[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 6, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S411-S413]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 543

  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I rise today to ask unanimous consent 
that the Senate adopt our resolution expressing the sense of the Senate 
that the Governors of the individual States have a constitutional right 
to repel the dangerous and ongoing invasion across the U.S. southern 
border.
  Joe Biden has the power to secure our borders. Instead, he has chosen 
to break the law, resulting in the worst border crisis in American 
history.
  Frankly, I don't know how the President sleeps at night knowing that 
300 young Americans will die today from fentanyl poisoning: 300 
yesterday, 300 tomorrow. Three hundred thousand people have died from 
fentanyl poisoning since he took office.
  Along with that, there are terrorists, Chinese communist nationals, 
cartels. And worse, they are all living in the interior of our country.
  Since our Commander in Chief won't stop this historic crisis, an 
invasion declaration, as defined by the U.S. Constitution, allows 
Congress to recognize each State's right to secure their own borders. 
Where Joe Biden fails to put Americans' safety first, our resolution 
acknowledges each State's right to secure their borders themselves, as 
leaders like Texas Governor Greg Abbott have. The cartels and the CCP 
should not have more operational control of our borders than we do.
  We have reviewed the big picture here. Let's take a closer look. I 
think the first question we all ask is, Is this an invasion? Well, to 
have an invasion, you have to have invaders. And as we try to 
understand what the Constitution means, it is good to go back to some 
of those Founding Fathers when they defined what they thought were 
``invaders.''
  It is interesting that James Madison called pirates and barbarians 
invaders. And just like the barbarians of Madison's time, today's 
cartels and terrorists are those invaders acting like pirates of the 
day.
  So then let's talk about is this an invasion? Do we have an invasion 
on our southern border? You know, I tried to think what analogies I 
could give of what it was like when I visited the southern border. But 
we are here in DC, so I will kind of paint a picture of what I think it 
would look like if this invasion were occurring right here in DC.
  If you could imagine with me what it would look like if there were 
10,000 ships coming up the Potomac River over the last 3 years--10,000 
ships, each with 1,000 people from over 180 different nations; 10,000 
ships, 1,000 people from 180 different nations. Let's pretend they come 
up the Potomac River and they lay anchor right out here at the Wharf 
and those people slowly get off one at a time. The way I would envision 
this is one of those ships is full of known terrorists and Chinese 
nationals. There would be 80 ships with aliens of interest--people from 
countries that wish harm to America. There would be 200 ships anchored 
out here where people would hop off the ship and just disappear into 
the night--200 ships with 1,000 people on it disappearing into the 
night, and we have no idea who they are or where they are. There would 
be another 200 ships--200 ships with 1,000 people--that President Biden 
would give parole to, just say: You are fine. We don't care what reason 
you are here for, here is your parole slip. And then sprinkled in 
amongst these ships are criminals, murderers, rapists, thugs, drug 
traffickers, human traffickers, and thieves. Does that sound like an 
invasion to you?
  Next, why do we need to declare this an invasion? Well, what our 
resolution does is give State Governors more powers to defend 
themselves. If the Federal Government is not doing their job, then it 
would make sense that the Governors would have the right to defend 
themselves, to defend the people of their States.
  Let me explain a little bit further. I am a physician; I am not an 
attorney, definitely not a constitutional lawyer. But fortunately for 
all of us, the Constitution was written, for the most part, by common 
people just like us so that common people like us could read it and 
understand it.
  So what does the Constitution say about an invasion? Remember, 
everybody up here swore an oath to defend that Constitution. Members of 
Congress, the White House, the President, we have all sworn an oath to 
uphold the Constitution.
  This is what the Constitution says in article IV, section 4: It 
promises that the Federal Government ``shall protect each [State] 
against Invasion.'' This is a constitutional law that the Federal 
Government shall protect each State against invasion.
  Now, we have already established that the Federal Government has not 
done its job with this invasion of 10 million people that has already 
occurred. I don't think anyone can argue that point out there.
  But, fortunately, our forefathers anticipated such an incidence that 
someday we would have a President who didn't love this country, didn't 
recognize that we have a sovereign border, and would indeed allow some 
10 million people illegally across our border, so they have in the 
Constitution from article I, section 10, clause 3: The States have 
sovereign interest in protecting their borders.
  So if the Federal Government doesn't do its job, the States have the 
ability--the constitutional right--to protect their borders.
  This is the last point I will make from the Constitution, and maybe 
this is a little tricky, but the Constitution goes on to say in clause 
3 of section 10 of article I:

       No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress . . . 
     engage in War, unless actually invaded.

