Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. 20240702

Youll join us in holding these antisemitic organizations accountable. Lets sanction the iccs employees and associates and prevent them from coming to the United States. Lets work with our allies to ensure that they refuse to honor the iccs indictments against either israel or the United States. Lets truly demonstrate our ironclad support and stand with our ally israel in its hour of need. Thank you, madam president. Mr. Budd madam president. The presiding officer the senator from north carolina. Mr. Budd today is the 229th day of captivity for eight american citizens held hostage in gaza by the terrorist organization, hamas. 229 days of being deprived of food, water, and medical care. 229 days of being subjected to unbearable violence, abuse, and psychological torture by Hamas Terrorists. 229 days that mothers and fathers, many of whom ive met, and husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, that theyve had to live with the pain, the anguish and the uncertainty of their loved ones wellbeing. But if you flip on Mainstream Media tonight or if you watch the protests on College Campuses or if you listen to the Biden White House, the conversation has been dominated by everything but securing the release of american hostages. Weve seen the prosecutor for the International Criminal court seek arrest warrants of israeli leaders as well as hamas leaders. Now, equating israeli Prime Minister the israeli Prime Minister with Hamas Terrorists, thats despicable, and it shows a completely lack of moral clarity. Now weve read about the state of qatar, temporarily expelling hamas leader only to reverse course and welcome them back later. To be clear, qatar is hosting a Brutal Terrorist Organization with american blood on their hands. Now, this continuing dirging and digitering and dithering and flipflopping must end. They must expel them from doha. Its just that simple. To do anything else is unbecoming of a major nato ally. When we look to the United States, we continue to see weakness and a lack of moral clarity on this issue. Its a total a total betrayal of our friend and ally. The Biden Administration withheld aid earlier this month. This signal to hamas that they can drag their feet and hold out because the socalled ironclad bond between the United States and israel, in bidens mind its not so ironclad after all. I know firsthand that biden is overruling his National Security team and hes letting a few radical activists on his staff dictate Foreign Policy as american lives hang in the balance. At the end of the day, theres nothing more important in u. S. Important policy than protecting american citizens. The best way that we can bring the hostages home from gaza is by increasing pressure on hamas. Now, on the international stage, we need global bodies like the icc and the u. N. To grow a moral core, identify the evil being committed and to rally the community of nations to pressure hamas to release innocent hostages. We need the state of qatar to end its straddling and doublespeak and to permanently expel hamas leaders from doha. And here at home, we need the Justice Department to file charges and hunt down every hamas terrorist responsible for the murder of every american citizen on october 7 and the kidnapping of eight who remain in capitalivity. We need the president of the United States to show strength and to show some moral leadership on this issue. Friends, the line between good and evil in this conflict, its crystal clear. President biden needs to use every lever of National Power to secure the hostages freedom. After 229 days, lets be united in working for the release of these eight hostages. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from South Carolina. Mr. Graham i thank you very much. To continue on the theme of my good friend from north carolina, apparently today or yesterday, the countries of ireland, spain, and norway recognized the palestinian state. Heres my question whos in charge of the state . Whos running the place . And what are its boundaries . Did you recognize hamas being in charge of gaza . Do you want to keep the pa, as we know it, in the west bank corrupt . These are allies, but they need to hear from a friend, what you did is reprey henceable. Youre rewarding terrorism. On october 7, hamas attacked the state of israel and murdered 1,200 innocent people, put babies in ovens, raped women, set people on fire, and recorded it all. And your response is to create a palestinian state . Youre rewarding terrorism. The way a palestinian state will be created, if ever, is through direct negotiations between the state of israel and palestinians, not a unilateral recognition of a palestinian state after the largest terrorist attack against the jewish people since the holocaust. To my friends in ireland, spain, and norway, what you did was reward hamas. Heres the message youre sending kill jews and youll get a reward. Again, tell me about the state you just recognized. Who is in charge and what are the boundaries . You cant answer those questions, but you went ahead and recognized the palestinian state for political reasons. The world has turned upside