Congressional Record, Senate, July 30, 2021, Page S5206

Summary

A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated July 30, 2021, at page S5206, carrying remarks by Senators who are not named in the portion read. One Senator from Florida says reckless government spending causes higher inflation, that there is nearly $30 trillion in debt, that the infrastructure bill is welded to a $5.5 trillion tax-and-spending plan, and that eighty-seven percent of Americans are worried about inflation. Another speaker supports the nomination of Ms. Jaddou to lead USCIS, noting that she would be the first woman to do so and that she worked for 9 years on immigration policy and oversight in the House of Representatives. The remarks are the speakers' own.

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“Congressional Record, Senate, July 30, 2021, Page S5206.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-07-30-crec-2021-07-30-pt1-pgs5206-2-e7b46df247/, SHA-256 d0310480ae0029c30d0e1169a0bbd1fa03ea6513c88d878ef62ef1221dc3a4dd.

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S5206 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 30, 2021
have to pay for it. The cost is impor- We have nearly $30 trillion in debt, sonally understands the importance of
tant. and there are no plans to slow down. ensuring our Nation’s immigration sys-
I have said it a million times, and I And that is exactly what we are seeing tem is both accessible and safe. And if
will say it again: Reckless government in this bill. We can’t forget that this is confirmed, Ms. Jaddou would make his-
spending causes higher inflation. It is a just the start. CHUCK SCHUMER said it tory as the very first woman to lead
proven fact. And we are seeing the con- on the floor yesterday. This is just part USCIS.
sequences of reckless spending across one and leads to Biden’s and the Demo- Let me tell you a little bit about her
America right now. crats’ $5.5 trillion tax-and-spending background. Ms. Jaddou began her ca-
Eighty-seven percent—eighty-seven spree on their liberal priorities. These reer working on immigration policy
percent—of Americans are worried two bills are together. They are welded and oversight for 9 years in the House
about inflation. Low- and fixed-income together. There is no separating them. of Representatives. She worked for my
families are having to cut back on pur- Right now, the message that Presi- friend and former colleague ZOE LOF-
chases because of rising costs. I am dent Biden and Democrats here in GREN of California, who is the authori-
hearing it from families across Florida Washington are sending to the Amer- tative voice on immigration in the
who are worried. ican people is clear: They don’t care House of Representatives.
A father of three in Jacksonville is about inflation. They don’t care that Following that role, Ms. Jaddou
temporarily helping take care of two their reckless spending is causing served as a senior official in the State
other kids because their father is out prices to skyrocket. If that is the cost Department and then as Chief Counsel
of work. He has started working a sec- of getting their liberal wish list, so be at USCIS. As the Agency’s highest
ond job driving Uber just to pay for it. They aren’t focused on inflation or ranking legal officer, Ms. Jaddou not
groceries that are rapidly increasing in spending, just on more government de- only sharpened her mastery of immi-
price. Now his Uber job is becoming pendency and control. gration law, she also gained valuable
less and less profitable because of the Just look at what is happening this experience navigating USCIS’s admin-
rising price of gas. Gas is up over 50 week with new COVID mask and vac- istrative complexities and operations.
percent in 1 year. cine mandates. I had COVID, and I got As Chief Counsel at this Agency, she
A mother of four in Wauchula said the vaccine. I think people should get managed more than 220 attorneys who
that she used to be able to go to the vaccinated. But that is not what this is support the work of tens of thousands
grocery store and spend a certain about. It is not about taking a meas- of USCIS employees who are located in
amount for an entire month’s gro- ured approach and following the offices around the world.
ceries. Now she can’t. Two hundred dol- Ms. Jaddou’s extensive background is
science and telling exactly how they
lars in meat is no longer enough to feed exactly what we need at this moment.
came to the conclusion. It is about cre-
her family of five. She has been forced As I mentioned, the Trump adminis-
ating fear and chaos to grab power and
to choose between gas to get to work tration led a deliberate effort to under-
control you.
and groceries for her family and is I am here to say that enough is mine this Agency’s work. You remem-
picking up extra jobs just to make ends enough. It is time to wake up to re- ber—anything relating to immigration,
meet. ality. It is time for every fiscally re- the Trump administration tried to cre-
I can relate to this. I grew up in a
sponsible Member of the Senate to join ate a problem. For instance, when the
poor family. My mom would take in
me to say we don’t accept the status former President took office, USCIS
ironing for extra money. She would
give either my older brother or me the quo. We won’t watch in silence while had approximately $800 million in cash
exact change to go to the grocery the futures of our children and our reserves. Not bad. Four years later,
store, but she said: You have to check grandchildren are mortgaged and this those cash reserves had been virtually
the price of everything because things Nation is driven deeper in debt with depleted, putting thousands of Federal
are going up in price, and if we don’t reckless and wasteful spending. We employees at the Agency at risk of
have enough money, you cannot buy it. won’t stand by while inflation wreaks being furloughed in the middle of a
A restaurant owner in Tampa told havoc on our families and businesses. pandemic.
me that the cost of meat has gone up We can get spending under control, but These Federal employees deserve
from $9 a pound to $18. Gas prices and we have to start accepting responsi- leadership that advocates for their in-
food prices, coupled with the struggle bility, and the time to do that is now. terests and supports their work. Ms.
to find workers, have been very hard on This isn’t political. It is good govern- Jaddou is that person. In fact, the
his business. ment, and it is common sense. union that represents over 13,000
Another family in Kissimmee told I yield the floor. USCIS employees published a letter in
me how hard it is to keep food on the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- support of her nomination, writing:
table because everything is so expen- ator from Illinois. ‘‘Ms. Jaddou is well-acquainted with
sive. They are having trouble keeping NOMINATION OF UR MENDOZA JADDOU the significant financial and oper-
their car because of the cost of mainte- Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, for al- ational challenges facing the Agency.’’
nance and gas, but if he doesn’t have a most 20 years, U.S. Citizenship and Im- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent
car, he wouldn’t have a way to get to migration Services, known as USCIS, a letter in support of her nomination
work to take care of his family. has been charged with defending Amer- as well. They wrote: ‘‘Ms. Jaddou’s
The price of gas affects nearly every- ica’s status as the land of opportunity. knowledge and experience would be in-
one. Right now, average gas prices are The Agency has nearly 20,000 employ- dispensable in providing the critical
up nearly a dollar since last year. For ees. They operate in 220 offices around leadership needed to stabilize the agen-
a family who fills up their gas tank the world, where they provide assist- cy.’’
once a week, if they drive a car, that ance to immigrants seeking a new life Leaders inside government and out-
means Joe Biden raised their expenses in America and help protect America side government recognize that Ms.
$600 a year. If they drive a truck, Joe from any foreign threats. Jaddou is the legal expert our Nation
Biden raised their expenses by $1,000 a But after 4 years of neglect and mis- needs to take the reins of this vital
year. management under the Trump admin- Agency.
So next time you hear a big promise, istration, USCIS is in dire need of lead- Given the urgent need for Senate-
remember these stories. These are real ership. Today, the Senate has an oppor- confirmed leadership to address the
people bearing the real cost of the tunity to provide that Agency with critical issues they face, as well as Ms.
that leadership by confirming Ur Jaddou’s eminent qualifications for

