[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 41 (Thursday, March 7, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2269-S2270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       State of the Union Address

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, later this evening, we are going to 
hear the President of the United States tout the successes of his 
administration over the last year. He will say that our country is in a 
better place because of his leadership.
  Are you ready?
  Are you looking forward to hearing how grocery costs, energy costs, 
and the gas prices have all gone down over the last year? Maybe you are 
eager to hear about Joe Biden's solution to the historic border 
crisis--one which he created, by the way--that has crushed our rural 
hospitals, our schools, and other public resources.
  So let me save you some time. Here is how President Biden's speech is 
going to go. The economy has never, ever been better.
  This is a lie. Grocery prices are up 21 percent; gas prices are up 32 
percent; inflation is up 18 percent; credit card debt for the average 
American is at an all-time high. Do those numbers sound like the 
economy is better than ever?
  Well, I don't think so.
  He will say America has never been safer.
  This is a lie. Cities across the country are experiencing surges of 
homicides, muggings, and carjackings. New York City just deployed the 
National Guard to combat subway crime.
  Let me read that one more time. New York City just deployed the 
National Guard to combat subway crime.
  I never thought I would see it. This is obviously a Democratic city.

  Washington, DC--right here, our Nation's Capital--saw, last year, its 
deadliest year in almost two decades.
  That doesn't sound like this administration and its Democratic allies 
have prioritized the safety and security of Americans, which, by the 
way, is any--any--administration's top responsibility.
  Joe Biden will turn to Ukraine next and say that, by continuing to 
send billions of dollars to secure their border, we will protect our 
country--billions more dollars. Yet that is another lie. We have 
already spent and sent over to Ukraine $120 billion, only to watch 
their war descend into a yearslong stalemate, with hundreds of 
thousands of people killed and no end in sight.
  We are $34 trillion in debt and borrowing an additional $80,000 per 
second. You heard me right. We are borrowing $80,000 per second. That 
is $4.6 million a minute. We are increasing the debt at a rate of $2.5 
trillion per year.
  Our munitions are depleted because the President has continued to 
give it away to other countries. We are defenseless; we are broke; and 
we have little to show for it. Our streets should be made of gold. We 
should have fast trains across the country. Our airports should be 
immaculate. We have nothing to show for a $34 trillion debt.
  President Biden will also say the border crisis should have been 
solved with the Biden-Schumer border deal and complain that Republicans 
blocked the bill from moving forward. I was looking forward to this 
bill, but, surprisingly, this is another lie.
  The Biden-Schumer border deal was a border giveaway. The bill did not 
stop the administration from paroling thousands of people per day into 
our country. To me, that was what a border bill was supposed to be 
about.
  The bill did not authorize funding to complete the border wall. It is 
simple: Put up a wall. We just put one outside the Capitol here today 
to keep the mean people from coming to this speech tonight.
  The bill will not stop funding sanctuary cities where criminal aliens 
are protected from deportations.
  The President will claim he has done everything he can do to secure 
the border but that Republicans have tied his hands. That is what he 
will say. To clarify, the President of the United States will claim, at 
the end of the night, he cannot secure the Nation's border. How 
embarrassing. What a shameless dereliction of duty and a bold-faced 
lie. He thinks that Americans are either too stupid to see what is 
going on here or he might think they just don't care, but I think they 
do. He is wrong on both counts. Tuesday's primary race results proved 
just how wrong he is.
  When I last spoke on the floor 1 week ago, I said I would be back the 
next time an American was killed by an illegal alien. Well, here I am, 
and it is far too soon.
  This past weekend, 27-year-old Washington State Patrol Trooper 
Christopher Gadd was killed by an illegal alien. This is he right here. 
Raul Benitez Santana--a Mexican citizen, drunk and high behind the 
wheel--crashed his car into Trooper Gadd and killed him. Trooper Gadd 
was a husband, a father, a brother, and a son. Benitez Santana has been 
arrested

[[Page S2270]]

multiple times before since he has been in the United States 
illegally--illegally--over the last 10 years, and this man lay dead 
today because of that. He has been charged several times for driving 
with a suspended license in addition to possession of marijuana and 
domestic abuse.
  He should have been deported long ago, but he wasn't. Now Trooper 
Gadd is dead. Does anybody care other than his family?
  Sadly, Marysville, WA, where the crash occurred, is a sanctuary 
jurisdiction. I still haven't figured that out. You know, I have spoken 
about sanctuary jurisdictions before. They are cities, counties, and 
States where locally elected officials prohibit police from cooperating 
with Federal law enforcement officers to get criminal aliens out of our 
communities and into removal proceedings to be deported, but if you are 
in one of these sanctuary cities, that doesn't happen.
  This tragic event is but one in a pattern of occurrences happening 
across our country in which the lives of U.S. citizens are put at risk 
because of Joe Biden's refusal--absolute refusal--to secure the border.
  So, earlier today, the House of Representatives voted on the Laken 
Riley Act. We talked about her a couple of weeks ago here, right on 
this floor--a young lady who was killed by an illegal alien at the 
University of Georgia.
  The Laken Riley Act would mandate the detention of illegal aliens 
charged with crimes as small as shoplifting. That is exactly what Laken 
Riley's killer had been arrested for previously. By the way, he had 
also been arrested for endangering a minor before he was charged with 
Laken Riley's murder. This bill today that was voted on in the House--
170 Democrats voted against this bill.
  The blame for the state of this country rests solely with President 
Biden. He is the boss; he is the leader--period.
  Does he care about you? Does he care about you as a taxpayer and a 
citizen of this country? He doesn't show it.
  Does he care about your family? Does he care about keeping them safe 
or is it just by luck that nothing happens to you? I don't think he 
does.
  Will he protect you? I don't think so. He hasn't shown that. He 
didn't protect Laken Riley or Trooper Gadd here. I am sure he won't 
talk about Laken or Trooper Gadd in his speech tonight, but he should. 
Their names should come up. Their families are grieving. It is just 
unfortunate that he doesn't take the leadership role and the blame. 
These two Americans don't support his narrative of a successful 
Presidency.
  He is going to say he has had a successful first 3 years and his last 
year was successful, but we have lost a lot of people because of the 
decisions that he has made at the border, and there have been many, not 
just these two. One is too many.

  I don't know how many people will support this talk tonight. I am 
anxious to hear it. I am anxious to hear what his writers got together 
and said about our country and what has happened over the last year and 
what he foresees in the future. It had to be hard.
  Unless drastic changes are made to our Nation's leadership in the 
very near future, I think the American citizens are going to be on 
their own. It is just going to be by luck whether you are going to make 
it or not make it. I am not talking about just financially. I am 
talking about life or death, because we are losing people almost daily.
  So, on that, I am looking forward to hearing President Biden's speech 
tonight. I hope the American people will listen in--listen in hard--on 
what is going on, because this is our country, and our country is in 
trouble. I hope to God that we make the right decisions come this 
November. God bless.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distinguished Senator from Hawaii.