down. And, madam president , youve been a stalwart defender of israel, and we appreciate it. Heres what i would say. After october 7, hamas is engaged in using the Palestinian People as human shields is at a level i havent seen in warfare, and the response is to punish israel, who is in a nowin situation. The battalions have to be destroyed, the tunnels are underground. Why do you need a 2,000pound bomb . Because theyre underground tunnels that only a major bomb will able to destroy. When it comes to civilian fraction the destruction of it has been in large part because hamas has used schools, a mosque, and hospitals as military sites, putting all that infrastructure in place in jeopardy by militarizing it. On top of all that the International Criminal court has decided to issue an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of israel and the defense minister of israel, as well as hamas leaders. Boy, is the world turned upside down. To consider israel like russia . Putin has had an arrest warrant issued because there is no real law in russia. There is a robust legal system in israel. Its probably the pride of the world, the most independent judiciary maybe on the planet lives and resides in israel. So israel is not russia, and the Prime Minister and the defense minister of israel are not hamas. But in the icc world, theyre all the same. Thats despicable. Heres whats happened. Apparently a lot of legal experts, some wellknown, famous people, advise the icc that israel needed to be charged, the state of israel, the Prime Minister and the defense mi minister, their legal experts. I would not pay these people five cents given my understanding of their own statute. I, along with Seven Members four republicans and four democrats engaged the icc weeks ago arguing that for you to bring a charge against the state of israel, you would have to believe that the judiciary in israel is not independent and israel is not acting in good faith. Theyre acting in bad faith when it comes to allegations against Israeli Forces and policies of issue. It is called complement territory. Complementarity. They took over jurisdiction of this conflict and where do we lie now . May 20, a couple of days ago, a representative of the icc was supposed to land in israel to set up a meeting between legal officials, government officials of the state of israel, and the prosecutor next week. The group that i was involved in urged the icc to set out and talk with israel, called complementarity. The icc cannot act if the nation in unless the nation in question is unable or unwilling to proceed with an investigation or if the investigation is conducted in bad faith. There is no way you could find israel is not acting in good faith when theyre willing to meet you two days ago. So heres what happened. We were misled and lied to by the icc. This group thinks they have jurisdiction of the entire world. Theyre going to roam the globe and right wrongs. Theyre invited to right wrongs where there is no rule. Not secondguess robust democracies like israel and the United States. They threatened to come after our soldiers in afghanistan years ago, and senator ernst, who is a member of the United States army, serving abroad, we objected to high heaven. We have a very robust military legal system. We have a very independent judiciary. Israel has the most independent judiciary on the planet. So they canceled the meeting. Israel called and said, when will you get sneer the man in when will you get here . The man in question for the icc says i have been told i cant come. Israel heard about the arrest warrant on cnn. They had rerecorded this interview, mr. Kahn had. Were trying to get israel to engage with the icc, listen to their clientss, and see if to their complaints and see if we can move forward. They acted in bad faith. A meeting was set up. The man did not ad tend, and before israel knew anything, they heard it on cnn. So i am hoping that we can come together and i want to applaud President Biden, secretary of state blinken, and jake ysullivan, for issuing strong statements condemning the actions of the icc against the state of israel. Now it is time to impose sanctions, not only to help our ally but also to help ourselves. I want everybody to know, if you deal with the icc in this sham trial against israel, you will never come to this country. Your visa will be revoked and if you have assets here, they will be lost. You have to pick what i think is an abuse of the rule of law over doing business with america. And if we dont do that as a body, we are next. I have tried for months to find a way forward with my colleagues who have been terrific trying to find a way for saudi and israel to recognize each other, come up with a better deal for the palestinians, to end this conflict in a permanent way. In the middle of this sensitive moment, the icc, in a very deceptive way, brings charges against the Prime Minister of israel and the defense minister, who is in a fight for their lives. Theyre surrounded by hezbollah, hamas, and iran. Where was the icc when the iranians drug the young girl off the bus and beat her to death . Where are they at in north korea . They pick israel, a nation with one of the most robust independent Legal Systems is on the planet. They lied to eight United States senators, and they cannot get away with this. If you let them get await with this, then away with this, then youre going to regret t were not going to sit on the sidelines while the rule of law is politicized, turned upside down to the detriment of our allies and our own nation. With that, i yield. Ms. Ernst madam president. