Martin Heinrich

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, a new generation of young leaders in my home State of New Mexico and all around the world recognizes that the climate crisis is not just urgent, it is literally existential. These young students and activists are demanding that their elected leaders get to work on implementing solutions to limit its devastating impact. I heard from many students in New Mexico about how we should confront the climate crisis. Earlier this year, I sat down with students in Santa Fe to hear their ideas on how we should confront this crisis. These students showed an incredible depth of knowledge on climate science and on their changing atmosphere. They are observing how the climate crisis is already impacting their daily lives. Talking with young people who are calling on us to save their future drives home how urgent this issue is for our next generation. It is not just high school or college students. I want to read to you from a couple of handwritten letters I recently received from elementary school students in New Mexico. Brook is 9 years old from Albuquerque. She wrote to me: ``The Earth is important to me because if we don't take care of earth now things are going to get much worse, please do something.'' Orla, age 10, from Rio Rancho, wrote: The Earth is important to me because Earth is the only planet perfect for us. Earth is the place we live, plants live, where other creatures big and small live. And if we don't do something about this now, our Earth will not be Earth, but Junk. We will have no place to live. Please do something. NOW! If these children can see so clearly how important it is, how desperately urgent it is to fight for the future of the planet, why on Earth can't our Nation's leaders here in Washington? I think it is long past time for us to listen to our children who are pleading for us to take action and to leave them with a better world in which to live. It is long past time for us to think through substantive solutions that can move us away from carbon pollution that is causing this crisis. That means we should refuse to continue down the climate deniers' desired path of inaction. That will only keep us moving toward more and more costly disruptions for our children. I am focused on implementing real and pragmatic solutions to eliminate this pollution. That is why I was proud to join with Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Senator Schatz of Hawaii to introduce legislation this year that will finally put a price on carbon. The scientific consensus is clear--the destructive wildfires in my home State, the catastrophic hurricanes, and the extreme flooding we are experiencing are all directly linked to our pollution. When we look at the climate modeling, one of the surest and, for that matter, one of the cheapest ways we can move the needle is by finally putting a price on carbon pollution because the truth is carbon pollution isn't free. We are all paying the price for carbon pollution in the billions of dollars we are spending each and every year to recover from climate disruptions of more extreme wildfires, floods, and storms. We need to stop socializing the cost of that pollution and ask those who produce it to bear its true costs. In other words, we need to internalize the price of carbon pollution at the source. Our legislation, the American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act, would collect a fee from carbon polluters. It would also include a border adjustment provision to ensure that American manufacturers would still be able to compete on a level playing field and that international carbon polluters would pay a price. The fee for carbon pollution under our bill would start at $52 a ton, and it would rise 6 percent each year. This matches the midrange of the estimated cost of carbon that researchers at the Office of Management and Budget, under the previous administration, determined in 2016. Roughly translated, this is the cost that carbon pollution is already costing you and your neighbors because of its devastating effects. This is the cost that pollution producers should be paying, and we can put the revenues raised by this fee on carbon pollution directly to work helping American households. Our legislation would raise a projected $2.3 trillion over 10 years that would be returned directly to American families in the States to transition us toward a clean energy economy. States would receive $10 billion a year to help pay for their transition toward clean energy and a clean energy workforce. This transition represents our greatest opportunity to create millions of new jobs all across our Nation and particularly in our rural communities. Wind technology and solar are already two of the fastest growing jobs in the Nation. States need to put real resources into training our workers for these clean energy jobs, and our legislation would make that happen. The rest of the revenue from our legislation would be delivered directly to American families in the form of tax credits and Social Security and veterans' benefits. This is the responsible way forward. This is the type of market-based climate policy that should have the support of both Democrats and Republicans. We know that to meet our climate goals and to limit the damage wrought by the climate crisis, we must immediately change our trajectory. We must move toward an economy that is run entirely--yes, 100 percent--on clean, pollution-free energy. Our proposal is just one way to take a major Federal action that would move us quickly in that direction--and I would welcome a full debate in the Senate on the best way forward--but what is abundantly clear is that we can no longer afford to debate whether to move forward. Our climate crisis often feels too big, too complex, too hard to fix. However, the scientific fact is, we have created this problem, and we possess the creativity and the tools and the technology to fix it. Our kids understand better than even most of us do that we need to act urgently and decisively. That is what leadership is all about. That is our job. I yield the floor.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is an honor to remember and recognize the life of Governor Everett Chavez. Governor Chavez devoted his life to the people of Santo Domingo Pueblo and to building a strong future for the next generation of leaders in Indian Country. Chavez served three terms as the Governor of Kewa Pueblo, also known as Santo Domingo. Governor Chavez also served as the superintendent of the Santa Fe Indian School, mentoring Native youth and setting high expectations for their educational achievements. He was a proud graduate of the University of New Mexico, where he received a degree in electrical engineering. Thanks to his dedication, many students received scholarships for college and put their education to work in their communities. Governor Chavez was powerful at influencing policy to benefit Indian Country at the highest levels of government. Governor Chavez served on President Obama's advisory committee for Native American and Alaskan Natives. He worked with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver to increase voter registration and election participation in Native communities. He was constantly building partnerships and implementing major initiatives in his community. He was hard at work serving others until the very end. New Mexico has lost one of our greatest leaders. My thoughts are with Governor Chavez's family. His legacy will endure in all of those he inspired through his selfless actions.