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

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, here we are, January 14. Twenty-four days ago, the border security funding and 25 percent of our government funding lapsed.

Democrats refuse to come to the negotiating table with a legitimate offer that would end this partial government shutdown and provide vital funding for border security measures. Their negligence has harmed 800,000 Federal workers who are not being paid while this standoff continues, and it has completely stalled the work here in the Senate because the minority leader, the Senator from New York, has gotten his colleagues to fall in line to block the legislation that is currently on the floor that would offer aid and comfort to our friends and allies in the Middle East, countries like Israel and Jordan. So it has completely stalled our work here in the Senate, as well, and, sadly, their efforts have sought to make border security more of a political football than the national security issue that it is.

What I find so cynical is the fact that Democrats have drawn a line in the sand over something they have largely supported in the past. For example, in 2006 we passed the Secure Fence Act. This legislation called for more than 800 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, and it authorized additional layered security that we keep discussing-- things like vehicle barriers, sensor technology, cameras, and lighting. That bill passed by 80 to 19--80 to 19--exactly the same kind of border security measures we are talking about today and that Democrats have shut down 25 percent of the government over--80 to 19.

Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, and Hillary Clinton all supported the Secure Fence Act. Yet their opposition to President Trump and anything and everything that he wants has somehow become an article of faith for the radical left.

A few years later, in 2013, the Senate, with Democrats holding the majority, voted on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, sometimes known as the Gang of 8 comprehensive immigration bill. That bill, among other things, provided funding for infrastructure--that is, barriers along the border--as well as personnel--the types of things we continue to advocate for today. In total, that bill appropriated $46 billion for border security.

So the Democrats--Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi--have shut down the government over $5 billion that the President has requested for border security. Yet 54 Democrats--every single one, in 2013--voted for $46 billion for border security.

Well, today, they turn their nose up at the President's request for $5.7 billion, and it makes no sense whatsoever unless you look through the lens of partisan political gamesmanship, because rational actors, reasonable people trying to find a solution, could easily come up with a solution based on this history. It wouldn't take 24 days. It wouldn't take 24 hours--maybe 24 minutes--to come up with a bipartisan, bicameral solution that the President would sign.

So what are we talking about?

Well, we are talking about the same thing we talked about back in 2006 and in 2013. We are talking about infrastructure. The President likes to call it a wall. Other people call it a fence. But it includes things like vehicle barriers along the Arizona-Mexico border. This is exactly the sort of things we talked about and voted for in 2006 and 2013. The majority of Democrats supported those measures in the past. Yet today they seem proud of what they have wrought, which is that one- quarter of our Federal Government is being held hostage over the same exact measures.

Their continued intransigence and refusal to get serious about negotiating shows one of two things: either their party has completely flipped their position on commonsense border security measures or they simply refuse to work with the President because they loathe him. Either way, they should be ashamed, they should be embarrassed, but they are not.

While Democrats continue to sit on their hands, the President has said he will consider declaring a national emergency--left with few other options--in order to provide funds for border security. I don't believe declaring a national emergency is either necessary or productive, although I do support the President's request for $5.7 billion for border security. One of the most fundamental constitutional responsibilities of Congress is to provide funding for our government. It is our job. It is our job, not the President's job. This standoff should be resolved as all other funding disagreements have been in the past, where everybody comes to the table with a serious offer and everybody negotiates in good faith. In a democracy, nobody gets 100 percent of what they want.

I support the President's effort to secure our borders, period, full stop, but I also believe taking a step like declaring a national emergency and diverting disaster relief to border security would seriously hurt those who are still recovering from the impact of natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey. The storm that hit my State was the largest rain event in American history. More than 50 inches of rain fell on parts of Houston over about 5 days. It destroyed homes, businesses, and communities, and though a great deal of progress has been made, we are still healing.

Last year, Congress and the President worked very hard to secure nearly $90 billion in disaster relief for the people of Texas and other States and territories impacted by the devastating hurricanes and wildfires during that time period--an effort, by the way, that the administration strongly supported. In Texas, that money was needed to both support recovery and rebuilding efforts as well as fund projects that would mitigate future flooding from hurricanes. Hurricane Harvey isn't the first hurricane we have sustained, and it will not be the last. We need to get ready for the next one. Diverting those funds away to support border security would be a major step backward and could further harm the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

So what Democrats, by their intransigence, have forced the President to do is look at other options like taking money away from disaster relief for border security, but the fact is, we need to do both. We can't rob Peter to pay Paul. We need to do both.

I have been grateful for President Trump's continued support of my State as well as other States affected by natural disasters, and it is critical that every dollar of the money supporting Hurricane Harvey recovery is preserved to finish the job. I know that is true, and I know we all feel that way about natural disasters that have hit our State.

Sometimes the Senate is referred to as the greatest deliberative body in the world. At times like this, when congressional leaders like Senator Schumer and Ms. Pelosi refuse to negotiate with the President, I wonder whether the Senate is actually blocked by Senate Democrats from proceeding to consider important foreign affairs legislation. I wonder if we can still look ourselves in the mirror and call ourselves the world's greatest deliberative body.

Historically, we have been able to reach a consensus on very tough issues, far more controversial than this, because we all believe American interests should come first, that our constituents should come first, and we are there to serve their interests, not merely to play political games and score political points.

So it is time for our Democratic friends to come back to the negotiating table so we can finally end this unnecessary and harmful shutdown, and, hopefully in the process, the 800,000 Federal workers who missed their paycheck last Friday can get paid during this next pay period, and we can reopen the Federal Government so we can serve the interests of the American people, as we should have done 24 days ago.

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