[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 79 (Tuesday, May 7, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Now, Mr. President, on the border, precisely 3 months ago, something 
truly stunning happened here on the Senate floor: Senate Republicans 
filibustered the strongest, most comprehensive border security bill 
Congress has seen in a generation. They did it for one reason only: 
Donald Trump--hell-bent on using the border for political gain--told 
them to do so.
  The situation at the border is unacceptable. Everyone knows that. 
Senate Democrats know it, the President knows it, and the American 
people know it too. So, a few months ago, as Senators worked on the 
supplemental, Democrats tried to find a long-sought solution to 
America's broken immigration system. Again, Democrats have made clear 
the situation at the border is unacceptable. That is why, for months, 
we sat down with Republicans to craft the strongest border security 
bill in a generation, endorsed by the Border Patrol union--very 
conservative.
  I salute Senators Murphy and Sinema and Lankford for working so hard 
on that bill. But Donald Trump told Republicans to kill the bill 
because--and he was explicit--he wants to exploit the chaos at the 
border for political gain.
  He even said:

       Please blame it on me.

  He explicitly took credit for this tough border bill to go down, a 
bill that the Wall Street Journal's editorial page called ``a border 
bill worth passing''--they are hardly leftwing liberals--that the 
Chamber of Commerce said was a ``commonsense measure''; and which the 
President of the National Border Patrol Council called ``far better 
than the status quo.''
  You would think, given the chance to pass the strongest border bill 
in decades, that Republicans would have pounced at the opportunity. 
After all, how many times have we heard our Republican colleagues give 
speeches here on the floor about the emergency at the border? How many 
times have we heard Republicans say, year after year, that Congress 
must act? How many times have we seen Republicans take field trips down 
to the border, taking pictures with the fence towering behind them, 
while bemoaning that the problem is only getting worse?
  Apparently, that was all for show--all for show--because precisely 3 
months ago, right here on the floor, Senate Republicans, in obeisance 
to Donald Trump--and I believe many of them knew he was wrong--but 
Senate Republicans on the Senate floor killed the best chance--the best 
chance--we have seen in decades to provide a solution to the border.
  It is pretty simple: Republicans can't say that the border is an 
emergency but then refuse to take action. Republicans cannot claim to 
care about fixing asylum but then block the biggest changes to asylum 
law in decades. Republicans cannot claim to care about our Border 
Patrol agents but then deprive them of the very tools and funding the 
Border Patrol has been asking for.
  Our Republican colleagues may have given up on taking real action on 
the border, but Democrats have not. Democrats will make it clear which 
party is working to fix our broken border and which party is conspiring 
to make the border worse.
  We will challenge our Republican colleagues to join us once again on 
the border reforms Americans demand to stop the flow of fentanyl, to 
improve asylum and vetting, and to ensure our border agents have the 
tools that they need.