[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.