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, we don't have any more time to waste on political stunts, on climate denial or, for that matter, on climate ``delay-al.'' Enough with the straw man arguments from my Republican colleagues about hamburgers and ``Sharknado.'' Is that really the best they can do? Climate change is real, and our pollution is causing its devastating impacts. Those are just facts. As an engineer, I am certain our capacity to confront this challenge rests heavily on our ability to make policy that is actually driven by facts, by data, and by the best available science. That science provides us with clear and indisputable evidence that the destructive wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding we have seen are directly linked to human-caused climate change. We are running out of time. It is past time for us to start implementing real solutions to eliminate our carbon pollution and mitigate the most devastating effects of climate change, and we must create a managed transition to an economy that is run on 100 percent clean energy. I encourage us to look to what just happened in my home State of New Mexico to see that this is possible, that it is not pie in the sky. For more than a century, New Mexico has been a major part of our carbon-based economy--from coal, to oil, to gas. Yet, just last week, our new Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, signed into law sweeping legislation to move our State toward being a 100-percent carbon-free power sector by 2045. I am enormously proud of the hard work that has led to there being this landmark legislation. This major transition to clean energy will change our State and our economy for the better. New Mexicans will save money in their monthly bills. Along the way, we will create thousands of new, high-paying jobs across our State, including in the communities that will be impacted by this transition. We are already seeing the massive economic potential of clean energy with the enormous wind farms and solar plants that are coming on line all across our State. Every new project brings new jobs and brings millions--sometimes billions--of dollars of investment. That is the kind of action we need to take in the U.S. Senate. The United States can and must lead the way in this transition. That is why we are challenging Majority Leader McConnell to put an end to the political stunts. Leader McConnell, bring your solutions to the floor. Let's get to work together. I yield the remainder of my time to Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has been an incredible leader on this issue.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, on March 4 and 5, 2019, I was unavoidably absent due to illness during rollcall votes Nos. 34 and 35. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I rise today to state the obvious--to state in clear terms what scientists have been warning us about for decades. The scientific data couldn't be any clearer. Climate change is real. Climate change is here, and we are causing its devastating impacts and disruptions. Unless we start to implement policies to curb our carbon emissions and to mitigate its impacts, climate change will continue to wreak havoc upon communities across the Nation and around the world. These are facts. These facts present us with the greatest and most existential global challenge humanity has literally ever faced. There are not two sides to these facts. The Earth's five warmest years on record happened since 2014. It is not a coincidence. It is not an unexplained phenomenon. It is the direct result of both our actions and our inactions. Only the willfully ignorant refuse to acknowledge these facts and the gravity and urgency of what we face because of the fact of human-caused climate change. Unfortunately, the current occupant of the White House and too many here in Washington can be counted in that camp. President Trump's decision to upend the Clean Power Plan and pull us out of the Paris climate accord was perhaps the most consequential representation of his inward-looking, isolationist view for America. It was a dangerous abdication of our Nation's leadership role on the international stage, and if we choose to accept his failure to lead here in Congress, we will continue down a path toward a very real and very costly climate disruption. In the coming weeks, Majority Leader McConnell says he plans to call a vote here on the Senate on the Green New Deal resolution. I wish this were a genuine effort to address our climate challenges. Clearly, it is not. It is a political stunt by the majority leader to divide those who actually want to rise to the occasion and who actually want to address this crisis, rather than offer up any substantive solutions of his own. The majority leader would have you believe that solutions to climate change are too costly or they are just too impractical to be taken seriously. I don't know about you, but to me, it is that view that is wildly out of touch and, frankly, dangerous. President Trump and Republicans love to talk about the cost of climate action. What we should be focusing on is the much steeper cost of inaction and the economic benefits of America's leading the clean energy transition. As an engineer, I am certain that our capacity to confront the challenges that we face, large and small, rests heavily on our ability to make policy that is actually driven by facts, by data, and by the best available science. The latest data on climate change should be deeply alarming to all of us. Last fall, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report based on the research of thousands of our planet's leading climate scientists. It laid out in stark terms how critical it is for us to find a way to limit the planet's warming. Unless we can reduce global carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050, it will be nearly impossible to keep global temperatures below a rise of 3 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. I know that is a lot of numbers, but what those numbers mean in terms of real ecological, economic, and humanitarian costs is incredibly important. Global average temperatures have already risen by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit, and that change is wreaking havoc on communities around the world. One month after the U.N. released its landmark report, 13 Federal Agencies finalized the ``Fourth National Climate Assessment,'' a report mandated by Congress to study the evidence and the impacts of current climate change. That report provided clear, indisputable evidence that the destructive wildfires, the catastrophic hurricanes, and the extreme flooding that we have seen in just the last couple of years is directly linked to human-caused climate change. These disasters are costing us billions of dollars each and every year. The Pentagon has correctly called climate change a threat multiplier, meaning that climate impacts will amplify the existing threats to our national security. These are massive problems today--right now--not in some far off future. We need to recognize what the science is telling us. We need to recognize that the impacts and the disasters that we have seen so far are just the beginning. Things are only going to get more chaotic, more unpredictable, and more expensive unless we change our trajectory. That is going to require global cooperation. It is going to require scientific ingenuity, and serious, sober policymaking based on the facts in front of us to put us on a better path. I am proud that a number of my colleagues are stepping up to think through what those actions, what those solutions, and what those policies should be. We can have a healthy debate about the best ways to achieve these reductions in our emissions, but we can't credibly dispute the science, what it is telling us, and the urgency of the need to act. These are facts. It is chemistry. Yet, instead of allowing us to productively debate those solutions, Majority Leader McConnell is planning to waste our time on a political stunt. Since Republicans took control of the Senate, they have not brought a single bill to the floor that would address emissions--not a single one--and they have taken many actions that have actually made the situation worse. This is not the serious legislating that we were sent here to do. This is not problem-solving. The Senate is supposed to be the world's greatest deliberative body. We are supposed to come together here on the Senate floor and in our committees and think through the greatest issues and challenges of our time. We are supposed to propose and debate policies to meet those challenges. I would welcome a long overdue debate on what policies would most efficiently and most effectively address our challenges. I know that climate change often feels too big and too hard to fix, but, frankly, we all need to get out of that mindset because climate change is a problem we can solve. In fact, climate change is a problem that we must solve. The good news is that we already have the technologies and the people to do it. Clean energy technologies have been evolving rapidly in recent years, and many of the clean energy technologies that seemed absolutely unrealistic only a decade ago have become the new normal. I see a future where my two boys will use a reliable, cheap, resilient electrical grid that is 100-percent powered by clean energy because of the technologies invented in this country and because of the technologies built and installed with American labor. We need to invest in actually deploying these technologies with the urgency necessary to make real progress. This should be a bipartisan priority, not only for its impact on curbing carbon emissions but because it will create millions of jobs in communities across this country. Some States are already moving in this direction. In my home State, new wind farms and new solar generation are bringing in billions of dollars of private investment. They are creating thousands of new jobs. Without aggressive, forward-looking national policies, we will not move fast enough. The scale of this transformation will be gigantic. There is no doubt about that. But this great Nation is up to the challenge. