[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 22, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3838-S3839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Border Act of 2024

  Mr. OSSOFF. Madam President, for years, too many Democrats have been 
in denial about the national security risks at our southern border. And 
I have been critical of fellow Democrats who have failed to acknowledge 
these risks, who have failed to recognize that knowing and controlling 
who enters our territory is fundamental to our sovereignty and our 
national security.
  But now the situation has changed. There are more than enough 
Democratic Senators ready and willing to pass a strong bipartisan 
border security bill--a border security bill coauthored by a 
conservative Republican Senator, Senator Lankford of Oklahoma, who has 
done extraordinary work in crafting this legislation; a bill that would 
surge enforcement resources to the southern border; that would tighten 
asylum standards; that would expedite the removal of those who abuse 
asylum to enter our country unlawfully; that would hire urgently needed 
Border Patrol officers and take the fight to the drug cartels flooding 
our communities with fentanyl.
  This is a bipartisan bill to help defend the Nation against 
terrorists who would exploit weakness at our southern border to enter 
our country and kill Americans. And now it is Republican Senators who 
have already once blocked and this week are threatening again to block 
bipartisan border security legislation.
  Why, the American people ask, would Republicans in Congress block 
border security legislation amidst a national security crisis?
  The answer is simple. Asked recently on FOX News why Senate 
Republicans were blocking the Border Act, Senator Lankford, the 
Republican coauthor of the bill, put it very simply:

       President Trump said: Don't fix anything during the 
     Presidential election.
       President Trump said: Don't fix anything during the 
     Presidential election.

  The former President would rather wield the border as an election 
issue than see Congress secure it, and Republicans in Congress appear 
to be falling in line even though it leaves the country at grave risk. 
I urge my Republican colleagues to reconsider their position.
  Just as I have criticized Democrats who for years buried their heads 
in the sand about the threat at the southern border, just as I have 
criticized the Biden administration for its failures at the southern 
border, this is a time for Republican Senators to stand up to President 
Trump and say: No, we will not obey your command to leave the country 
at risk. Instead, we will do what is right for the Nation.
  The threat of terrorism associated with unlawful entry at the 
southern border is real; it is pressing. If the Senate fails to pass 
border security legislation, refuses to tighten asylum standards, 
refuses to hire more Border Patrol officers, refuses to expedite the 
removal of those who abuse our asylum system to enter the country 
unlawfully, our Nation faces a grave national security risk.
  The first vote we will take later this week on the Border Act will 
not even be a vote on the passage of the bill. It will be a vote on 
whether the Senate agrees to debate and consider amendments to the 
legislation. Senate Republicans think this bill is imperfect. If they 
want to offer amendments, they will have that opportunity.

[[Page S3839]]

  I urge my Republican colleagues: Ignore the former President.
  President Trump said: Don't fix anything during the Presidential 
election.
  He is not your boss. He is not your constituent. We have an 
obligation to national security. The country is at risk. Let us debate 
the Border Act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.