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Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, for the last 4 years, when Joe Biden was President, the American people knew that the southern border had been thrown wide open. So many of the television stories were done at the southern border.

So what has happened now with the criminal cartels? The criminal cartels were watching closely. They knew that Joe Biden hadn't just thrown up the southern border, he had also thrown open the northern border. The criminal cartels noticed, and they took advantage.

There are unique threats to the United States at our northern border. President Trump is taking the bold, decisive, swift action that is necessary to secure that border as well. His actions are working, and he is not going to let up.

Canada is making changes. They have agreed to deploy to the border more technology--that is helpful; more law enforcement officers--that is helpful. Canada also created their first-ever national fentanyl czar. That is helping.

Democrats have said in the past that they want to see the northern border secured. They sure aren't acting like that today. Let's take a look at what some of the Democrats have said in the past.

Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire said in March:

Strengthening security of our northern border is vital to keeping both New Hampshire and our country safe.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said in September that Border Patrol agents at the northern border are ``struggling to address a dramatic increase'' in illegal border crossings.

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a member of the Democrat leadership, called for, in January of 2022, an ``expansion of Federal anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling efforts'' on the northern border.

Now, today, however, Democrats are going to bring to the floor a resolution to throw out the commonsense action that a number of them had previously called for to secure the northern border. They want to get rid of that.

The message is clear: Democrats remain the party of open borders. They lost an election being the party of open borders and high prices. Today, they want to become once again known as the party of open borders.

The largest, longest land border in the world is the border between the United States and Canada. That northern border is twice as long as our southern border with Mexico, and so much of that northern border, as the Presiding Officer knows, is unguarded. The northern border stretches across 13 States--New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New Hampshire--and then you get out west. Vast areas.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel testified before Congress last week. What did he say? Well, he spoke about the threats facing our country today, and he issued a stark warning. He said:

Known and suspected terrorists are flowing in through our northern border more [now] than they are at the southern border.

These are the facts. The northern border is now a hotspot for terror suspects, for drug cartels.

In the Biden administration, we would come to the floor and talk about how many terror suspects were captured while coming across the southern border. The number is astonishing now at the northern border. The cartels got the message.

President Trump is doing what he promised to do at the southern border--secure the southern border--so they are coming up to the northern border, with 143 terror suspects already caught this year at our northern border by Border Patrol agents. Why so many? Because that is where they are coming from now. They realize they have no chance at the southern border, so now the assault is coming at the northern border. If that is how many we have captured, how many have we not? This is a threat to the safety of our communities.

The Mexican cartels also have a growing presence at the northern border. You would think the Mexican cartels--that their presence would be at the southern border, adjacent to Mexico, but I am telling you the Mexican cartels now have a greater presence at our northern border, which would be a surprise to most people.

CBS recently interviewed a drug smuggler, a smuggler who works for a major Mexican cartel. That smuggler revealed a chilling fact. He said that the cartel is moving pounds and pounds and pounds of fentanyl across our northern border each and every month.

Human traffickers are also taking advantage of our open northern border. In 2024, in just 1 sector, more than 19,000 people crossed into our country illegally. There have been more illegal crossings in one sector in 1 year than in the previous 17 years combined. We are talking about the border between the United States and Canada.

The explosion of drug smuggling and human trafficking is hurting our American communities, and the impacts are felt way beyond the border. Fentanyl overdose deaths are the leading cause of death in young adults. Illegal immigration strains our communities, it strains our schools, and it strains our hospitals.

President Trump and Republicans are determined--determined--to stop this surge at our borders, both the northern border and the southern border, because this is a life-and-death issue for the American public.

Canada needs to continue to work closely with us to intercept deadly drugs and terror suspects. The security of both of our nations depends upon it. The best way to protect our communities is to secure our borders.

Now, this is not what Senator Kaine's resolution does. The resolution that the Democrats are going to bring to the floor today and that probably every one of them is going to vote for is going to undermine the work that the United States and Canada are doing to secure the northern border.

Fortunately, for the safety of the American people, the House of Representatives will not take up this legislation even if it passes the Senate, and it is never going to make it to President Trump's desk.

Senate Republicans are moving forward this week on major legislation that includes strong border provisions, protecting the border. This legislation will give the Border Patrol agents the tools they need to secure the border and deport criminal illegal immigrants--both northern and southern.

Republicans are out there, focused, working every day to make our communities safer. Democrats are not. They continue to be the party of open borders. Republicans are focusing on results, and the results speak for themselves.

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