{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2025-01-13-pt1-PgS83-8", "2025-01-13", 119, 1, null, null, "LEGISLATIVE SESSION", "SENATE", "SENATE", "SLEGISLATIVE", "S83", "S85", "[{\"name\": \"Charles E. Schumer\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"John Thune\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5\"}]", "171 Cong. Rec. S83", "Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 6 (Monday, January 13, 2025)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 6 (Monday, January 13, 2025)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S83-S85]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION\n\n                                 ______\n\n              LAKEN RILEY ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed\n\n  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the\nSenate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 5,\nwhich the clerk will report.\n  The assistant bill clerk read as follows:\n\n       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 1, S. 5, to require the\n     Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens\n     who have been charged in the United States with theft, and\n     for other purposes.\n\n                   Recognition of the Minority Leader\n\n  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Democratic leader is\nrecognized.\n\n                              Nominations\n\n  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this week, the American people will see\nfor the first time what kind of Trump administration they are going to\nget in the coming years: one that will fight for working people or one\nthat will fight for the swamp?\n  Over the next 4 days, over a dozen of the President-elect's nominees\nwill testify in committee and make their case to the country. These\nhearings, in a very real way, are the opening salvo for holding the\nTrump administration accountable to the public.\n  So, today, I want to talk a little bit about how Senate Democrats\nwill approach these hearings to uphold our promise to stand up for\nAmerica's working and middle class. These hearings will be the very\nfirst real opportunity to see the Trump administration's view on who\nthey will fight for--working people or the special interests?\n  Our approach will be this: We will use these hearings to show the\ncontrast between Donald Trump's agenda of helping the special\ninterests--especially the very wealthy--and the Democrats' agenda to\nfight for working Americans.\n\n[[Page S84]]\n\n  Nominees should expect tough, candid, but fair questioning. They\nshould come prepared to be honest about everything--their backgrounds,\ntheir experiences, and their commitment to increasing opportunity for\nall Americans, not just those at the top. They will also be asked tough\nquestions about where they stand on the President-elect's stated\npolicies on things that will hurt the middle class, such as tariffs,\ntax cuts for the wealthy, and undermining policies that lower drug\nprices.\n  If the President-elect's nominees demonstrate they are qualified and\ncommitted to lowering costs, increasing wages, and strengthening our\nsecurity, Democrats will take that very seriously. But if the\nPresident-elect's nominees are going to push policies that make\ninflation worse and put more money in the pockets of special interests,\nor duck those important questions, they will be put on the record about\ntheir views for all the American people to see.\n  That is why Democrats have insisted on regular order for the\nPresident-elect's nominees. A thorough nominations process ensures the\nAmerican people know precisely who these nominees are and who they will\nfight for.\n  Unfortunately, a troubling pattern emerged last week from some\nRepublican chairs who seem eager to rush the nominations process\nwithout fully getting all the necessary documentation.\n  Getting documents is not trivial busy work. These are financial\ndisclosures, ethics agreements, and FBI background investigations.\n  If these nominees have something to hide, these documents could show\nit. So it is important we don't rush to hearings without examining the\nrecord first.\n  The more Senate Republicans try to rush the process without the\nproper documentation, the more Americans will ask themselves: What are\nRepublicans and their nominees trying to hide?\n  How can Americans trust, for example, that Donald Trump's Cabinet\nwill be free from conflicts of interests if Republicans hold hearings\nbefore anyone is getting a chance to review financial disclosures?\n  How can Americans trust that these nominees will serve the public\ninterest if we don't first examine all their ethics agreements?\n  How can Americans trust that Senate Republicans will do what is best\nfor the American people if they are more focused on keeping Donald\nTrump happy than examining every nominee carefully?\n  If these nominees will push policies that make Americans' lives\nworse, Americans deserve to know it, and we can determine that with a\ncomplete, thorough, and exhaustive nomination process.\n  On Mr. Hegseth, tomorrow's hearing with Pete Hegseth is a good\nexample of why a thorough and tough nominations process is so\nimportant.