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I start by thanking Senator Tom Udall, our senior Senator from New Mexico, for the incredible amount of work and really the years of advocacy and attention that have gone into many of the portions of this land package that he just described. Without his leadership, without his partnership, we would not be celebrating this opportunity today. I rise to celebrate the landmark conservation measures that we are about to vote on here in the Senate. As a Senator from a State that proudly calls itself the Land of Enchantment, I know how much our public lands mean to New Mexicans. These are the places to which generations of families have gone to explore our natural wonders and to learn about our rich history and our incredible culture. Hunting and fishing, as well as hiking and camping, on our public lands are quite simply part of our identity in the State of New Mexico, and this relationship with our land and our water is fundamental to who we are. These activities also fuel a thriving outdoor recreation economy that supports nearly 100,000 jobs in New Mexico alone. Nationwide, outdoor recreation generates nearly $900 billion of consumer spending each year and directly supports more than 7 million American jobs. Think about that--7 million American jobs. That is why I thought to pass this legislation that will open additional access and create recreation opportunities on our public lands to support this important part of our economy. I commend our chairman, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, our ranking member, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and our former ranking member, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington. We are, to say the least, going through a frustrating political era here in Washington, and there just don't seem to be many things we can agree on these days. Yet the package of public lands and conservation bills that we are now considering on the floor reflect Chairman Murkowski, Ranking Member Manchin, and Senator Cantwell's leadership. It demonstrates their willingness to put aside partisan rancor and do the hard work that is required to build bipartisan consensus. I am proud that we are moving forward to pass these bills that have earned broad, bipartisan support in our committee to conserve our public lands, to create new outdoor recreation opportunities, and to build on the success of our Nation's most effective conservation programs. I want to quickly highlight some of these incredible victories in this bill for New Mexico. First and foremost, I am so proud that we are passing two bills to advance community-driven conservation visions for New Mexico's two newest national monuments--the Rio Grande del Norte and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. From the tops of the Cerro de la Olla and Ute Mountain to the depths of the Rio Grande Gorge, the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico is one of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth. The historic monument designation for the Rio Grande del Norte was the direct result of tireless efforts by those in the local community who were dedicated to protecting this area for future generations, and they worked for decades to do just that. The legislation we are voting on establishes two new wilderness areas within this monument--the Cerro del Yuta Wilderness and the Rio San Antonio Wilderness. By designating the most rugged and unique habitat in the Rio Grande del Norte as wilderness, we can protect the monument's natural heritage for our children and for generations to come. We are doing the same thing for southern New Mexico's Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks is incredibly rich in cultural and natural history. It includes six stunning mountain ranges. This is the very well-known Organ Mountains-- its profile known by everyone who has ever visited or lived in southern New Mexico. It also includes the Robledos, the East Potrillos, the West Potrillos, the Dona Anas, and the Sierra de las Uvas. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Act that Senator Udall sponsored, that I have cosponsored, and that we have worked together on for all of these years will safeguard sensitive cultural, historical, and natural treasures in this monument. ``Wilderness'' designation for several of the most rugged and unique areas in the Organ Mountains- Desert Peaks will promote the monument as a world-class destination. President Obama based his 2014 ``national monument'' designation on the legislation introduced by Senator Udall and me, but, as with the Rio Grande del Norte, only Congress has authority to create additional federally protected wilderness. We can now ensure permanent protection for the wildest places within the national monument, including the Organ Mountains but also the Potrillo, Uvas, and Robledo Mountains, as well as Aden Lava Flow and Broad Canyon. I want to express my deepest gratitude to the diverse coalition of stakeholders from throughout our State who worked for decades to make the Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monuments a reality. From Tribal leaders to local elected officials, sportsmen, ranchers, land grant heirs, acequia parciantes, small businesses, and conservation groups, so many New Mexicans came together and worked together to make this possible. Once again, I especially want to thank my colleague, the senior Senator from New Mexico, Tom Udall, and our former Senator Jeff Bingaman for their leadership and their partnership in getting this over the finish line. These two monuments protect places that New Mexicans have long recognized as national treasures in their backyards. Once we pass this legislation, we will put a capstone on years of work to make these monuments national models of community-driven, landscape-scale public lands conservation. I have no doubt that future generations will be grateful for what we are voting on here. Speaking of future generations, I am also pleased that this public lands package includes my bipartisan bill, the Every Kid Outdoors Act. I want to thank Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee for joining me as the lead Republican sponsor of this bill. The Every Kid Outdoors Act will allow every fourth grader in America to visit our Nation's national parks or national forests or national wildlife refuges free of charge and to bring their families along with them. Many of you might not know that long before I became a Senator, one of my first jobs in New Mexico was as the executive director of Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions--a 90-plus-year-old experiential education organization that takes children and adults out into the backcountry of our public lands. Connecting kids to the outdoors can inspire a lifelong connection to conservation, while reaping all of the health benefits that go along with an active lifestyle. Some of my favorite memories are from my adventures on public lands with my wife Julie and with our sons, Carter and Micah, and I want all kids to have those same opportunities to fall in love with our amazing public lands. Since 2015, the Department of the Interior has offered fourth graders and their families free entrance to all federally managed public lands. I can't tell you how popular this program has become. The Every Kid Outdoors Act codifies this effort into law and will encourage the creation of more educational opportunities for all of our kids on their public lands. I am so excited that we are encouraging a new generation of kids--a generation that will explore the rich natural and cultural history on display in our parks, forests, and monuments. After all, they are the future stewards of these special places that we all love. I also want to celebrate that we are voting to permanently reauthorize what I believe has been one of America's most successful conservation program ever, the Land and Water Conservation Fund. In New Mexico, LWCF, as it is known--the Land and Water Conservation Fund--has protected iconic landscapes, such as the Valles Caldera, Ute Mountain, and Valle de Oro, without costing taxpayers a single dime. It has also provided for community projects, such as baseball and soccer fields, playgrounds, and picnic areas. The broad support that LWCF has had from both Republicans and Democrats over the last half century is a testament to how well the program has worked all across this Nation; however, despite our best efforts to save LWCF, congressional inaction allowed the program to expire last year. I am proud to say that once we pass this package, we will no longer need to worry year after year about renewing this incredibly successful program. Now LWCF funds can continue being put to work protecting drinking water, providing public land access, and funding our neighborhood parks. