Border Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. KELLY. Madam President, as my colleague from Connecticut said, it has been nearly 100 days since my Republican colleagues walked away from a bipartisan border security agreement. That is nearly 100 days that my State of Arizona and other border States have had to live with the consequences of that failure.

We could have been on our way to hiring more than 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents and paying them better. We could have new technology to detect fentanyl and more personnel to seize those drugs, keeping them from getting into our communities and killing people. We could have new authorities to prevent the border from being overwhelmed--authorities that the President committed to using. That includes an updated asylum system with more officers to quickly screen claims. All of these things are things that my Republican colleagues have wanted for years. Arizona, today, has none of it, and I think the Presiding Officer knows why.

The Federal Government has failed Arizona on the border for decades. Sadly, it is almost expected at this point. But no past failure is as baffling and as cynical as this one because for once we all agreed that the business-as-usual approach wasn't working; that our immigration process and infrastructure can't handle the new realities at the border--because for once there was a real plan, worked on and agreed to by Republicans and Democrats, ready to be signed into law by the President.

We had an opportunity to defy the low expectations that the American people have for Congress and actually do something in a bipartisan way to start fixing the border, but that is not what happened. Senate Republicans walked away. Well, actually, they ran away from this agreement because too many politicians would just prefer to keep talking about a problem than actually solve it.

This failure isn't theoretical in my State. Over the past 3 months, the Tucson Sector has remained the busiest for illegal crossings in the country. Our communities and nonprofits have been stretched to the breaking point to prevent mass releases of migrants onto the streets. Border Patrol and local law enforcement--they are strained. So are ports of entry, where long wait times impact families and businesses.

Did I mention that we could have had 1,000 more Border Patrol agents--1,000?

It is a difficult situation that would be more manageable if the Senate had done its job 3 months ago. That is not just me saying this. That is what you will hear from anyone who lives or works on the border, including the Border Patrol union. It is what I assume my colleagues are hearing from mayors and law enforcement when they do their factfinding missions, tours, and field hearings on the border.

So why don't we just listen to the folks who are most affected by the crisis at the border and actually do something about it. Let's pass this bipartisan border agreement. The only thing that has changed from 3 months ago is that we have wasted more time. The problem still exists. The solutions are the same ones we negotiated together.

If you aren't convinced by every piece of it, let's debate it. If you think it needs something added or taken away, let's vote on amendments. We just need some--some--of our Republican colleagues to join us, and we can open up the debate on this legislation. Think about it. We can be the Senate that finally breaks through the gridlock and does something meaningful on the border.

Madam President, let's defy those low expectations the American people have for us. That is what they deserve from us.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source