[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 164 (Wednesday, September 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6597-S6598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Now, one final matter. The American people are 
watching a terrible sight unfold down on our southern border. Many 
thousands of people, largely from Haiti, are literally huddled together 
underneath a bridge in Del Rio, TX, just across the Rio Grande. 
Temperatures have been in the triple digits. The conditions are 
unsanitary and inhumane.
  This nightmare is the direct result of the leftwing policies and 
leftwing messages pushed by the Biden administration. They say their 
approach to immigration is the compassionate path, the one that 
reflects the soul of America. They are wrong. In no way does it honor 
America's soul or uphold American values to tolerate a major border 
security crisis and unending--unending--humanitarian disaster that 
appear to be permanent features of life under the Biden administration.
  This false choice is the constant refrain from the left. Either we 
adopt Democratic policies that lure people into literal squalor and 
effectively open our borders in the middle of a pandemic or else we are 
somehow betraying the spirit of the Statue of Liberty? That is simply 
nonsense.
  Legal, orderly immigration has been a proud strength of our country 
and a core pillar of the American way of life literally for 
generations. That is completely different than Washington Democrats 
sabotaging our border while publicly advertising a catalog--a catalog--
of socialist benefits they say they will provide for illegal immigrants 
who manage to make it in.
  When President Biden was sworn in, thousands and thousands of people 
took his far-left campaign rhetoric seriously and began streaming 
toward our borders. One person at the border directly told the 
Washington Post they came because they heard ``President Biden was 
letting people in.''
  First, in the springtime, his administration called this a seasonal 
surge. Well, so much for that. We have had more than 150,000 border 
apprehensions every single month for the past 6 months. Encounters 
usually fall off during the hot summer months, but on President Biden's 
watch, the opposite has happened.
  Listen to one recent example of the chaos. A few days ago, the Biden 
administration filled a big bus with illegal immigrants from this 
encampment. The bus set out for somewhere else in Texas. But according 
to news reporting, partway through the journey, the illegal immigrants 
on board revolted, took control of the bus, and broke out. But more 
broadly, it sounds like catch-and-release may be the de facto Biden 
policy.
  Just this morning, the Associated Press reports that according to 
government officials, ``Haitian migrants camped in a . . . Texas border 
town are being released in the United States . . . on a very, very 
large scale . . . undercutting the Biden administration's

[[Page S6598]]

public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate 
expulsion.''
  Nobody believes Democrats that this lawlessness, chaos, and human 
suffering is the fair and compassionate way to govern our country. 
Nobody buys that. An average of recent surveys shows that only 36 
percent--36 percent--of the country approves of President Biden's 
handling of immigration, while 56 percent disapprove.
  Look, Americans know a train wreck when they see one. Our citizens 
deserve better than this failure--utter failure--of leadership, and so 
do the people Democrats are luring here with a mirage.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Thune 
and I be allowed to complete our remarks before the vote is taken.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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