STRENGTHENING AMERICA'S SECURITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST ACT OF 2019--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, yesterday President Trump and Republican leaders once again tried to sit down with Democrats to break the impasse over border security funding and fully reopen the government. Yet, again, Democrats proved unwilling to offer any serious solution or agree to work with the President in any way.

When the President asked Speaker Pelosi yesterday if she would be willing to commit to funding the border wall if the government was reopened, she said no--no.

Democrats are saying that we need to end this partial shutdown and reopen the Federal Government. I completely agree with that, but it is Democrats who are standing in the way of that happening. Instead of seriously trying to resolve this shutdown, they are holding show votes in the House and trying to score political points.

The administration made an offer on Sunday. Yet 4 days later, Democrats have yet to respond. If they really want to reopen the government, they will sit down and negotiate in good faith with the President to arrive at a solution that both parties can support and that the President will sign.

I have to ask: When did securing our borders become immoral?

It used to be that Members of both parties recognized that border security was a basic obligation of our government and that we had a duty to ensure that our borders were protected and that dangerous individuals or goods were not entering our country, but apparently-- apparently--Democrats don't agree with that anymore.

According to Speaker Pelosi, building barriers to protect our border is ``immoral.'' That is right--``immoral.'' According to the Speaker of the House, protecting our border with barriers to prevent illegal entry is ``immoral.''

Contrary to what Democrats would like people to believe, border security isn't an issue dreamed up by hard-hearted Republicans to oppress various groups of people. Border security is a national security imperative--something that both parties recognized, until recently. No country can be secure if dangerous individuals can creep across its borders unchecked and unobserved.

Democrats talk about border barriers as if they are meant to prevent anyone from entering our country. That is just false. America is a land of immigrants, and we will always welcome new faces to America with open arms. In fact, I, like many others in this Chamber, am the grandson of immigrants who came through Ellis Island. My grandparents obviously came and settled in South Dakota, but we have to make sure that individuals who are coming to this country are coming here legally and that we know who they are and why they are coming. We do that by enforcing our laws and by securing our borders--with physical barriers, Border Patrol agents, and technology--so that individuals can't cross our borders illegally and undetected.

Leaving our borders open to any criminal, drug dealer, or human trafficker who wants to sneak across isn't compassion. It is an abdication of our responsibility.

Right now, we are facing a security and humanitarian crisis along our border. Tens of thousands of individuals try to cross our southern border illegally each month. That is a serious security problem. It is also a humanitarian problem. Individuals attempting the journey to come here illegally are vulnerable to exploitation, to illness, and to abuse. One out of every three women attempting the journey to the United States is sexually assaulted. A staggering 70 percent of individuals become victims of violence along their way. Illness and other medical issues are a serious problem. By failing to discourage illegal immigration, we are perpetuating this humanitarian crisis.

The inadequate state of our border security--both around barriers and through our ports of entry--also allows other problems to flourish, like the flow of illegal drugs pouring into the country. Every week in this country, 300 Americans die from heroin. Ninety percent of the heroin supply--90 percent--flows across our southern border.

Democrats will say it doesn't come across, that it comes through ports of entry. A lot of it does come through ports of entry--that is part of our borders--and the President in his proposal has advanced measures that would also deal with those drugs coming through our ports of entry. But the fact of the matter is, we have to secure our border, and that requires a whole range of measures as a part of that solution.

Democrats didn't always think that securing our borders was immoral. In fact, in 2006, the Democratic leader and the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted for legislation to authorize a border fence. They were joined in their vote by then-Senator Biden, then- Senator Clinton, and then-Senator Obama. In 2013, every Senate Democrat, bar none, supported legislation requiring the completion of a 700-mile fence along our southern border. This legislation would have provided $46 billion for border security and $8 billion specifically for a physical barrier.

As recently as last February, nearly every Senate Democrat--46 out of 49--supported $25 billion for border security--just last February.

In 2009, the Senate Democratic leader said in a speech: ``Any immigration solution must recognize that we must do as much as we can to gain operational control of our borders as soon as possible.''

Let me repeat that. In 2009, the Democratic leader said: ``Any immigration solution must recognize that we must do as much as we can to gain control of our borders as soon as possible.''

Then he went on to discuss progress that had been made on our border security between 2005 and 2009, including ``construction of 630 miles of border fence that create a significant barrier to illegal immigration on our southern land border.''

That is right. In 2009, the Democratic leader not only didn't oppose border fences; he was praising them for their effectiveness.

So what has changed? The need to secure our borders certainly hasn't changed. Everybody says: Is it a crisis or isn't it a crisis? I would say that having 300 people a day dying from heroin in this country is a crisis, particularly given the fact that 90 percent of that heroin is coming across our southern border. That strikes me as a crisis.

The President has changed, and that, more than anything else, is the thing that has changed the minds of a lot of Democrats in the Senate because we used to have a President Democrats like; now we have one they don't like and, in many cases, they are openly hostile to.

For Democrats opposing this President and catering to the far-left, anti-border-security wing of their party seem to be more important than addressing the security and humanitarian crisis we are facing at our border.

I venture to say that deep down, a lot of Democrats still realize we need to secure our borders. I think many realize how important the physical structure--some sort of barrier--is in making sure that the border is secure. Certainly, those who protect our border would tell you that, and certainly those who have observed what has happened over the past 20 or 30 years--a border fence has been built in certain areas of our southern border--would tell you that has been very effective.

I think it is important for us to listen to the experts and allow the opinions of the experts to shape the policies we put in place. I think what the experts have been telling us is that, yes, we need a comprehensive solution, one that includes a physical barrier, one that includes technology, one that includes manpower--all of which this President, his team, have been willing to negotiate but none of which the Democrats in the Senate or the House have been willing to sit down at the table and be a partner in working out.

With their partial shutdown now into its 20th day, I hope they will soon end this political theater and fulfill their obligations to keep Americans safe.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Perdue).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn) would have voted ``yea.''

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source