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude once more to Chairman Murkowski for working with me to advance provisions in this package to improve public access on our public lands. Many pieces of the Sportsmen's Act are included in this, and I am especially pleased that we are passing my legislation, the HUNT Act, which will improve access to public lands wherever hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation are permitted. With that, I would like to encourage all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan package of bills. I am confident that they will grow our outdoor recreation economy, promote access to our public lands, and support the sustainable use of our natural resources. What we will vote on will go a long way toward ensuring that the outdoor places that we all treasure will be protected for future generations of Americans to enjoy. I yield the remainder of my time. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, we are now in the third week of President Trump's government shutdown. This is yet another manufactured, unnecessary, and irresponsible crisis from this President. This one comes at a steep, steep cost for very real people. A government shutdown ripples throughout the entire economy. It shakes consumer confidence. It impacts hard-working families. In my home State of New Mexico, almost 6,000 Federal workers have been furloughed or are working without pay, many of whom were already living paycheck to paycheck before this President's shutdown. Carol from Tijeras wrote to me: ``I feel I am being held Hostage by my government which I have always felt it was an honor to work for.'' Carol is worried about how she and her coworkers are going to pay their mortgages and their car payments if this shutdown continues. Kathy from Los Lunas wrote to me: ``I am a federal employee and I am dismayed that the president is holding us hostage. . . . He needs to quit toying with our lives and all of the public that we support and serve and end this shutdown.'' It is hard to say it any better than that. The shutdown's impacts hit far more than our Federal employees. Hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans rely on the Federal agencies that President Trump refuses to reopen. During President Trump's shutdown, our public lands have had to lock their gates or leave parks and facilities unstaffed. The impacts of reduced visitation, the challenges for furloughed public land workers, and the costs of repairing the damage accrued during the shutdown will hurt communities across our State and many others. In this era of increasingly extreme and catastrophic wildfires, I am particularly worried about the impact that a prolonged shutdown will have on our national forests. Nicholas, a wildland firefighter fighter from Las Cruces wrote to me that he and his coworkers have been furloughed. He says: ``If this shutdown is not resolved, it will impact my ability to provide for my family.'' Nicholas deserves to be able to support his family. Our communities can't afford to wait for Nicholas and his coworkers to do their essential work that keeps our forests healthy and prevents more destructive wildfires. Our State's farmers and rural communities are also facing increased uncertainty. That is because President Trump's shutdown has shuttered the Department of Agriculture, which funds agricultural loans and many economic development programs in rural communities. If the shutdown continues into next month, as President Trump seems entirely willing to allow, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program--sometimes referred to as food stamps--will run out of funding. That would mean that millions of Americans--including more than half a million in New Mexico alone--would be left struggling to put food on the table. Over the weekend, KOB, one of our local television stations in Albuquerque, talked to New Mexicans who would be impacted by a lapse in food stamps funding. One man named Steven said: All of us who use food stamps rely on it. That's how we eat, that's how we get our nutrition. He said that if he can't receive his support for food next month, he might have to take out a loan and go into debt. New Mexico is also home to many Tribal nations, which are disproportionately impacted by a lapse in Federal funding and are now under distress to meet very basic needs in their communities. That includes things like law enforcement, education, housing, and transportation. Let me tell you one example I heard from the Mescalero Apache Tribe in southern New Mexico. Mescalero's lands span more than 700 square miles. Because of President Trump's shutdown, the Tribe's federally funded police force has been furloughed. Just think about what that means for someone who needs help, someone who needs to report a crime, or someone who needs medical attention. I need to remind us that this shutdown comes right after Congress failed in December to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Now, without this law and without funding, Tribes are especially strained in addressing an epidemic of sexual violence that has been so acutely felt in their communities. Mescalero has seen every single one of its Bureau of Indian Affairs social workers and victims specialists furloughed. That is extremely dangerous for women and children who are victims of abuse. These are real people's lives being unnecessarily damaged by President Trump all because he will not stop holding our government hostage. Perhaps most telling about President Trump's shutdown is the impact it is having on our Federal workers responsible for keeping our Nation safe along our southern border. As a border State, New Mexico is more familiar than President Trump with responsible and smart border security policies. In fact, our State is the proud home of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, one of the primary training centers for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers. Because of President Trump's shutdown, the workers at FLETC and all of the officers working at our ports of entry and agents along our border are either furloughed or working without pay. How can it possibly be the best way to keep our Nation's border region safe and secure? The President has said he would be proud to shut down our government, and, well, I have to say there is nothing--nothing--to be proud of about any of this. The President can--the President must--put an end to this shutdown. Look, the way out of this is pretty straightforward. The votes are not there in either the House or the Senate to make Americans pay the bill for President Trump's wasteful border wall. Signing a bipartisan government funding bill to reopen the government is the only responsible way forward. The only thing he is doing by refusing to back down is hurting Americans like the families I represent in New Mexico, like the people who work along our southern border. They expect and deserve so much better than this irresponsible--this preventable--shutdown. President Trump has all the power to end this madness right now. I will say this one last time. Mr. President, if you are listening, listen to the American people. Listen to the people who work for you and me and this entire Nation whom you are you hurting. Do the right thing and end this now.

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I will.

Mr. HEINRICH. That is correct.