\n  Mr. Hegseth is Donald Trump's pick to be Secretary of Defense--\narguably, the most important position in the entire Cabinet. If\nconfirmed, Mr. Hegseth would oversee a workforce of over 3 million\npeople and handle issues of life and death on a regular basis. His job\nwill be to keep our troops safe and keep our country safe. If there is\nany Cabinet position that ought to have a steady and drama-free\nindividual, it is certainly Secretary of Defense.\n\n  Unfortunately, Mr. Hegseth's background is deeply troubling, to put\nit generously. We all have read reports about his radical views, his\nalleged excessive drinking, the allegations about sexual assault, and\nhis failures in the financial stewardship of multiple organizations.\nThese are such serious allegations for such an important job. So why\nwould the Armed Services Committee wish to rush through these hearings,\nparticularly when the documents are not available to all the members of\nthe committee, including the FBI background check?\n  Mr. Hegseth will have an opportunity to answer questions about these\nallegations and about his record as well as his views. He can expect\nhis hearing to be tough but respectful, candid but fair.\n  The stakes during tomorrow's hearing will be very high--not just for\nthe nominee but for the entire country. It is not hard to imagine an\nemergency situation where the Secretary of Defense has to make quick\nand steady decisions about our military. Is someone with Pete Hegseth's\nalleged history really the kind of person we want at the helm in a\nvery, very important situation--dangerous situation--like that? Is that\nreally in the best interest of Americans' safety? That is something\nSenators should ask themselves during tomorrow's hearing, and, of\ncourse, they should ask Mr. Hegseth questions about it.\n  When it comes to a job like Secretary of Defense, there can be zero\nquestion--zero--that the nominee is up for the job. Unfortunately, Mr.\nHegseth's record leaves too many unanswered questions. Let's hope we\nget real answers and real documentation before anyone votes for Mr.\nHegseth for Secretary of Defense.\n\n                            Laken Riley Act\n\n  Mr. President, on Laken Riley, today, the Senate will vote on the\nmotion to proceed on the Laken Riley Act. The Senate invoked cloture on\nthis bill last week with a strong bipartisan vote. As I said last week,\nDemocrats want to have a robust debate where we can offer amendments\nand improve this bill.\n  This issue is very important. Americans deserve for us to debate the\nissues seriously, including by considering amendments from the\nDemocratic side. We are going to ask our Republican colleagues to allow\nfor debate and votes on amendments. I hope my Republican colleagues\nwill allow for it.\n\n                               January 6\n\n  Mr. President, finally, on the January 6 pardons--not finally; next\nto finally--Donald Trump has promised to spend the first hour of his\nPresidency pardoning the violent mob which stormed the Capitol and\nattacked our police officers on January 6.\n  Instead of focusing on helping working families or lowering\nhealthcare costs or making life better for the American people, Donald\nTrump's very first priority seems to be pardoning the January 6\nrioters.\n  And yesterday, on FOX News Sunday, the Vice President-elect JD\nVance--feeling the heat that these pardons are not very popular with\nthe American people--said that while those who committed violence\nshould not be pardoned, he implied that those who did not commit\nviolence could deserve to be pardoned.\n  The people who invaded the Capitol on January 6, whether they\ncommitted violence or not, should not be pardoned. They unlawfully\nbroke into the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power. What\nthey did is a serious crime. There is no gray area here. There would be\nnothing more insulting to our democracy and to the memory of those who\ndied in connection with that day than letting rioters walk free. We\nwould be saying, in effect, that you could storm the Capitol, engage in\nviolence against police officers or be part of a crowd that engaged in\nsuch violence, and try to overturn a free and fair election, and then\nwalk away with no consequences--no consequences.\n  Rioters who broke into the Capitol on January 6 to try and stop the\npeaceful transfer of power and subvert our democracy do not deserve a\nPresidential pardon. Whether they committed violence or not, no one who\nparticipated in one of the darkest, most shameful days in American\nhistory should be pardoned.\n\n                     Tribute to Pina Frassineti Wax\n\n  Mr. President, finally, on a Holocaust survivor on Long Island whom I\nmet with this morning, one of my favorite things about serving as the\nsenior Senator from New York is that I get a chance to travel around\nthe State and meet so many exceptional New Yorkers.\n  This morning, on Long Island, I had a chance to meet an especially\nexceptional New Yorker, a living legend, a 100-year-old woman named\nPina Frassineti Wax, a Holocaust survivor and proud Long Island\nresident. She was sheltered by Catholic nuns in a convent for 2 years\nto keep the Germans from sending her to the concentration camps.\n  And these days, there are so many Holocaust deniers, people who say\nit never existed or was ``exaggerated,'' and then there are so many\nmore young people who know nothing about the history of the Holocaust,\nthat those who survived it are very, very important to our history, to\nhelping us understand what happened, to be a living witness to this\nawful, awful, awful\n\n[[Page S85]]\n\ngenocide that occurred against the Jewish people.