  Let me say that again:

       No State shall, without the Consent of Congress . . . 
     engage in War, unless actually invaded.

  That is why we are here today. The Senate needs to declare that our 
southern border has actually been invaded to empower the Governor of 
Texas to protect his people.
  Look, this invasion has occurred. We have established that. To say 
otherwise, to say this is not an invasion, I think, would be a false 
statement for anybody.
  The President has not done his constitutional duty. We have 
established

[[Page S412]]

that. Thus, we must invoke and concur with the Governor of Texas that 
an actual invasion has occurred. And the Governor of Texas, Governor 
Abbott, has not just a moral responsibility but the constitutional 
right to invoke his power and authority to do everything in his 
capability to protect the good people of Texas.
  I commend and compliment Operation Lone Star. They have come up with 
more than 35,000 felony charges. They have seized over 450 million 
lethal doses of fentanyl. Again, 450 million lethal doses of fentanyl--
that is enough to kill every man, woman, and child in America more than 
once.
  That is why I am here today, to lend my support and my hope that the 
entire unanimous consent and support of the Senate would be with the 
Governor of Texas and the good people of Texas.
  Mr. President, as in legislative session, and notwithstanding rule 
XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration of S. Res. 543, which is at the desk. I further ask the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the 
motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with 
no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from California.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, these past 
2 weeks have given the American people a clear window into the 
Republican mind when it comes to immigration. They can't decide if 
immigration reform is the responsibility of Congress or if it is the 
responsibility of the President. They can't decide if the border is in 
crisis or if they would rather wait until after the election to talk 
about it or try to do something about it.
  Today, in this resolution, they are doubling down on declaring an 
``invasion'' and vilifying immigrants, while preventing the Federal 
Government from keeping order on the border.
  My first message to my Republican colleagues here today is this: Make 
up your mind. Do you want to get serious about immigration reform or 
not?
  They can't do it, and these past few weeks we saw why. Republicans 
believe that fear of our border translates into turnout at the ballot 
box. And because they believe that a narrative of chaos and fear would 
help Donald Trump in November, they are saying the quiet part out loud. 
They are saying it. They are repeating it. They are amplifying it on 
social media.
  It is the same reason that they can greet Secretary Mayorkas at the 
negotiation table during these supplemental negotiations with one hand, 
while with their other hand they file baseless impeachment articles 
against him.
  Today's resolution is just as unserious as it was the last time that 
they brought it up.
  Let's put aside, for a moment, the obvious constitutional concerns, 
put aside, for a moment, and discuss what giving immigration powers to 
Governors would look like.
  Colleagues, the fact is, you don't even have to imagine. Let's look 
at what is happening in Texas. Governor Abbott has shown us the cruelty 
and lawlessness of what it would lead to: unconstitutional legislation 
to terrorize immigrants in Texas, putting them at risk of racial 
profiling and civil rights violations; razor-lined buoys that have 
pushed asylum seekers and their families, including small children--
nursing babies, colleagues, nursing babies--into dangerous waters with 
deadly consequences--you want to know why we talk about humanity; this 
is happening--and razor wire along the border that prevents Federal 
officials from doing their job of securing the border; State 
governments preventing Federal officials from doing their job.
  Is that what you want? For the self-proclaimed party of law and 
order, Republicans are acting like anything but.
  Now, let's not lose sight of the very real danger of this kind of 
action and this kind of rhetoric. The idea that immigrants are invading 
has radicalized people in our country to perpetuate terrible violence 
in the not so distant past, including the 2019 shooting in an El Paso 
Walmart, where a White nationalist murdered 23 people, Hispanic 
families who were back-to-school shopping.
  My colleague from Kansas asked something about being able to sleep at 
night. Since that day, I have not been able to sleep as well at night 
for fear of the same happening in my community, to my family.
  Now, I agree that the asylum system is outdated and in need of 
modernization. We must have a border that is more secure and more 
orderly and humane. But there is absolutely not an invasion happening, 
as our Republican colleagues have tried to portray. People arriving at 
