[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1742-S1743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I am glad to hear the distinguished 
Senator, my colleague and friend, speak about the problems on the 
southern border.
  I feel for President Biden because he inherited a horrible mess from 
his predecessor, a man who said that he would build a wall, which he 
didn't--a wall that would stop illegal immigration, which it didn't--
and that he would build it, saying he would get the money from Mexico, 
knowing that he would not get 1 cent from Mexico, but he repeated that 
falsehood hundreds of times around this country. He also actually took 
money away from housing for families on our military bases, from 
families living in substandard housing. It was money that Congress had 
voted for to repair the housing to make it safe, to remove lead, mold, 
and so on. He took that money to build a wall that he claimed, as I 
said, Mexico would pay for.
  When I was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, we passed by 
about a 2-to-1 margin, after months and months and months of debate and 
work, an immigration bill here in the

[[Page S1743]]

Senate. Republicans and Democrats voted for it, and it certainly could 
have solved all of these problems.
  When it went over to the House of Representatives, there were enough 
votes to pass it there, but it would not be with a majority of the 
Republicans. The Republican Speaker said that he could not bring up the 
bill, even though it had passed, because it was violating a rule very 
sacred to them, a rule named after Dennis Hastert, a former Speaker, 
and they could not violate the great respect they had for Dennis 
Hastert and his rule. So, even though it had passed, they did not bring 
it up. Of course, subsequent to that, Dennis Hastert went to prison for 
child abuse.