[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7389-S7390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I think it is time the Senate subject 
itself to a bit of a reality check. Today is December 11. Here are just 
some of the things the Senate needs to accomplish before this Congress 
adjourns:
  We need to confirm more of the President's nominees for the judiciary 
and for the executive branch, such as the well-qualified nominee to be 
Deputy Secretary at the Department of Treasury, whom we are currently 
considering.
  We need to reach an agreement to fund the remaining one-fourth of the 
Federal Government that was not covered by regular appropriations.
  We need to make a substantial new investment in the integrity of our 
borders and the security of American families.
  We need to take up and pass the conference report for the farm bill 
to honor our commitments to our Nation's growers and producers.
  This week alone, we need to dispense with the debate pertaining to 
the situation in Yemen and an attempt by some of our Democratic 
colleagues to undo reforms that protect Americans' private, personal 
information as they exercise their First Amendment rights.
  In addition, at the request of the President and following 
improvements to the legislation that have been secured by several 
Members, the Senate will take up the recently revised criminal justice 
bill this month. I intend to turn to the new text as early as the end 
of this week.
  As a result of this additional legislative business, Members should 
now be prepared to work between Christmas and New Year's if necessary 
in order to complete our work. Let me say that again. Unless we 
approach all this work in a highly collaborative, productive way and 
take real advantage of unanimous consent to expedite proceedings, it is 
virtually certain that the Senate will need to be in session between 
Christmas and New Year's in order to complete this work.
  The Senate is a consent-based institution. Expediting this work would 
require an extraordinary degree of collaboration from everyone. So 
Members should either prepare to cooperate and work together or prepare 
for a very, very long month.
  In just a few hours from now, we will receive an indication of 
whether that cooperation will begin to take shape. My friend the 
Democratic leader and his counterpart in the House are scheduled to 
meet with President Trump at the White House later today.
  For the Nation's sake, I hope my Democratic friends are prepared to 
have a serious discussion and reach an accommodation with the President 
on funding for border security. Otherwise, circumstances are beginning 
to resemble a movie we have seen before. It was only this past January 
when Democrats chose to manufacture a government funding lapse over the 
issue of illegal immigration. It didn't work out very well.
  The reality is that the President's request is entirely reasonable. 
And before today's partisan considerations set in, I bet it might have 
looked reasonable to many of the majority of the Senate Democrats who 
joined in support of physical border security legislation back in 
2006--some 12 years ago.

[[Page S7390]]

  Senate Republicans are working with the President and his homeland 
security team on $5.02 billion of targeted funding to bolster security 
measures in specific places where the Department of Homeland Security 
determines it is most needed. And make no mistake--the need is great. 
In fiscal year 2018, Customs and Border Patrol reported a 30-percent 
increase in apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border. Looking further 
back, the monthly apprehension total this past October reached its 
highest level in 4 years--4 years. CBP has observed over the past year 
a 50-percent increase in apprehensions of known gang members and a 115-
percent increase in seizures of fentanyl narcotics.
  Clearly, delivering border security funding must be a priority. That 
is because the men and women of the Border Patrol deserve to be a 
priority. American communities deserve to be a priority as they face 
down the threat of gang violence. American families deserve to be a 
priority as the flow of lethal drugs fuels an epidemic of addiction.
  This is the right investment in the right place at the right time. 
There is no reason why the Democratic leader and the House Democratic 
leader should put the demands of far-left special interests ahead of 
the safety of American families. There is no reason for my Democratic 
friends to end this year the way they began it--with a government 
shutdown. It would be truly bizarre for them to decide they would 
prefer a partial government shutdown to reasonable funding for national 
security. It would signal that their party is more committed to 
political spite for the President than to the public interest.
  I will be watching eagerly this morning to see if the Democratic 
leaders approach these negotiations with the productive and good-faith 
spirit they deserve.

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