Mr. HEINRICH. A little over 2 million people.

Mr. HEINRICH. I was aware of that.

Mr. HEINRICH. Thank you.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is an honor to remember the selfless and inspirational life of Sifu Charles Lin. A lifetime master, Sifu Lin began studying the martial arts in his homeland of Taiwan. He studied under many masters of the martial arts, earning the title ``Master'' or Sifu. Sifu Lin moved to New Mexico in 1974 at the age of 23, with only $200 in his pocket. For more than 40 years, Sifu Lin taught New Mexicans meditation and self-defense through the martial arts of Ch'i Kung, Tai Chi, and Chuan Kung Fu at Lin's Martial Arts Academy. He and his wife also ran the Chinese Culture Center in Albuquerque, a place for the city's Chinese population to build community, learn Chinese language, and celebrate their culture. The fireworks, martial arts demonstrations, and dancing dragons in the center's annual Chinese New Year festival put Chinese culture on display. My thoughts are with his family during this time of mourning. The lessons Sifu Lin imparted on all of his students will not be forgotten.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is an honor to recognize Bobby ``Buckhorn Bob'' Olguin for his decades of serving the best green chile cheeseburgers in the State of New Mexico. Over the years, the Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio became one of my favorite places to stop by and grab a bite to eat while driving through the State or after hunting trips with my sons Carter and Micah. The Buckhorn earned international acclaim in multiple food and travel publications for its delicious burgers. When Food Network celebrity chef Bobby Flay tried to take on Bobby Olguin in a grilling competition in 2009, the winner was never in doubt. However, the real magic in going to the Buckhorn was not just in the burgers; it was Bobby's friendly conversations and the kindness he showed every single person who walked in his door. After beating cancer, Bobby rightly wants to spend more time with his wife, children, and grandchildren. I am grateful that Bobby is healthy, and I wish him and his family all the best as they start this new stage in life. But speaking for myself, and many other New Mexicans, I am sure going to miss those burgers.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, on October 11, 2018, I was unavoidably absent during rollcall votes Nos. 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, and 239. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on vote No. 238 and nay on rollcall votes Nos. 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, and 239.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I am deeply saddened that the words I am about to deliver even need to be said in the first place, but I have to ask: How can we possibly continue to move forward or, as in the majority leader's own words, ``plow right through'' to confirm a lifetime appointment on our Nation's Supreme Court in the wake of both credible allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against the nominee Brett Kavanaugh and serious questions concerning his judicial temperament? Republicans are ignoring very real questions about his credibility and are intent on hiding his record. Even worse, they are in such a rush that most of them did not even want the FBI to reopen Judge Kavanaugh's background check to help us get to the bottom of this, and when the FBI did reopen the investigation, the White House limited its scope so much it did not follow multiple credible leads. Now we as Senators have barely 24 hours to review their findings before scrambling to a vote. As the whole Nation watches, what message is the U.S. Senate sending to our children, to women, to victims of sexual assault about the values we stand for? Do they not matter? Is this the society that we want our sons and daughters to grow up in? We all know full well the weight of who fills this deciding vote on our Nation's highest Court. Whomever we confirm as our next Supreme Court Justice will decide major cases that shape the daily lives of Americans for decades to come, but this is not a time for simply thinking about the judicial philosophies that we believe should shape opinions on the bench. I have made it clear that I oppose Judge Kavanaugh's nomination based on the substance of his views and the broken process being used to rush this nomination through the Senate on a partisan basis. From the very start, Republicans have pushed this nomination through at a breakneck pace, hiding from the public Judge Kavanaugh's record and the dangerous consequences of his extreme views on many important issues. That willful blindness, the absence of a thorough vetting process, and the mad dash to hastily confirm their nominee at all costs before this fall's election has led us to the crisis that we face today. This has now become an even more fundamental test of how seriously we as Senators take our duty of advice and consent on enormously consequential Presidential appointments. Multiple women have come forward publicly to accuse Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. While we will never be able to adjudicate these allegations in the same way as a criminal proceeding, we have an obligation to weigh these accusations carefully and seriously as we consider Judge Kavanaugh's fitness to serve on the Supreme Court. I, for one, after reviewing all of the information that we have and after listening to the testimony last week before the Judiciary Committee, have to say clearly and forcefully that I believe Dr. Ford. When a victim of sexual assault comes forward to make a harrowing allegation like this, it takes tremendous courage, and it shouldn't be dismissed. Under incredible duress and at a great personal cost, Dr. Ford came forward to share the painful details of how Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her while she was in high school. I don't know how anyone watching her testimony could question her sincerity or the seriousness of her experience, but some Republicans seem to be following President Trump's lead here and are choosing to jeer and dismiss Dr. Ford rather than take her testimony seriously. As I have said before, all of the sexual assault allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh deserve a thorough professional investigation by the FBI before proceeding with any vote on his nomination to the highest Court in the land. I was relieved to see my colleague Senator Flake of Arizona speak up and call for a delay to seek a more thorough FBI investigation. Unfortunately, once again, the rush to get a predetermined outcome has undermined the integrity of the process. Dr. Ford told us that she was absolutely willing to participate in an FBI investigation to get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh's alleged assault, but according to her, she was not even interviewed by the FBI as part of this reopened investigation. The FBI did interview another accuser, Deborah Ramirez, who has alleged that Judge Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during her freshman year at Yale. However, dozens of others sought to bring evidence forward and the FBI ignored their willingness to offer testimony. Again, key witnesses, including Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford, were not even interviewed by the FBI. The FBI was so constrained by the White House in this matter that I would not call this an investigation. This is unjust. This sends a harrowing message to women and girls all around the Nation who have been victims of sexual violence. We must not toss aside a fair and impartial process in favor of a hurried political endgame. Before we take one of the most consequential votes that any of us will ever take, shouldn't we want to get to the bottom of this? Even beyond what we could learn from a real investigation, there is already reason to doubt Judge Kavanaugh's credibility and his candor. Despite the fact that the White House tried to limit the scope of the FBI's work so drastically that I wouldn't characterize it as an investigation, the FBI's report still manages to raise very serious questions about Judge Kavanaugh's truthfulness. During his confirmation process, Judge Kavanaugh began by misleading the Senate on small things. He misled the Senate on consequential questions