[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 201 (Wednesday, December 6, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5781-S5792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Supplemental Funding

  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, as this body continues to discuss the 
need for a national security supplemental, I rise today to discuss the 
important elements that need to be included in this supplemental and 
to, once again, emphasize the growing demands for increased border 
security in our country.
  For a nation as powerful and as impactful as ours, there are 
obligations that we inherently have to meet, both to ourselves and our 
allies. At the center of these obligations rests defending our 
homeland. This security is imperative to the sovereignty of our Nation, 
with our other obligation being to support our allies abroad as they 
face hostilities. We must realize that these two priorities are deeply 
woven together. We cannot achieve national security as a whole without 
securing our own borders. In fact, President Biden's own national 
defense strategy reflects this very sentiment, citing protection of the 
homeland as the No. 1 defense priority.
  It is essential that border security remains one of our four pillars 
that need to be included in any national security supplemental that is 
approved by this Congress. In order to properly secure and defend our 
allies, we must properly secure and defend our own Nation at the same 
time.
  As I have said on the floor many times, Madam President, with you 
presiding--I have said many times that there is no doubt that we 
currently live in a time of heightened national security concern. Not 
only is this concern felt around the globe but in almost every State 
and community in our own country because of this crisis at the border.
  Because of this crisis at the border, we see chaos. We see it on our 
news channels every evening. We see the monthly records of illegal 
crossings--as a matter of fact, I think several days ago, the highest 
daily number. We see how those who are truly seeking asylum are being 
disadvantaged by the cartels and smugglers who are playing the system.
  It is obvious that the policies which have led to this crisis need to 
be addressed, and they need to be changed and reformed.
  I often talk about American leadership and our historic ability to 
respond with strength in times of crisis. Well, this is a time of 
crisis, and our porous southern border is something we desperately need 
to act upon.
  It is not lost on me or on my Republican colleagues, the urgency to 
address the four central national security emergencies of our time. 
Ukraine is facing an unjust and unprovoked ground war perpetrated by 
Russia. Our ally and friend Israel is under attack by terrorists who 
are holding women and children hostage. The recounting that we have 
heard of the sexual violence against the women in Israel on October 7 
is appalling. Our allies in the Indo-Pacific face heightened concern as 
rival nations increase their aggression. Right here in the United 
States, we are facing the worst border crisis in our Nation's history.
  These four areas are directly tied together. Ukraine's ability to 
defend itself and stave off Russian aggression relates directly to the 
security of Taiwan and the increased posture of China. The terrorist 
attacks perpetrated on Israel have led to attacks on our own U.S. 
military bases and ships, as well as the alarming rise--alarming rise--
of anti-Semitism that we are seeing in our own country.
  Nations directly opposed to the United States--they are opposed to 
our values, our way of life--are building an uneasy level of 
camaraderie between one another. You can guarantee that these nations 
are watching our self-created security crisis at our border and waiting 
to see when we will finally wake up and react. Our country must take 
notice of this.
  The supplemental text before us does not make any policy changes but 
instead just throws more money--more money--at a broken system. That is 
not a solution. It doesn't address the actual policies that are fueling 
this situation.
  The changes in border policy that my party seeks are not ``partisan 
and extreme measures,'' as the Democrat leader would lead you to 
assume, but, rather, they are substantive solutions that address the 
national security threats that we are now facing.
  We encountered a sixfold increase of individuals on our Terror 
Watchlist just in the past year coming to the southern border. Half of 
the illegal encounters now on our border are not from Mexico or the 
Northern Triangle of Central America. Drugs that are made on the other 
side of the world are smuggled into our country daily, with the goal of 
sowing destruction and sorrow. Unfortunately, that is having success. 
We do not know who or what is entering our borders, and that cannot be 
a risk we are willing to take.
  The truth of the matter is, this doesn't need to be a partisan issue, 
and I know we have colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are trying 
to work through this. We are not just talking about funding but, 
rather, changes that ensure that those who enter our country are coming 
through legal channels and that they are properly vetted. It sounds 
pretty simple to me--both things that we should all agree are necessary 
aspects of a working immigration system. But, instead, this 
administration, the Biden administration, has incentivized abuses of 
our asylum laws that have led to the greatest border crisis in our 
Nation's history. It is an open border. It is catch-and-release. This, 
in turn, has put our national security at risk.
  This is not an issue that the Republicans have brought up in the 
eleventh hour of a negotiation but, rather, something that we have 
continued to highlight the entire time President Biden has been in the 
White House.
  Members of Congress cannot continue to ignore the deep ties between 
the sovereignty of the United States and the sovereignty of our allies 
abroad. The supplemental we have been discussing for weeks is about 
helping our allies, but also, why is that important? Because we have to 
advance our own interests at the same time, and the border is a big 
part of our own interests. This is not a time to play games; instead, 
it is time to meet the challenges of the moment. While others refuse to 
accept the reality of the landscape we face, Republicans remain at the 
table.
  For too long--for too long--we have been on the floor voting on 
radical nominations to advance the Biden administration's agenda 
instead of on legislation needed to help solve many of the problems I 
have described, including border security and our weakened defense 
industrial base and, I would add as a member of the Appropriations 
Committee, our appropriations bills, which have been teed up since 
July, and the leader has refused to put them on the floor. All that 
serves to do is waste time we simply do not have.

[[Page S5782]]

  We must seek agreements that address our concerns, that provide 
necessary relief, that strengthen our security, and that will move the 
interests of the United States forward. I ask my colleagues in this 
Chamber to recognize that.
  The time to invest in the national security of the United States and 
our allies abroad is now.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I see my fellow Senator from Nebraska here to talk about similar 
subjects.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, earlier this year, I visited our 
Nation's southern border. My colleagues and I joined several patrols to 
see the problems firsthand, and at each of our stops, what we saw was 
very, very alarming. Dozens of people sat on the ground at midnight at 
the border, waiting to go to a crowded processing center for illegal 
immigrants. As we patrolled the Rio Grande Valley, we passed trail 
after trail used by illegal migrants to traffic drugs and people into 
our country. Meanwhile, we walked past an open, unfinished border wall. 
We toured a raided stash house, where a weapon was found, an illegal 
immigrant was detained, and a human smuggler was arrested.
  These experiences--they just scratch the surface of the chaos 
overwhelming our southern border. Our border is a frenzy--a frenzy--of 
illegal activity, and because of neglect and inaction from this 
administration, this disaster is out of control.
  There is a humanitarian crisis at our southern border. There is a 
deadly drug crisis at our southern border. Perhaps most critically, 
there is a national security crisis at our southern border.
  Since President Biden took office, over 8 million migrants have 
illegally crossed our southern border. Border Patrol agents have seized 
over 51,000 pounds of fentanyl. We have seen an uptick in encounters 
with illegal migrants from adversaries like China. That is not even to 
mention the 295--294; I don't want to exaggerate because we don't need 
to exaggerate on numbers like this--the 294 known terrorists who have 
been identified at our border. Hundreds of people on the Terror 
Watchlist are flooding our border. To put those numbers in perspective, 
Border Patrol agents encountered a grand total of 11 people--11 
people--on that list during the 4 years of the last administration.
  My Democratic colleagues support security for Taiwan, they support 
security for Ukraine, and they support security for Israel, but what 
they won't support is basic border security for the United States of 
America. Yesterday's classified briefing on the supplemental 
underscored how ridiculous this is. The United States is the leader of 
the free world. We are supporting the security of our partners and 
allies around the globe. Yet we are told by the Biden administration 
and my Democratic colleagues that we can't support the security at our 
own border? We are told that our own border security is not related to 
this national security supplemental? That is absurd, and the American 
people know that it is absurd.
  Many of my Republican colleagues and I have been willing to 
compromise, but we have had it. We have had it with the evasive answers 
and the total neglect of our own border.
  Border security is not a fringe issue. According to an NBC poll, 53 
percent of voters support more military funding for Taiwan, 55 percent 
support more funding for Ukraine, and 55 percent support more funding 
for Israel, but 74 percent of voters support more funding for our 
border security. That is 20 percent more than anything else that voters 
support in this supplemental.
  My Republican colleagues and I are siding with the American people on 
this funding request. Yes, we should address the conflicts raging 
around our world. We must stand by our allies and our partners. But we 
cannot forget the catastrophic issues that we are seeing on our own 
doorstep. We must secure our own Nation before anything else. If this 
supplemental funding bill truly aims to protect our national security, 
it must address our security from all sides, and the side that is in 
the most dire need of support is our battered and chaotic border.
  But money alone is not going to repair the border. We must make 
commonsense policy changes to address this crisis. Let's tighten our 
asylum standards. Let's limit the use of parole to the required, case-
by-case basis. Let's close the catch-and-release loophole.
  I urge the rest of my colleagues and our President to look at this 
border crisis seriously and to respond with urgency--the urgency that 
this requires. The security supplemental is the right opportunity to do 
so.
  Side with the American voters. Side with common sense, and let us 
protect our border.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BUDD. Madam President, the forces of evil and instability are on 
the march around the globe. In the Middle East, Hamas massacred more 
than 1,200 Israelis and 33 Americans. Iran, the world's leading state 
sponsor of terrorism, continues to finance, provide training for, and 
authorize attacks against U.S. forces in the region. In Europe, Russia 
continues its brutality against Ukraine and is fomenting conflict in 
the Balkans, further threatening peace and stability in Europe. 
Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding its military, threatening our 
allies and partners, and stealing billions in Americans' intellectual 
property.
  All this chaos is the result of weakness from the Biden 
administration. Starting in Afghanistan, continuing to this day, this 
administration has put American weakness on full display. As we 
confront a dangerous global situation, we cannot ignore the fact that 
for America to be a strong nation, we must first be strong at home. 
Before we can help countries protect their borders thousands of miles 
away, we must first protect our own borders.
  The biggest threat to our national security right now is the wide-
open southern border. For 3 years, the border has been in a state of 
crisis. We have grown familiar with these numbers, sadly, but they 
remain historic and staggering. Under President Biden, over 8 million 
illegal immigrants have crossed the border. Under President Biden, 
279--I just heard my colleague speak, and she gave an even higher 
number, an accurate number perhaps, an even higher number than 279--
folks on the Terrorist Watchlist have illegally entered our Nation.
  Under President Biden, nearly 50,000 pounds of fentanyl have been 
seized at the southern border. That is nearly enough to kill every man, 
woman, and child in the United States. Given the fact that we are only 
able to interdict 5 to 10 percent of the illegal drugs that cross, our 
country is being overwhelmed with drugs that can kill with just a 2-
milligram dose.
  Under President Biden, there have been 1.8 million known--known--
``got-aways,'' and that is not counting all of the unknown ``got-
aways,'' including terrorists, human traffickers, and other bad actors.
  This crisis has got to be dealt with, and we have got to deal with it 
now. That is why Senate Republicans have offered the Biden White House 
a deal. Here it is: Include proven border policies in the House-passed 
H.R. 2 in the national security spending package, and you will have our 
support.
  It is a clear pathway, but, so far, this White House is more 
interested in playing politics and continuing to ignore the border 
crisis altogether.
  But you know who can't ignore it? The Border Patrol agents, who are 
under siege right now.
  In the times that I have been down there--multiple times--they have 
told me that, yes, we need a wall. We need border enforcement. We need 
funding. But what we really need--in their own words--is policy, policy 
changes that would empower them to stop the illegal flow of people, 
crime, drugs.
  You know who can't ignore this crisis? The sheriffs from all 100 
North Carolina counties. Many of them have come up to me saying the 
same thing: Every single county in North Carolina is now a border 
county because of Joe Biden's policies.
  The bottom line here is that, in order to be a strong nation, we have 
to have strong borders, and, right now, we don't have that. So I am 
going to call on President Biden to change course, to work with us so 
that we can solve this crisis together. We know what to do. All we need 
is a President who takes this seriously and fulfills his

