[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 90 (Thursday, May 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3863-S3864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we are nearing the end of President 
Biden's term, and the American people's patience for his failure to 
secure our southern border is running thin. After 3 years in office, 
nearly every conceivable metric has distinguished the Biden 
administration from its predecessors for all of the wrong reasons. 
Since the President took office, Customs and Border Protection has seen 
the highest annual total for border encounters on record. CBP has 
reported more than 7.8 million encounters with illegal immigrants at 
the southern border, and this doesn't even count the 1.6 million known 
``got-aways.''

  Fentanyl and other lethal drugs pushed by China through Mexico and 
across our border are the primary cause of death among American adults 
between ages 18 and 45.
  And reports of individuals on the Terror Watch List trying to sneak 
across the southern border have literally soared on President Biden's 
watch. Five years ago, CBP didn't encounter a single individual on the 
list between southern border ports of entry. Last year, they 
encountered 169.
  This is what broken borders look like. This is humanitarian and 
national security failure of the highest degree.
  And it is no mystery how we got here. President Biden and Vice 
President Harris were promising open borders 4 years ago on the 
campaign trail, and they started following through, literally, on day 
one. The Biden administration rescinded policies like ``Remain in 
Mexico'' that helped CBP hold the crisis at bay. They froze 
construction of physical barriers at the border out of spite for their 
predecessor, a move that most Americans now say they want to see 
reversed.
  Every Senate Democrat voted to let President Biden repeal title 42, a 
pandemic-era policy that represented border officials only meaningful 
tool to stem the flow of illegal arrivals.
  The administrations supposed border czar traveled widely to discuss 
the root causes of migration, but for months, she couldn't find time to 
visit the border itself. And for years, Washington Democrats have 
refused to call the situation what it obviously is: a crisis.
  At every step, the American people have been left, literally, 
scratching their heads. In some cases, they have been left with 
unimaginable grief, like the family of Laken Riley, the student 
murdered by a man who shouldn't have been allowed into the country in 
the first place. And in every case, they have wondered why their 
elected leaders are missing in action.
  Families are wondering why Senate Democrats opposed Senator 
Blackburn's proposal to allow State and local law enforcement to 
cooperate with ICE to detain and deport criminals; why they voted down 
Senator Budd's legislation that would have prohibited granting legal 
status or citizenship to individuals who have assaulted a law 
enforcement officer; why they blocked the proposal that would have 
required that individuals DHS deemed to be ``special interest 
aliens''--potential national security risks--are detained at the border 
and not released into the interior by the thousands. They are wondering 
why leftwing groups are exploiting the crisis to line their own 
pockets.
  But one thing the American people don't have to wonder about is why 
Washington Democrats are suddenly chomping at the bit to convince their 
constituents that they care about border security. After all, working 
families are the ones telling pollsters the border is their very top 
election-year concern. The American people aren't fooled. They know 
that the President's summary reversal of commonsense border authorities 
is what started the crisis, and they know the solution is not cynical 
Senate theater.
  The solution is a President who is willing to exercise his authority, 
to use the tools he already has at his disposal, and to start cleaning 
up this mess. If Senate Democrats wanted to start fixing the crisis 
tomorrow, they would be urging the President to do exactly

[[Page S3864]]

that. The American people have every right to expect secure borders, 
along with safe streets and stable prices. They don't have time for 
distraction, and neither do Senate Republicans.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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