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Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as I noted earlier this week, the Senate's first major business of the year is addressing a historic array of national security challenges. For the first time since 1945, there is a land war in Europe. A Russian imperialist is deploying North Korean and Iranian weapons in his assault on Ukraine, with additional support from the People's Republic of China.

After the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, there is a land war in the Middle East. Iran, the world's most active state sponsor of terror, is living up to its title, underwriting multiprong aggression against Israel, brazen attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria, and a growing war on the global commerce in the Red Sea.

And just today--just today--Iran itself has reportedly hijacked an international oil shipment on the high seas, a further reminder that the Biden administration's failure to impose serious costs and restore credible deterrence is emboldening Tehran.

Our single greatest strategic adversary is supporting this worldwide challenge to the West, interfering more aggressively with peaceful neighbors and investing relentlessly in the capabilities to outcompete us.

Meanwhile, record-setting illegal arrivals have rendered America's own southwest border functionally nonexistent.

This is the most serious crisis of America's credibility in decades, and I don't use the word ``crisis'' lightly. It implies that a situation requires urgent action.

Of course, that is exactly why the Biden administration spent years twisting itself in knots to avoid acknowledging the record-shattering humanitarian and security crisis that unfolded on their watch and because of their policies at the southern border. Remember how the White House engaged in damage control back in 2021 when the President himself slipped up and called the situation facing CBP and ICE a crisis. It was a big deal because a crisis is something that requires action.

Well, right now, the Senate is very close to an opportunity to finally do something meaningful to address the Biden administration's border crisis. Thanks to our colleague Senator Lankford, we are inching closer to a chance to restore sanity, commonsense enforcement mechanisms, and the rule of law. Our colleague's efforts are the foundation of supplemental legislation to address each of the glaring national security challenges that we face: securing America's sovereign borders, investing heavily in American leadership and strength, and equipping America's military with critical capabilities and expanding our defense industrial capacity to deter threats from major adversaries like China. These requirements go hand in hand, and the world is watching to see whether we are willing to meet them.

With an arsenal stocked by North Korea and Iran, Russia, literally, mocks Western hesitation. With brazen terrorist aggression, Iran defies American strength. With intense focus, China bets against America's resolve.

So none of the challenges we face from our southern border to the Red Sea get any easier the longer we wait to address them. Unfortunately, our own allies and adversaries alike have every reason to doubt us. Three years of this administration's hesitation, self-deterrence, and half measures have exacted a steep price. So our work this month is the clearest possible test of America's credibility as a global superpower, as the leader of allies, and as the nation capable of upholding our own sovereignty. The Senate simply must not fail this test.

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