[[Page S5783]]

oath to protect and defend this country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I am of the view that one of the most 
consequential votes that any Senator will make in their time in the 
U.S. Senate is one that we are facing now: the national security 
supplemental. I am here to encourage its passage--a national security 
supplemental to address the crisis at our southern border, to support 
Israel's right to exist, and to counter Russian, Chinese, and Iranian 
aggression.
  Addressing these issues serves our national interests, and it is 
within the capacity of the Senate to mitigate these crises, to reduce 
the consequences of these crises with strong legislation, and to do it 
before the end of the year.
  National security starts with border security, and I applaud my 
Republican colleagues for working to find a consensus on an emergency 
supplemental for addressing the President's failed policies at our 
southern border.
  It is time for Senate Democrats and the White House and Republicans 
to continue their work, to get back to work, and to negotiate a bill 
that can pass the U.S. Senate. We must and we should show the American 
people that the Senate can be an institution that can come together in 
a responsible way to meet the most pressing challenges our Nation 
faces.
  I saw a headline in the Wall Street Journal here recently: Does 
Congress even work these days? It is a call, a responsibility, that 
reminds us that we have serious and significant work to do together. 
Those pressing needs, those challenges we face, are support for Israel 
to defend itself against terrorism, resources for Ukraine, and policy 
changes to secure our southern border.
  First, it is in our Nation's best interest to stand with our oldest 
ally in the Middle East, Israel. Hamas has stated its intent to wipe 
Israel off the map, even saying the terrorist attacks of October 7 were 
just the beginning. Now is not the time to waver in our support for 
Israel. We must provide Israel with the means to defend itself and 
destroy the terrorists.
  The United States must also work to prevent escalation from Iran and 
other adversaries who may use this opportunity to escalate the war 
against Israel. Hezbollah, entrenched in Lebanon, to the north of 
Israel's border, will find no safe harbor if it attempts to intervene. 
Iran's leaders must know that the fury of the United States awaits if 
they become directly involved. We will stand against terrorism and its 
enablers and supporters.
  Second, the success of Ukraine's defense against ongoing Russian 
invasion is vital to the national interests of the United States. The 
success of Ukraine is vital to the interests of our own country. Should 
Russia fully conquer Ukraine, which remains Putin's goal, more Russian 
forces would be spread across NATO's border, requiring more resources 
from the West--America and our allies in Europe--to be committed to 
defending those allies against further Russian aggression. I don't 
think we can make the mistake. Russia's failure in Ukraine will make 
America safer and will make our allies safer.
  Congress has a critical role in providing the resources necessary not 
just to end the war but ending the war on terms favorable to Ukraine 
and our European allies. To date, a majority of the funding provided to 
Ukraine has been directly injected back into the U.S. economy through 
the development, production, and purchase of U.S.-made weapons to 
replenish U.S. stockpiles.
  Following the leadership of the United States, European nations are 
helping shoulder the burden to support Ukraine's military and have made 
serious commitments to match those of the United States.
  Supporting our partners and allies abroad cannot come at the price of 
ignoring the security interests faced here at home. The 
administration's failure to control the border has created not just a 
humanitarian crisis but a national security crisis. The crushing influx 
of illegal border crossings has included an increase in the number of 
encounters between U.S. Border Patrol agents and individuals the FBI 
has on its Terrorist Watchlist.
  Our border is a humanitarian problem, but it is a problem for the 
well-being of the United States and its national security interests as 
well. As of September 15, border agents have encountered more than 150 
individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database at the southern border. 
These levels of encounters are astonishing, considering there were only 
11 such encounters with these dangerous individuals from 2017 to 2020.
  I have been on the border, I think, at least three times in the last 
year or so, and from conversations with, certainly, our Border Patrol 
agents but also our law enforcement agents as well, the number of 
illegal and foreigners coming into the United States who have the 
potential of providing terrorist threats and acting on terrorist 
behavior in the United States is only growing.
  Our lack of operational control over the border has exacerbated the 
drug crisis, as we know, in our communities as well. The border is the 
single most important line of defense in disrupting these drug 
trafficking and distribution networks, and it is no overstatement to 
say American lives depend on a regulated border.
  Madam President, I stand ready with my Republican colleagues, as they 
do, to find substantive proposals to mitigate this crisis. During an 
Appropriations hearing last month, I was dismayed that Secretary 
Mayorkas chose not to engage on the issues and, instead, fell back on 
the argument for comprehensive immigration reform.
  I agree that major changes to our immigration code are in order and 
have agreed to that belief since my earliest days in Congress. However, 
since I have been in Congress, we keep waiting for comprehensive 
reform, and, as a result, we do nothing--nothing to make our country 
safer, nothing to mitigate the humanitarian crisis unfolding on our 
soil, nothing to increase our national security.
  Support for Ukraine and defending our southern border are not 
mutually exclusive. We can and must do both. It is time to come 
together and resolve our differences on these urgent national security 
issues. The most sustainable and responsible route to a safer and more 
secure United States requires the Senate to take seriously our borders 
and ensure that our partners and allies are prepared and equipped to 
defend themselves against our enemies.
  To my constituents in Kansas and across the country, this is a 
dangerous world we live in, and the decisions that we make in the next 
few days and few weeks--certainly, in the next month--have a 
consequence on the safety and security of Americans today and Americans 
in the future.
  This ought not be a U.S. Senate that doesn't do its work. We ought to 
continue the efforts until we get a result, and I hope that occurs 
quickly.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise today to talk about America's 
wide-open southern border. I want to add my voice to that of the senior 
Senator from Kansas who just made eloquent remarks right here on the 
floor of the Senate about the disaster--the Democratic disaster--at the 
southern border.
  As he pointed out--and as I will add my voice to his--it is a clear 
and present danger to our national security what is happening at the 
southern border. And national security starts with border security.
  The senior Senator from Kansas and I were just meeting with other 
Republican Members of the Senate to review yesterday's numbers at the 
southern border--the number of illegal immigrants coming into this 
country--an all-time record high of over 12,000 illegal immigrants 
coming into this country from all over the world.
  That is the crisis that people all across the country who tune in to 
their TV see is happening in our Nation and to our Nation.
  So here we are on the floor of the Senate, and Senator Schumer, the 
majority leader, wants to vote on $100 billion in national security 
assistance--and he wants to do it today, and we are going to do it 
today.
  That request lacks serious and significant changes that are needed to 
secure the southern border. Without serious and significant changes, 
this bill

