[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 203 (Saturday, December 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8021-S8022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GOVERNMENT FUNDING

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have on a red sweater this morning in 
the hopes that Christmas is not too far away for all of us, including 
the Members of Congress. With that in mind, let me give everyone an 
update on where we are.
  Yesterday, the Democratic leader and I reached a procedural agreement 
to create space for ongoing negotiations over government funding. To 
provide flexibility as the White House and Senate Democrats continue 
their discussions, the Senate already officially proceeded to the 
House-passed funding legislation--so that is pending--but we did so 
with an understanding that no further votes will occur until the 
President and Senate Democrats have reached an agreement to resolve 
this.
  Let me say that again. We pushed the pause button until the 
President, from whom we will need a signature, and Senate Democrats, 
from whom we will need votes, reach an agreement--no procedural votes, 
no test votes, just a meaningful vote on a bipartisan agreement 
whenever that is reached, and it is my hope that it is reached sooner 
rather than later.
  It is no mystery why securing our Nation's borders is such a major 
priority for Republicans here in the Senate and Republicans over in the 
House and for President Trump. Any look at the plain facts leads to one 
simple conclusion: The crisis of security at our southern border is 
real.
  Over the past year, Customs and Border Protection's records of 
apprehensions and interdictions at our southern border are literally 
staggering--800 known gang members, a 50-percent increase over last 
year, nearly 7,000 individuals with criminal histories, including 
weapons trafficking and violent offenses, more than double the levels 
of fentanyl, along with other illicit substances.
  So the report card is quite clear. America's borders are in crisis. 
These facts I have stated are not partisan facts. They aren't 
ideological. They are just facts--just facts. They don't describe the 
Republican Party's version of events or the President's version of 
events. They describe reality.
  So one would think that securing our homeland, controlling our 
borders, and protecting the American people would be bipartisan 
priorities--uncontroversial, commonsense, bipartisan priorities--a core 
duty of any nation's government.
  And here is the interesting thing. Until very, very recently, that 
seemed to be the case. Back in 2006, Democrats were perfectly happy to 
support hundreds--hundreds--of miles of physical barriers along the 
border. Twenty-six Democrats voted for the bill, including then-Senator 
Obama and then-Senator Clinton and my good friend the current 
Democratic leader from New York, but what about more recently? Earlier 
this very year--this year, Mr. President--the Democratic leader offered 
$25 billion for physical barriers in his negotiations with the 
President, which is five times as much as the White House is reasonably 
requesting right now. That was just earlier this year.
  Republicans in the House and in the Senate believe the House's 
provision for $5 billion in border funding plus additional disaster 
funding were completely reasonable. I was glad to vote

[[Page S8022]]

to advance that legislation yesterday. My colleagues and I are proud to 
stand with the American people on this subject for the safety of 
American families and the health and security of our communities, but 
this time--this time--Democrats have rejected that reasonable request. 
They have refused to meet President Trump half way and provide even 
one-fifth of the resources for the border they were willing to provide 
just a few months ago.
  There is no bright line of principle that separates hundreds of miles 
of physical barriers in 2006 from new physical barriers in 2018. There 
is no major philosophical shift that made $25 billion for border 
security worthwhile just a few months ago but makes a far more modest 
investment of $5 billion immoral and unacceptable today.
  No, Democrats haven't rejected the President's request and invited 
this partial government shutdown because of some principled objections 
they just discovered in the last few weeks. It is not some principled 
discovery they just made in the last few weeks. They brought this about 
because they are under a lot of pressure--we all know this--from their 
far left and feel compelled to disagree with the President on almost 
anything and certainly this.
  So that is where we are, but we don't need to be here for long. In 
order to get us out of this mess, a negotiated solution will need to 
check these boxes. It is really very simple. It will need the support 
of 60 Senators, which will obviously include a number of Democrats. It 
will need to pass the House. And it will need a Presidential signature. 
That is how we make a law in this situation. Sixty 60 votes in the 
Senate, a majority of the House, and President Trump's signature are 
what is needed. That is what will end this regrettable episode, reopen 
the lapsed portions of the Federal Government, and produce the 
investment in border security that our Nation really needs.
  So I am glad that productive discussions are continuing at this hour 
between my friend the Democratic leader, the Democratic leader in the 
House, and the White House. When those negotiations produce a solution 
that is acceptable to all of those parties, it will receive a vote here 
on the Senate floor.

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