[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 2 (Friday, January 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S25]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, later today, I will join President 
Trump, the Democratic leader, the new Speaker of the House, and our 
congressional colleagues down at the White House.
  The meeting represents the latest in the President's ongoing efforts 
to persuade Democrats that appropriate funding for border security is a 
better outcome than persisting in this partial government shutdown. I 
hope that this time around my friends across the aisle will come 
prepared to engage much more seriously on the issue at hand.
  We may have entered a new Congress since our last meeting, but the 
basic steps that are needed to end this unfortunate standoff really 
haven't changed at all. We are in the same place. As I have said on 
several occasions and as the administration has affirmed, any viable 
compromise will need to carry the endorsement of the President before 
it receives a vote in either House of Congress. Under these conditions, 
the package presented by the House's new Democratic leaders yesterday 
can only be seen as a time-wasting act of political posturing. It does 
not carry the support of the President--in fact, the administration 
indicated yesterday that the President would actually veto it--and it 
cannot earn the support of 60 of my colleagues over here in the Senate.
  My friends across the aisle understand the ground rules perfectly 
well. They know that a solution will need to be palatable to House 
Democrats and Senate Republicans alike. They know that making laws 
takes a Presidential signature. We all learned that in grade school. In 
fact, the Democratic leader himself insisted ``the President must 
publicly support and say he will sign an agreement before it gets a 
vote in either Chamber.'' That is the Democratic leader who said that.
  Everyone understands what we need to move forward and successfully 
make policy instead of simply staging political theater. Everyone 
should understand just how urgently the situation on our Nation's 
border demands our attention--the situation that has been accurately 
described by the Commissioner of the CBP--the Border Patrol--as a 
``border security and humanitarian crisis.'' This shouldn't be taken 
lightly. It should not be viewed as an opportunity for the new House 
Democratic majority to prioritize political performance as an art form 
ahead of the public interest.
  I urge our Democratic colleagues to approach our meeting today with a 
willingness to join the administration and the men and women of Customs 
and Border Protection to work to protect our border and bring this 
partial shutdown to an end.

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