[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 37 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1055-S1057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. MURPHY. So here is a snapshot of what happened. Republicans said 
that fixing the border was their top priority. They appointed a 
hardline conservative, my friend Senator James Lankford, to come up 
with a bipartisan bill to fix the border. They said that if Lankford 
can get the deal, they would support it.
  We got that deal. If it had passed, it would have been the toughest 
border

[[Page S1056]]

security bill in our lifetime. Arguably, it would have been the 
toughest border security bill ever--$20 billion for border security, 
more detention beds, more patrol officers, more asylum officers, more 
equipment to intercept fentanyl, a new power for the President to close 
parts of the border when crossings get too high, an end to the era in 
which an asylum applicant could spend 10 years in the country before 
their application was heard.
  It was tough. It would have helped to fix the border. It was a 
compromise. Get this: It was supported by the conservative pro-Trump 
Border Patrol union and the left-leaning association of immigration 
attorneys. The Washington Post was for it, and the Wall Street Journal 
was for it.
  It was a true compromise, but within hours of the bill's release, 
Republicans killed it. When it came to the floor, only four Republicans 
voted for the bill they asked for.
  It has now been 22 days since Republicans killed the toughest border 
security bill of our lifetime--a bipartisan bill that would have helped 
us control the border. Why did Republicans do this? Because Republicans 
do not want to fix the border. The secret is out. For Republicans, the 
border is a moneymaking grievance machine, and if we passed our border 
bill and fixed the problem, Republicans literally wouldn't know what to 
do with their days. FOX would lose ratings. Republican Senators would 
lose clicks and donors. Donald Trump would lose an issue to campaign 
on. What would some of my Republican Senate colleagues do with their 
weekends if they couldn't go down to the border and dress up as Border 
Patrol officers and scream about fake outrage? If the border bill 
passed, if the border was under control, Republicans might have to get 
hobbies.
  If the bipartisan bill to control our border had passed, our border 
would be more orderly, our immigration system would be vastly improved, 
and America would be better off and more secure, but, yes, Republicans 
would lose their moneymaking grievance machine--the broken border.
  That is what happened. Republicans killed the toughest bipartisan 
border bill that they have ever seen because they don't want to fix the 
border. They want to keep it a mess because they think it helps them 
politically.
  Twenty-two days since Republicans killed the toughest bipartisan 
border security bill in over a decade.
  Do you know who does want to fix the border? President Joe Biden and 
Democrats in Congress. Joe Biden asked for those additional resources 
to hire more Border Patrol Agents, to build more detention capacity, 
and to install more technology at the border to interrupt the fentanyl 
trade. Joe Biden helped write the bipartisan border bill which gave him 
those new powers I talked about.
  Today, Joe Biden is going to be at the border to talk about his 
agenda to put border security first but also to make other badly needed 
changes to our immigration system, like improving our asylum system and 
getting a pathway to citizenship for people who have been living in the 
shadows of our society for far too long.
  Donald Trump is going to be at the border today, too, but for a 
different reason. Donald Trump does not see the border as a problem 
that needs to be fixed; Donald Trump sees the border as a problem to be 
exploited. He openly brags about instructing his followers here in the 
U.S. Senate to kill the bipartisan border bill because its passage 
would have been good for Joe Biden and the country.
  To Joe Biden, the border is a serious issue that he wants to fix, and 
he has a plan to do it. For Donald Trump and Republicans, the border is 
just a moneymaking grievance machine that they refuse to solve.
  The problem is, nothing can pass in Washington without Republican 
support. I know there are Republicans who voted for the bipartisan 
bill--only four--but the rule is that Republicans refuse to support 
more resources, more patrol officers, more detention beds, and the rule 
is that they will vote against any bipartisan legislation to make the 
border more secure.
  So 22 days since Republicans killed the toughest border security bill 
during our time in the Senate, and unfortunately the border is going to 
remain unresolved so long as Republicans don't want to solve it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank Senator 
Murphy for his extraordinary leadership. He and Senator Lankford and 
Senator Sinema came together, leading an effort that was amazing--
intense, hard-fought negotiations on something so very, very important. 
And they got it done. They got it done--a bipartisan border security 
bill, the toughest in our generation.
  I want to thank Senator Murphy for that and for his continual 
advocacy and putting a spotlight on the fact that we can still do this. 
We have this bill. We have this bill in front of us.
  The President of the United States, President Biden, has gone to the 
border to say: Pass the bill, the bipartisan bill.
  Donald Trump has gone to the border to say: Yay, more chaos. Keep it 
coming.
  The truth is--and we hear it all the time; I have heard it my whole 
time in the Senate--Republicans like to portray themselves as being the 
party of national security. If you want your family to be safe, you 
need to vote for Republicans.

  Well, 22 days ago and counting--we will see how high this number 
gets--22 days ago, we had a chance to boost our national security by 
voting for the strongest border security bill in our lifetime; and 22 
days ago, they killed it. That is a fact, and we all know why. Donald 
Trump told them to do it, and if Donald Trump tells Republicans to 
jump, the only question they ask is, How high, sir?
  Democrats are committed to solving the challenges at the border. 
There are multiple issues that need to be addressed and that are 
addressed in this bill, and we know it is critical that we give 
President Biden the tools he has been asking for, ever since he came 
into office, to be able to resolve these issues. Again, that is exactly 
what this legislation would do. It is bipartisan. It meets all of the 
tests that people have been asking for for months.
  And, if it passed, it would significantly improve our Nation's 
security in a number of important ways. It would reform our broken 
asylum system so that decisions would be made more quickly on who 
should be allowed to remain in the country and who should be deported. 
Those allowed to stay would be provided authorization to work so that 
they could take care of themselves and their families and fill crucial 
jobs in our economy while waiting for their cases to be resolved.
  The legislation would create a new emergency authority that would 
allow the President of the United States to pause the processing of 
asylum claims of migrants who arrive between ports of entry when cases 
rise beyond a certain number.
  The legislation provides important resources to increase our border 
security: more border security agents and more equipment that our 
agents have been asking for over and over again and that the President 
has asked for over and over again. This is one of the reasons that the 
border security union strongly supports this as a major step forward 
that will make a major difference in solving the problems at the 
border.
  And, so importantly, this legislation included the FEND OFF Fentanyl 
Act, which would make our communities safer by helping government 
Agencies more effectively disrupt the flow of opioids and penalize 
traffickers. By the way, that is the whole country impacted by that. 
People in Michigan, families in Michigan, are impacted by that, not 
just those at the border. Oftentimes, people forget that Michigan is, 
in fact, a border State. We are a border State.
  This bill would provide up to $75 million in grants that are 
critically needed for our State and local communities and Tribal law 
enforcement Agencies to help secure our northern border.
  You know, Republicans say they care about our national security, but 
actions speak otherwise. Growing up, I had heard over and over again 
from my mom, ``Actions speak louder than words,'' and it has never been 
more true than on this issue of border security.
  Democrats stand ready. We have been ready. We are ready. We are ready 
tomorrow. We are ready next week to

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pass this critical legislation to improve our border security and keep 
our communities safe. Now, 22 days have gone by--22 days have gone by--
since the Republicans said no. Let's come together and do the right 
thing. It is not about just talk; it is about action. The American 
people deserve action, and we are ready to act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.