[[Page S5784]]

will not pass. Mark my words, Republicans will vote against it.
  Republicans and Democrats have very opposing views of what is needed 
at the border. Republicans want to stop the flow--and it is actually a 
flood--of illegal immigrants coming across the border. Democrats want 
to just wave them on through.
  Republicans want border enforcement, border security, real policy 
changes to keep people out and to keep communities safe. We don't have 
that today in Democratic and Joe Biden's-run America from the 
standpoint of the White House and the Democrats in this body.
  What do Democrats want to do? Oh, they want lots of money for 
sanctuary cities, big slush funds. Give it to the mayor of Chicago. 
Give to it the mayor of New York. And, of course, they want guaranteed 
benefits for illegal immigrants. That is what they are asking for. They 
are not going to get a Republican vote for that at all, not a single 
one.
  Republicans know that border security must be a key element of any 
bill that we talk about on this floor that deals with national 
security.
  For my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who may ask why, let 
me clarify.
  Our southern border is now the most dangerous border crossing in the 
world--in the world. Under President Biden, our border has become a 
magnet for criminals, for drug dealers, for terror suspects.
  The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are warning all of 
us. Democrats may want to cover their ears and not want to hear any of 
these warnings, but we are being warned by the Department of Homeland 
Security and the FBI. And the FBI Director said it yesterday in the 
Senate: Cartels are smuggling fentanyl in from Mexico. It is killing 
hundreds of Americans every day.
  The number coming on the Terrorist Watchlist continues to increase. I 
think it was the head of the FBI yesterday who said: Since October 7, 
all lights are flashing red for a terrorist attack in America.
  Joe Biden's border policies are the deadliest, the most destructive, 
and the most disastrous in American history. The cost of this crisis is 
too large to bear for families, for communities, and even for law 
enforcement.
  That is why Republicans are so focused when there was a bill on the 
floor--and we had a secure briefing yesterday on national security. 
That is why Republicans are so focused on border security.
  Democrats have not put a single bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate 
this year that would stop the flood of illegal immigrants. Democrats 
seem to welcome this national security crisis at the southern border. 
It is wrong. It must change.
  The Biden administration hides behind terms, terms such as ``asylum'' 
and ``parole.'' And they use those to release millions and millions of 
people onto our streets, into our communities, into our neighborhoods. 
And they are bringing with them drugs and crime. And they are killing 
Americans. The Biden administration wants to turn the other way.
  Every single American feels the harmful impacts of these policies. 
Here is what is happening thousands of times each and every day on our 
southern border--and yesterday it was 12,000, the highest in the 
history of the country, coming in across the southern border. And they 
are coming from all over the world.
  The night I was there on border patrol about 3 or 4 weeks ago, who 
did we see? People from all around the world, including a group from 
Moldova. Do you know how many countries they had to go through before 
they could get to Mexico to come to the United States and pay the 
cartels to bring them in? That is what we are seeing every day at the 
southern border.
  Democrats don't go down there. Oh, no, they are not interested in 
actually seeing firsthand what is happening on the Rio Grande River at 
night and during the day. Not interested.
  Border Patrol agents say, Democrats never show up. Not one time.
  So individuals enter the U.S. illegally. And they immediately turn 
themselves into Border Patrol. These are the ones who aren't trying to 
get away. There is over a million of those too. And what they do when 
they give themselves up, they claim they are in danger at home.
  And then what happens? Well, they are released into the streets of 
the United States. OK. Oh, you may be in danger. Oh, you got the magic 
words. OK. Here you go. Come right on in. Ten thousand times a day. 
Twelve thousand times yesterday. And Joe Biden allows it to happen. And 
the Democrats encourage him.
  Some Democrats have finally started to admit Biden's policies are 
actually harming our country. So President Obama's Homeland Security 
Secretary Jeh Johnson told fellow Democrats that the manipulation of 
our asylum laws--because that is what Biden is doing, it is a 
manipulation of our asylum laws--is one of the root causes of illegal 
immigration.
  At one time, Jeh Johnson said a thousand a day would be overwhelming. 
Well, it was 12,000 yesterday. Why aren't the Democrats waking up?
  Senator Schumer, who sits at that desk right there, stands at that 
podium, and will later today--his hometown mayor--hometown mayor--New 
York City, Eric Adams said: The flood of illegal immigrants is 
destroying New York City. Destruction of New York City, and Democrats 
stand by.
  Now, they do want to give a lot of money there, but they sure don't 
want to enforce the law at the border.
  Chicago is another one of these cities that--Democrats are fearful of 
having next summer's Democratic National Convention in Chicago. I 
wonder how many Members of this body are actually going to go, because 
Democrats across the country are afraid of doing it because Chicago is 
being overrun right now with illegal immigrants--overrun and 
overwhelmed.
  We want to make our country safer, and Republicans do. I am not so 
sure about Democrats at this point from the way they are behaving with 
regard to the border. We want to make our country safer. We need to 
pass serious border security policy changes. Republicans know that we 
must end the incentives that are fueling the Biden border crisis.
  And more money to these sanctuary cities and more government benefits 
to illegal immigrants is not solving the problem. It is inviting more 
illegal immigrants to come.
  This is a deadly serious situation. I am not so sure the Democrats 
who were at the secure briefing yesterday all understood that. I am not 
sure the Senate majority leader understands that.
  Real border security is a top national security need. Republicans 
have solutions to make our communities and our countries safer. These 
measures must be included in any national security bill, anything that 
goes to the President's desk, because without them, there will not be a 
national security bill.
  The Republicans are ready to vote against what Chuck Schumer is 
bringing to the floor because it fails to defend our borders and to 
keep our Nation secure.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Madam President, I will just pick up where my colleague 
left off.
  There are four parts to the supplemental appropriations sent over by 
President Biden. One deals with Ukraine. And count me in for Ukraine. 
Robust aid to Ukraine really helps us here at home. Helping Israel--no-
brainer--count me in. Beefing up Taiwan makes perfect sense. There was 
money in the supplemental for border security, but it really didn't 
address the problem we have.
  And here is what I want the body to understand. Here is what happened 
yesterday. The FBI Director testified before the Senate Judiciary 
Committee about the level of threats we face as a nation. And he said:

       [W]hile there may have been times over the years where 
     individual threats could have been higher here or there than 
     where they might be right now, I've never seen a time where 
     all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated, 
     all at exactly the same time.

  This was yesterday.
  What did he say?

       Post October 7--

  The horrible attack on our friends in Israel--


[[Page S5785]]


  

       [Y]ou've seen a veritable rogues' gallery of terrorist 
     organizations calling for attacks against us.

  He said that yesterday.

       [T]he threat level has gone to a whole other level since 
     October 7.
  This was what the FBI Director said yesterday. Are any of us 
listening?

       I see blinking lights everywhere I turn.

  I asked him about blinking lights regarding 9/11. Apparently, they 
were blinking, and we missed them.
  Do you see any blinking lights?
  And he said:

       I see blinking lights everywhere I turn.

  He said that yesterday. Now, why are Republicans, apparently, more 
than anybody else, insisting that the supplemental package not only 
help Ukraine, not only help Israel and Taiwan but actually help us? We 
have got to change the policy because what we have got is not working.
  Yesterday--yesterday--12,000 encounters at the border. The highest 
ever, yesterday. Two days before, 10,000 were marching in the wrong 
direction.
  As these numbers go to new levels and historic levels, the FBI 
Director yesterday told us he has never seen more threats against our 
homeland than he does today.
  And since October 7, every terrorist group in the world is calling 
for an attack on America.
  I asked him about the border. He is very concerned about the status 
of the border.
  So we are on track, if this continues, to have 3.6 million illegal 
encounters that we know of at the border. That is like beyond 
unsustainable. All-time highs every day.
  From 2023 to 2020, the encounters at the border are up 368 percent. 
Why? Because the policies of the Biden administration make people 
believe that if they get to our border, they stay in America and never 
leave. And if you don't change that, you are never going to fix the 
problem.
  Six million people have already come to our border in the first 3 
years of the Biden administration. We are on track to do 3.6 million in 
fiscal year `24.
  The day that people think Trump is going to be the nominee and could 
win the White House, you are going to see a run on the border like you 
have never seen because people want to get the last good deal under the 
Biden administration. Because when Trump wins, if he does, all this is 
going to change.
  There are two problems that have to be fixed. You make an asylum 
claim in America at the border; you pass the initial credible fear 
standard, which needs to be elevated; you are released into the country 
to go to your hearing regarding your asylum claim 3 to 5 years later--
that makes people believe they are released, and they will never show 
up. Once you are here, you are never going to leave. We have to change 
that.
  While you are waiting for your hearing that may be 3 to 5 years away, 
you need to wait outside the country. That would stop a lot of the 
illegal immigrant flow because when people realize you can't wait in 
America, you are home free once you make your asylum claim, they will 
be less likely to pay $10,000 or more to wait in Mexico or some other 
country for 4 or 5 years.
  The second thing is that this administration is abusing the law. The 
Secretary of DHS has the ability on a case-by-case basis to allow 
urgent humanitarian parole for urgent humanitarian reasons or 
significant public benefit. This is meant to be an individual case-by-
case analysis. They are using this concept--the Biden administration--
to have blanket humanitarian parole for 240,000 people from four 
different countries. That is an abuse of the law. This law is being 
used to just flow people through, and that needs to change.
  So if you put a cap on how many people could come into the country 
through humanitarian parole, getting back to the original intent of the 
law, and you told people if you apply for asylum, you have to wait 
outside the country before your hearing is held, then you will have a 
dramatic reduction in illegal immigration. I know that works. That 
doesn't fix a broken immigration system, but it does give us control 
over an out-of-control border at a time of elevated threats.
  To my Democratic colleagues, I have been negotiating with you for 20 
years on how to fix an immigration system that is broken. You need more 
legal immigration. You need border security. You have to have a pathway 
to citizenship for those who are deserving. I get all that. This is not 
all about an immigration reform negotiation; this is about securing the 
border at a time of heightened threat to our country.
  One hundred seventy-two people on the Terrorist Watchlist we know of 
have been caught. Only God knows how many we missed. This run on the 
border is locking the Border Patrol down just processing people, 
fentanyl poisoning of Americans is at an alltime high, 100,000 people 
have died because fentanyl is coming through a broken border. So to my 
Democratic colleagues, this is not about immigration; it is about 
national security. There are ways to fix this problem if you choose to 
do it. I want to help Ukraine. I want to help Taiwan. I want to help 
Israel. But we have got to help ourselves.
  There will never be a bill I will vote for to help other countries 
that are very deserving until we control our own border that is 
completely broken. You need to understand that, and the public is with 
us. Most Americans would like to have their border more controlled, not 
less, and what you are doing is not working.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, 12,080, it is not just a random 
number; it is the highest number of crossings ever in a single day 
across our southwest border. That is the record, 12,080. We have never 
had a day more than 12,080 crossing our southwest border.
  You might ask: What day did we set the record for the most number of 
crossings across our southern border? And my answer would be yesterday. 
Yesterday was the highest number of illegal crossings in the history of 
the country. September was the highest September ever in the history of 
the country for illegal crossings.
  October was the highest October ever in the United States in the 
history of illegal crossings. November was the highest November ever in 
the country in the history of our Nation for illegal crossings. And 
there is the highest number ever in the history of the country--
yesterday.
  What is really happening? The numbers continue to be able to 
skyrocket. If we look at what is actually occurring with the number of 
illegal crossings, they continue to accelerate day after day, month 
after month, unchecked.
  We face very real threats in our Nation, and it is not just me saying 
that. People may recognize the FBI Director, Christopher Wray, who just 
this week in a hearing was asked about the threats that we are facing 
in the United States after October 7. He was asking what he saw with 
that, and his answer was, ``I see blinking red lights everywhere.''
  ``The threat level has gone to a whole other level since October 7,'' 
in the United States.
  Yesterday, of those 12,080 people who illegally crossed the border, 
the vast majority of them were released into the country today. They 
had no criminal background check. They didn't have to prove their ID of 
what country they were from because right now the soft-sided facilities 
that are housing migrants all along our southern border are currently 
running at 400 percent occupancy.
  So the goal is, get them through and into the country, hand them a 
piece of paper, and--literally--ask them to promise to turn themselves 
in, in the future at some point, just go because we need your space 
because there are more people coming.
  At the same time the FBI Director is saying, ``I see blinking red 
lights everywhere,'' we are literally releasing thousands of people, 
day after day, no criminal background check, no evaluation of their 
history--many of them we don't even know what country they are from--
and releasing them into the country.
  In the last 2 years, this White House has designated on our southwest 
border

