[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 21, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S4418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4810. Mr. FLAKE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill H.R. 2578, making appropriations for the Departments of 
Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes; which was ordered to 
lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. OPERATION STREAMLINE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Border Patrol's Yuma Sector has long grappled with 
     the crossing of undocumented aliens and has seen illegal 
     traffic decline precipitously from the early 2000s to the 
     present.
       (2) A combination of increased manpower, technology 
     implementation, and the delivery of appropriate consequences 
     have resulted in gains in border security in the Yuma Sector.
       (3) A key to the success in the Yuma Sector has been the 
     implementation of Operation Streamline, a program established 
     in 2005 that was described by former Department of Homeland 
     Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as ``a DHS partnership 
     with the Department of Justice, . . . a geographically 
     focused operation that aims to increase the consequences for 
     illegally crossing the border by criminally prosecuting 
     illegal border-crossers.''.
       (4) The Yuma County Sheriff's Office, which is known for 
     its ``zero-tolerance'' approach, cites 100 percent 
     prosecution of illegal border crossers as a shared goal of a 
     partnership including Federal, State, and local law 
     enforcement agencies.
       (5) Among the various consequences delivered to illegal 
     crossers by the Department of Homeland Security, Operation 
     Streamline is associated with a recidivism rate that is well 
     below average and has seen a steady decrease in recidivism in 
     recent years.
       (6) The United States Attorney's Office for the District of 
     Arizona will reportedly no longer be prosecuting those 
     apprehended crossing the border illegally for the first time.
       (7) According to the Sheriff of Yuma County, Operation 
     Streamline ``had a deterrent effect in Yuma County, which 
     gained a reputation as an area to avoid crossing into because 
     if caught, you were assured to go to court and possibly face 
     penalties'', but now the program ``has been severely 
     diluted.''.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that--
       (1) gains made in border security in the Yuma Sector and 
     positive trends in recidivism rates are of critical 
     importance to those living and working in the border region 
     and to the Nation as a whole;
       (2) refusing to prosecute first time illegal border 
     crossers under Operation Streamline will jeopardize border 
     security gains;
       (3) the border security steps that have led to some measure 
     of improvement on the border, such as the historical 
     implementation of Operation Streamline, should be preserved; 
     and
       (4) the Executive Branch should immediately remove any 
     issued or related prohibition, policy, guidance, or direction 
     to cease prosecuting first time illegal border crossers under 
     Operation Streamline.
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