[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 90 (Thursday, May 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3862-S3863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BORDER ACT OF 2024

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first let me add my greetings to our 
Chaplain from South Dakota and welcome him under John Thune's auspices. 
So welcome, Pastor. Pastor, welcome.
  Three 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. 
And they did it because Donald Trump wanted to exploit the border for 
political gain on the campaign trail.
  Well, today, we are going to try again. We will vote to move forward 
on a border security bill that Democrats and Republicans spent months 
on together. I hope our Republican colleagues join us to reach a 
different outcome.
  We all know the situation at the border is unacceptable and demands 
attention from Congress. Democrats believe that, our Republicans have 
been saying it, and that is why 3 months ago we sat down with them to 
write a strong and necessary and bipartisan border security bill.
  Poll after poll shows that a large majority of Americans across party 
lines support our position of getting a bipartisan bill done, and only 
8 percent are in opposition.
  When Republicans like Donald Trump say: Don't support a bipartisan 
bill, wait till next year, they are in a distinct minority with the 
American people from one end of the country to the other.
  People want us to get things done. People want us to come together. 
And when they hear that the only reason Republicans backed away from 
this bill is not that it wasn't strong enough but that Donald Trump 
said he wanted chaos at the border, they don't like that.
  This is our bill. The public is on the same page, and in polling 
data, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are all on the same 
page: act on a bipartisan bill; get something done; don't play 
political games.
  And this is a bill that will hire thousands of new border agents, a 
bill that will finally reform asylum, a bill that will commit billions 
to stop the flow of fentanyl, a bill endorsed by the National Border 
Patrol Union, the Chamber of Commerce, and the very conservative Wall 
Street editorial page.
  So to my Republican colleagues, you wanted this border bill. Today, 
we vote on this border bill, and it is time to show you are serious 
about solving the problem.
  Look, I understand that today's bill is not going to win every single 
Democratic vote or every single Republican vote. That was never the 
goal of this bill. The goal was rather to come up with something that 
could get 60 votes, a majority on both sides of the aisle. That is how 
it was crafted.
  And it is far different than what the Republicans have done. Look at 
what happened to H.R. 2. It didn't get a single Democratic vote here in 
the Senate. It did not even get the support of every Senate Republican.
  If anything is political theater, it is H.R. 2. It is not designed to 
solve the problem. It is designed to make a political point. The bill 
we are bringing up was designed to solve the problem. And Republicans 
and Democrats labored together in good faith to get that done, and it 
would have gotten done had Donald Trump not said: I don't want this 
done. Blame it on me. I want chaos at the border so I can win 
reelection.
  That is not what the American people want, as I mentioned. The 
polling data is clearly on our side.
  The bipartisan border bill is something so different than H.R. 2 
because it is a serious attempt at legislation that Republicans helped 
put together.
  Now, people might forget, but there was actually a lot of bipartisan 
interest in getting this bill passed before Donald Trump killed the 
bill and told the country, ``Please blame it on me.'' That is what he 
said, blame it on him.
  My friend the Republican leader openly admitted that ``it's actually 
our side that wanted to tackle the border issue. We started it.'' That 
is what Leader McConnell said.
  My friend, the Senator from Texas, similarly said: ``It makes no 
sense to me for us to do nothing when we might be able to do things 
better.''
  That is just what we are doing today, I would say to my friend the 
Senator from Texas.
  A few weeks before our bill was released, our colleague from Iowa 
warned:

       We stand the risk of losing the chance to actually get 
     something done on the border now, because I don't see this 
     opportunity coming up again any time soon.

  Again, that is what we are doing, just what our Republican Senators 
asked us to do for months. And I would be remiss not to include the 
good observation of my friend from South Carolina.
  He said:

       H.R. 2 was unable to get any Democratic support in the 
     House; we lost one Republican in the Senate. So to the 
     conservative world: you have a unique opportunity to get 
     border security reform.

  And he added:

       This moment will pass. Do not let it pass.

  I can't say it any better. And what they said then is perfectly 
applicable now. What made them change when they had such conviction 
that we had to get something done in a strong bipartisan way? One 
thing. Donald Trump said turn around, reverse yourself, 180-degree 
reversal, and they did.
  The words I have mentioned are not the words of Senators who think 
this was all political theater. They sound like the words of Senators 
who were hoping to get something done. But as I mentioned, it wasn't 
until after Donald Trump swooped in that they changed their tune.
  So we are going to try again today. I hope Republicans join us on 
today's vote to reach a different outcome than the one in March. If 
Republicans were truly serious about calling the situation at the 
border an emergency, they shouldn't delay any longer. You can't call 
something an emergency one day and then suddenly kick the can down the 
road the next day.
  Let me finish with this: America is proud of its immigrant tradition. 
We always have been--and always will be--a nation comprised of people 
who come from across the world looking for an opportunity here in this 
country, knowing that there is no place better than America. If you 
work hard, you can provide a good life for yourself and your family. 
That is what has importuned people for generations. We should never let 
go of that.
  We must always work to give people more opportunity to come here to 
treat them humanely and embrace people who want to contribute to our 
economy. There is nothing more American than that.
  Immigration has been one of the great causes of mine since my 
earliest days in the Senate. Over 10 years ago as part of the 
bipartisan Gang of 8--led by myself and my late friend, the late John 
McCain--that wrote comprehensive immigration reform.
  We passed that historic bill because both sides were able to work 
together. The lesson of that bill is--passed the Senate with 68 or 69 
votes bipartisan--we can only do these things in a bipartisan way, 
only.
  So today, knowing that lesson, we need to try and work again 
together. We know our Nation is stronger because of immigration. We 
know that the status quo at the southern border is unacceptable, the 
results of decades of neglect going back administrations on both sides. 
So to all those who said for years we must act on the border, this is 
the chance to show you are serious about fixing the problem.
  This is our chance to show the American people that we are willing to 
reach across the aisle and work to solve one of the most vexing 
problems that affects our country and what the public overwhelmingly 
wants in poll after poll.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides to join us in moving forward 
today. A

[[Page S3863]]

chance like this, sadly, only comes once in a blue moon.
  To my Senate Republican colleagues: Please, do not let this moment 
pass.

                          ____________________