[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 37 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1061-S1062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. KELLY. Madam President, 3 weeks ago, I stood here and spoke about 
the consequences of my Republican colleagues walking away from the 
border agreement.
  After decades of crisis after crisis at our border, we had a chance 
to be the Senators who actually did something about it. We had a real 
opportunity, a real bill ready to be signed into law by the President--
technology to stop fentanyl, more than 1,000 additional Border Patrol 
agents, authorities and policy changes to prevent the border from being 
overwhelmed, visas to keep families together, and more. That is what 
Senators Sinema, Murphy, and Lankford worked on together for months, 
with both Democrat and Republican Senate leaders at the table and with 
the administration at the table, and that is what Senate Republicans 
turned and walked away from.
  I said then that some politicians see more advantage in shouting 
about problems than actually solving them. Well, let's take a look at 
what has happened in the last 3 weeks.
  A couple of my Republican colleagues traveled to Texas so they could 
record videos about how bad things were at the border. Neither of them 
supported the bipartisan border bill. Other of my Republican colleagues 
have stood on this floor giving speeches, pointing fingers at President 
Biden. They have done the same on cable news. President Biden supported 
the bipartisan border bill; they did not.
  In fact, one of my Republican colleagues said in his floor speech the 
other day that he hasn't seen the two Arizona Senators on this floor 
giving

[[Page S1062]]

speeches about the border. To that Senator, I say this: That is because 
we are not here to just talk about the problem; we are here to do 
something about it.
  By the way, that same Senator did not support the bipartisan border 
bill.
  A group of House Republicans came to my State for what they called a 
``factfinding tour.'' What more facts do you need? That it is bad? Of 
course, it is. It would be better if Border Patrol agents had the 
resources and staffing and policy changes from the bipartisan border 
bill we could have passed. That would have helped them. But the folks 
who went on that trip didn't want to vote for that bill. So, no, this 
wasn't a factfinding tour; it was just another photo op, because they 
would rather keep talking about the problem instead of solving the 
problem. Who does that help? It doesn't help Border Patrol--who, by the 
way, supported this bipartisan bill. It doesn't help border communities 
that desperately need some relief.
  The problems at the border do not go away when you fly back to 
Washington, DC. They just don't. And they don't go away when the TV 
camera stops rolling.
  In Arizona, these aren't just talking points; it is a challenge that 
we face every day that strains our communities, and it strains law 
enforcement. That is why I am not going to stop working to solve these 
issues with our border and our immigration system.
  Because while anybody can talk about a problem, those of us here in 
this building have the power to actually do something about it.
  That is our job. That is what we were elected to do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.