Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4392
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to continue this discussion of the crisis at our southern border.
When Joe Biden walked into the White House, the southern border was secure. Tragically, for our country, he then signed 94 Executive orders in his first 100 days. He rolled out the welcome mat, and millions and millions of illegal immigrants flooded into our Nation. The Democrats in Congress joined him. They joined the President. They worked with him. They aggressively rolled back Republican-led policies that had worked to keep our country safe. Our southern border is now a pipeline for illegal crossings. Since Joe Biden took office, almost 10 million illegal immigrants have invaded America.
The Democrats' uncontrolled illegal immigration strains our tax dollars; it undermines the safety of our citizens; and it endangers our communities. Hard-working American taxpayers are now paying. They are paying for housing; they are paying for healthcare; they are paying for government handouts--all for illegal immigrants. According to one study, the Democratic border crisis costs States and cities close to $450 billion each and every year.
The heaviest costs of this crisis are borne by families, by communities, and by local law enforcement. Day after day, lives are cut short or changed forever. Just 2 weeks ago, in Florida, an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a 20-year-old illegal immigrant brought into this country under the catch-and-release program of President Biden. He is here because of this dangerous program.
The local sheriff in Florida had this to say:
The Federal Government is victimizing the people who live in this country by letting these people in.
To my Democratic colleagues, I would say: You voted for open borders. I would ask you, What if this were your daughter or what if this were your granddaughter who had been kidnapped by an illegal immigrant brought in by catch-and-release--a 20-year-old here. Terrible. Frightening.
Fortunately, this young girl's mother was able to identify the situation, and she ran desperately to get that daughter who had been kidnapped.
We are here fighting to secure the border to make our communities safer. Democrats in this body have done nothing to secure the border. They have done nothing to stop the flood of illegal immigrants. The record by the Democrats in this body is appalling, and let me start with H.R. 2.
H.R. 2 is, of course, the House bill. It is called the Secure the Border Act of 2023. It is the strongest border security bill in our history. It completes the wall because walls work. It surges new technology to the border. It hires more Border Patrol agents and gives them a bonus. It ends catch-and-release, and it reinstates the successful plan of ``Remain in Mexico.'' If signed into law, H.R. 2 would stop the flood of illegal immigrants.
Now, the House of Representatives passed this bill, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, on May 11 of 2023. Well, that was over a year ago. The Senate majority leader refuses to bring this House-passed bill to the floor, and he has been blocking the bill for over a year.
Of course, it is not just blocking the Secure the Border Act that is the problem. Democrats will not vote for real border security measures. For 3 years now, open border Democrats--each and every one of them-- have rejected solutions aimed at fixing the border crisis not once, not twice but in 22 different recorded votes. Democrats banded together to say no to finishing the wall, no to ending catch-and-release, and no to restoring the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy. They blocked the Laken Riley Act.
Meanwhile, they have embraced policies that have tried to smooth the flow of illegal immigrants when people all across America are saying: Stop this flood. This includes sending illegal immigrants cash payments paid with taxpayer dollars. The Democrats continue to fund sanctuary cities. For 3 years, my Democratic colleagues have seemed to welcome the crisis at our southern border. They now want to run away from their record, and we know why. It is because election day is less than 6 months away, and they can read the polls. Democrats can run, but they cannot hide.
The majority leader recently said that the situation at the border is unacceptable. I am not sure he actually believes that. After all, one of his first comments after the 2022 election was that he endorsed amnesty for illegal immigrants. The majority leader said at the time that opening our country to illegal immigrants is ``the only way we are going to have a great future in America.'' It is ``the only way.'' That is what the majority leader said. It is ``the only way we are going to have a great future in America''--amnesty for illegal immigrants.
The Democrats have no desire to secure the border. Every single Democrat in this Capitol is responsible for the drugs, the deaths, and the destruction brought on by the invasion of our Nation by illegal immigrants.
This is a cycle of suffering that Senate Republicans are determined to stop. This week, I introduced a bill called the Build the Wall Act. We know that the border wall works. My proposal finishes the wall. It pays for it by clawing back unused COVID funding. This wall is absolutely vital to our Nation's security.
You know, once upon a time, Senator Schumer actually supported a border wall. Many of his Democratic colleagues supported a border wall. When Joe Biden was then-Senator Joe Biden--and I served with him in this body--he actually voted for a border wall. They have all flip- flopped, and we know why--politics, plain and simple.
To my Democratic colleagues, I say this: You are responsible for innocent Americans being victimized by illegal immigrants in communities all across the Nation. If Democrats are serious about securing the border, they should start by voting for a policy that actually works and is paid for. That is the reason to vote for the bill I have introduced, the Build the Wall Act.
4392, which is at the desk.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, let me be very, very brief in just pointing out that this bill calls for using unspent COVID money, specifically as a result of the COVID pandemic that hit our Nation, money sent to be spent for that. It does seem to me and to probably just about every American that we are way beyond that period of time, and money designated for that purpose has not yet been spent. It should be readily available for a project like this.
I would also note that my friend and colleague who is on the floor was, along with President Biden and Senator Schumer, one of those who did vote on September 29, 2006, for a bill, at the time, that was called the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BARRASSO.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source