[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 22, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3839-S3841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 696

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, it is great to hear my Democratic 
colleague come out against what is happening at the border. It is a 
disaster, and it is a national security threat.
  Three weeks ago, two illegal immigrants attempted to break into the 
Marine base at Quantico in Virginia. Both individuals are Jordanian 
nationals who were apprehended by Customs and Border Protection at the 
southern border and released into the United States. One of them was 
allegedly on the Terrorist Watchlist.
  Now, how did we get here? How did we get to the point where two 
people who entered the country illegally and were not screened or 
vetted tried to drive a truck onto a military base?
  Let me say that again: These people are not being screened or vetted. 
We have no idea who these people are.
  But here is what we do know about the people who have invaded our 
country: 25,000 Chinese nationals have entered our country since 
October 1, 2023; 184,000 Haitians have entered under Joe Biden's mass 
parole program; along with 101,000 Venezuelans, 91,000 Cubans, and 
75,000 Nicaraguans. And this doesn't count the 76,000 Afghans who came 
here after Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
  As I have repeatedly said, I have no problem with legal immigration, 
nor do my Republican colleagues. America is the land of freedom and 
opportunity. If people want to come here legally, we will welcome them; 
but we cannot--we cannot--have terrorists crossing our borders 
unverified. Ask the FBI.
  Beyond the safety concerns, we simply cannot afford to support the 11 
million illegal immigrants who have illegally crossed our borders in 
the past 3\1/2\ years. I don't know if Joe Biden missed the memo, but, 
folks, we are dead broke--dead broke--yet we are shelling out hundreds 
of billions of dollars to support these 11 million illegal immigrants, 
and this does not count the millions of what we call ``got-aways.'' 
Obviously, if they can come across and not be apprehended, why in the 
world would they go somewhere and run from the Border Patrol? It is 
because they are criminals.
  A recent report from the House Committee on Homeland Security 
estimated the southern border surge is costing the American taxpayers 
about $450 billion a year. You got that right. It is costing the 
American taxpayers $450 billion a year. After 10 years, we are looking 
at a $5 trillion bill. In terms of actual benefits, it is estimated 
that illegals receive $42 billion in welfare annually, $68 billion in 
education, and $7 billion in healthcare. We are spending hundreds of 
billions of dollars to support all of these people. The American 
taxpayers simply cannot afford it.
  So why are Joe Biden and the globalist Democrats allowing this to 
happen? Why is this going on?
  It is simply because Democrats care more about keeping power than 
they do about safety and protecting the American taxpayer and the 
American citizen. A New York Congressman confirmed this. She said that 
she welcomes illegal immigration because it helps with redistricting.
  The President and his progressive left Democratic Party know that the 
more people they can get into this country, the longer they will stay 
in power--by increasing the population in the blue districts. It is a 
simple fact.
  But enough is enough. Too many American lives have been lost due to 
the blatant disregard of U.S. law by the Biden administration. It is 
time elected officials fulfilled their obligation and the oath of 
office, starting with protecting the country from all enemies, foreign 
and domestic. This bill, the Border Act of 2024 that Schumer is forcing 
us to vote on, is basically an absolute joke.
  By the way, President Trump has never told me--and I talk to him 
weekly. He has never said one word about the border. I don't know where 
my colleague from Georgia got this information, but it is false. If he 
had told anybody, he would have told me.
  This bill, the Border Act of 2024, doesn't even have the word 
``security'' in the title. That is because this bill will only make the 
crisis at the southern border worse. It is a border invasion bill; it 
is not a border bill. It is a border giveaway paid for by the American 
taxpayers in the trillions of dollars.
  It also weakens the power of the President by suggesting the 
President close the border only when Customs and Border Protection has 
apprehended 4,000 illegal immigrants a day. Yes, you heard that--a day. 
So we are going to pass a bill that is going to allow 4,000 people to 
come here a day. That is insane. The last time I checked, the Commander 
in Chief already has full authority to secure the border. There is 
nothing new about that. That is supposed to be a basic requirement of 
his job: to protect the American citizens; to protect our borders; to 
protect our country.
  The bill also includes zero funding for the border wall--zero, and it 
codifies dangerous catch-and-release policies.
  So how did we get here? How is a border bill crafted that does 
nothing to secure the border?
  Republican leadership put together this bill. They pushed things 
without telling the rest of the caucus and said: At the end of the day, 
this is the bill that we have come up with--and we rejected it. Most of 
us didn't even know what was in the bill even at almost the time of the 
vote. The bill is just another public relations stunt from globalist 
Democrats pretending to care about the border during an election year.
  We need to get serious about the national security disaster created 
by open borders--serious. If we don't believe that, we need to ask our 
allies over in Europe who have pretty much had their countries 
destroyed by immigration.
  The American people don't want another messaging exercise. They want 
to feel safe in their neighborhoods. They pay our bills. They deserve 
it. We are here for them.
  Over the last 3 years, Americans have watched in disbelief as Joe 
Biden has intentionally erased our borders and invited millions of 
illegal immigrants to invade our country. My bill, the Border Safety 
and Security Act, would shut down our borders until the Department of 
Homeland Security regains operational control because, as we speak, the 
border is being overrun. That means the border would be completely 
closed until DHS is able to track exactly who is coming into the 
country by either detaining them or setting up a program similar to 
``Remain in Mexico.'' It is that simple.
  If Democrats are serious about securing the border, they will support 
the Border Safety and Security Act.
  Madam President, as in legislative session and notwithstanding rule 
XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be 
discharged from further consideration of S. 696 and that the 
Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill 
be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). Is there objection?
  The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, the 
background that leads up to this moment is worth a minute or 2 to be 
explained.
  It was October. We faced some ominous challenges around the world. 
Our allies and friends were in conflict, and the United States wanted 
to stand by them.
  President Biden made a request for a defense supplemental and said: 
We need to move on this quickly. For example, our friends in Ukraine, 
who are fighting off the barbaric tactics of Vladimir Putin, need our 
continued help. We shouldn't waste any time.
  At the time, several Members of the Senate on the other side of the 
aisle said: No, you cannot even consider helping Ukraine fight this war 
against Putin unless you do something about our border. There has got 
to be a change in our border policy.
  So there eventually emerged a group that took on the task of writing 
a bipartisan bill.

