[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 20 (Monday, February 5, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S354-S355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
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REMOVING EXTRANEOUS LOOPHOLES INSURING EVERY VETERAN EMERGENCY ACT--
MOTION TO PROCEED
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 30,
H.R. 815.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 30, H.R. 815, a bill to
amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain
improvements relating to the eligibility of veterans to
receive reimbursement for emergency treatment furnished
through the Veterans Community Care program, and for other
purposes.
Cloture Motion
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The cloture motion having been
presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the
motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to
proceed to Calendar No. 30, H.R. 815, a bill to amend title
38, United States Code, to make certain improvements relating
to the eligibility of veterans to receive reimbursement for
emergency treatment furnished through the Veterans Community
Care program, and for other purposes.
Charles E. Schumer, Patty Murray, Benjamin L. Cardin,
Robert P. Casey, Jr., Mark R. Warner, Michael F.
Bennet, Catherine Cortez Masto, Margaret Wood Hassan,
Richard J. Durbin, Martin Heinrich, Tim Kaine, Kyrsten
Sinema, Jack Reed, Angus S. King, Jr., Richard
Blumenthal, Christopher Murphy, Brian Schatz.
Mr. SCHUMER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The Republican leader is recognized.
Supplemental Funding
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, 4 years ago, as a candidate for the
Democratic nomination, President Biden promised his base functionally
open borders:
I would in fact make sure that . . . we immediately surge
to the border all those people who are seeking asylum.
That was President Biden when he took office 3 years ago. As people
surged to the border, they insisted that the President had told them to
come, and by his actions, we know they were exactly right.
The Biden administration invited a crisis at our southwest border. In
the tradition of Washington Democrats dating back decades, they chose
an issue over its solution, and then they made it worse. The President
of the United States threw out essential border security tools like
``Remain in Mexico,'' froze new funds for commonsense measures like
border wall construction, and abandoned the brave men and women of the
CPB and ICE to clean up his mess.
President Biden's border crisis has upended life in communities
across America. Flows of deadly fentanyl have snuffed out precious
lives in States like Kentucky. Catch-and-release has confronted even
the bluest so-called sanctuary cities with the harsh realities of
unchecked illegal immigration.
[[Page S355]]
For 3 years, the President and his administration have tried to
convince the American people not to believe their own eyes. They tried
in vain to pretend that we weren't facing a crisis, but the country
knows better. This is a humanitarian and security crisis of historic
proportions.
Senate Republicans have insisted--not just for months but for years--
that this urgent crisis demanded action. Three months ago, we asked our
colleague Senator Lankford to lead that action. In just the time since
Washington Democrats finally decided to join him at the negotiating
table, the President's border crisis made history all over again.
December saw the highest daily and monthly tallies of illegal border
crossings ever on record. The crisis has literally never been worse.
This is the reality as the Senate begins careful consideration of the
border security agreement announced last night.
The gaping hole in our Nation's sovereign borders on President
Biden's watch is not going to heal itself, and the crater of American
credibility after 3 years of the President's foreign policy will not
repair itself either.
Today, our adversaries are emboldened. As terrorists and
authoritarian thugs challenge the strongest military in the world, our
Commander in Chief is hesitant--hesitant--and self-deterred. It is long
past time for the President to demonstrate more resolve and start
imposing decisive costs on those who dare to attack America, and it is
now time for Congress to take action on supplemental national security
legislation that finally meets those challenges head-on.
I have spoken at length for months about the urgent need to invest in
American hard power, stand with our allies, and start showing our
adversaries that the world's foremost superpower intends to start
acting like one again.
My colleagues know where I stand. They know as well as I do that
America's adversaries in Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran are working
together to undermine us, and they know that the time has finally come
for the Senate to respond with strength.
The national security legislation we are preparing to take up will
invest heavily in the capabilities and capacity America and our allies
need to regain the upper hand over this emerging axis of
authoritarians. Make no mistake, the gauntlet has been thrown, and
America needs to pick it up.
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