[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4526-S4527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, the American people are counting on 
Congress to act on some of the biggest issues facing our country.
  For starters, there is a border crisis. Since January, more than 
630,000 migrants have come to our southern border, including more than 
65,000 unaccompanied children. In May, Customs and Border Protection 
had their busiest month in 21 years, with more than 180,000 encounters 
in May alone, and we are on track to see some of the highest numbers in 
yearly border crossings in decades.
  Well, the alarm bells are sounding, but amid this crisis, the Senate 
Judiciary Committee held a hearing this morning on a partisan bill that 
has nothing to do with the extant border crisis.
  Make no mistake, I believe Congress should absolutely take action to 
allow current DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, 
recipients to remain in the United States, but a partisan bill that 
would provide a pathway to citizenship for 4.4 million adults and other 
unrelated issues has simply no chance of passing in the Senate.

[[Page S4527]]

  Now, Senator Durbin, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who has 
long been an advocate for the Dreamers, if he really were serious about 
that issue, he now has the authority, as chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee, to put a bill before the committee to allow Senators to 
offer and vote on amendments and to mark up a bill. And if he were able 
to get a majority of the committee to vote for a bill, he could then 
ask majority Leader Schumer to put the bill on the floor. But, so far, 
most of our discussions on immigration have been just that, all talk 
and no action.

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