[[Page S5786]]

70,000 people they designated as what they call ``special interest 
aliens.'' These are individuals who are coming from areas known for 
terrorism, but we had no background information on these individuals.
  What happened to those 70,000 individuals? They were released into 
our country with a piece of paper saying: Please turn yourself in, in 
the days ahead, because we have no room to be able to house you here. 
That is what is happening.
  Am I the only one who noticed this? Well, let's see, the mayor of El 
Paso has said that ``the city of El Paso only has so many resources and 
we have come to . . . a breaking point right now.''
  The mayor of New York City is talking about this, and he said that 
``this issue will destroy New York City,'' as they are over capacity in 
every spot that they have got.
  The mayor of Chicago has called this an ``international crisis'' that 
he is actually experiencing in Chicago to try to be able to manage 
this.
  As the stories come out on this over and over again, this is a New 
York Times story that came out:

       Migrant-smuggling is now a $13 billion business. Mangled 
     limbs. Raped women. Congressional inaction is a boon to bad 
     actors.

  From the New York Times.
  So my question is, What are we going to do about this? Currently, it 
has been nothing.
  So what are we going to do about this? About 6 weeks ago, the White 
House sent over a request for supplemental funding. They labeled it a 
national security supplemental. They asked for funding for Israel, for 
Ukraine, for the Indo-Pacific, and for border security. In fact, what 
is interesting is the second highest request they put in the entire 
piece was actually for border security. And then literally within days, 
the administration put out an op-ed that said the funding request for 
border security is a tourniquet. What we really need is a change in 
policy.
  That same day, Ali Mayorkas from Homeland Security, President Biden's 
Homeland Security Director, was in front of a hearing that I was in. I 
asked him some very specific questions during that:

       What are the things that need to be able to change [in our 
     system]?

  He said:

       Senator, we need . . . the ability to remove individuals 
     who do not qualify [for asylum] with efficiency and [with] 
     speed.

  Secretary Mayorkas went on to say:

       The asylum system needs to be reformed from top to bottom.

  I asked him again:
  [Are] policy changes needed?
  Secretary Mayorkas said:

       Yes, policy changes are needed.

  The issue is not is the need there. The issue is not is there a 
problem in our immigration system. The issue is not is this a crisis at 
our border. Everyone knows that it is a crisis that literally the 
people working on our border have no tools in their hands to be able to 
stop this issue.
  This needs a solution from Congress, and it requires all of us having 
the determination to say: 12,080 people that crossed our border 
yesterday is not sustainable.
  So what is the request? It is pretty straightforward. It is what 
anyone would look at and, quite frankly, what DHS has talked about for 
years--not just this DHS; the Trump DHS, the Obama DHS have all asked 
for these issues.
  They are looking for some very basic things. They want to know how to 
be able to manage the asylum requests. That accelerated and took off 
during the late half of the Obama administration.
  If I can take us back in history to ancient history, in 2010, there 
were 21,000 people who asked for asylum a year on our southern border--
21,000 people a year in 2010. That is now every 2 days of what we are 
facing now.
  What the request was, at the end of the second term of the Obama 
administration, was that we have got to reform our asylum system. We 
have got to be able to process people at the border. We have got to be 
able to not change the rules of what asylum means but change when we 
actually do the screening--do it right there, to be able to manage 
those issues, so that people who qualify for asylum under our law are 
able to come into our country lawfully and people who do not qualify 
for asylum cannot come into our country unlawfully.
  We all know it is happening. Every administration has identified it. 
So far, this body has been unwilling to be able to act on it.
  We also know that, every day, the cartels actually run our southern 
border. They are a ruthless criminal organization that we have 
experienced firsthand in my State. There is drug smuggling. There is 
human trafficking and what they have done to literally millions of 
people whom they have trafficked from around the world. We need to take 
control of our border, not give control to the cartels.
  I would challenge anyone in this body to be able to go to our 
southwest border and ask any Border Patrol agent: Do we have control of 
our border?
  Most every one of them will respond the same way, because I have 
heard it over and over. There is situational control of our border. It 
is just on the south side, not on the north side, because the cartels 
are managing who is actually coming in, in what order, and how it is 
actually done. And they are paid, as the New York Times article 
detailed, billions of dollars to be able to traffic people into our 
country. They are the ones who are managing it.
  So the simple, straightforward issue is, As the United States of 
America, are we going to manage our border or are the cartels going to 
manage our border? Are we going to be able to have a system where we 
allow people who qualify for asylum to actually get a hearing on a 
timely basis or are we going to take people and push them into the 
country? And then real, legitimate asylum seekers don't get a hearing 
for years, and people who don't qualify for asylum--and we all know 
it--disappear into the country and live underground.
  This is the decision that we have got to come to. President Biden 
asked for a national security supplemental and included into that 
border funding and then a request for policy changes. It is time to be 
able to address this issue.
  And I will tell you what I will vote later on today. Republicans are 
going to speak clearly to say: We will not move to a national security 
bill that does security for other nations and ignores our own. We will 
not do it.
  And we believe the American people, regardless of party--I don't find 
many people who want chaos on our southern border. They want an orderly 
process. I also don't find people who are opposed to immigration. They 
are just opposed to illegal activity on our border, unchecked activity 
on our border.
  So let's get back to an orderly process. Let's have a system that 
actually works for everybody in the process, and let's not put the 
national security for other nations ahead of the national security of 
Americans. Let's do it together.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I first want to say that, as we 
proceed on the initial vote today--and I support the President's 
package, including the work on border security--I do appreciate the 
Senator from Oklahoma's work in trying to reach an agreement. So many 
of us want to see an agreement on border security.
  I rise today to highlight another part of that agreement that is very 
important, and that is the importance of the critical humanitarian aid 
in the supplemental funding request, and to urge my colleagues to 
include it in a final bill.
  Throughout history, the United States has been a leader. When Hitler 
sought to conquer Europe, American's Lend-Lease Program ensured 
democracy triumphed over fascism, and it was our Marshall Plan that 
gave our European partners the resources they needed to rebuild after 
the war. When the Iron Curtain fell, American aid kept communism at 
bay. And, to this day, Agencies like USAID give nations across the 
globe the support they need to alleviate poverty, become stronger 
trading partners with our country, and recover from disasters.
  We know that humanitarian aid, yes, saves lives in such a big way, 
but it is also important for our own country. It is our own security 
that we make friends. It actually helps us to spend