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Democrats’ reckless spending in Wash-
ington. Jaddou as USCIS Director. Ms. Jaddou that position, I urge my colleagues to
Biden and the Democrats say they may be the most qualified person ever join me in supporting her nomination.
care about people, but they have done to be nominated for this job. She has AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
absolutely nothing to help families nearly 20 years of experience in immi- Mr. President, I would like to say a
struggle to keep up with inflation. gration law, policy, and administra- word in response to the speech just
Their plan is to spend more money, not tion. She is the daughter of immi- given by the Senator from Florida, the
less. grants from Mexico and Iraq. She per- junior Senator from Florida.

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July 30, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5207
There is something called the Amer- that. We have $1,400 being sent to each The question is, Will the Senate ad-
ican Rescue Plan that President Joe and every family in America—a prom- vise and consent to the Jaddou nomi-
Biden brought before Congress. The ise made by President Trump, kept by nation?
American Rescue Plan was his first of- President Biden—and not a single Re- Mr. DURBIN. I ask for the yeas and
fering. We had done things before in publican would vote to support that as nays.
light of the pandemic. I remember well. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
them well. It was March of 2020. We had When you go through the list of sufficient second?
the American CARES Act. things that we did in the American There appears to be a sufficient sec-
The American CARES Act—there Rescue Plan, they were valuable. ond.
was virtually unanimous, bipartisan One of them was a tax cut for fami- The clerk will call the roll.
support for a policy that was written lies, families with children—a tax cut The senior assistant legislative clerk
by President Trump as well as Mem- which started just a couple of weeks called the roll.
bers of Congress. We stood together, ago. Tax cuts used to be the war cry of Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the
and I am glad we did, because we were the Republican Party, but when it Senator from California (Mrs. FEIN-
going into a pandemic, the likes of came to tax cuts for children, not a STEIN), the Senator from Maine (Mr.
which America has not seen for 100 single Republican Senator would vote KING), and the Senator from Vermont
years. It was a dramatic investment in for it—not one. And now they come and (Mr. SANDERS) are necessarily absent.
people, in resources, and in businesses they argue: This Joe Biden’s plan just Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
to keep America safe through that pan- isn’t working. are necessarily absent: the Senator
demic, and it worked. Well, I will tell you what is working.
from Wyoming (Mr. BARRASSO), the
At the end of the year of 2020, we had We have about 50 or 60 percent of
Senator from Tennessee (Mr. BLACK-
another bill—this bill was about $900 Americans vaccinated with at least one
BURN), the Senator from North Caro-
billion—to once again help deal with shot at this point. I hope we have more
so we can put this pandemic behind us. lina (Mr. BURR), the Senator from Mon-
unemployment compensation, loans for tana (Mr. DAINES), the Senator from
businesses, help for families, ways to We have done it because we had a plan
to distribute this vaccine across Amer- Tennessee (Mr. HAGERTY), the Senator
help schools reopen. We voted again from Oklahoma (Mr. INHOFE), the Sen-
unanimously—virtually unanimously— ica and still do. That was something
America needed, and not a single Re- ator from Wisconsin (Mr. JOHNSON), the
on a bipartisan basis. Senator from Kansas (Mr. MARSHALL),
So in the Trump administration, publican Senator would vote for it—not
one. the Senator from Kansas (Mr. MORAN),
when it came to coming together as a the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. PAUL),
nation, Democrats stood with Repub- I can’t understand their thinking on
this. They have lots of criticism about the Senator from Idaho (Mr. RISCH),
licans. Democrats even stood with a the Senator from South Dakota (Mr.
President Biden, but when it came to
Republican President for the good of ROUNDS), the Senator from Florida
the parts of his program that really
