[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 194 (Monday, December 10, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7373-S7375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I have spoken on the Senate floor on a 
number of occasions recently about the migrant crisis on our southern 
border and tried to shed a little more context and light on what is 
happening there and why this is so important not only to the United 
States but to our neighbors to the south, as well as Central America.
  I know there is this idea out there that all we need to do is build 
more infrastructure along the border, and somehow this problem will be 
resolved. I am here to say that is not the case. The border 
infrastructure that some people such as the President call a wall, 
others call a fence, is certainly a critical piece of the puzzle, but 
it is much more complex than that, and it affects not only public 
safety in the United States, it affects our economy and jobs in the 
United States.
  While the focus happens to be on what is happening in Tijuana or 
another flash point across the border, what I would encourage us all to 
do is not just take a narrow focus but pull back to, let's say, a 
30,000-foot perspective and try to understand all this in context. We 
know, unfortunately, sometimes in the political arguments that are 
given, the facts get missed or misconstrued, and sometimes political 
expediency is inconsistent with our need to do the hard work necessary 
to find a right solution. This, of course, is part of the general 
debate we have about what should be our immigration policies in the 
United States.
  I, personally, believe legal immigration has been to the benefit of 
our country. Virtually all of us came from somewhere else at some point 
in our family history, but the important point is, legal immigration is 
very different from uncontrolled illegal immigration, which is what we 
are seeing still flooding across our southern borders, when the public 
is paying attention and when things like the migrant crisis in Tijuana 
has occurred. The fact is, this is a daily occurrence. It is not just 
large caravans of migrants from Central America. We have minicaravans 
showing up on a daily basis, and these problems certainly aren't going 
away.
  I have the honor of representing about 28 million Texans, 40 percent 
of whom are Hispanic, but I also represent a large number of Indian 
Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Chinese Americans, and Korean 
Americans. In

[[Page S7374]]