about his time in the Bush White House. Last week, when faced with serious questions about the sexual assault allegations and questions about his character, Judge Kavanaugh dodged, dismissed and ranted. He was not able to refute the serious accusations leveled against him, and neither did the FBI report. Based on what we have heard since from people who knew him at the time, there is substantial reason to believe that he was not being truthful about his conduct. If Dr. Ford's testimony is the truth--and I believe it is--then Judge Kavanaugh should be disqualified from serving on the Supreme Court. Once again, I fully acknowledge the stakes of this nomination. I understand how much my Republican colleagues want to appoint someone they agree with on important issues that may come before this Court, but we cannot--we should not--rush to confirm a man to a lifetime appointment to the highest Court in the land under such a dark cloud of credible allegations--not to such a critical seat at such a critical time. Last week's hearing should have been the beginning of looking into this serious allegation, not the end. If there is nothing to hide and if there is information that would exonerate Judge Kavanaugh from the accusations that have been leveled against him, then a real indepth investigation would help us reach those conclusions. Instead, Republicans continue to rush this process and press forward with a predetermined set of conclusions. It makes one wonder if my Republican colleagues actually want to know the truth. We cannot allow these allegations to be swept under the rug. The message that would send to victims of sexual assault and abuse would be devastating. It would effectively state to them that even if they come forward, there will be no justice; that they will be ignored or, worse yet, mocked, in the case of the President. All people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or ethnic background should have the same right to live free from domestic and sexual violence. I am truly stunned that we are moving forward with this confirmation vote. If we can't pause to make sure we get this right, the institution of the Supreme Court will lose the public's faith as an embodiment of justice. So I will ask one more time: What are we doing here? Can we not do better than this? I think we must. The integrity of the highest Court in the land hangs in the balance. What we stand for as a nation hangs in the balance.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, I rise today to call on each of us to take seriously one of our most important duties as Senators--our constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on Presidential appointments to the Supreme Court. As we all know, over the last 3 years, the longstanding tradition of building bipartisan consensus in the Senate around nominees to our highest Court was flown into the ash heap of history. The majority leader and Senate Republicans completely dismantled the rules that made advice and consent real in the Senate--all to steal a Supreme Court nominee from our last President. By making nominations to the highest Court--perhaps the most consequential votes we take as Senators-- subject to only a simple-majority vote, Republicans rigged the system to make it possible for the most extreme nominees to make it all the way to the Bench. Before they broke the rules, requiring 60 votes ensured that both parties would have a real seat at the table and that mainstream nominees would be nominated and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate. Now we have been told that we must accept the resulting new normal of a politicalized and completely partisan selection process to fill any new vacant seat on the Court. I, for one, refuse to legitimize this broken process. Under these broken rules, the minority party--even in as closely divided a Senate as we currently have today--has effectively zero ability to say: Wait. Hold up. There is something about this nominee that is too extreme or too disqualifying for a lifetime appointment to the highest Court in the land. That is not democratic. That is not what the Founders had in mind when they created the Senate as a deliberative body. This body was intended by the Founders to be the methodical answer to the fiery passions of the day, not an amplifier of them. I fear that this broken system will create potentially disastrous consequences for the health of our democracy as a whole. It has already resulted in a crisis of confidence where the public no longer views our Supreme Court as independent. Frankly, the public is correct--not just because of the precedent it set and hostility that it created but also because of the nominee before us. Because President Trump knew going in that he would not need a single Democratic vote, he went straight to a predetermined list of names given to him by the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society. That meant that the President only considered nominees who fulfilled all of the ultraconservative special-interest litmus tests. This ensures that each of the judges he considered opposed women's healthcare, environmental protections, and workers' rights. You don't have to take my word for that; President Trump was very explicit on the campaign trail in saying that he would only choose from this list of extreme conservatives for the Supreme Court. Without real advice and consent, there is no counterbalance and no real voice for Americans who don't want to see the country unrecognizably changed forever by his ultraconservative Court-packing. We have been asked to go through the motions of a broken and partisan confirmation process for a nominee with a troubling and dangerous track record. If confirmed, a Justice Brett Kavanaugh would be a deciding vote on so many important issues that I have no doubt will come before the Supreme Court. Would a confirmation process in which both parties had a real seat at the table produce a nominee who believes that polluters should be able to poison our air and water unchecked; a nominee who does not believe women have the right to make decisions about their own private healthcare needs; a nominee who has ruled against well-established rights of privacy? No. And that is precisely the point. Judge Kavanaugh's hyperpartisan opinions formed over a lifetime as a Republican DC operative will influence his decisions from the Bench. He is out of touch with consensus views held by the American people, and his extreme views could drastically alter our daily lives. Judge Kavanaugh is exactly the type of ideologue and politically motivated nominee we can expect to see not just for this seat but for all Supreme Court seats moving forward if we allow the Senate rules for providing advice and consent to remain in tatters. But I worry that by rushing this through on a completely party-line vote, we are enabling an even greater threat to our democratic institutions and to our Republic itself, and that is because, from what we do know about his judicial record, work experience, and writings, Judge Kavanaugh believes in giving a disturbing amount of deference to the executive branch and to the President of the United States. Judge Kavanaugh has written and delivered very clear statements saying that he believes a sitting President should not have to face prosecution, criminal investigation, subpoenas, or civil litigation. To be clear, this judge believes the President is above the law. This is the United States of America. No one--I repeat, no one--is above the law. It really makes you wonder why President Trump would pick him for a potentially deciding vote on the Supreme Court, doesn't it. Do I need to remind you that our President and members of his campaign team remain under Federal investigation for coordinating with the Russian Government's interference in our election? Just yesterday, the President's longtime attorney and his campaign chairman were each declared guilty in eight separate Federal crimes. In his guilty plea for campaign finance violations, the President's former attorney, Michael Cohen, implicated the President himself in coordinating payoffs to women who alleged affairs in an effort to influence the election. Look, combine all of President Trump's ongoing legal troubles with his unbalanced and impulsive style of governing, and there are many plausible and even likely questions