E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2013 No. 182 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Monday, December 23, 2013, at 10 a.m. Senate FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2013 The Senate met at 9 a.m. and was Eternal Spirit, who has blessed us of the lost, last, lonely, and least, called to order by the President pro with every spiritual blessing in heav- bringing deliverance to captives and tempore (Mr. LEAHY.) enly places, we give reverence to Your permitting the oppressed to be un- holy name. Thank You for choosing us shackled. Dwell in the hearts of our PRAYER to labor for liberty during these chal- Senators, enabling them to be rooted lenging times. Lord, keep us from the and grounded in Your love. The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- temptations that would thwart our ef- fered the following prayer: fectiveness as You deliver us from evil. We pray, in Your powerful Name. Let us pray. Use our lawmakers to lift the burdens Amen. NOTICE If the 113th Congress, 1st Session, adjourns sine die on or before December 24, 2013, a final issue of the Congres- sional Record for the 113th Congress, 1st Session, will be published on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, to permit Members to insert statements. All material for insertion must be signed by the Member and delivered to the respective offices of the Official Reporters of Debates (Room HT–59 or S–123 of the Capitol), Monday through Friday, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. through Monday, December 30. The final issue will be dated Tuesday, December 31, 2013, and will be delivered on Thursday, January 2, 2014. 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Members of Congress desiring to purchase reprints of material submitted for inclusion in the Congressional Record may do so by contacting the Office of Congressional Publishing Services, at the Government Printing Office, on 512–0224, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. By order of the Joint Committee on Printing. CHARLES E. SCHUMER, Chairman. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S9071 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:39 Jan 08, 2014 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 8633 E:\RECORD13\RECFILES\DEC2013\S20DE3.REC S20DE3 bjneal on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S9072 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 20, 2013 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE speaking. I am happy to yield to the for Terry McAuliffe, the governor-elect The President pro tempore led the Senator from Vermont. of Virginia. It was obvious this was Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. done for political motives, not to make HIRONO.) The Senator from Vermont. Homeland Security a better depart- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the Mr. LEAHY. I thank my friend from United States of America, and to the Repub- ment. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Delaware. You know, the Department Director Mayorkas, to his credit, has indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. of Homeland Security is the leading always put the interests of USCIS agency for many of the pressing issues f ahead of his own. He has made tough facing our Nation, from providing dis- decisions to make that agency better. RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING aster relief to protecting our borders. Sometimes tough decisions are not MAJORITY LEADER The agency needs a full complement of popular but needed. He made the deci- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The leaders. That is why I am glad the Sen- sions that were best for the country. majority whip is recognized. ate is considering the nomination of He has brought significant resources to f Alejandro Mayorkas to be Deputy Sec- bear in the EB–5 Regional Center pro- retary of Homeland Security. gram. SCHEDULE I want to thank the chairman of the Incidentally, the recommendations Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Senator Homeland Security and Governmental that he made to improve the EB–5 pro- REID, the majority leader, is absent Affairs Committee, Senator CARPER, gram were in a bill before the Senate today. I will be acting in his place. for pushing forward with this nomina- Judiciary Committee on comprehen- Senator REID called me this morning. tion. Alejandro Mayorkas currently sive immigration reform, a bill that He sounded good. We look forward to serves as the Director of USCIS, the passed the Senate in June. Every single his speedy recovery. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Serv- Republican, and every single Demo- Following my remarks and those of ices, the agency that makes the immi- crat, voted for those recommendations the Republican leader, the Senate will gration system work. in the committee. Now, we have been resume executive session to consider Director Mayorkas has made it, by waiting for the House to pass this im- the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas every analysis, a stronger and better portant legislation. But in the mean- to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland functioning agency. It is unfortunate time, Director Mayorkas has worked to Security postcloture. that in these partisan times Director ensure the program’s integrity. He has The next hour will be equally divided Mayorkas’ nomination has been the acted to make sure the agency’s deci- and controlled between Senators CAR- subject of unfair and partisan attacks. sions are correct under the controlling PER and COBURN. There will be six roll- It is wrong that some have tried to cre- law and regulations. The suggestion call votes at approximately 10:15 a.m. ate controversy about him even before that Director Mayorkas would risk his f his confirmation hearing occurred in reputation and his credibility by im- the Homeland Security and Govern- properly intervening in a single immi- RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME mental Affairs Committee. gration case, out of thousands his The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under The attacks were made even less agency handles every year, is absurd. the previous order, the leadership time credible by the conduct of the former I remember during the consideration is reserved. DHS deputy inspector general who was of comprehensive immigration reform f forced to resign in the face of allega- in the Judiciary Committee—the tions of serious misconduct, a person former ranking member, Senator SES- EXECUTIVE SESSION who frankly has no credibility in my SIONS, praised my amendment to im- mind because of the egregious and in- prove the EB–5 program following the excusable things he did while serving recommendations of Director NOMINATION OF ALEJANDRO in this role. Mayorkas. These reforms contained a NICHOLAS MAYORKAS TO BE This former deputy inspector gen- host of improvements to provide USCIS DEPUTY SECRETARY OF HOME- eral, Charles Edwards, on the eve of Di- with strong oversight tools, security LAND SECURITY rector Mayorkas’ confirmation hearing enhancements, and anti-fraud provi- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under authorized the transmittal of an email sions. In fact, 68 Senators, Republicans the previous order, the Senate will pro- to a Republican Senate office that con- and Democrats, voted for the com- ceed to executive session to consider tained sensitive information about an prehensive reform bill which had the the following nomination which the ongoing investigation involving Direc- EB–5 program improvements in it. clerk will report. tor Mayorkas. Now, some have said here on the floor The bill clerk read the nomination of One thing that both Republicans and yesterday that we could make reforms Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, of the Democrats should agree upon is that to the EB–5 program this very day. District of Columbia, to be Deputy Sec- this conduct is wrong. I believe it is a I would respond that the Senate retary of Homeland Security. clear violation of the law. It is some- voted for it earlier this year. I appre- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under thing that should be condemned no ciate those Senators who want these the previous order, there will be 1 hour matter who did it. Of course, the tim- EB–5 reforms for having voted for them of debate on the nomination equally di- ing of the transmittal raised serious back in June. I have seen no evidence vided and controlled between the Sen- questions about the motivation for its that those Senators, who put such faith ator from Delaware Mr. CARPER and disclosure. in the former Deputy Inspector Gen- the Senator from Oklahoma, Mr. Inspectors general are supposed to be eral’s flawed investigation, have asked COBURN or their designees. way above politics. Well, guess what the tough questions necessary to test Who seeks recognition? The Senator happened? The email authorized by the integrity of that investigation.