[[Page S3840]]

  Make no mistake, legislation on a subject as serious as this will 
never pass as a partisan piece of legislation. It has to be bipartisan. 
Both sides of the aisle decided to enlist our colleagues to sit down in 
a deliberative effort to write a bipartisan border bill to address the 
crisis we face at the border.
  The Republicans chose as their spokesperson, as their negotiator, 
James Lankford of Oklahoma. James Lankford is a certifiable 
conservative Republican who is respected on both sides of the aisle. I 
join in that chorus of respect for him.
  The Republicans said to us: None of these freewheeling efforts. James 
Lankford is our man. He will negotiate this, and we will stand by him.
  At that point, Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, was 
enlisted to be part of that negotiating effort, along with the Senator 
from Arizona. They sat down and started a three-way effort to find a 
bipartisan bill. They worked on it not just for weeks but for months.
  During that period of time, I met with them from time to time, not to 
interject my efforts or any ideas I had, but just to measure their 
progress. They were not happy about the course of business and how 
quickly they could reach a conclusion, but the fact of the matter is 
they did. They reached a bipartisan agreement, one which I don't agree 
with in many aspects, but it is a good one--a heartfelt, serious 
effort; a bipartisan Democratic and Republican effort.
  We were prepared and did call on the floor of the U.S. Senate this 
bipartisan bill that Senator Lankford had led the Republicans into 
establishing. I believe it ended up with four votes--four votes.
  The Republicans were told: Keep your hands off, Democrats, when it 
comes to Lankford's efforts. Let him do the work.
  When he finally produced an effort, a good-faith effort, they 
rejected it, walked away from it.
  The Senator from Alabama just explained that they didn't have time to 
read it. If I recall, several days had passed where that bill was 
available for our staffs to analyze and others to look at. Most of us 
who wanted to knew the contents of it. I thought it was a step in the 
right direction moving forward. But it was rejected by the same 
Republicans who initiated the process by saying that there will be no 
supplemental for defense until there is a bipartisan bill, and the 
bipartisan bill is to be put together by the Senator from Oklahoma. 
When it finally appeared before us, they walked away from it. They 
walked away from this bipartisan bill.
  I would just tell the Senator from Alabama, I have worked on this 
issue for a number of years. The only effort I have seen that finally 
resulted in comprehensive immigration reform that came to the floor was 
totally bipartisan. A gang of eight Senators, which I was part of, led 
by Senator McCain on the Republican side, produced a good bill that 
received over 65 votes. It wasn't taken up by the Republicans in the 
House, but it was a good-faith, bipartisan effort. That is the only way 
we can pass legislation that is meaningful when it comes to 
immigration.
  The bill that the Senator from Alabama produces here today will not 
secure our border. It will not prevent the flow of illicit drugs 
through ports of entry or improve public safety. It would allow the 
Secretary of Homeland Security to suspend the entry of all asylum 
seekers at the border anytime the Secretary deems it necessary to 
achieve ``operational control'' of the border--whatever that phrase 
means.
  Let's be clear. No Secretary of Homeland Security, including the 
Secretary under President Trump, has ever achieved operational control 
of the border.
  The bill also requires the suspension of entry at the border of all 
asylum seekers if all asylum seekers cannot be detained and placed in 
expedited removal. One again, no administration, Republican or 
Democratic, has ever been able to detain and place in expedited removal 
all or even most asylum seekers--not even President Trump. It couldn't 
be done. No Congress has been willing to provide the funding that would 
be necessary to do it.
  This bill would indefinitely end asylum protection without additional 
resources for the Department of Homeland Security, without any 
alternatives for desperate women and children fleeing persecution, and 
without any additional consequences for those who violate our laws.