about the scope of the executive branch's authority that could come before the Supreme Court. Especially after yesterday's major developments, this is no longer purely hypothetical. We don't know enough about how Judge Kavanaugh might rule on these questions, but what we do know is deeply concerning. Judge Kavanaugh has questioned whether Presidents should be forced to answer to civil lawsuits, criminal investigations, or questions from a prosecutor while they are in office. That, to me, is unbelievable. In another example before he became a judge, Kavanaugh said that he thought the Supreme Court had made an ``erroneous decision'' when it unanimously ruled that President Nixon needed to turn over White House tapes that ultimately proved the role that he played in covering up the Watergate scandal. Kavanaugh has also stated that he opposed the post- Watergate special counsel law and implied that nothing limits the President's authority to terminate a special counsel with or without cause. It is easy to see how Judge Kavanaugh's views on Executive power are especially dangerous in the current times. This view of an executive branch untethered from the checks and balances that form the very norms of our political system should terrify Senators on both sides of the aisle who believe that the separation of powers is a cornerstone of our American democracy. On top of this, we need to know more about Judge Kavanaugh's actions when he was in the executive branch. As a high-ranking official in the George W. Bush White House, Judge Kavanaugh served on the legal team and as Staff Secretary to President Bush during controversial abuses of Executive power. Senate Republicans have so far obstructed requests to review all of the records that would show what role Kavanaugh played in determining the legality of President Bush's policies. What side did he take as the Bush administration's CIA used illegal torture techniques, such as waterboarding? Was he aware of the Bush administration's warrantless mass surveillance of Americans' phone and internet records? These are unanswered questions until we are able to review relevant Presidential records--the same types of reviews we have been able to do for past nominees when there was real advice and consent. The National Archives told Senator Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, that it cannot physically process all of the relevant records until October. Yet Senate Republicans have scheduled confirmation hearings and then a likely confirmation vote for Judge Kavanaugh to begin in early September. We should never proceed on a confirmation vote for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court until we have done our due diligence in reviewing every relevant document on a nominee's record. We should not proceed on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination until we have clear answers to highly important questions about his actions in the Bush White House. Under a functioning confirmation process, the need to review these records would not even be up for debate. It is just plain common sense and part of our constitutional duty to carefully, to methodically review the qualifications of nominees as part of providing advice and consent. Unfortunately, as is obvious to anyone watching this process unfold, the United States is no longer operating under rules that ensure a fair process. Instead, Republicans are rushing to push this nomination through at a breakneck pace so that they can confirm Judge Kavanaugh before this fall's election regardless of legitimate questions about his record, regardless of the dangerous consequences of his extreme views on so many issues. At a time when our democratic institutions themselves are under attack--from undermining the free press to there being foreign influence in our elections--we should be very careful in weighing who sits on this, the Nation's highest Court. Once again, I plead with my colleagues that we can do better than this. We must restore advice and consent in the Senate before we confirm any nominee who will be tainted by this partisan, broken system. I call on each of us to work together to create a better system and to restore a bipartisan process on which we can build consensus to see us through these politically turbulent times. Until we restore a fair confirmation process, I will fight alongside the American people, who are demanding that we do our jobs that they elected us to do and with the seriousness required to get this right. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is an honor to recognize Emily Holmes for her diligent service through the U.S. Senate Page Program. During her placement, Ms. Holmes has been critical to the daily operation of the Senate. Senate pages work long hours, dutifully delivering legislative material throughout the U.S. Capitol complex and assisting Senators and staff on the Senate floor. Through her work, Ms. Holmes has demonstrated excellent professionalism and a commitment to the work of this legislative body. Ms. Holmes's passion for public service is evident from her extensive involvement in her local community through organizations such as Los Alamos Teen Court and student council. Ms. Holmes also participates in Model United Nations because she believes understanding both local and global issues is the best way to affect change in her community. During her time as a Senate page, Ms. Holmes learned about the legislative process and experienced new ideas and perspectives. I especially appreciate Ms. Holmes's commitment to bring what she learned in Washington back to New Mexico as she continues her education. As part of the next generation of changemakers, Ms. Holmes will play an important role in the trajectory of our State's future. I am grateful for thoughtful young people like Ms. Holmes who seek opportunities to develop as both a citizen and a leader. I commend Ms. Holmes for her excellent work in service of our Nation as a Senate page and for her dedication to public service. It has been a pleasure to have Ms. Holmes working in the U.S. Senate, and I wish her the best in all of her future endeavors.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I just want to take a moment and, in particular, thank my colleagues from Kansas and Colorado, as well as my colleague from New Mexico, Senator Udall, and especially Senator Moran of Kansas, as well as Senator Roberts and Senator Gardner and Senator Bennet, all for their efforts on behalf of the Southwest Chief line. Long-distance passenger rail routes, like the Southwest Chief, literally connect millions of Americans from across the country who live in rural communities to the rest of the Nation. They do that culturally, and they do that economically. Each year, the Southwest Chief in New Mexico, for example, brings thousands of Boy Scouts from all across our great Nation to the Philmont Scout Ranch and generates economic activity in every community along the way, whether it is in Las Vegas or Lamy or Albuquerque--you name it. In many cases, long-distance routes provide the only affordable transportation alternatives to highways for rural residents, particularly the elderly and the disabled. I thank all of my colleagues from these States for standing up for long-distance passenger rail, for working to reject any proposals that would suspend long-distance rail service and literally send rural residents back to the back of the bus. We have a disconnect in this country between the rural and the urban economies, between the center of the heartland and the coasts in this country, particularly economically. If we are going to combat this, we have to invest in the transportation infrastructure and the information infrastructure that can make a difference in rural communities. This is not the time to be turning our backs on rural communities with regard to passenger rail and transportation. That would be an absolute travesty for small communities all through the heartland, whether you are talking about Kansas or Colorado or New Mexico--or, really, from one end of the Southwest Chief all the way to Chicago, to the West Coast, in Arizona and California. I thank all of my colleagues who have been fighting for this issue. It is incredibly important to so many of my constituents in New Mexico. I urge everyone to support the Moran-Udall amendment. It is absolutely critical.