other words, we are a very diverse State. I know many people are not 
aware of that, but it is absolutely true. When I tell people the third 
most commonly spoken language in Texas is Vietnamese, it usually 
surprises people. Of course, like every Member of the Senate, I consult 
with my constituents on a regular basis to try to learn from them what 
they think we ought to be advocating for on their behalf. The border 
communities I represent have experienced very real consequences--
negative consequences--from the migrant crisis, and they have also seen 
the humanitarian consequences of people making this treacherous journey 
across Mexico, up from Central America, traveling up to the United 
States. Of course, it should be no surprise, in some cases, that 
journey is simply too strenuous and proves to be too much, and a number 
of these migrants actually lose their lives. They die trying to make 
their way to the United States.
  In Brooks County, which includes Falfurrias, which is a border 
checkpoint about 50 or so miles north of the Rio Grande River, these 
communities don't have the resources to recover all the remains from 
those migrants who die in their counties, causing the costs to be 
placed on local government and, in turn, local taxpayers. For example, 
the burden falls on them to come up with forensic experts and medical 
examiners who are already overburdened and understaffed. This is a real 
problem for many of our border communities, and this is why I joined 
with Senator Cruz and Congressman Hurd and Congressman Gonzalez to pass 
a bill to help local jurisdictions improve the recording and reporting 
of missing persons and unidentified remains found along the U.S.-
Mexican border.
  My hope is, this bill will help our local communities identify those 
who have gone missing, process those unidentified remains, and invest 
in forensic expertise to provide closure to the families in the United 
States and abroad who have lost loved ones.
  Texas, I understand, is unique in many respects, given our long 
common border with Mexico, but both of our nations benefit from the 
commerce and trade that comes across that 1,200-mile border. As a 
matter of fact, Mexico is one of our closest trading partners. That 
shouldn't surprise any of us. That also means, our border communities 
are on the frontlines with some of the challenges that go with an 
unsecured border, like drug trafficking and gang violence.
  Recently, I talked about the many complex facets of the migrant 
crisis as well as the way we can combat violence and exploitation by 
the gangs, cartels, and transnational criminal organizations. I have 
talked about the fact that the very same organizations that charge 
migrants $8,000, for example, to transport them from Central America, 
across Mexico, and into the United States are the very same 
organizations that transport the heroin that is grown in Mexico, 
processed there, and brought into the United States--the poison that 
unfortunately has killed far too many Americans who died from 
overdoses.
  These criminal organizations are commodity-agnostic. They really 
don't care about the human beings. The only thing they care about is 
the money. So they will transport the migrants, traffic in children and 
women for sex--sex slaves in the United States--and they also traffic 
in illegal drugs that kill thousands upon thousands of Americans every 
year.
  I mention the fact that we need to focus on strengthening our 
partnerships in Mexico and Central America in order to address this 
crisis, but I want to focus on one aspect of this relationship in my 
remaining time and talk about why trade remains such an important piece 
of the puzzle. The lack of sufficient resources at the border, 
including outdated ports of entry, including lack of personnel, 
technology, and equipment, have been a contributing factor to the 
crisis. In fact, look at how most of the high-value drugs get into the 
United States. It is through the ports of entry, and we need to upgrade 
those ports of entry and make sure they are staffed not only to monitor 
this trade as it comes across the border but also to identify the 
heroin and other illegal drugs coming into the United States so we can 
stop them. The only way we are going to be able to do that is by 
investing in our ports of entry, the antiquated infrastructure and 
inadequately staffed ports of entry.
  Then, again, I have heard people say that what we ought to do is just 
cut off our border--close it all down. Can you imagine what that would 
do to the legitimate trade and commerce that comes across our border to 
support millions of American jobs?
  About 5 million American jobs depend on trade with Mexico. About 8 
million American jobs depend on trade with Canada. This idea that we 
can somehow close down the border is unrealistic. Even if it were 
attempted, it would be economically harmful to many millions of people 
in the United States.
  My State has the second largest State economy in the United States, 
with Mexico being our top import and export partner. So closing off the 
border would have a significant negative impact, as I said, not only 
for Texas but nationwide. We have about 29 air, land, and sea ports of 
entry into Texas, more than any other State in the Nation. That 
includes the busiest inland port along the entire U.S.-Mexico border in 
terms of total volume.
  The border communities in Texas know that when our ports are tied up 
with migrants and migrant families or illegal drugs and contraband, 
legitimate trade can slowly grind to a halt. Any disruption of 
legitimate international commerce has a swift impact on the pocketbooks 
and livelihoods of all of our border residents and, indeed, of many 
people beyond those people living on the border.
  Congress has taken some steps to protect and increase the volume of 
trade across our ports of entry. That includes my Cross-Border Trade 
Enhancement Act, which is now law, to permanently authorize a public-
private pilot program that will ultimately lead to staff efficiencies 
and allow for infrastructure improvements to our ports of entry.
  More than 10 Texas land ports--including the Paso del Norte Bridge in 
El Paso and the World Trade Bridge in Laredo--have taken advantage of 
the opportunities this program provides. Many Texas air and sea ports 
have begun to utilize this valuable program as well.
  In addition, last week I joined the junior Senator from Michigan to 
introduce a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of 
Homeland Security to conduct a threat and operational analysis at all 
of our U.S. ports of entry, because the same ports that let in 
legitimate trade and commerce can also be points of exploitation and 
access for people who wish to do us harm.
  This analysis will then become the basis of an implementation plan to 
ensure our ports can improve wait times for legitimate trade and 
prevent illegal contraband from crossing our borders. As I said, we 
have long thrived on international trade and travel through our many 
ports, but we need to take a hard look at the vulnerabilities and 
inefficiencies in the system.
  It is important that we find targeted solutions to enhance legitimate 
trade and travel while ensuring that bad actors have fewer 
opportunities to thwart our protections. It is a message that says 
``first, do no harm''--a Hippocratic oath of sorts. That is the same 
advice I gave Ambassador Lighthizer as he negotiated a modernized trade 
deal with Mexico and Canada, which I was glad to see was signed by 
those three countries in Argentina at the G20 at the end of last month.
  I look forward to reviewing the agreement with my colleagues in the 
Senate to ensure it is a good deal, and I stand ready to work with the 
administration and my colleagues on implementing this important 
legislation.
  But the new USMCA agreement is not just for the Texas economy. A 
modernized pact will help to provide long-term stability for the 
Mexican economy and strengthen our two countries' trade relationship. 
This is an important point when discussing the ways that Mexico and the 
United States can work together. This is a partnership that I hope to 
see continued, especially under Mexico's new President.
  I was fortunate to attend President Lopez Obrador's inauguration a 
little over a week ago, along with Vice President Pence, Secretary 
Nielsen, Secretary Perry, and other members of the administration, 
including Ivanka Trump, representing her father.

[[Page S7375]]

  To me, the future of the U.S.-Mexico relationship is important. It is 
one that we all ought to care about. I think the opportunities are 
there for us to engage in strategic partnerships with Mexico in a 
number of ways--for example, dealing with the asylum problem that 
Secretary Nielsen has already begun to negotiate.
  Through our partnership, we can work together to solve this migrant 
crisis by improving the economy and the opportunities that people have 
to live and work in their home country, as well as to protect trade, 
which supports so many jobs here in the United States.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________