to honor the war dead resting in the town's cemetery.

More than 200 veterans showed up for that parade--one of America's first Memorial Day parades. Among the marchers was General John Logan, a Civil War hero and proud son of Illinois. The following year, General Logan was appointed the commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. One of his first acts as commander in chief was to call for a national day of remembrance to honor the soldiers who sacrificed their lives so that America could receive a ``new birth of freedom.''

In the Army's General Order No. 11--the ``Memorial Day Order''-- General Logan wrote of his hope that the day of remembrance would be ``kept up from year to year, [as long as] a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades.''

On this Memorial Day, more than a century and a half later, we remember all of the American patriots who have fallen in battles--from Antietam, to the Argonne Forest, to Afghanistan. General Logan called their deaths ``the cost of a free and undivided republic.''

In these fractious times, when our Nation sometimes feels, again, like a house divided, may we remember the price those fallen heroes paid to preserve our Union. And may we also remember the duty we each bear to preserve the priceless gift for which they gave their lives-- this Nation, free and undivided.

On a related note, I want to take a moment to wish a belated happy birthday to an American hero who returned from war. Sgt. Victor Butler is that last surviving Tuskegee Airman in his home State of Rhode Island and one of the last of that legendary Band of Brothers in our Nation. Last Saturday, May 21, Mr. Butler celebrated his 100th birthday.

When he was a young man, he and the other members of the Tuskegee Airmen helped to save the world from the tyranny of fascism--and he helped to loosen the grip of racism on America. In the weeks before his 100th birthday, Mr. Butler told family and friends all he wanted for his centennial celebration was a card. He didn't want folks to make a fuss or go to any great expense.

One of his nieces posted his wish on social media--and word spread. He thought he might receive a few cards. At last count, Mr. Butler had received more than 40,000 cards and video greetings from people in every State in the Union and as far away as Japan, South Korea, and Germany.

Last Saturday, on his birthday, his hometown held a parade in his honor. And he received a signed football and a jersey with the number ``100'' on the back, hand-delivered by the owner of his favorite football team, the New England Patriots--a well-deserved tribute to a real-life hero.

Like the tradition of Memorial Day, the Tuskegee Airmen have a special connection to my State. The first airfield where they trained-- before Tuskegee--was Chanute Field in Rantoul, IL, near Champaign. The spot where that airfield stood is marked proudly today with signs that read ``Birthplace of the Tuskegee Airmen.'' And in 2016, Illinois renamed a stretch of Interstate 57 on the South Side of Chicago as the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail. It is a fitting tribute, given how many Tuskegee Airman had roots in the Chicago area.

African-Americans have fought and died for America's freedom since Crispus Attucks became the first American to fall in our War for Independence.

As the first African-American aviators ever to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps, the Tuskegee Airman occupy a special chapter in our Nation's history. They fought in World War II, at a time when the U.S. Armed Forces were still segregated, and our Nation was still riven with racially discriminatory laws and attitudes. Their original mission was to serve as escort pilots for other American flyers, to protect them from enemy fire. The Tuskegee Airmen also flew bombing missions themselves.

Officially, they were known as the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group. But the pilots whose flights they protected gave them a nickname. They called them the Red Tails, or the Red-Tailed Angels, due to the distinctive color on their aircraft

wings. Their leader was the legendary Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., who would go on to become the first African-American brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force. His father, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., was the first Black brigadier general in the U.S. Army.

There were a total of 932 Tuskegee Airmen pilots, and another 10,000 Tuskegee Airmen--and women--who served as mechanics, radio operators, and other essential support positions. They conducted more than 700 bomber escort missions--and they never lost a single lost a single aircraft--not one. They were the only fighter group in World War II with a perfect record of protecting bombers.

White U.S. military pilots were permitted to fly no more than 52 missions during World War II. Some Tuskegee Airman flew as many as 100 missions. Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat. Thirty-three were held as prisoners of war.

In March 2007, the Tuskegee Airmen as a group were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor Congress can bestow. The ceremony was held in the Rotunda of the Capitol. I will never forget the sight of 300 Tuskegee Airman dressed in red sports jackets, saluting the American flag in that hallowed space. Some were in wheelchairs. But when the National Anthem played, they all rose to their feet and stood straight and proud.

Just before the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony, I had the privilege of hosting several Tuskegee Airmen with Illinois roots in my office. Then-Senator Obama stopped by to pay his respects. It was a historic and humbling moment.

I met Lt. Colonel George Sherman, who grew up in Moline and joined the Army Air Corps in 1944 at the age of 18. He had to take the physical twice; he was rejected the first time because of his buck teeth, but he didn't give up. He ended up serving 22 years in the Air Force.

First Lieutenant Shelby Westbook was born in Arkansas and lost both of his parents when he was just 12. He flew 60 missions over 12 countries in Europe. After the war, he wanted to attend engineering school. The first school he applied to rejected him because it didn't accept Black students. He moved to Chicago, earned a degree, and worked as an electrical engineer for decades.

First Lieutenant Robert Martin famously claimed to have flown ``63 and a half missions.'' On his 64th combat mission, he was shot down over Yugoslavia. He was hidden by antifascist partisans until he could return to his unit. After the war, he worked as an electrical engineer for the city of Chicago for nearly 40 years.

Flight Officer John Lyle--``Captain Jack'' to his friends--grew up on Chicago's South Side. He flew 26 combat missions. After the war, he earned a college degree but couldn't find work in his field so, for a time, he washed windows of downtown skyscrapers. Eventually, he owned his own insurance agency, a fish and chicken restaurant, and a tree- trimming service.

Lt. Bev Dunjill flew more than 100 combat missions between World War II and the Korean war. He later worked for the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

All of those heroes are gone now. But their valor and impact are not forgotten. The Tuskegee Airmen and the all-Black Montfort Point Marines were among nearly 1 million Black Americans who served in World War II. Most saw the war as a battle on two fronts--one against fascism overseas and the other against racially discriminatory laws and attitudes in America.

Their goal, they said, was ``the Double V,'' victory for democracy overseas and at home. The change at home did not come easily, but it did come. Three years after World War II ended, President Truman ordered an end to segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces. And the service and sacrifice of the Tuskegee Airmen and other Black veterans and leaders helped set the stage for the civil rights movement of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

Today, as the last surviving Tuskegee Airman near their 100th birthdays and we lose hundreds of World War II veterans each day, we are painfully aware that the democracy and unity they paid such a high price for is under threat, both overseas and at home. The peace of Europe and democracy itself is under fire from Russia in Ukraine. And our sense of security and national unity seems to be fraying at home. Violence--especially gun violence--threatens us all, even our children.

Our progress against division and discrimination often feels shaky. We are pitted against each other by those who believe that conflict and anger is good for their political interests or their profit sheets. But it doesn't have to be this way.

As we prepare to remember and honor those who gave their lives for our freedom, let us resolve to do our part, in our time, to keep our Nation free and undivided.

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

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Reed), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Reed), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.