[[Page S5787]]

less on military when we spend more on humanitarian aid.
  Today, armed conflict is tearing apart families and neighborhoods in 
the Middle East, and the largest land war in Europe since World War II 
rages on. Ripples from these conflicts are felt around the world. We 
are at a pivotal moment in not just American history but the history of 
humanity.
  Israelis, innocent Palestinians, and Ukrainians are looking to us for 
support, and the whole world is watching. It is during moments like 
these that leaders are called to step up. So the question before us 
today that so many of those who came before us in this Chamber--
Democrats and Republicans--have grappled with is, Will we step up? Will 
America step up? My answer: We must, just as we have time and time 
again throughout history.
  That, of course, includes providing swift humanitarian aid to people 
across the world, including innocent civilians in Gaza.
  Like so many in this Chamber, including the Presiding Officer, I 
strongly condemned Hamas's terrorist attack immediately, in the 
strongest terms. It was a massacre of innocent Israelis, and I am 
heartbroken by the devastation and the loss of life. But we must 
remember that the violence of this terrorist group Hamas does not 
represent the will of all of the people of Gaza, not by any means.
  That is why I joined my colleagues in calling for a short-term 
cessation of hostilities in order to allow for the Hamas-held hostages 
to be released and to ensure that humanitarian assistance could reach 
innocent civilians in Gaza. I welcomed, as so many did, the 
announcement almost 2 weeks ago that Israel and Hamas had agreed to 
release more than 100 hostages during the cessation that would also 
allow, of course, for increased aid for food and the like into Gaza. 
Tragically, late last week, a continued agreement could not be reached, 
and the hostages, including, as we now know, so many young women--with 
very troubling and concerning reports coming out on their conditions--
are still being held hostage by the terrorists. The fighting has begun 
again.
  The United States has provided significant aid to both Israel and the 
Palestinian people, now and in years past, but we know we cannot shirk 
from our duties. We cannot turn our backs on what is happening.
  In discussing the need for foreign aid, we must not forget the 
continued importance, as we will discuss later today, of standing with 
Ukraine as Ukrainians fight back against Vladimir Putin's inhuman 
barbarism. For almost 2 years, in bright blue and yellow, the 
Ukrainians have shown the world what it truly means to fight for 
freedom, and America has been with them, as have so many of our allies. 
Beyond critical military aid, the United States has continued to 
support Ukraine through humanitarian assistance for both internally 
displaced Ukrainians and those who have been forced to flee their home 
country.

  And we know that while we have taken in some of these refugees, 
including in my home State of Minnesota, which has a major Ukrainian 
population, many of whom are now working--I was just with a number of 
them who work in our Ukrainian restaurant that we are so proud of, 
Kramarczuk's in Minneapolis. We also have European countries taking in 
these refugees in unprecedented numbers--millions and millions of 
people.
  When I visited Poland with a group of our colleagues on a bipartisan 
basis, just weeks after Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion, 
there were more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees. Today, that number 
is more than 6 million. I will never forget talking to those refugees--
women, children, seniors, kids with nothing but a backpack on their 
back with a stuffed animal in it. We heard their horror stories about 
homes lost, families ripped apart, and lives destroyed.
  We know that Polish people don't have to imagine what it is like to 
live through a full-scale invasion. Their history is marked by 
invasions by Prussia, the Hapsburgs, the Nazi, and, yes, Russia. As our 
Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski told us, the Poles are achieving 
the dreams their grandparents never could realize.
  Poland is able to say to their Ukrainian neighbors: We value freedom 
and respect your democracy. We value you so much that we will take you 
into our homes and into our hearts. We will open our doors and not shut 
you out.
  Just as our Polish allies and those small countries that I met with 
yesterday--the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania--they 
are there for Ukraine on the ground and taking in their people and 
being on the frontline and putting in an extraordinary percentage of 
their own resources, of their spending, into defense, into NATO. 
America must be there for Ukraine by providing, yes, topnotch military 
assistance, as we have to enable Ukraine to retake half of the 
territory that Vladimir Putin took in his initial invasion, but we also 
must be there for them with critical humanitarian aid. Our Ukrainian 
friends continue to persevere against all odds, against one of the 
largest armies in the world, and this aid is critical to that effort.
  As we all know, the consequences of Putin's unprovoked, unlawful, 
unjustifiable war extend beyond Ukraine's border. Ukraine is one of the 
world's top suppliers of grain, and Russia's illegal blockade of 
Ukrainian ports has put millions of people across the globe, in places 
like Africa, at risk of starvation. By providing critical support for 
the State Department's refugee aid program, including food assistance, 
the administration funding request will support displaced people around 
the world.
  Our Nation has earned its reputation as the leader of the free world 
due to its unwavering commitment to democracy and helping nations when 
they need it--knowing they come out of it; knowing they become major 
trading partners and friends of ours on the security front, on the 
democracy front, and on the economic front. So now it is on us to 
decide if we want to keep that reputation, if we want to keep that 
leadership.
  As we negotiate this bill, the supplemental, I am reminded of what 
President Zelenskyy said just hours after Vladimir Putin launched his 
barbaric invasion. Everyone counted him out. Everyone thought he was 
going to run. Instead, he stood on the streets of Kyiv, with just a few 
people, and looked straight into the camera and delivered a simple 
message that was, all at once, a rallying cry to his people, but a 
statement of defiance in the face of evil and a call to action for 
democracies across the globe. Three words: We are here.
  So that is our decision over the next 2 weeks. Are we going to be 
here for democracy? Are we going to be here for our ally in the Mideast 
and our allies around the world? Are we going to continue to feed the 
world? Are we going to continue to stand up against terrorism and 
barbarism and help innocent people, like those in Gaza, those in 
Ukraine, and those around the world who depend on us?
  Moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, kids, and grandkids are depending on 
us. We must be there. We must say: We are here.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Ms. WARREN. Madam President, nearly 2 months after Hamas launched 
brutal terrorist attacks on Israel, we continue to grieve for those who 
were killed, and we also pray for the return of loved ones taken 
hostage. And for those who have been injured, for rape victims, and for 
those who survived by hiding themselves among dead and dying friends, 
we offer love and support.
  October 7 was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the 
Holocaust. I have seen video of Hamas's attack and their terrorists' 
contempt for Israeli' lives. As I have said before, Israel has both a 
right to defend its citizens from Hamas's terrorist attacks and an 
obligation under the laws of war to protect innocent Palestinian 
civilians in Gaza. Palestinians are not Hamas, and they should not be 
punished for Hamas's terrorism.
  I want to be clear about how I see the war that Israel is currently 
waging in Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his rightwing war cabinet 
have created a humanitarian catastrophe, killing thousands of 
Palestinian civilians and risking a wider conflict in the Middle East.
  The Gaza Health Ministry estimates that more than 15,000 people in 
Gaza

[[Page S5788]]

have been killed and more than 40,000 injured. The vast majority of 
those killed and injured have been Palestinian civilians, many of them 
women and children. This level of civilian harm is a moral failure. It 
is why for weeks I have called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza.
  A 7-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas gave hope that more 
hostages would return to their loved ones, gave hope that a massive 
amount of humanitarian aid would reach innocent Palestinians in need of 
food and water, and gave hope that negotiations would continue as the 
parties worked toward an enduring end to this fighting.
  I applauded this cease-fire and urged its extension so that the 
parties could secure a lasting peace.
  When the cease-fire lapsed, I urged the parties to get back to the 
negotiating table and build on the prior agreement so that the cease-
fire could resume, but, instead, the fighting ramped up.
  So I will say it again. Hamas must release the hostages and stop 
firing rockets at civilians in Israel. The Israeli Government must stop 
the bombing in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid. All of us must do 
everything possible to resume the cease-fire and extend it for as long 
as possible.
  The long-term goal must be peace--two states for two peoples.
  Today, the Senate will vote on legislation to provide military 
funding to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. I will support this legislation 
because Ukraine is on the frontlines, fighting back a brutal Russian 
invasion that would destroy its existence as an independent nation.
  A few months ago, I visited Ukraine and saw firsthand the courage of 
the Ukrainian people, who are literally putting their lives on the line 
to keep democracy alive.
  This legislation also contains $10 billion in humanitarian aid for 
families around the globe, including in Gaza. It also provides 
emergency shelter funds for migrants who are newly arrived in the 
United States. It includes money for mosques and synagogues that are 
dealing with threats here at home.
  I strongly support those provisions. In fact, I fought hard for those 
provisions. But I want to be clear that when it comes to U.S. military 
aid to Israel, American support cannot be a blank check to a rightwing 
government that has demonstrated a gross disregard for the lives of 
Palestinian civilians. U.S. military aid always includes conditions, 
and there is no exception even for our allies.
  The United States regularly conditions military aid on compliance 
with U.S. law and international humanitarian law. In the case of 
Israel, I have long argued that the United States should use all of the 
tools at its disposal, including placing conditions on U.S. military 
assistance, to move the parties closer to permanent peace and a two-
state solution.
  Prime Minister Netanyahu's actions are not moving closer to a two-
state solution. Instead, his actions set conditions for endless 
violence.
  Since October 7, extremist settlers in the West Bank have 
deliberately hunted down and killed Palestinians and, according to the 
United Nations, displaced more than 1,000 people.
  In Gaza, Israeli forces have struck hospitals and refugee camps, 
killing scores of civilians in pursuit of its military targets.
  Israel has ordered Palestinians to evacuate for safety and then 
bombed the safe zones.
  The videos from Gaza of dead children and wailing parents are 
shattering. They document the current Israeli Government's continued 
moral and humanitarian failures.
  It now appears that Israel is prepared to impose in southern Gaza the 
same staggering level of civilian death that it carried out in the 
north. That is wrong.
  I lay these actions at the feet of Prime Minister Netanyahu. If the 
Prime Minister insists on conducting military operations with little 
regard for civilian life and in a manner that moves the region deeper 
into perpetual war, then he does not deserve America's blanket 
financial support.
  I understand the desire to help Israel and the people of Israel, but 
given the actions of the Prime Minister, Congress should condition any 
military funding on an agreement that civilian lives will be protected, 
that Palestinians will receive the humanitarian aid they need, and that 
international law will be fully respected.
  Over the past 2 months, I have had many conversations with people 
across Massachusetts about the path forward. This conflict is horrific, 
and it is deeply personal. I have talked to Israelis who have lost 
beloved friends and family. I have held parents who have had children 
violently taken as hostages. I have talked to Palestinians who have had 
family members killed. I have held hands with people conducting a 
desperate, long-distance search for missing loved ones. I have joined 
the sometimes-frantic efforts to help Palestinians who are desperately 
trying to get out of Gaza but can't. The pain runs deep for all of 
them.
  This conflict has also sparked a wave of hate here in the United 
States. The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Massachusetts has 
received a record number of calls reporting vandalism, violence, and 
retaliation against Palestinians. A man in Boston was arrested for 
attacking the Holocaust Memorial, and synagogues in Attleboro are 
receiving bomb threats.
  I have had Muslim and Palestinian constituents talk to me about being 
pulled over for extra screening at the airport while their White travel 
companions sailed right on through. I have heard stories of how hard it 
can be to land a small business loan or get a credit card application 
approved even when they meet all the criteria.
  Anti-Palestinian hate is endangering our neighbors. Three college 
students in Burlington were shot on their way to dinner. I have had 
moms tell me they are now afraid to say that they are Palestinian, and 
they are now afraid for their children to leave the house.
  Anti-Semitism is endangering our neighbors. Hillel leaders tell me 
they are afraid to walk alone on campus or speak up in classes. Mothers 
say they worry about bringing their toddlers to activities at their 
synagogue because it could be the target of an attack.
  In these moments, each of us has an obligation to speak out clearly 
and loudly against hate. Each of us has an obligation to actively 
oppose hate in all of its forms. Anti-Semitism must be rejected. 
Islamophobia and anti-Palestinianism must be cast off. We should make 
our intentions clear. We should work toward those goals until they are 
finally true. No one should be afraid. No one should feel unsafe. And 
it is on our shoulders to build an America where there is no place for 
hate.
  But there is more for us to do. We cannot give up on peace. Hamas 
leaders make their goals clear: perpetual war and death. But, as I said 
earlier, Hamas is not the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian 
people are not Hamas.