\n  Ms. Wax is such a survivor. She combined her 100th birthday with\nconstantly reminding people of the horrors of Nazi Germany and what was\ndone to the Jewish people.\n  So, this morning, it was my honor to present her with a flag flown\nover the Capitol, expressing the Senate's recognition of her\nextraordinary life.\n  After enduring so much tragedy during one of the darkest chapters of\nhuman history, Pina has dedicated her life to teaching, loving,\nlearning, and preserving the memory of the Holocaust.\n  And even at 100 years old, she is showing no signs of slowing down.\nShe is whip smart, as energetic as ever, and still going very, very\nstrong. People like her give all of us hope that, in the end,\ncompassion and courage will always endure over hatred and fear--always.\n  Long Island is lucky to have her; New York is proud to call her one\nof our own; and the world is much better off because of her.\n  I yield the floor.\n\n                   Recognition of the Majority Leader\n\n  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.\n\n                            Laken Riley Act\n\n  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, by now, I think a lot of Americans know the\nstory of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta\nUniversity in Georgia with her whole life ahead of her. Laken was\nmurdered last February while out on a run at the Athens campus of the\nUniversity of Georgia.\n  Her killer was arrested the next day, and it quickly became clear\nthat he should never have had the opportunity to get near Laken Riley\nbecause he should never have been in the country in the first place.\nLaken's killer had entered the country illegally, been released into\nthe interior, and had subsequently been arrested in New York City and\nlater issued a citation for shoplifting in Georgia a few short months\nbefore Laken's murder.\n  After his New York City arrest, he was released before Immigration\nand Customs Enforcement could issue a detainer--a request that police\nhold an individual--so that he could be taken into immigration custody.\nSo this individual, here in the United States illegally and\nsubsequently involved in two crimes, was free on the University of\nGeorgia campus last February when Laken Riley went running.\n  It is already a problem that we are releasing huge numbers of\nindividuals here illegally into the interior of the country. It is\nunthinkable that an individual like Laken's killer would be released\nback into society. Laken's killer should have been detained long before\nhe had a chance to get near her last February.\n  Shortly after Laken was killed, Senator Katie Britt, together with\nSenator Budd, introduced legislation that would require Immigration and\nCustoms Enforcement to detain individuals charged with theft, burglary,\nor shoplifting. It is a commonsense measure that should be an\nunquestioned ``yes'' for every Senator, and I am very pleased that the\nSenate is finally taking up this bill after Democrats blocked a vote on\nit last year.\n  The fact that 33 Democratic Senators voted in favor of moving to the\nbill on Thursday was an encouraging sign that at least some Democrats\nmight be serious about wanting to work with Republicans to address\nborder and immigration security, and I hope that proves to be true. It\nwould be incredibly disappointing if Democrats move to the bill simply\nto attempt to load it down with poison pills or unrelated measures.\n  This is not--I emphasize ``not''--a comprehensive immigration bill.\nIt is an attempt to right one wrong: the fact that individuals already\nhere illegally who have been charged with various property crimes are\nnot required to be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It\nis an attempt to ensure that no other family will have to suffer the\npain suffered by Laken Riley's. So I hope that Democrats will work with\nus in a serious fashion to actually pass this legislation.\n  After 4 years of chaos at our southern border under President Biden,\nthere is a lot of work to be done on both the immigration and border\nsecurity fronts. The kind of unchecked illegal immigration that we have\nexperienced at our southern border under President Biden serves as an\ninvitation to terrorists, criminals, and other dangerous individuals to\nenter our country.\n  Currently, Senate Republicans are working on a major package that\nwill include substantial funding for a variety of border and\nimmigration security needs, including increasing the number of\nImmigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents,\nincreasing detention space, and providing the barriers and technology\nthat we need to secure the border. I look forward to taking up that\npackage.\n  In the meantime, however, we have a bill before us today that will\naddress one problem in current immigration law and, perhaps, prevent\nother families from suffering the pain that Laken Riley's has suffered.\nLet's get it done.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2025-01-13-pt1-PgS83-8"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 44.119162019342184, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}