  We have learned from past experience that attempting to shut down the 
border is inhumane and simply doesn't work. To assume that this is one 
big wall that we could close the gate on is just wrong. It is not the 
reality. Our experience with title 42 emergency health authorities 
demonstrated this. Repeated attempts at unlawful crossings soared 
despite title 42, as did the number of noncitizens who successfully 
evaded Border Patrol, often referred to as ``got-aways.''
  Recent data from CBP shows that in fiscal year 2024, the daily number 
of ``got-aways'' was 70 percent lower than the period immediately 
before the end of the use of title 42.
  The reality is that our current laws for processing asylum seekers at 
the border are fundamentally broken, and measures like this bill will 
not fix them.
  The bottom line is, the buck stops here. The buck stops here in the 
U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
  The last time we passed meaningful immigration reform was over 30 
years ago, and we wonder why this broken system continues to be broken. 
It is because of our dereliction.
  In contrast, we have the opportunity to vote on a bipartisan border 
bill, which will be offered tomorrow. It was written by Senator 
Lankford, a Republican of Oklahoma, Senator Murphy, and Senator Sinema.
  This legislation would actually help secure the border and provide 
essential national security funding. It would reform broken laws that 
are not working to process asylum seekers at our border, and it would 
provide desperately needed resources to our Agencies to allow them to 
implement these new provisions.
  While these new processes are being implemented, the bipartisan 
border bill would provide for a temporary suspension of asylum in 
between ports of entry if the number of asylum seekers arriving at the 
border exceeds the capacity of DHS to process.
  I have some concerns about the bill, but it reflects a genuine, 
bipartisan effort to create solutions to outdated laws and underfunding 
that have plagued our immigration system for years.
  I was really disappointed, as I am sure Senator Lankford was, to see 
most of my Republican colleagues vote against that bipartisan bill. 
Although the bill was written by Senate Republicans' designated 
negotiator, Senator Lankford, and endorsed by the National Border 
Patrol Council--the union that represents Border Patrol agents--the 
Speaker of the House declared it ``dead on arrival'' in the House 
before the text was even released. To think that the Border Patrol 
agents said that this will improve the situation--the Lankford bill--
and the Republicans still voted against it tells us the whole story.
  I hope my colleagues will work with me to pass immigration 
legislation that the American people deserve, one that supports our 
frontline law enforcement, addresses the needs of our economy, provides 
a path to citizenship for Dreamers and immigrant farmer workers, and 
lives up to our Nation's legacy of providing safe harbor to refugees 
fleeing for their lives.
  The American people are tired of partisan posturing and bickering 
over immigration. That is why this bipartisan bill, which was 
encouraged by the Republicans and the Democrats, needs to be the 
starting point of our negotiation. They want us to work together to 
secure the border, support our economy, and stand by America's 
fundamental values.
  I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Well, there you have it. The American people have 
their answer. Democrats don't care about securing the border. They 
never have, and they never will. They pretend to. They continue to 
choose open borders--more crime, more fentanyl overdoses, more human 
trafficking, and more American deaths.
  Democrats will say Republicans tanked the bill that would have 
secured the border. You just heard that.

[[Page S3841]]

This is a blatant lie. This bill, crafted by Democrats, would have done 
absolutely nothing to strengthen the border--not one thing. In fact, it 
would have made things worse. It would codify the problems that we have 
had the last 3\1/2\ years.
  My Republican colleagues have offered real solutions for the last 
month to fix the problem. We have a huge problem. Somebody needs to 
recognize that. But my Democratic colleagues have voted against and 
objected to every single thing that we have brought up.
  Don't buy into this lie.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.