[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 45 (Thursday, March 9, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S735-S736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I am sure you have seen news reports 
about a group of four Americans who were recently kidnapped after 
driving across the U.S.-Mexico border. This week, two of them were 
tragically found dead. My heart goes out to the families affected by 
this devastating development.
  This is the latest in a string of incidents that underscore just how 
chaotic the situation is at our southern border. I know firsthand 
because I visited the border last week, along with a delegation of 
Republicans led by my colleague Senator Cornyn. We can read about what 
is going on down at the border. We can watch the news. But until you 
travel south and see the chaos there with your own eyes, you really 
can't fully understand the gravity of this situation.
  The numbers we hear reported are overwhelming. Migrant encounters 
this fiscal year have already stretched past 770,000. December hit a 
record for monthly encounters, at over 251,000.
  Sure, we talk about these numbers, but what really brings home what a 
crisis this is, is walking past an unfinished border wall, boating up 
and down the Rio Grande River, riding through the brush, and seeing the 
paths migrants use to sneak into our country. It is touring a raided 
stash house where a weapon was found, an illegal immigrant was 
detained, and a human smuggler was arrested. The faces and the voices 
of people on the ground in Texas who are directly hurt by border 
insecurity--that is what really brings home what a crisis this is.
  My colleagues and I talked to Border Patrol officers, illegal 
immigrants, and South Texas landowners. Each of these conversations 
unveiled a new side of the tragic situation at the border.
  Our agents are doing good and honorable work to protect migrants, to 
defend our national security, and to stop criminals in their tracks, 
but it is all with little support from this administration.
  Along the border wall, we spoke with illegal immigrants, some of them 
single men and women and some of them with families. We met a 6-month-
old baby. All had been detained by Border Patrol, and they were being 
identified before being sent to a processing center.
  This is a sad situation, not just what these migrants face to get 
here, dealing with the coyotes and the cartels, but then what they will 
face in their future. These migrants will head north, and they will be 
forced to work off what they owe the coyotes for getting them across 
our border. Many of them will be funneled into lives of indentured 
servitude, some of them into human trafficking and sex trafficking.
  But this is not only an enormous humanitarian crisis and a drug 
crisis; this is a national security crisis.
  I am a senior member on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Our trip 
to the Rio Grande Valley reaffirmed that the frenzy at our southern 
border is nothing short of a national security disaster.
  The United States does not have control of the southwest border. Do 
you know who does? The Mexican cartels. When we cannot control who is 
entering our country, when we cannot control what they are bringing 
into our country or where they are going, that is a serious national 
security risk.
  In fiscal year 2022, border agents arrested 98 suspected terrorists 
who were trying to enter the country illegally between our ports of 
entry. During the previous administration, this number was never higher 
than six. Since October, border agents have arrested another 53 people 
on the terror watch list. President Biden's mismanagement of the border 
has created a total catastrophe, and thanks to him, we are experiencing 
not only a homeland security crisis but also a homeland defense crisis.
  This visit to the border was so frustrating because we know that the 
dangerous criminal activity going on there is preventable. But the 
President's refusal to enforce our country's laws, our current laws, 
means that trafficking of people, drugs, and weapons occurs unabated at 
our border.
  In the Senate, we are trying to find solutions to the border crisis. 
I introduced a resolution with Senator Britt, who joined us on last 
week's border trip, which simply acknowledges the crisis at the 
southern border. Let's just say there is a crisis that exists. That 
should be simple. I joined Senator Britt to introduce the Keep Our 
Community Safe Act, which would close the gaping catch-and-release 
loophole allowing illegal immigrants to escape into our country.
  I helped introduce Sarah's Law, sponsored by my colleague Senator 
Ernst, to require mandatory detention of illegal immigrants charged 
with violent crimes in our country and, in turn, better protect the 
public.
  I will keep urging my colleagues to join these bills, but there is a 
limit to

[[Page S736]]

what we can do while the President and his border czar Vice President 
Harris continue to turn a blind eye to what is going on in Texas. 
Throwing taxpayer dollars at a smartphone app that facilitates border 
crossing appointments for migrants is not going to cut it. We need the 
President and Vice President to do their jobs and enforce the laws that 
keep our country safe.
  Step out of the White House, President Biden, and take a look at what 
is happening. When you say you travel to the border, go to the border.
  The administration continues to release thousands of migrants into 
the United States each and every month, holding onto the pipe dream 
that they will voluntarily show up in court next year. And there are 
thousands more ``got-aways'' who continue evading Border Patrol and 
entering this country illegally.
  The President needed to deal with this mess yesterday. It is far past 
time for this administration to show us some recognition that the 
President understands how dangerous this is. Time is up for President 
Biden to move past the photo ops and to reach across the aisle to find 
serious solutions.
  Maintaining our national security should not be a partisan goal. It 
should be an American goal. Neglecting our border means more drugs 
brought into our country, more women and children facing a life of sex 
trafficking, and more threats to the security of our Nation.
  Let's get our border security bills passed and deal with the 
situation once and for all.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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