[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 25, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S86-S87]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I rise today at the beginning of this 
new year to talk about a problem we have talked about a lot, but 
unfortunately we haven't gotten the results we need, and that is to 
talk about our southern border.
  It is not a new topic for me--I have been on the floor many times 
talking about this, as have my colleagues--and it is not a new topic 
for the American people because they see this every day, and many 
people are living it very close-up. Many of my colleagues can say the 
same because this is a topic they have unfortunately had to discuss 
over and over and over again, with no real results, and we are going to 
hear from some of them today.
  Years ago on this Senate floor, I said:

       I urge my colleagues here in the Senate to take a long--
     hard look at the undisputed facts that demonstrate the crisis 
     at the border is escalating.

  When I said those words, it was December 2018. The number of 
apprehensions along the southern border then was a little more than 
60,000. Over the weekend, Customs and Border Protection released the 
numbers for this past December, and apprehensions along our southern 
border were reported at 251,487--an alltime high.
  You can see from the chart I have here--you might not be able to read 
the numbers, but the dark blue is what we have been doing all through 
2022, far eclipsing the light blue of 2021, which

[[Page S87]]

were record numbers. But, here again, in the dark purple, which is the 
lower one, this is the average from fiscal year 2013 to 2020, and many 
times, this is five times, six times the amount in December. That is 
startling--startling.
  But one thing that has changed over these last 2 years, fortunately, 
is that the President finally decided to visit the southern border. He 
went to El Paso several weeks ago. Well, it is about time. It certainly 
shouldn't have taken that long to visit a part of our country that is 
deeply affected by these numbers, but he finally went down.
  I have been to the southern border many times. I am sure, Madam 
President, you have been there many times as well--quite a bit over the 
years. We just had several codels go down these past couple weeks.
  The President has been saying of Republicans that ``it is easy to 
demagogue the issue and reject solutions.'' So here is what I have to 
say to the President in response to that: No, Mr. President, it is not 
easy to demagogue. It is easy to see that the issue is not getting the 
attention that it deserves by this administration.
  The chart pretty much says it all right there.
  The Biden administration often pivots to calling for comprehensive 
immigration reform and that Congress needs to provide the resources. 
Some of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are discussing these 
very issues. But this is not an either/or scenario. Any discussions 
about the need for and the way we reform our immigration system are 
separate and apart from the need to enforce the laws to secure the 
border.
  I am particularly struck by the President's comment on solutions. To 
explain these record numbers almost each and every month, we have been 
told: The surge is seasonal.
  By the way, December is traditionally, as you can see, one of the 
lower months over the years, so the seasonal charge cannot be the 
issue.
  The surge was the result of particular political conditions in 
relative countries.
  Well, we see people coming in from hundreds of countries, not just 
surging from political conditions in a country.
  Our economy is a magnet.
  It very well could be.
  It is a surge for asylum or those fleeing countries that are impacted 
by natural disasters.
  All of these things, these excuses, are from the administration.
  One thing is clear: Thousands of individuals and families are 
continually coming into our country unaccounted for, draining the 
resources of many of our communities.
  But Congress needs to do our part to provide the funds and support 
for the men and women in the Agencies that are tasked with securing our 
border, enforcing our immigration laws, and stemming the flow of drugs, 
particularly fentanyl, from getting into our country. I stand ready to 
do that and have done that through my work on the Appropriations 
Committee as the ranking member on Homeland Security.
  Now, you may disagree with the tone and tactics of the last 
administration, but I think everyone can agree that border security was 
certainly a priority, and that is why so many of us called for 
President Biden to go to the border himself and see the crisis for 
himself. The numbers under President Trump were measurably less because 
of his policies.
  There is an irony here because after 2 years of neglect, we have seen 
the need to go to the border in a way dwindled because the border 
crisis has actually come to the President, come to Washington, DC, come 
to West Virginia, come to Denver.
  But some of the most critical comments about the impacts and failures 
of these policies have not come from Republicans but from a mayor of a 
town along the Rio Grande or from the Democratic mayor of the city of 
New York. Mayor Adams, mayor of New York City, has called this 
situation not just a crisis, but, instead, he has called it a 
disaster--exactly what it is. Mayor Adams is now seeking funds to help 
house those tens of thousands of migrants who are arriving in New York 
City.
  Cities far into the interior of our country are being stretched to 
the max from the migrant surge. This is why we have to do everything we 
can to stem the influx.
  We just passed an Omnibus appropriations bill that increases funding 
for these activities, particularly at CBP, ICE, and FEMA, for personnel 
and for technology. But imagine the men and women who have to deal with 
this all the time--the fatigue, the morale, the difficulties when you 
are so overrun. They are just pressed beyond capacity month after month 
and year after year. Each year, we have worked in a bipartisan way 
within Homeland Security to encourage and fund increased hiring for 
Border Patrol agents, for example. We are way down on those. But it has 
been difficult to fill these positions or to even maintain the current 
force.
  One of the things I am most proud about in my tenure as ranking 
member on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee is the 
creation and funding of a new position for CBP called the processing 
coordinators. We did this because too many of our trained agents were 
pulled from their duty stations and their mission to perform tasks that 
they are not prepared to do. This balance enables Agencies to go back 
to actually performing tasks they are supposed to do, they are equipped 
for, and they are trained for.

  In addition to increasing resources for CBP, we must also be making 
efforts to increase interior enforcement. Once they get through the 
border and they declare asylum, they are told to come back in 5 to 7 
years. Many of them don't, but that is what they are--and they are in 
the interior of the country, and we don't use the interior enforcement 
mechanisms that we have. It is very unacceptable that thousands upon 
thousands are waiting--in some cases waiting 7 years before they can 
even begin any kind of removal procedures.
  We just cannot let this crisis continue.
  Bottom line: The issue was not a priority of the first 2 years of 
this administration. That is very obvious. As I said, the chart--this 
is the second year of the President's administration. This is the first 
year which is way above the averages, but it definitely cannot be 
ignored. The impact on too many families, too many businesses, and too 
many communities along the southern border, even in our State of West 
Virginia, simply cannot be ignored.
  I am glad the President went, and now he is fully aware, hopefully, 
of the problem. I sure hope he is ready and willing to act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I gave my remarks on border security, 
and as the new vice chair of the Republican conference, I have gathered 
some really strong voices here to share in the concerns that I have. I 
am really pleased to have the chair of our policy committee here, 
Senator Ernst from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Thank you, Vice Chair Capito. Wow. It is great to have 
another woman in leadership and leading these floor events now.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

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