[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 197 (Thursday, November 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Border Security
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, before I begin, there is something I want
to address today. I just want to make an observation about this
discussion we are having on our southern border. I would reiterate what
I have been saying now for some time, and that is that it is no longer
just a humanitarian crisis. It is every bit of that, but it is a
national security crisis.
We see the numbers on a daily basis, the number of people who are
apprehended at the southern border trying to come into the country
illegally. In the last 3 days--the last 3 days--that is over 9,000 per
day--over 9,000 per day, and that doesn't include the ``got-aways'' or
the unknowns. That is the people who are apprehended coming across the
border illegally. And we now know that, in the month of September, for
example, there were a significant number of people--18, actually--
apprehended coming across the southern border, who are on the Terrorist
Watchlist.
People coming from all over the world have figured out that, if you
want a portal, if you want to get into the United States, just come to
the southern border, and we will wave you in, which is essentially what
is happening today.
And the question I would ask is, In what universe does that make any
sense?
I said this yesterday: We are a nation of immigrants. We have been a
very welcoming country. We have ways of bringing people into this
country legally, and we do that on an annual basis.
But we are a nation of laws, first and foremost. The rule of law is
what distinguishes our country from many other countries around the
world, and yet, at our southern border, that doesn't mean a thing.
Over 9,000 a day--annualize that. Think about what that means. That
is 3 million people a year. And we have people who want to turn a blind
eye and a deaf ear to it.
We have an opportunity in this national security supplemental bill
that will be on the floor perhaps as early as next week. It will deal
with issues like Ukraine, issues like Israel--what is happening there--
and the Indo-Pacific, where we have national security interests at
stake. We have to deal with the national security crisis at our
southern border.
This is insanity. I don't understand it. I don't understand the
administration. I don't understand some of my colleagues here in the
Senate who feel like this isn't something that we need to be dealing
with or addressing. This is a national security crisis on a daily
basis--over 9,000 the last 3 days in a row--and, again, some of which
we know, because they are catching them, are people on the Terrorist
Watchlist.
In what universe does what is being done at our southern border make
sense to anybody, to any rational person?
It doesn't make sense to the mayor of New York City or the mayor of
Chicago, where, as migrants arrive there, they are having to divert
resources to address that. The mayor of New York City said he was going
to freeze hiring police officers in New York City. That seems like that
would be a problem, if I were a New York City resident. He said he was
going to have to close libraries and cut funding for education.
That is what we are talking about. This is not just an issue that
affects communities on the southern border, although I have been down
there a number of times, and, believe me, they are profoundly affected.
This is an issue where every State becomes a border State, as literally
thousands of people on a daily basis are released into the interior of
the United States--waved by, with no regard or respect for our heritage
as a nation of laws in a country that is built upon a foundation of the
rule of law.
It has to be fixed. It has to be done, and it needs to be done now,
and I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and our folks
at the White House understand that. We can't wait any longer. This is
out of control.