[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4718-S4719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, after months of unnecessary handwringing, 
Vice President Harris has finally announced that she intends to visit 
the U.S.-Mexico border.
  She was, as you will recall, tapped by the President to lead the 
efforts to stem the current humanitarian crisis back in March. But 3 
months in, she has spent more time trying to figure out how to support 
Central American countries than how to help American law enforcement 
and community leaders in Texas.
  In the absence of any action from the administration--in fact, any 
acknowledgement of the crisis, at all--the humanitarian crisis has 
gotten nothing but worse. In March, the first month of her heading up 
the administration's response, there were 173,000 migrants that crossed 
our southern border. Then, in April, the number went up to 178,000 and, 
in May, 180,000 migrants. We are now on track to see the highest number 
of total yearly border crossings in two decades, according to the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, Mr. Mayorkas.
  At the center of this crisis are unaccompanied children, who are 
brought to this country by cartels and human smugglers. We know that 
the migrant children endure a long and dangerous journey to our border, 
often arriving malnourished, abused, and in critical health. Some of 
the young girls even arrive pregnant, and we know that many of them 
have been sexually assaulted en route by these human smugglers who care 
nothing for their welfare. All they care about is the cold, hard 
dollar. I have talked to a number of these children and heard them 
retell their horrific stories about their journey from their home to 
our border.
  Since January, since the time that President Biden and Vice President 
Harris were inaugurated, more than 65,000 unaccompanied children have 
entered our country with no parent and no adult guardian, an absolutely 
devastating figure. These children are then placed with sponsors in the 
interior of the United States--sometimes a family member, sometimes a 
complete stranger. Thirty days after these children are placed with 
their American-based sponsor, not necessarily even an American citizen, 
a full 20 percent of them don't respond to a phone call or a wellness 
check when a person associated with the U.S. Government knocks on the 
door. And we have no idea what happens to these children once they are 
lost to the system.
  The Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector is the epicenter of this 
human crisis. Between October and April, that is where nearly half of 
all unaccompanied children were encountered. In the 3 months since the 
Vice President has been in charge of this crisis, I have visited the 
Rio Grande Valley Sector twice. I have spoken with law enforcement, 
elected officials, and nongovernmental organizations that try to be of 
assistance to the migrants while they are in the country, and a long 
list of other people who are trying to do everything in their power to 
manage this overwhelming number of humanity coming across our border.
  On Friday, Vice President Harris won't get to speak with these men 
and women. Why is that? Well, she will be more than 1,000 miles away, 
down the border from the Border Patrol sector experiencing the worst of 
this crisis.
  I know there are probably folks who are not from Texas who think that 
the whole border is exactly the same, but that is not true. I had the 
chance to travel to Tucson with Senator Sinema, the Senator from 
Arizona, and I got a chance to observe how different the border is in 
the Tucson Sector from the Rio Grande Valley, which she traveled with 
me to see after we left Tucson. But since October, the Rio Grande 
Valley Sector has encountered nearly three times as many unaccompanied 
children as the El Paso Sector and more than seven times more family 
units.
  The situation along the entirety of the U.S. border is challenging, 
to be sure, and El Paso has suffered during the crisis too, no doubt. 
Law enforcement, nongovernmental organizations, and community leaders 
in every border sector are struggling to manage the massive surge of 
migrants.
  When asked why she hadn't visited the border yet, the Vice President 
said she wasn't interested in grand gestures. Yet here she is planning 
a trip in a way that reflects, again, that she doesn't really fully 
comprehend the magnitude of the crisis and where it really exists on 
steroids, which is in the Rio Grande Valley. It is not even fair to say 
that she is a day late and a dollar short. She is nearly 100 days late 
and 1,000 miles short.
  By ignoring the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest Border Patrol sector 
along

[[Page S4719]]

the U.S.-Texas-Mexico border, the Vice President is shifting the focus 
away from the most serious problems of the crisis that she has failed 
to solve or even contribute any constructive ideas to. It won't 
surprise you to know that during my time in the Senate, because my 
State does have a 1,200-mile common border with Mexico, I have spent a 
lot of time listening to and learning from folks who live and work 
along our border. Our border is a beautiful part of our State, rich in 
a unique culture and a rich sense of community that you can't find in 
many parts of the country.
  Through no fault of their own, these border communities are being 
overwhelmed by the sheer number of migrants crossing the border, and 
the local leaders are beyond frustrated with the failures of the 
Federal Government to live up to its obligation to provide security 
along an international border.
  The President and Vice President have, I have to acknowledge, 
verbally encouraged migrants not to come to the United States. But 
those words mean nothing. They are hollow rhetoric indeed when somebody 
can simply pick up the phone and call a family member in the United 
States or watch the evening news and see how easy it is to make your 
way across the border, not to mention the fact that the human 
smugglers, the cartels who charge thousands of dollars per head, are 
whispering in their ear saying: We can get you across the border if you 
just pay us our fee.

  The reality of the situation is we are nearing a breaking point, and 
the Vice President and President could see that if they were only 
willing to join me and others who would be more than happy to host them 
by visiting the Rio Grande Valley. The administration has wasted 
valuable time that could have been spent addressing the crisis.
  This is a crisis in policy. This is not where building an additional 
physical barrier would stop many of these migrants. Some of that would, 
and the Border Patrol said it has a part to play, but the truth is many 
of these migrants are turning themselves over to law enforcement 
authorities. They are not running away because they have figured out 
the gaps in our law better than we have.
  The administration has wasted valuable time that could have been 
spent addressing this crisis, and instead, it has just gotten worse. 
Now the question is, What are they going to do about it? If they are 
looking for ideas, I am happy to offer a suggestion.
  There is already a grassroots plan out there that was built from the 
bottom up by Senators and Congressmen most familiar with this crisis. 
Last month, Senator Sinema, the Senator from Arizona, and I introduced 
the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, a straightforward, commonsense way 
to address this crisis. We have been proud to work with two House 
Members. The Presiding Officer knows Congressman Cuellar from Laredo, 
TX, along with Tony Gonzales, who represents one of the biggest 
congressional districts contiguous to the U.S.-Mexico border, and they 
are our cosponsors in the House.
  So a bipartisan, bicameral bill to address the very crisis that Vice 
President Harris and President Biden have been trying to avoid learning 
more about, at least until now--this legislation has the support, as I 
said, of Members of both parties and in both Chambers, as well as a 
diverse range of well-respected organizations. The U.S. Hispanic 
Chamber of Commerce, the National Border Patrol Council, the National 
Immigration Forum, and more than a dozen other organizations support 
this legislation.
  I would be more than happy to sit down with the President and the 
Vice President to discuss our bill, which includes the input of leaders 
who are dealing with the brunt of the crisis along the border. If the 
administration truly wants to address this crisis, they need to get 
serious about how to do so, and a photo op simply will not get the job 
done.
  The Vice President, I think, would be well served and would be 
serving the people of this country well if she would visit the Rio 
Grande Valley and listen to the law enforcement, elected officials, 
NGOs, and other men and women who are doing their best to try to deal 
with this crisis without much help from the administration.
  The administration has wasted too much time already. Now is not the 
time for another empty gesture.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.