[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S406-S408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as the world knows, it goes without saying 
that one of President Biden's biggest failures was security at our 
southern border. In fact, the situation is so dire that now Democrats, 
after the November 5 election, are actually finally seeing the light 
that they need to do something to recapture the support of the American 
people, and that was reflected in the first piece of legislation we 
passed that President Trump will sign into law tomorrow: the Laken 
Riley Act.
  Twelve of our Democratic colleagues in the Senate and 46 in the House 
supported that bill, which I have to think, before the November 5 
election, they would have uniformly voted against. But they realized 
that they were so out of sync with the American people and our national 
security interests, I would love to say they got religion or saw the 
light. Maybe they just counted the votes.
  I am heartened, though, that they have seemed to buck the liberal 
status quo when it comes to the border and actually helped us pass a 
law that will strengthen our security and make our communities safer. 
But let's make no mistake about where this crisis came from that took 
the life of Laken Riley and so many others. This is one that the Biden 
administration invited and exacerbated from day one after President 
Biden took office.
  On the campaign trail in 2020, President Biden made this pledge. He 
said:

       I would in fact make sure that we immediately surge to the 
     border all those people who are seeking asylum.

  Now, that was a big welcome mat or invitation for anybody and 
everybody across the planet to show up at the border and to claim 
asylum. And because of the backlog in asylum claims and the fact that 
they would be released into the interior of the country, basically that 
was a free ticket into the United States outside of what should be our 
regular, orderly, lawful immigration system.
  But President Biden didn't stop there. When he assumed office, he 
ended all of the policies of the previous administration--very 
successful policies like President Trump's ``Remain in Mexico'' policy. 
He halted the construction of the border wall and, instead, spent 
Federal dollars to store unused wall materials. And then, right before 
the election or right after the election, we found out they were 
actually selling these border wall materials for essentially salvage or 
for pennies on the dollar. And knowing that, with President Trump 
resuming office again, we would have to repurchase those items, it just 
seemed like a kick in the teeth for the American taxpayer and 
contemptuous, frankly, of law and order.
  So we also know that, sort of to add insult to injury, the Biden 
administration created the so-called CBP One app. This is an app for 
your phone. CBP stands for ``Customs and Border Protection.'' So, 
basically, what happens is people outside of the country who wanted to 
come here and claim asylum, knowing they would be released into the 
interior of the country and have to wait for years--maybe as long as a 
decade--before they would appear before an immigration judge, they 
could literally make an appointment to show up at a port of entry using 
the CBP One app.
  So here you have the Federal Government, the U.S. Government, 
facilitating the movement of people into the country that were 
transported here by criminal organizations that got rich thanks to the 
Biden administration. And it was not uncommon to see people coming from 
far-flung parts of the planet.
  Now, I live in Texas. We have a 1,200-mile border with Mexico. We are 
accustomed, over the years, to people from Mexico or Central or even 
South America coming to the border, but not people from Latvia, from 
China, from the Middle East. But under the Biden administration, they 
knew that they were going to be able to come to the United States, and 
they could actually even schedule an appointment thanks to the 
misguided policies of the Biden administration.
  Even as this crisis continued to grow, President Biden ended the use 
of the very effective title 42 authority, which was used during COVID 
to limit the

[[Page S407]]

movement of adult males into the country because of the COVID 
situation.
  While this is a national crisis that President Biden created, it is 
one that has been felt most acutely by the people of Texas, the 31 
million people I represent. In the midst of the Biden administration's 
abject failure to keep the American people safe and to control the 
movement of people and drugs, including some of the most dangerous 
criminals you can imagine, it was up to the State of Texas and our 
leadership, like Governor Abbott, to step up and defend our people and 
our borders the best we could.
  Now, understand, border security is not normally a State function 
because this is an international border, which means it is a Federal 
responsibility. But what are we supposed to do when the President of 
the United States and the Federal Government fail to do their job? 
Well, the State stepped up, which means not only our leadership, our 
National Guard, but also Texas taxpayers. In other words, we had to pay 
the tab to provide for border security such as we could, instead of the 
Federal Government picking up the tab, as it should have.
  So Governor Abbott initiated Operation Lone Star, which resulted in 
more than half a million illegal immigrants being apprehended by Texas 
law enforcement. More than 50,000 criminals were arrested, and more 
than 240 miles of border barriers were built by the State--not at 
Federal expense, a Federal responsibility, but at State expense, by 
State taxpayers.
  This law enforcement operation also intercepted a half a billion 
doses of fentanyl. Fentanyl, as we now know, is spread throughout the 
United States--is hidden in counterfeit pills that look like an 
innocuous pharmaceutical, only to find out that it will kill you in 
small doses. It took roughly 70,000 lives last year alone, and it is a 
leading cause of death for young people between the age of 18 and 45. 
That is what comes over the border in addition to the millions of 
people.
  I applaud the efforts of the Governor and our State legislature to 
step up and to secure the border and to protect my fellow Texans, even 
when the Federal Government--the President of the United States and 
Vice President--turned a blind eye.
  As a result of Operation Lone Star, Texas was able to reduce illegal 
immigration into the State by 87 percent. But, as I said, these efforts 
came at a very real cost. The State of Texas spent nearly $4.8 billion 
on walls and barriers, local grants to counties and cities, processing 
criminal arrests, and moving migrants out of small Texas towns.
  Deploying the National Guard for building border barriers, guarding 
and constructing those barriers, and apprehending migrants who were 
illegally present in the United States cost another $3.6 billion. Then 
Texas had personnel costs for our State troopers, Department of Public 
Safety troopers, who were responsible for repelling additional illegal 
migrants, arresting those who otherwise broke the law, transnational 
gang members, cartel members, human smugglers, and human 
traffickers. The Federal Government didn't do it; so Texas did. That 
came to an additional $2.25 billion in taxpayer expenditure--money that 
should have been provided by the Federal Government for a Federal 
responsibility, borne by the taxpayers of my State.

