[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 197 (Thursday, November 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5687-S5688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, the United States has a long history 
of standing for freedom and self-determination.
  From the 1940s through the 2010s, under President Trump, our Nation 
has stood with Israel, in defense of Israel. We were there in 1948 when 
Israel became a country. We stood with them through the Six-Day War and 
the Yom Kippur War, the Camp David peace talks, negotiations with the 
PLO, two intifadas, and multiple attempts to implement a two-state 
solution.
  Under President Reagan, we fought the spread of communism across 
multiple continents because we understand that the unchecked spread of 
Marxist influence will threaten our very survival. This wasn't just 
ideological saber rattling. The Soviets had a staggering number of 
nuclear warheads at their disposal. It was important to eliminate as 
many of those as we could. Reagan was remarkably clear-eyed about this.
  Again, it wasn't a question of politics. It was a matter of 
recognizing the danger and then finding a way to neutralize that 
danger. We accepted that it was our duty to protect global security 
because no one else had the power or the resolve to do that.
  And since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, the United States has been 
a leading provider of aid to the Ukrainians because Vladimir Putin has 
the same propensity toward violence and conquest that motivated his 
predecessors.
  This is also why we have fought so hard to provide our partners in 
Taiwan with the weapons and funding they need to defend themselves 
against communist Chinese aggression.
  Over the past 3 years, our reputation--our Nation's reputation--as a 
champion of freedom has become tarnished by Joe Biden's foreign policy 
and his policy of appeasement. Nothing has been more damaging than his 
refusal to protect our sovereignty here at home. A strong border is the 
most basic element of our national defense. It is what guarantees our 
right to exist as a country, and Joe Biden has abandoned it entirely.
  When he took office and declared law and order obsolete, he didn't 
just invite millions of migrants across our border; he invited the new 
axis of evil--Russia, China, Iran, North Korea--to declare open season 
on their neighbors. China became more aggressive toward Taiwan. Putin 
invaded Ukraine. And Hamas violated a ceasefire and slaughtered 
Israelis in their beds.
  The Biden administration's response has only made things worse. They 
exploited the plight of the Ukrainians as

[[Page S5688]]

a distraction from their own terrible policies. They have all but 
ignored China's human rights violations. And, to date, they put more 
pressure on Israel than on Hamas to lay down arms.
  Joe Biden's attempts to curry favor with the new axis of evil won't 
keep us safe because these nations aren't here to make friends. Their 
goal--the goal of that axis of evil--is to exploit our weaknesses until 
it becomes impossible for us to fight back.
  This is a battle over borders, and, if we want to win, we need to 
lead by example and reassert our right to exist as a sovereign nation. 
We should start by securing our very own border.
  In fiscal year 2023, the Border Patrol recorded more than 3.2 million 
enforcement actions along our southern border. In addition, we caught 
151 known and suspected terrorists trying to illegally enter our 
country.
  The Senate will have an opportunity to address this before the year 
ends, but I fear my Democratic colleagues will block those efforts or, 
worse, offer a half-baked solution and call it a job well done.
  The majority leader insists that the issue of border security is just 
too partisan, and the majority whip insists that since we let the issue 
of border security go unattended for 30-plus years, we can afford to 
let it go just a little bit longer.

  This is absolutely nonsense. I think it is also dangerous. If Joe 
Biden refuses to defend the sovereignty of his own country, our 
adversaries will assume they can act as aggressively as they want 
without any meaningful resistance from the United States.
  If we refuse to defend ourselves, how can we be effective in 
defending Israel, our strongest ally in the Middle East?
  Israel's sovereignty has been established across thousands of years 
of history, and still Hamas denies Israel's right to exist. That is how 
they justified violating the ceasefire and declaring war on the world's 
Jewish community, and it is frightening to see so many people in this 
country defending that decision. Every one of those individuals should 
watch the videos that we have watched from the GoPro cameras of those 
Hamas terrorists. It is revolting.
  No peace plan is possible until Hamas is eliminated and the 
Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist. To make this happen, we 
need to set an example by securing our own borders and then passing a 
stand-alone and straightforward aid package to help Israel do the same.
  We all know that giving humanitarian aid to Gaza at this point means 
letting it go to terrorists. I would ask the majority leader and my 
Democratic colleagues to give Israel this funding without attaching 
dangerous conditions that will force them to undermine their own 
security.
  Ensuring a free and sovereign Ukraine is also an important element of 
our foreign policy, but how can we speak with any real authority about 
Ukrainian self-determination while holding ourselves to a lower 
standard?
  When Putin attacked, the United States backed Ukraine with our words 
and our actions because we knew that if we didn't, millions of people 
would pay the price for our appeasement. We have a historic obligation 
to Ukraine, and continuing to send aid will serve as a powerful 
deterrent.
  The American people understand how important it is to maintain that 
pressure on Russia and Vladimir Putin, but they don't think they should 
have to sacrifice their own security to do it. They also are very 
concerned about the total lack of transparency surrounding these aid 
packages.
  Here is a stat. Since February of 2022, the United States has 
approved $113 billion in total aid responding to Putin's war. This 
includes defense items sent via the Presidential drawdown authority, 
with no oversight. It is imperative that we have oversight and 
transparency around every single dollar that is going into Ukraine.
  The reason? Right now Americans can't afford to spend even one more 
cent on gas or groceries, thanks to Joe Biden's Bidenomics. So they 
need to see that their money is actually going to be accounted for and 
that it is actually going to make a difference. We owe them a full 
accounting of how their money is being spent in Ukraine, how long we 
will maintain the flow of aid, and when they can expect to see us match 
those efforts here at home with our own border security plan. They also 
want to know: What is the strategy, and how are we going to make 
certain that Vladimir Putin does not win?
  Joe Biden's actions speak much louder than his words. For 3 years 
now, he has projected nothing but weakness. He has sent a parade of 
diplomats to legitimize relations with the Chinese Communist Party. He 
has enabled Iran and its terrorist proxies--Hamas, Hezbollah, the 
Houthis, ISIS Iraq, ISIS in Syria--and he has sent billions upon 
billions of dollars in security aid overseas without giving a second 
thought to securing our own border.
  At the height of the Cold War, Reagan said:

       [I]f history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded 
     appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is 
     folly. It means the betrayal of our past [and] the 
     squandering of our freedom.

  There is a lot of wisdom in that. We need to think about that 
history. Thousands of innocent people have already paid the ultimate 
price because Joe Biden has refused to heed that warning.
  It is time to abandon this failed strategy of appeasement. It is time 
to project strength and resolve. It is time for our allies to know that 
they are our allies, that they can count on us. It is time for our 
enemies to fear us. It is time for us to make certain that we get an 
aid package--an aid package--to Israel. It is time for us to secure our 
southern border. It is time for us to know who is coming into this 
country and why they are coming into this country.
  If Joe Biden doesn't act to secure our border and defend our right to 
exist as a free and independent country, we are going to see the 
violence that threatens the sovereignty of Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan 
bleed onto American soil, and no level of negotiation or appeasement 
will be able to stop it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the recorded 
vote begin immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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