E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 114 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 161 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 No. 136 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 22, 2015, at 4 p.m. Senate MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 The Senate met at 2 p.m. and was RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY But yesterday I watched on ‘‘Meet called to order by the President pro LEADER the Press’’ as a Republican candidate tempore (Mr. HATCH). The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. COT- for President of the United States deni- TON). The Democratic leader is recog- grated Kareem Khan and all Muslim f nized. Americans. Ben Carson questioned f Muslim Americans’ devotion to the PRAYER United States. He questioned their in- ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC AND tegrity, and then Ben Carson unilater- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- GOVERNMENT FUNDING ally disqualified every Muslim in fered the following prayer: Mr. REID. Mr. President, at this America from becoming the President Let us pray. great cemetery we call Arlington, of the United States. Sovereign God, teach us to live in there is a white headstone, which, like Shame on Dr. Carson. Shame on any and for Your peace. As our Senators so many others, marks the final rest- person that spews such hateful rhet- permit Your peace to govern their ing place of a courageous servicemem- oric. In America today, there are more hearts, may they make decisions that ber who gave his life in combat. The than 3 million Muslims. They are part honor You. Remind them that true grave belongs to a man by the name of of the fabric of America. They teach in spirituality is more than believing the Kareem Khan. He was from New Jer- our schools, and they fight for our right things or performing good deeds. sey. He was only 20 years old. He was a military. They serve in Congress. Con- Muslim. Help them to see that true religion gressmen KEITH ELLISON of Minnesota Kareem’s rank was that of a spe- consists of having a relationship with and ANDRE´ CARSON of Indiana, both cialist in the Stryker Brigade of the You characterized by righteousness, Muslim, represent their districts in U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. By peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. States with distinction. all accounts, this young man was a ter- Lord, help us this day to receive from rific soldier. He had a Purple Heart and I was proud to have both of these You the gift of Your love, permitting was awarded the Bronze Star and a young men come and campaign for me You to fill our lives with joy. Inspired medal for good conduct. Remember, he throughout Nevada. Sadly, though, Dr. by Your Spirit, help us to refrain from was barely 20 years of age. His career Carson’s remarks are just another ex- evil and to have a deep longing to do in the Army would have been much ample of Republican candidates refus- Your will on Earth even as it is done in more significant, but he gave the ulti- ing to speak for 3 million Muslim Heaven. mate, his life. Americans. We saw it last week with We pray in Your mighty Name. Here is what happened. This tragedy Donald Trump, as he refused to de- Amen. struck on August 6, 2007, as Kareem nounce bigotry at his own campaign and three other soldiers were checking rally. If these Republican candidates f abandoned Iraqi houses for explosives. are incapable of going to bat for Amer- In one house they went into, there was ica’s Muslim community, then they a hidden bomb that exploded that should not be running for President of PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE killed all four of them. Like thousands the United States. I call upon every The President pro tempore led the of other soldiers in Iraq and Afghani- Republican to denounce Dr. Carson’s Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: stan, Kareem sacrificed everything for disgusting remarks. That shameful in- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the his country. He gave, as President tolerance and bigotry have no place in United States of America, and to the Repub- Abraham Lincoln said, ‘‘the last full America today. Sadly, it seems to have lic for which it stands, one nation under God, measure of devotion’’ for the United a lasting place in the Republican indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. States. Party. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S6821 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Sep 21, 2015 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A21SE6.000 S21SEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6822 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 21, 2015 Republicans should open their eyes expect from the Republican leader and The overcriminalization problem and take note of the contributions of his party for the remaining 15 months manifests itself in a variety of ways. our country’s Muslim community. of this Congress. First is through the sheer number of Until they do that, none of them will Will the Chair announce the business Federal crimes. There are now nearly be worthy of leading this Nation. of the day. 5,000 criminal statutes scattered in the In a little more than a week, our gov- f U.S. Code. But statutes are only part of ernment runs out of money. We have the story. In addition, there are an es- precious little time. The Senate will be RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME timated 300,000 criminal regulatory of- in session for 3, possibly 4 days this The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under fenses buried in the 80,000-page Code of week and another 3 days next week. the previous order, the leadership time Federal Regulations—300,000. If the ad- The House of Representatives is not in is reserved. ministration promulgated one criminal session today, tomorrow or Wednesday. f regulation per day—that is, if it cre- Yet it seems that the Republicans are ated one new crime each day—it would simply ignoring or are in complete de- PAIN-CAPABLE UNBORN CHILD take 822 years to create that many nial of any fiscal crisis that is coming PROTECTION ACT—MOTION TO criminal regulations. at year’s end. PROCEED The entire Code of Hammurabi was Instead of coming to grips with the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under only 282 laws. Our current Federal reality of the situation and working the previous order, the Senate will re- criminal code—statutes and regula- with Democrats to avoid a government sume consideration of the motion to tions together—is over 1,000 times that shutdown, the Republicans seem more proceed to H.R. 36, which the clerk will size. I am not saying Hammurabi interested in political theater. Keeping report. should be our model in many things, with this show-vote craze, the Repub- The senior assistant legislative clerk but surely 300,000-plus Federal crimes lican leader and the Speaker—the Re- read as follows: is overkill. If Hammurabi could govern publican leader over here and the Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 230, ancient Mesopotamia with fewer than Speaker on the other side of the Cap- H.R. 36, a bill to amend title 18, United 300 laws, surely we can make do with itol—are doing things that are really States Code, to protect pain-capable unborn less than 300,000. hard to comprehend. children, and for other purposes. It is not just the sheer number of For example, over here there is going The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- crimes. Overcriminalization also mani- to be a forced vote tomorrow morning ator from Utah. fests itself through the creation of ar- on cloture on a motion to proceed to a CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM cane, obscure, and, frankly, ridiculous 20-week abortion ban. The 20-week bill Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise crimes. For example, under Federal is just a way for Senator MCCONNELL to today to address the topic of criminal law it is a crime punishable by up to 6 pander to extremists in his party who justice reform. There has been a lot of months in prison to use the 4–H Club are once again holding government discussion in Congress recently on this logo without authorization. hostage so they can attack the health subject. Nearly all of the conversation It is also a Federal crime, again pun- ishable for up to 6 months in prison, to of women. This legislation is going no- has focused on sentencing. Various pro- walk a dog in a Federal park area on a where. The Republican leader knows posals have been introduced to cut leash that is longer than 6 feet. Why on this. Every Senator here knows this. prison sentences, augment judges’ abil- Earth do either of these actions need to The bill is just another box to check ity to sentence below statutory mini- be Federal crimes? I do not dispute for the Republican leader and his Sen- mums or allow prisoners to earn early that really long dog leashes can be an- ators. It is pretense to prove their ex- release for good behavior. noying. I can understand why the 4–H treme conservative credentials. It is all A number of my colleagues on the Club would not want pretenders roam- about political gamesmanship. Senate Judiciary Committee have been It comes at the expense of America’s ing around claiming to serve the heads, meeting behind closed doors for women’s health.
Details
-
File Typepdf
-
Upload Time-
-
Content LanguagesEnglish
-
Upload UserAnonymous/Not logged-in
-
File Pages42 Page
-
File Size-