our borders are seeking protection for themselves and their families, 
seeking refuge from violence and political persecution from oppressive 
regimes, exercising their legal right to seek asylum--a legal right to 
seek asylum that we established back in World War II.
  Today's resolution would represent a fundamental disregard for the 
Constitution and the rule of law, and it would undoubtedly lead to more 
cruelty at the border and throughout the country, for that matter, not 
just at the border. It is for that reason that I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, I am proud today to join my colleague 
Dr. Marshall on the floor to support the State of Texas in their 
efforts to secure the disaster at the southern border.
  I have been there many times. I would challenge my Democratic 
colleagues: How many times have you been to the southern border in 
Texas to see this disaster?
  Right now, the Biden administration is actively trying to stop the 
State of Texas from protecting their and our border. Meanwhile, 
Democrats are telling the press that they want to fix the border crisis 
that President Biden has created. It has taken 3 years. But they say 
that the Republicans won't let them. That is not true.
  The Biden administration is suing Texas and destroying barriers at 
the border actively, every day. The taxpayers have already paid for the 
wall--the extension of the wall that was stopped after President Trump 
stepped down a few years ago. President Biden refuses to build a wall.
  He is pushing a bill on us that actually sets aside money it already 
appropriated for the wall and allows him to postpone new construction 
indefinitely. There is no plan. This is what they call a border bill. I 
call it a border giveaway.
  Joe Biden is selling off the border for pennies on the dollar that 
the taxpayers have already paid for. It is online. You can go online 
and buy, in an auction, the wall and razor wire that is sitting on the 
ground mostly in Arizona, and you can buy it for 10 cents on the 
dollar.
  He is actively destroying our southern border. This is something from 
the worst nightmares of our Founding Fathers: a President who is more 
concerned about other people's borders and not ours.
  Now, about half of the American southern border is also the southern 
border of Texas. There is an old saying that the Constitution is not a 
suicide pact. The Federal Government cannot--I repeat, cannot--force 
Texas to let itself be invaded and destroyed.
  Article IV, section 4 of the Constitution promises that the Federal 
Government shall protect every State from invasion. In fact, the 
Declaration of Independence accused King George of exposing the 
colonies ``to all the Dangers of Invasion.''
  Article I, section 10 of the Constitution explicitly says that a 
State may engage in war without the consent of Congress if ``actually 
invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.''
  Now, let's look at the facts. At least 10,000 people a day, on 
several months, have been coming across our border, averaging 7,500 a 
day. The Biden administration admits to releasing 85 percent of that 
7,500 a day into our country--85 percent are released into the country. 
This is in addition to the 2 million illegal immigrants that we have 
lost track of in the past 3 years.
  More than 100,000 Americans are dying every year because of drugs, 
which a lot have come across our southern border--and getting worse. 
That is more than we lost in the Vietnam war, and that was a very long 
war.

[[Page S413]]

  Drugs, gangs, and even terrorists are flooding--are flooding--our 
border. We don't know who they are. Can there be any doubt that the 
Founding Fathers would consider this an invasion?
  The population of our country at the founding was about 4 million 
people, at the beginning, 248 years ago. The population has grown, 
obviously. We have had more than 8 million illegal crossings since Joe 
Biden took office--8 million. The sheer scale of this is unlike 
anything that any of us have ever seen.
  So it should be clear. The facts and the Constitution are both on the 
State of Texas's side, and Texas has every right to protect the people 
in its State and our country.
  I am confident that the Supreme Court will uphold the Constitution on 
this ruling, but the real solution is not relying on a court ruling. 
The real solution is for President Joe Biden to stop destroying the 
border and put a stop to what is happening.
  Stop cutting the wire. Stop suing our border States. Stop selling off 
the wall. Stop pretending to want a border bill that we know won't 
work. Stop encouraging. Stop encouraging the invasion. He is personally 
doing that from the White House. Stop encouraging the invasion of our 
country, which is costing American lives every single day.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MARSHALL. 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. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Markey). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Senator from Missouri.