  In the midst of the chaos and pain of this terrible war, I hold fast 
to the possibility that people of good will, both Palestinians and 
Israelis, can build a lasting peace.
  I have long believed that a two-state solution is the best path, is 
the only path for Israel's long-term security and the only way to 
ensure that Palestinians have the rights, the freedom, and the self-
determination they need to build a secure future for themselves and 
their children.
  In the short term, the needed work is obvious: Resume the cease-fire, 
accelerate humanitarian aid, protect innocent civilians, and release 
the hostages. In the long term, the hard labor--the labor that ensures 
that we won't be here again and again and again to mourn the deaths of 
the people we love and have lost to an endless cycle of war--the hard 
labor is to drive toward a just and lasting peace for both Israelis and 
Palestinians.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. RICKETTS. Madam President, I am going to say something that I 
don't think ought to be controversial--that Hamas should receive no 
U.S. taxpayer dollars. But apparently some people think that is 
controversial.
  On October 7, Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to the 
destruction of Israel and to killing Jews, broke the cease-fire and 
attacked Israel.
  Now, this was not a military attack; these were terrorists who came 
across the border to kill civilians. They killed 1,200 Israelis and 33 
Americans.
  Last week, along with my Senate colleagues, I watched an uncensored 
video

[[Page S5789]]

taken from Hamas body cameras, cell phones, on surveillance television, 
intercepts of radio and telephone conversations. It was horrific. This 
atrocity was perpetrated by barbaric savages. We witnessed them shoot 
unarmed civilians. We saw the evidence of young girls raped. We saw the 
dead bodies of children, some burned beyond recognition. We watched as 
a Hamas terrorist decapitated an Israeli soldier. It was truly 
horrifying.
  Hamas started the war. They are responsible for every person who died 
on that day and every person who has died in Gaza since. They are a 
terrorist organization dedicated to destroying Israel. In fact, we 
heard some of the phone conversations from Hamas terrorists who called 
back their parents, bragging about how many Jews they had killed. It is 
absolutely horrific.
  We must stand with Israel until Hamas is destroyed utterly. Humanity 
will have been done a favor by the State of Israel when Hamas is 
destroyed. We also must examine the Biden policies that are supporting 
Hamas. I know--yes, I said that. It is crazy, but it is true. The Biden 
administration has already given $730 million and wants to add another 
$260 million to it.
  You see, there is this organization called the United Nations Relief 
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and it has 
long been documented that they have been infiltrated by Hamas.
  This organization, also known as UNRWA, has hired Hamas agents. Their 
teachers have been preaching about killing Jews. Their textbooks 
glorify martyrdom. They demonize Israelis and sow anti-Semitism. UNRWA 
schools have stored weapons facilities for Hamas. There is a U.N. 
report that shows UNRWA schools have launched attacks against Israel. 
On October 7, UNRWA employees applauded the attack, including 14 UNRWA 
teachers. Now we have a report that an UNRWA teacher held one of the 
hostages in that teacher's attic, barely feeding the hostage.
  This is an organization that has been described as essentially a 
branch of Hamas. The Trump administration knew this, and so they cut 
off funds, with President Trump saying the organization UNRWA was 
irredeemable. Inexplicably, the Biden administration resumed funding 
and wants to continue resumed funding.
  We must not let our tax dollars go to support Hamas, and that is why 
I have introduced the Stop Support for Hamas Act.
  This act would make sure no economic development dollars go to Gaza 
or to the West Bank until Israel verifies that Hamas has been 
dismantled. It would ensure that the Palestinian Authority is not 
hiring Hamas or their affiliates. It would strengthen the Taylor Force 
Act to make sure the Palestinian Authority does away with this horrific 
pay-to-slay policy, and it would ensure that any other NGO that is 
working would not hire Hamas or Hamas affiliates.
  What we saw on October 7 was inhumane; it was barbaric; it was 
horrifying; it was an atrocity--an atrocity committed by Hamas. We must 
stand with Israel until Hamas is utterly destroyed.
  We must ensure that no more funding from American taxpayers goes to 
Hamas through UNRWA as 118 of the terrorists who attacked Israel on 
October 7 were educated in UNRWA schools. These schools are part of the 
problem, and the Trump administration knew it. I ask all of my 
colleagues to support my bill that will end this terrible policy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The senior Senator from 
Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that, following 
Senator Menendez, I be recognized for up to 20 minutes prior to the 
scheduled rollcall vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The senior Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, as our allies and democracies around 
the world face compounding life-and-death geopolitical challenges, the 
world is watching what we do or fail to do here in the U.S. Senate, and 
the stakes could not be any higher.
  Ukraine is rapidly running out of arms to defend itself against 
Russia's illegal invasion and the many war crimes it has been 
perpetrating against the Ukrainian people. Israel is in the midst of an 
existential war against Hamas--a barbaric terrorist organization funded 
and propped up by Iran's brutal regime with one singular mission: to 
wipe out Israel and every Jew on the face of the Earth.
  Moreover, our allies in the Indo-Pacific, like Taiwan, remain on high 
alert as China aggressively flexes its military and economic might 
there and around the globe while, at the same time, taking careful 
notes on how democracies around the world respond when one nation 
violates the sovereignty of another by attempting to take its territory 
by force.
  Now is the time for the U.S. Senate to come together in defense of 
America's allies in their hour of need. We have a strategic security, 
economic, and moral imperative to meet the moment, and that is exactly 
what Democrats in the Senate are ready to do.
  Right now, Democrats are prepared to take up and pass the National 
Security and Border Act of 2024, a comprehensive package that provides 
aid to Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, and Taiwan as well as 
addresses ongoing challenges at our southern border, including the flow 
of migration and fentanyl into the United States.
  Democrats are willing to put politics aside and defend our allies and 
our values with real dollars, real military aid, and real solutions. We 
are ready to secure our southern border against the most dire threats 
we face, especially the relentless flow of deadly fentanyl fueling our 
Nation's opioid epidemic.
  Now, to be crystal clear, some aspects of this supplemental package, 
which closely mirrors the supplemental request President Biden sent to 
Congress, raise serious concerns for me and for others.
  For example, I am worried about funding to add another 1,300 Border 
Patrol agents to work at the border. The U.S. Border Patrol is already 
the largest Federal law enforcement Agency, and its alarming track 
record of the abuse and mistreatment of migrants gives me pause about 
expanding its force further.
  I also have serious hesitations about funding to expand our detention 
capacity by over 45,000 beds. Detaining migrants en masse, including 
entire families, is never the most humane or effective solution to 
managing our border.
  Supporting a supplemental package that includes these items would not 
be an easy vote for me and several of my colleagues. It would be quite 
difficult because these funds come with concerning policy consequences. 
However, in the name of getting a reasonable, thoughtful package across 
the finish line for our allies in need, without gutting our asylum and 
humanitarian parole laws, I certainly am willing to consider it.
  But where are Republicans? Americans might ask. Where are our 
colleagues across the aisle who, for so many years, have posited 
themselves as the champions of defending democracy and freedom around 
the world? Where is the party of Reagan--the party of self-proclaimed 
defense hawks who supposedly never bat an eye when it comes to 
supporting our allies?
  In an incomprehensible turn of events, Republicans have decided they 
are going to hold hostage vital aid to our closest allies in a life-
and-death struggle over completely unrelated, hyperpartisan demands on 
immigration and border policy, and they are insisting on these changes 
without any actual, deliberative process or willingness to compromise.
  No, you didn't hear that incorrectly.
  Senate Republicans have declared they are ready to tank this national 
security package--one that would help our allies defend themselves so 
that we don't have to send America's sons and daughters into harm's way 
and take the battle themselves when the next set of NATO countries is 
invaded by countries like Russia. I would rather have the Ukrainians 
fight for their freedom and provide them the resources to do so instead 
of sending America's sons and daughters abroad.
  Now, why are they doing this? Because they are using the immigration 
issue, in my view, to hide behind the embarrassing fact that a 
significant number of Republicans in both Chambers doesn't want to vote 
for aid to Ukraine and because Democrats refuse

[[Page S5790]]

to accede to far-right and far-reaching immigration policy demands that 
have absolutely nothing to do with the existential crises threatening 
our allies.