Mr. HEINRICH

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues Senator Tom Udall and Senator Richard Blumenthal for joining me to visit the southwest border last week. We went to the border to seek answers and to demand accountability for the very real human impacts of President Trump's cruel and unnecessary policy of separating children from their parents. The permanent trauma these policies are inflicting on parents and their innocent children, many of whom are refugees who are fleeing violence and seeking asylum, is inhumane and horrific. Taking thousands of children--some as young as infants and toddlers--away from their parents and detaining them as a form of punishment or deterrence is ineffective and morally indefensible. After all, under the rule of law, refugees who flee violence have a right to request asylum. As of now, only about 500 children of the over 2,000 children in custody have been reunited with their families since President Trump signed an Executive order last Wednesday that ended his family separation policy. There is still no clear plan from the White House that ensures all children will be reunited with their families. This is simply unacceptable. This crisis was born from malice, and, frankly, it has been inflamed by incompetence. As an American and as a father, I will not just sit by. What we saw last Friday along the border, which has been ground zero for President Trump's so-called zero tolerance policies, has had a profound impact on me. We learned that there are over 250 teenagers who are being housed in a temporary tent city detention facility in Tornillo, TX. We met with families who are being held at a Border Patrol station in El Paso who told us about their difficult journeys and the violence they experienced in their home countries that they are desperately trying to escape. Let me share the story of just one of these families who was in the Border Patrol's custody. I met a father who is in his midtwenties who came here with his, roughly, 2-year-old daughter, named Gabriella. He told us they fled here, seeking asylum, because his home country of Honduras was violent and unstable, and he wanted a better future for his daughter. If he had arrived before President Trump's Executive order last week, just a few days earlier, his little girl would have been, literally, torn from his arms. I can't tell you whether Gabriella and her father will be granted asylum. I suspect that will be decided by an immigration judge, but at least we know he will be able to keep his daughter by his side through this difficult process. It is unforgiveable that thousands of families facing similar circumstances are still separated, with no knowledge of where their children are, with no knowledge of if or when they will be reunited--all because of the Trump administration. During our visit we also learned troubling details about the process facing asylum seekers who are attempting to enter our Nation legally at our ports of entry. At the Paseo del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso, we learned firsthand how the Trump administration's actions are creating unnecessary delays on asylum claims for those fleeing violence and persecution. What is more, the mixed messages and outright lies coming from the White House and administration officials are creating real confusion and chaos on the ground for those actually responsible for carrying out the President's policies. There is not enough transparency from the White House or from Federal agencies. There is not enough oversight from this administration. We absolutely need to know what is going on. That is why we are calling for immediate hearings on the Trump administration's inhumane border policies and accountability and oversight of those responsible for carrying those policies out. Anything short of accounting for every single child affected by this policy is unacceptable and unconscionable. We must hold the White House accountable for adhering to our laws, to American values, and for executing a clear plan to right these wrongs. It is important for us to recognize that the intentionally cruel separation of families that we have witnessed in recent weeks and months is only one piece of a larger systemic campaign by this administration to dehumanize our immigrant communities. These inhumane enforcement policies follow President Trump's discriminatory Muslim travel ban. They follow his refusal to offer refugee status to those from war-torn countries, such as Syria. They follow his cancellation of legal status for immigrants who escaped natural disasters and unthinkable violence in Haiti, Honduras, and El Salvador. They follow his unjust ending of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or the DACA Program, and his repeated efforts to derail any efforts in Congress to reach a bipartisan consensus on responsible immigration policies that would make smart investments in security at our borders, that would keep our communities safe, and that would recognize the dignity and vibrancy of those border communities. Despite President Trump's continued determination to sabotage any good-faith efforts, I continue to believe that our Nation desperately needs Congress to pass comprehensive immigration legislation. That includes a visa system that meets the needs of our economy, a fair path to earn citizenship for the estimated 11 million people in our country who are undocumented, and a plan that ensures security at our Nation's borders. Rather than stirring up division and targeting law-abiding immigrants who are working hard to support their families and pay taxes, we should focus our enforcement activities and resources on violent criminals. We must also act with a sense of urgency to find a responsible way forward for the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who are just as much a part of our communities as any one of us. They are Americans in every way except on paper. I will not give up on them. None of President Trump's callous actions on immigration represent the values of the America that I know and love--the America that welcomed my father and his family as they emigrated here from Germany in the 1930s. When I think about immigration, I always wonder how different my life would be if America had turned my family away, had turned my father away, or had broken his family apart. Sadly, that is not an abstraction. It is not an abstract question for thousands of families still desperately hoping to be reunited now. Just like my father's family, these families are mothers, fathers, and children who are overwhelmingly people seeking to come to America because of the promise that our Nation represents. I take heart in the groundswell of decency that we have witnessed from thousands of Americans who have made their voices heard. After we visited the border on Friday, Senator Udall and I joined hundreds of New Mexicans for a community event in Las Cruces. I want to share an image of a little girl who I saw at the event. As you can see on this graphic, her sign reads: ``I love my family and I need them every day.'' That is really what this is all about. I am sure that the innocent children who have been separated from their parents and placed in detention facilities feel exactly the same way. At the root of this often difficult debate, I believe we need to reaffirm the humanity of these children and their parents. We cannot stop fighting for compassionate and responsible immigration policies that respect the dignity of these families. We must not turn our backs on the ideals and fundamental values that made the United States both the most powerful Nation on Earth and a beacon of moral leadership. We must continue to make our voices heard and demand reunification for all of these children with their families. I want to assure New Mexicans and all Americans that I stand with you in saying that this is not what we stand for. I will not rest until our country is once again seen as the moral leader of the free world. Thank you, Mr. President. I suggest the absence of a quorum.