National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly about the amendment just voted upon by this Chamber, an amendment brought forward by Senator Paul.

As my colleagues know, the Paul amendment would have repealed the 2001 authorization for the use of military force, or so-called AUMF, which authorized military operations against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

It would also repeal the 2002 AUMF, which authorized operations against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. These repeals would take effect 6 months after the adoption of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

Senators of both parties owe it to the men and women of our Armed Forces to debate in public the merits of continued conflict against ISIS, al-Qaida, and the Taliban in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, where the brave men and women who serve us and keep us safe are currently engaged in service to our Nation and our security.

I am very sympathetic to my colleagues' concerns about the potential consequences of repealing the 2001 and 2002 authorizations. I don't want our troops fighting overseas to see our debate on this amendment as a lack of support for their vital mission. I don't want to see our enemies emboldened.

I, however, chose to support the Paul amendment, but my commitment to our troops and my commitment to defeating our enemies is as strong as ever. This body can and must immediately get to work to craft a legal authorization relevant to our current conflict. That is why I supported the Paul amendment, which would have provided a 6-month window to allow Congress to demonstrate oversight, vigorous review of the status of our military operations around the world, and to pass a new authorization relevant to our current national security threats. In other words, it would have required Congress to do its job.

Although the Paul amendment was tabled, I look forward to continuing to discuss this important and pressing issue with my colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee, where it should more appropriately be debated, and bringing it forward for a final vote in this Chamber.
If we are to do our job under the Constitution of the United States, we owe those who fight and serve and strive to keep us safe nothing less than clarity about Congress's willingness to do its job under the Constitution and our willingness to consent to the actions that are essential to keeping us safe.

DACA

Mr. President, debating and passing a new AUMF is not the only policy area in which Congress needs to get to work. Because of the difficult decision by the Trump administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, or DACA Program, Congress has just 6 months to pass a legislative fix for the nearly 800,000 Dreamers in the United States today.

Let me start by thanking many other colleagues who have already come to the floor to give a voice to our Nation's Dreamers. I am proud to stand with them and speak to this important issue today.

Since 2012, the DACA Program has helped more than 750,000 Dreamers work, study, and contribute to our society free of the constant fear of being forced to leave the only home they have ever known. Many of these young men and women are our classmates, coworkers, colleagues, and folks who are just as American as any one of us because that is what it means to be an American, whether you have been here a month, a year, a decade or seven generations. Those who are willing to serve, to contribute, to engage in our society, to pay taxes, to play by the rules, we welcome as Americans. These are people who were brought to our country as children without authorization but through no fault of their own.

In my view, they deserve the opportunity to demonstrate that they want to contribute to our community and our country and to come forward and live their lives out of the shadows and as proud Americans.

DACA provided these Dreamers with that security, but the President's announcement to end the program has left them in a state of uncertainty and fear. I am eager and willing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but targeting this group of overwhelmingly hard-working and tax-paying Dreamers is not the way to fix our broken immigration system. In my view, it is, in some ways, a capitulation to the harshest, most nativist, anti-immigrant forces in our country.

I believe Americans are strengthened by welcoming immigrants and refugees into our country. I believe this as someone who understands that immigration has strengthened our economy. I believe this because I know America was founded largely as a nation of immigrants and thrives because of its diversity, not in spite of it. I believe this as well because of my faith, which calls on all of us to welcome the stranger and the foreigner. Dreamers frankly aren't strangers at all. They are already our neighbors whose lives and freedom are now in jeopardy. We are talking about young men and women serving in our military, graduating near the top of their classes, working as doctors, teachers, engineers, and first responders.

When we talk about Dreamers, I think it is important to talk about specific people, so allow me to share with you the stories of three young Dreamers in Delaware. First, we are talking about Estephany Martinez-Gonzalez, a current sophomore at Delaware State University who is studying criminal justice and plans to join our law enforcement community as a police officer. She was brought to Winder, GA, in 2003, when she was just 8 years old. She and her sisters today are all enrolled in college, and Estephany even earned a scholarship due to her high achievements in high school.

When we talk about Dreamers, we are talking about Roman Guadarrama, a 30-year-old Delawarean who has been in the United States since 1994. A young soccer star, he was being scouted for collegiate scholarships while in high school, but he never saw college as a possibility for him because he knew he was undocumented. In 2013, taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the previous administration, he stepped forward and enrolled in DACA, was able to obtain a driver's license and take classes at Del Tech College in my home State of Delaware. The DACA Program, he says, gave him a whole new outlook on his future and allowed him to finally pursue his dreams in the country he knows as home.

When we talk about Dreamers, we are talking about people like Indira Islas, pictured here to my right. Indira came to the United States at 6 years old, in 2004, with her parents and two younger sisters. Now a college student at Delaware State University, Indira has said:

Home to me is Gainesville, Georgia. It always has been and it always will be. It is home because I poured out my heart into that town.

She is studying in Delaware to become a pediatric oncologist, as her own parents once were, but fears that her family could be torn apart before she is able to fulfill her dream of treating children with cancer.

Delaware alone, our small State--one of the smallest of the 50--is home to 1,400 Dreamers just like Estephany, Roman, and Indira. Without them, the United States would lose nearly $90 billion in GDP every single year. Let me say that again, without the Dreamers, studies suggest that we would lose tens of billions of dollars in American GDP every year. The economic impact would be significant in every State across the Nation because of the role Dreamers have played in our Nation's economic, social, and cultural fabric. Now, some States may be more remote and rural and have a smaller population of Dreamers; whereas, in others they are very large, but across the country as a whole, it is undeniable they have contributed to our economy.

Just listen to the American CEOs who came forward last week to voice their support for finding some legal path forward for these Dreamers.

From the Koch brothers to Mark Zuckerberg, U.S. business leaders respect and appreciate the hard work, the contributions, and the potential of our immigrant brothers and sisters known as Dreamers.
It is not just their economic contributions that moves me to speak this morning; Dreamers also help keep us safe. That is because approximately 900 men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces are able to participate in serving our Nation because of the DACA Program. Most of these individuals applied for the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, or MAVNI, pilot program which selects immigrants who possess vital skills for our national security to serve in the military. These very individuals include physicians, nurses, and those with skills in critical Middle Eastern and Asian languages like Arabic and Chinese. They are vital to the success of the U.S. military and to our national security. Should we have recruited them, trained them, supported them, deployed them, and now because of an abrupt change in national policy reject them and deport them? I think not.

Dreamers like Indira are American. They grew up here, they have gone through a rigorous process to become a part of this program, and they want, from this point forward, to play by the rules and to succeed. I am calling on my colleagues in Congress to protect the lives of our Dreamers and pass the Dream Act. I am grateful to Senators Durbin and Graham for their bipartisan efforts to move this bill forward, and I am proud to join them in supporting this effort.

We know we can't count on the administration at this point to protect the 800,000 Dreamers who know no home but the United States. As is appropriate, the job falls to us, to Congress, to take up this issue, to act, and to legislate. We cannot let them down.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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