  It is the height of irresponsibility and partisan politics for 
Republicans to claim that the price for assisting our international 
allies is to gut our asylum and humanitarian parole laws, which, I 
would add, as someone who has been on this issue for almost a quarter 
of a century, will do nothing to mitigate the flow of migration and 
deadly drugs into our country.
  Think about the dangerous signal that sends: The United States cannot 
temporarily put aside its domestic political disputes to confront the 
collective challenges facing democracies and freedom around the world. 
Such a signal would be crippling to those who look to the United States 
for our leadership when confronted with the evils of tyranny and 
terrorism. Such a signal would amount to a shameful retreat from 
America's singular place on the world stage and would leave us with 
fewer allies willing to stand with us. Who is going to stand with you 
if you are going to cut and run?
  What makes this all so much worse is that Republicans are willing to 
gamble our national security interests--indeed, our ability to conduct 
foreign policy--over half-baked, failed ideas that do nothing to solve 
the problems they claim to solve.
  Let's just take a look at a few of the demands the Republicans are 
making on immigration and asylum policies.
  I heard one of our colleagues speak before that we only just want to 
have the asylum crisis be dealt with quicker. Well, that is not the 
case. Republicans say, for example, that they want to heighten the 
initial ``credible fear'' standard asylum seekers must pass and have 
been passing for decades in order to make it to the next stage of the 
asylum process.
  Well, news flash: No matter how much the ``credible fear'' standard 
is heightened, it will do nothing to address the root problems causing 
asylum seekers to flee their home countries in the first place. If I am 
in one of these countries and my choice is to stay or die or see my 
daughter raped by a gang or be forcibly put into a gang, I am going to 
flee. That is why we have 20 million people in the Southern Hemisphere 
who are refugees and asylees displaced presently in other countries in 
the Western Hemisphere.
  Unless we deal with that root cause challenge and help those 
countries assimilate those people, those are 20 million feet that are 
going to come knocking. Worse yet, constricting access to asylum would 
only encourage more illegal attempts to make it into the United States 
through other avenues that will, ultimately, enrich human smuggling 
networks.
  Our asylum system encourages order. In fiscal year 2023, 99.5 percent 
of asylum seekers appeared--appeared--99.5 percent of asylum seekers 
appeared for their hearings before an immigration judge. So only about 
five-tenths of a percent were in absentia. The vast majority of those 
asylum claims was, ultimately, denied. Then, at that point, they no 
longer have a right to be present.
  Pushing migrants outside of the asylum system is not in the interest 
of anyone who wants an orderly immigration system or who professes to 
care about reducing the numbers of migrants that are encountered 
throughout the border.
  Republicans say, for example, they want to dramatically limit the 
President's statutory authority to grant individuals humanitarian 
parole into the United States in response to major crises such as wars 
and invasions.
  Well, here is another news flash: Dramatically shrinking humanitarian 
parole risks dramatically increasing irregular flows of migration to 
our borders.
  Think about what would have happened in the wake of America's 
withdrawal from Afghanistan or in the wake of Russia's invasion of 
Ukraine if the United States did not have a robust humanitarian parole 
system screening tens of thousands of Afghans and Ukrainians for refuge 
through an orderly process. It would have been utter chaos with unknown 
numbers of unscreened, unvetted individuals from these countries 
potentially seeking entry at our borders.
  Humanitarian parole allows the United States to be in the driver's 
view to determine which individuals can obtain protection in the United 
States and which cannot.
  It also serves our national security interests by sending a clear 
message: If you stand with us, if you fight for freedom and there comes 
a life-and-death moment, we will provide you with refuge.
  So this shouldn't be about sticking it to President Biden and the 
Democrats. The reality is that there will one day be another Democratic 
or Republican administration that will need to rely on our humanitarian 
parole laws to respond to moments of crisis like in Afghanistan and 
Ukraine. By fundamentally eroding these laws, Republicans would only 
hamper the ability of any future administration to respond to such 
crises. Gutting humanitarian parole only invites the very chaos at our 
borders that Republicans claim they want to mitigate.
  What these and other demands reflect is the now-dominant and 
dangerous strain of Republican thinking that believes that our asylum, 
humanitarian parole, and refugee systems are largely fraudulent, 
allowing undeserving individuals to enter into our country.
  Years of anti-immigrant fearmongering by former President Trump 
appear to have clouded the Republicans' ability to talk about our 
immigration system based on the facts--the type of conversations we had 
when we passed comprehensive immigration reform in this Chamber with a 
gang of Senators--Republicans and Democrats--of which I was a part, 
with an overwhelming vote. That was a level-headed discussion. As a 
result, their policy ideas now are driven more by Stephen Miller's 
demagoguery than by any deliberative assessment of reality.
  Here are some facts worth reminding my Republican friends about: 
Immigrants wield nearly $1.3 trillion--trillion--in spending power in 
the United States, and they contribute tens of billions of dollars in 
taxes every year. A recent study found that a 25-percent reduction in 
the number of asylum seekers in the United States would cause an 
economic loss of over $20 billion over 5 years.
  Immigrants disproportionately make up our essential workforce by 
taking care of our sick, putting food on our tables, and taking care of 
our workplaces. They were the ones, when we were all home, sheltering, 
who were out taking the risks of their lives in order that the rest of 
us could be sheltered.
  Immigrants are 80 percent more likely to become entrepreneurs than 
native-born Americans. Indeed, nearly 45 percent of Fortune 500 
companies--45 percent of Fortune 500 companies--which employ tens of 
millions of Americans, were founded by immigrants or their children.
  These migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees have not just enriched 
our economy, they have changed and shaped our Nation and the world more 
broadly.
  Ever hear of Albert Einstein, a refugee who changed our understanding 
of science forever; Sergey Brin, the cofounder of Google, a refugee who 
changed technology forever; Gloria Estefan, a refugee who fled the 
Cuban revolution with her family and helped shaped our musical 
landscape; or how about former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine 
Albright--does that name ring a bell?--a refugee from Czechoslovakia 
who helped shaped the modern world as the first woman to ever serve as 
U.S. Secretary of State. The list goes on and on and on.
  The hard, undeniable reality is this: Our Nation's prosperity, power, 
and greatness are inextricably intertwined with our identity as a 
nation of striving, hard-working immigrants. So it is no wonder that 
our asylum, refugee, and humanitarian parole systems have received 
overwhelming bipartisan support over the decades. They are an essential 
source of our strength.
  And let's be perfectly clear about something else. Welcoming asylum 
seekers, parolees, and refugees into the country is far from just an 
act of compassion. These systems directly support our national security 
and strategic economic interest at home and abroad.
  Imagine a world where the United States and other countries did not 
have systems to provide refuge to dissidents,

[[Page S5791]]

journalists, lawyers, and others taking on tyrants and defending 
liberties in their countries. Would they have the same level of courage 
to enact change in their countries if they did not think they could 
protect themselves and their families if they faced life-and-death 
persecution?
  So to my Republican friends, I say this: It is time to free 
yourselves from the Trumpian demagoguery that informs your current 
worldview on immigration. Join us in good faith to deliver inclusive, 
humane, and orderly immigration reform that will secure our borders, 
provide relief to the undocumented community, and strengthen our 
strategic posture in the world.
  However, attempting to force this conversation here and now, when our 
allies have their backs against the wall, when they are fighting on the 
frontlines to protect U.S. interests, and when innocent people's lives 
hang in the balance is the height of recklessness and irresponsibility.
  We can continue serving as the world's last, best defender of freedom 
and democracy without sacrificing one of our greatest strengths: our 
identity as a nation of immigrants.
  We are the United States of America. Let's start acting like it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, we have a lot of work to get done 
before January 19, the next deadline to pass our funding and avoid a 
shutdown.
  The American people are looking for serious leadership and results, 
and I come to the floor today to be clear about what the standard for 
success is here.
  We need to pass regular, full-year funding, based on the bipartisan 
spending agreement from earlier this year, that actually responds to 
the challenges before us. Anything less means missing critical 
opportunities and worse.
  A ``date-change, full-year CR,'' as proposed by House Speaker 
Johnson, would be unprecedented and reckless.
  Why is that? Well, because the Speaker's proposal would lock in 
outdated spending plans and devastating across-the-board cuts while 
locking all of us out of any kind of thoughtful decision-making process 
for our Nation's future, all of which should be absolutely unacceptable 
to everyone here.
  It is one thing to have a short-term CR so we have additional time to 
negotiate in good faith and finish passing bills, full-year bills that 
strengthen our Nation, but it is another thing entirely to do a 
yearlong CR because we have no intention of doing our job.
  We cannot just throw up our hands, act like nothing in the world has 
changed in the past 12 months, abdicate our responsibility to our 
constituents, and box in our Nation's future by putting the government 
on autopilot.
  When you put the government on autopilot, without direction or any 
consideration of changing needs, you are functionally causing year-
over-year funding cuts without any rhyme, reason, or recalibration for 
new and changing priorities, causing huge uncertainties and 
inefficiencies across our Federal Government and seriously impairing 
every single one of our Agencies' ability to fulfill their mission and 
move our country forward. And that, by the way, is all before taking 
into account the incredibly steep across-the-board cuts that would come 
into play under this scenario under our Fiscal Responsibility Act.
  This runs way deeper than numbers, at best, stagnating on a page and 
Agencies cutting hard-working staff and crucial services. We are 
talking about missing opportunities on issues where the clock is 
ticking, pulling the rug out from our families who are struggling, and 
undermining our national defense and security in front of the whole 
world.
  I think we all understand now is a dangerous time to signal America's 
global leadership is faltering, but that is exactly the message a 
yearlong CR would send: a year of America's military falling behind and 
a year of our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts falling behind.
  When we put our government on autopilot, we are telling the world 
Congress is asleep at the wheel and incapable of responding to the 
growing threats of an ever more dangerous world.

