[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 153 (Thursday, September 21, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4645-S4646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, on Sunday, our Border Patrol reported more 
than 7,500 migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border--7,500 
migrants crossed the border on Sunday. Then on Monday, there were more 
than 8,000 arrests along the southern border as a new surge of migrants 
tried crossing on that day.
  These numbers still haven't provoked any significant, meaningful 
response from the Biden administration, even though they are just shy 
of that single-day record for the year that was recorded in May after 
the end of title 42.
  Every day, I think that there is going to be a response, a reply, a 
significant effort. It isn't necessarily a partisan issue. Democratic 
Mayor Eric Adams stated last week that New York City is being 
destroyed, and it will cost $12 billion after an influx of 110,000 
migrants from the southern border have landed in the city. And while 
110,000 migrants clearly are a massive number for any city to absorb, 
it is only a tiny fraction--a very tiny fraction--of the 2.76--2.76 
million migrants who crossed the border in fiscal year 2022.
  The unending catastrophic situation on the border has continued for 
so long that it seems like the Biden administration has grown numb to 
what, in any circumstance, would be considered a crisis--a crisis for 
the people who are crossing, a crisis for the people in the United 
States, a crisis for the people in New York City.

[[Page S4646]]

  Gone are the days when the migrants showing up at our borders were 
from our neighboring country to the south. Now migrants are flooding in 
on trains from El Salvador, Haiti, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and most 
significant to me, China.
  We have a gaping hole in our national security that stretches from 
California to Texas and, I assume, our other borders as well, and our 
adversaries are already using that circumstance to their advantage.
  I visited the border with a bipartisan group of Senators earlier this 
year and witnessed Chinese nationals being apprehended--apprehended--by 
our border agents.
  This week, it was reported that approximately 18,000 Chinese 
nationals had been encountered at the southern border. This is compared 
to 2,000 in 2022 and only 450--still a big number--in 2021. It was also 
reported that some of these individuals potentially had ties to the 
Chinese Communist Party and that not one of them was detained for any 
length of time.
  This failure to respond to the arrival of the Chinese succeeded the 
FBI report that I had read, with great concern, about migrants with 
ties to ISIS who had been permitted to enter the country. The Customs 
and Border Patrol, which is overworked and understaffed, released an 
individual on the terrorist watch list into the country. The American 
people deserve answers from Secretary Mayorkas and from the Biden 
administration.
  I have been on this floor previously, numerous times, like many of my 
colleagues, to make the case that the crisis at the southern border is 
causing an influx of illegal, deadly drugs--like fentanyl from China--
to enter the United States and is leading to the overdose deaths of 
thousands of Americans. I made the case that this is a humanitarian 
crisis as mothers and children attempt to make the long, dangerous trek 
across Mexico. Along the way, they face hunger, heat waves, human 
trafficking, and drug cartels. Caravans with thousands of migrants 
continue to march on our southern border. Border agents have been 
pulled away to deal with the record number of migrants and are left 
without the manpower to try and stop drug and human traffickers, spies, 
and potential terrorists.
  For a long time, we have worried about people just coming across our 
border who are violating our sovereignty and taking our jobs; but it is 
even more significant and more critical that we respond now as our law 
enforcement deals with drug cartels, human trafficking, and now our 
national security--harmed significantly by those who enter our country 
illegally to do us harm.
  President Biden must act to ensure the stricter enforcement of our 
immigration laws, reinstate the construction of a wall or fencing in 
areas that are largely unprotected, and the administration must send a 
message, loud and clear, that our border is closed to unlawful 
entrants.
  It is way past time--way past time--we finished the wall and gave our 
law enforcement agents the tools they need to better protect our 
border. Instead, this administration is sitting on resources and paying 
storage fees for the unused border wall panels. With the President's 
lack of action, it is just an amazing circumstance we find ourselves 
in. Our national security is at stake, and we have failed to respond.
  I would say that we can do more than one thing at one time. I also 
believe that the Senate should act to deliver lasting solutions to keep 
our border secure, to keep our communities safe, and to ensure the 
humane treatment of migrants. We could start by taking a vote on the 
Secure the Border Act. Securing our southern border shouldn't be--and I 
hope isn't--a Republican or a Democratic issue. It is not a Texas or a 
New Mexico or an Arizona issue. It is a national security issue.
  Speaking of national security, I would be remiss if I didn't raise 
the importance of passing a supplemental appropriation that includes 
not only support for our efforts to contain the influx of people on our 
southern border and on our borders generally but that also includes 
money to support the efforts by the Ukrainian people to have a free 
country. While Ukrainian forces have not made a decisive breakthrough 
in their counteroffensive, they are making incremental progress that 
deserves our ongoing support.
  The commitments made by our European allies now surpass America's, 
and the assistance that the United States has sent to Ukraine has been 
accounted for by multiple inspectors general. A failure on our part to 
remain committed would shake the confidence in the United States of 
allied capitals around the world. This, in turn, could lead to more 
aggression by more adversaries. Now is not the time to give up on 
Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is counting on our doing so. His only way to 
win--his only way to win--is to hang in long enough until the West--
until the United States--and our allies grow tired or otherwise become 
distracted. America's resolve against Russia's aggression should be 
unwavering.
  The world is watching and judging American dependability. If we are 
found unreliable, the world will become an even more dangerous place. 
If we fail, the world becomes a more dangerous place. This is certainly 
about Ukraine, but it is about the security and safety of the people of 
the United States. Looking the other way is not an option.
  What is happening at our southern border and, in fact, what is 
happening well beyond our borders in Europe needs a serious response. 
The security of our country, the security of American citizens, the 
security of Kansans depends upon it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Welch). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.