  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice spent an additional $311.2 
million on anti-gang violence. The number of dangerous gangs emanating 
from Central America or Venezuela are well-known and, indeed, these are 
some of the most dangerous people that have made their way into the 
United States as a result of the policies of the Biden administration. 
So Texas had no choice but to deal with anti-gang violence.
  And then there is a cost associated with the prosecution of these 
border crimes at Operation Lone Star's criminal processing centers.
  And then the game wardens--this was an ``all hands on deck.'' Even 
the game wardens in Texas played a role. They patrolled the Rio Grande 
River to prevent illegal entries.
  Criminal processing centers required health and safety services. And 
the list goes on and on and on.
  This was an all-of-government effort in the State of Texas. Even the 
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission put millions of dollars toward 
interdicting human trafficking at the border.
  All told, as a result of the Biden-Harris administration's abject 
dereliction of its responsibility at an international border, to 
enforce the law cost the State of Texas about $11.1 billion.
  Now, Texas, unlike many of the States in the rest of the country, 
doesn't have an income tax. We fund our government through sales tax 
and through property tax, and we don't have an income tax. This was a 
painful expenditure by the Texas legislature and by our leadership. And 
that figure doesn't even take into account what local counties and 
cities and other nonprofits were forced to further shoulder when it 
came to the financial burden.
  Before President Biden came to office, Texas spent $800 million every 
2 years on border security, roughly $400 million a year. That means 
that taxpayers are on the hook for nearly 14 times what they typically 
spent on border security due to the failure of the Biden 
administration.
  It wasn't just negligence. It was intentional. It was willful.
  Keeping our Nation's border secure is the responsibility of the 
Federal Government. It is not and it should not be the responsibility 
of the individual States. That is part of our constitutional framework.
  This is a crisis that the Biden administration literally invited by 
rolling out the welcome mat and refusing to enforce laws that were on 
the books.
  What is worse? In the midst of this disaster, the Federal Government 
reimbursed others--nonprofits, nongovernmental associations--to help 
facilitate illegal immigration, through FEMA's Emergency Food and 
Shelter Program to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
  So Texas has been stuck with the check for the Biden-Harris failed 
policies, and that is wrong. Governor Abbott has asked Congress to 
reimburse Texas for its costs that should have been incurred by the 
Federal Government in the first instance. I support this request. And 
along with our State delegation, we are going to fight to get Texas 
taxpayers the money they are rightfully owed.
  The Texas congressional delegation is 40 individuals strong--38 in 
the House and 2 here in the Senate--and we believe it is only right and 
just for the Federal Government and the Congress to reimburse the State 
for expenditures it should have never had to make if the Biden-Harris 
administration had simply done its job, which is to provide for a 
secure border.
  Surely, if the Federal Government can reimburse nongovernmental 
organizations for rolling out the welcome mat for illegal migrants, it 
could also cover Texas's expenses for keeping U.S. citizens safe.
  And the work that was done along the border did not accrue to the 
benefit solely of people in Texas. I mentioned the fentanyl crisis. 
Fentanyl now, unfortunately, has spread to 50 States. But the work that 
was done at the border, keeping some of the fentanyl out of the country 
and arresting criminals at the border, that benefited people in all 50 
States--again, another reason why this is a Federal responsibility.
  It is only a matter of basic fairness that the Federal Government 
should step up and help address a crisis that was a problem of its own 
making. Texas taxpayers should not have to foot the bill alone as a 
result of President Biden's mishandling of border policy.
  So I urge all of our colleagues here in the Senate, as well as our 
colleagues in the House, to work with me and the Texas delegation--all 
40 of us--on fulfilling this request by Governor Abbott to reimburse 
Texas for its expenses that it never should have had to spend and make, 
if President Biden and the Federal Government had simply done their 
job.
  The Federal Government created this crisis, and it is up to the 
Federal Government to pay the tab.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded

[[Page S408]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.