the Nation. I was proud of what we did. (Mr. RUBIO), the Senator from Ne-
made a difference when America need-
I can’t imagine what America would braska (Mr. SASSE), the Senator from
ed it, not a single one of them would
have been like without it. North Carolina (Mr. TILLIS), and the
join us.
Then came the election. All bets were Senator from Alabama (Mr.
Wouldn’t it be good to get back to bi-
off. Everything changed. After the elec- TUBERVILLE).
partisanship, such as the bill that we
tion and the Big Lie, where President are going to be debating on the floor, Further, if present and voting, the
Trump raced around the country—still the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Senator from Tennessee (Mr. HAGERTY)
does—claiming that he truly won the which the Senator from Florida does would have voted ‘‘nay.’’
election and having no proof or evi- not support, he said? The result was announced—yeas 47,
dence to that fact, we noticed a souring This notion of bipartisanship appears nays 34, as follows:
of this bipartisanship when it came to to be very troubling and difficult for [Rollcall Vote No. 290 Ex.]
dealing with the pandemic. many of my Republican colleagues, but
Then came the American Rescue YEAS—47
we have a chance here because 16 Re- Baldwin Hickenlooper Reed
Plan by President Biden, the new publicans, the night before last, cast a Bennet Hirono Rosen
President, who wanted to address vote in favor of moving forward to real- Blumenthal Kaine Schatz
issues that still were troubling Amer- ly have an opportunity to do some- Booker Kelly Schumer
ica in light of the pandemic. What hap- thing significant for this country and Brown Klobuchar Shaheen
pened then when we called the Amer- Cantwell Leahy Sinema
its economy. Cardin Luján Smith
ican Rescue Plan? Where was the bipar- An investment in infrastructure is an Carper Manchin Stabenow
tisanship that we had seen during the investment in the future of this coun- Casey Markey
Tester
Trump years? Completely gone. Not Coons Menendez
try. I hope that the Republicans will Cortez Masto Merkley
Van Hollen
one single Republican Senator, includ- join us to see this completed in the Duckworth Murphy
Warner
ing the Senator from Florida, was will- Warnock
next few days so we can move on to Durbin Murray
Warren
ing to stand up and vote for Joe other considerations of elements that Gillibrand Ossoff
Hassan Padilla Whitehouse
Biden’s American Rescue Plan; not one might be good in this recovery. But we Wyden
Heinrich Peters
Member of the Republican Party in the need their help.
House of Representatives. To have Republican Senators come to NAYS—34
So what was it that was in the Amer- the floor, refuse to vote for the Amer- Blunt Fischer Portman
ican Rescue Plan that was so objec- Boozman Graham Romney
ican Rescue Plan, and criticize even Braun Grassley Scott (FL)
tionable that not a single Republican this bipartisan effort, is a suggestion Capito Hawley Scott (SC)
would vote for it? Well, there were that they didn’t get the message: Cassidy Hoeven Shelby
some ideas that turned out to be vital. America is looking for us to cooperate, Collins Hyde-Smith Sullivan
One of them was to put enough Cornyn Kennedy Thune
to come together to solve problems, Cotton Lankford
money into the Biden administration Toomey
not just to create political headlines. Cramer Lee
Wicker
so that these lifesaving vaccines could We will have a chance, and I hope we Crapo Lummis
Young
be distributed around the United do soon, to vote for this bill. I think it Cruz McConnell
Ernst Murkowski
States of America and people could fi- is an important bill that is going to re-
nally get a shot in the arm and save vitalize this country and keep the NOT VOTING—19

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their lives by it. That was one of the economy on the move. Barrasso Johnson Rubio
things the Republicans weren’t willing VOTE ON JADDOU NOMINATION Blackburn King Sanders
Burr Marshall Sasse
to vote for, but it wasn’t the only one. Before I yield the floor, I ask unani- Daines Moran Tillis
We proceeded to give loans to busi- mous consent that all remaining time Feinstein Paul Tuberville
nesses again so that they could open up be yielded back. Hagerty Risch
and rehire their employees. Not a sin- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Inhofe Rounds
gle Republican would vote to support objection, it is so ordered. The nomination was confirmed.

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