  In practical terms for defense, as my colleague--the senior Senator 
from Maine and vice chair of the committee--said here on this floor 
recently, it means the Pentagon freezing 330 new programs or production 
increases. It means falling behind in building our ships and our subs 
and much more and doing so, by the way, at a time when China already 
has a larger navy.
  It means essentially no new progress in our efforts to strengthen our 
military and diplomatic footprint in the Indo-Pacific so we can forge 
strong partnerships and deter aggression from the Chinese Government. 
This is something we devoted significant thought and resources to 
across our bipartisan spending bills, with new funding for our Indo-
Pacific strategy and the Countering PRC Influence Fund, not to mention 
other global leadership investments like the new Economic Resilience 
Initiative that will help strengthen our supply chains for critical 
resources and weaken the financial pressure our competitors can exert 
on key U.S. partners.
  But all that goes out the window with a full-year CR, particularly 
under the construct that has been proposed by the Speaker of the House, 
where he would simply change a date and quit--change a date and quit.
  Can you imagine a leader, one of the highest ranking officials in 
this country, if not the world, seriously proposing that as an answer 
right now?
  Under the yearlong CR, we would not have critical funding increases 
to support our servicemembers, to support their families, from troop 
readiness essentials like recruitment and training to family support 
like childcare and barracks, to other projects like the Shipyard 
Infrastructure Optimization Plan.
  I also want to remind our colleagues, a full-year CR would not just 
hurt our national security, it would be devastating for our families 
and our communities across the country and our country's future.
  When it comes to keeping our economy strong, there are simply too 
many missed opportunities to even list.
  We would lose out increases in bolstering trade and U.S. business 
competitiveness. We would lose out on strengthening our supply chain 
and building innovation hubs. We would lose out on research funding for 
manufacturing; AI; agriculture; clean energy; cures and treatments for 
cancer, Alzheimer's, and other terrible diseases and a lot more.
  We would lose ground in our plans to send Americans back to the Moon, 
while the Chinese Government is going full speed ahead.
  And when it comes to fighting the opioid epidemic, resigning our 
Nation to a yearlong CR means the increased investments that we did 
include in our Senate bills to keep fentanyl out of our country by 
stopping drug cartels and getting help to patients and families won't 
happen.
  Instead, stagnant funding means furloughs at our border and thousands 
of pounds of illicit drugs reaching our communities.
  A CR also will not include any funding to reform cosmetics safety or 
retirement security or the organ donation and transplant system.
  And let's talk about WIC. WIC is the lifeline for moms who need 
formula, nutritious food, and other essentials to feed their babies. It 
is at risk of being severely underfunded by a CR.
  I grew up in a family who knew what it meant to fall on hard times 
and have a government that had our backs. I will not let our country 
pull out the rug from folks in their time of need. But if we put 
spending on autopilot for the next year, we will be kicking struggling 
families off benefits and onto wait-lists.
  It is not just WIC that is going to see these painful shortfalls that 
will ultimately hurt families, it is programs that keep families warm 
in the winter or cool in the summer and safe from extreme temperatures 
like LIHEAP. It is programs that give people healthcare, like community 
health centers and the new suicide prevention lifeline. It is programs 
that make sure families have a roof over their head, rental assistance, 
affordable housing, homelessness prevention--programs that already 
can't meet the needs in their communities.
  It is the Social Security Administration, for crying out loud. A CR 
would

[[Page S5792]]

force them to reduce hours and lay off staff. You want to call up and 
sign up for new benefits or see how you can fix a problem? There will 
be no one to answer you--long wait times.
  And let's not forget, it is programs for folks who are trying to 
improve their situation, get a better job, and further their own 
career. A CR means no increases for apprenticeship funding, workforce 
training, or the maximum Pell amount.
  What else do parents need if they are going to go to work? I have 
said it many times, childcare. We are in a childcare crisis, and with a 
full-year CR, this is only going to go from bad to worse because we 
will be resigned to across-the-board cuts to our Nation's childcare 
programs.
  And our public schools also will face tight budgets. Kids are still 
recovering from this pandemic, and we can't afford to provide our 
schools less funding when our students deserve and need more support. 
It is that simple.
  Look, I have been going on for a while. But the truth is, I have 
barely scratched the surface on what we will lose with a full-year CR: 
Increases throughout our bills to support Tribal communities, gone; 
over a billion dollars for FAA modernization efforts, gone; housing for 
wildland firefighters, improvements in our rail system, next-generation 
weather satellites, gone, gone, and gone.
  And here is the kicker: I have only been talking so far about half 
the equation because the Fiscal Responsibility Act would force 
absolutely devastating across-the-board cuts on virtually all domestic 
programs that could be as much as nearly 10 percent.
  Let's be clear about the damage here. Immediate hiring freezes and 
furloughs at just about every Agency. Millions of women and kids would 
lose WIC benefits; wait times at ports of entry would quadruple; wait 
times for new business permits from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 
Trade Bureau would increase fivefold; nearly 1,000 fewer full-time food 
safety inspectors; 2,500 fewer national park employees and less staff 
and equipment for our Federal firefighters; 5,000 scientists, students, 
and technical staff no longer receiving research support at our 
national labs and universities; 130,000 fewer small businesses getting 
training and counseling from the Small Business Association; nearly 
700,000 households losing Federal housing assistance and being pushed 
toward homelessness; 2\1/2\ million patients across Indian Country hurt 
by a $235 million cut to the Indian Health Service hospitals and 
clinics.
  And that is the tip of the iceberg. We are talking tens of billions 
of dollars slashed to programs that keep our country competitive and 
our economy strong and our families safe and sound. So this is really 
no run-of-the-mill CR outcome, which would be bad enough as it is.
  The bottom line here is this: We have a job to do. We have a job to 
do. Our constituents expect us to come to work, to listen to them, 
respond to the challenges in their life, write the bills, solve our 
problems, and deliver results. At a minimum, they expect us to try--not 
threaten, as the Speaker is doing, to change a few words and give up.
  A long-term CR wouldn't just shut out their voices, it would cede 
ground to our adversaries, let America fall behind, and cut off vital 
resources families count on each and every day.
  If we want to make sure that America continues to lead; if we want a 
strong, competitive economy; if we want a safer world; and if we want a 
real future for our families, we cannot just throw our hands up and 
hope for the best. We have to come together, do the hard work of 
governing, hammer out bipartisan spending bills that actually reflect 
what we think our Nation needs, get back to the bipartisan spending 
agreement that the House Republicans wanted--actually, getting back to 
that, they demanded it--and agree that extreme partisan riders have no 
place in our spending bills.
  In the full Senate here, as the Presiding Officer knows, we wrote 12 
bipartisan spending bills that follow the full terms of the bipartisan 
spending agreement, but now we need House Republicans to hold up their 
end of the bargain. That means sticking to the entire agreement and 
using the full resources it provides for defense and domestic programs.
  We cannot move forward if House Republicans are busy trying to go 
back on their word, especially for a deal that they pushed for and 
negotiated in the first place. Let's all remember that House 
Republicans were the ones who chose to hold the debt limit hostage 
until they secured this agreement. Let's also remember it was their 
leader who negotiated this deal directly with the President. They cut 
this deal. When you negotiate a deal, you don't then bargain over how 
much of your word you are going to keep. Deals are built on common 
ground and mutual trust, not shifting sand.
  So, Madam President, I will be clear. I am not calling on Republicans 
to do anything extreme here or anything I wouldn't do myself. I get 
that no one ever gets everything they want, especially in a divided 
government. In fact, as I have said many times, I believe the cuts that 
were enacted by the Fiscal Responsibility Act set us back. But that was 
the deal. That was the deal we voted on. So, here in the Senate, we did 
write 12 bipartisan bills to those terms. That is the job. That is what 
legislating looks like in a divided government.
  If we are going to avoid an unnecessary shutdown or an absolutely 
unacceptable, inflexible, yearlong CR--for the first time ever--we need 
everyone to get real about just what is at stake if we give up on 
writing serious, full-year funding bills. And that is just what it is 
going to take to get that done. So I call on everybody: Let's do our 
job.