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Ernstent madam president ernstent madam president ms. Ernst madam president , first id like to thank the senator from South Carolina. Normalization between israel and saudi arabia is important. The senator from South Carolina has been knee deep in efforts to bring those two nations together. Madam president , americas promises mean something, or at least they should. President biden has repeatedly promised that his commitment to israel is ironclad. But revoking much needed military support for our closest middle eastern ally says otherwise. Lets be clear, the middle east, really the entire world, right now is on fire, and the blame lies in large part on the shoulders of the administration. Preside President Bidens weak leadership has consistently apieced our enemies and appeased our enemies and abandoned our allies. This dangerous trend began with the disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan, where he left behind americans and afghan allies to the merries of to the mercies of taliban rule. As a result, terrorists across the globe rejoice at bidens decisions, instead of trembling in fear of the United States as they once did and should. Two weeks ago i returned from is israel, where i advocated for the release of american hostages held captive by iranbacked hamas. I stood before israeli officials, including Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu, and assured them that america has your back. Yet as my words were still reverberating, the Biden Administration sent a far different, far more damaging message to our ally were withholding key munitions. Unbelievable and unconscionable. And lets not miss that the very weapons that President Biden is w withholding include kits that will convert bombs into prec precisionguided weapons. Tools that would help israel conduct very precise strikes against hamas. Thus reducing civilian casualties. Mind you, reducing civilian casualties is the administrations stated goal when it comes to how the idf prosecutes their rightful retal retaliation. Yet the Biden White House is withholding the very means israel needs to accomplish this goal. It is total hypocrisy, folks. As Prime Minister netanyahu said to me and to the world, the u. S. Withholding these precisionguided capabilities will not stop israel from defending itself. But make no mistake, bidens decision will make it harder for israel to avoid civilian deaths. This, my friends, is a very, very grim reality. In april congress, with my help, stood firmly with our ally by approving critical weapons support for israel. Leading up to the passage of this bill, President Biden himself declared the aid to israel was critical and called for, quote, swift and decisive action, end quote, to ensure israel had everything it needed to defend itself. Yet now, when it is his time to act, biden fails to do so. Since october 7, israel has faced existential iranbacked threats on every side. In the gaza strip Hamas Terrorists continue to attack our friend and hold dozens of hos hostages, including americans. Our american eight. Hezbollah forces continue to bomb northern israel, forcing the evacuation of 60,000 israelis. Hathies have houthis have also attacked dozens of ships crossing the red sea to strangle the israeli economy. And of course, iran, the supporter of all of these terrorist groups, launched more than 300 projectiles again israel last month in an unprecedented escalation. Not to mention the attacks by iranian proxies on our own servicemembers in the region. Three american servicemembers were killed at tower 22 in jordan. Lets not forget. As israel faces these dangers, we must give her the arms needed to fight and win, to destroy the Hamas Terrorists that continue to hold our, our fellow citizens hos hostage, the american eight. What must not get lost in all the noise is that the decision to withhold weapons from israel reeks of politics. The president is choosing to capitulate to an antiisrael, prohamas faction within his own party, and he does so at his own peril, and more importantly at the peril of countless lives. President biden, you have made your choice. You are choosing the side of iranbacked Hamas Terrorists who brutally rape women and burn children. You are choosing the side of antisemites who are ruining the lives of jewish students across this country. You will live with the consequences of your choices, and most gravely so will the american hostages. And u. S. Servicemembers being targeted by iranian proxies every single day. Madam president , republicans will not waver in our support for israel and our jewish friends. Never again is not just a s slogan. It is a solemn vow. And in this pivotal moment, we will stand on the right side of history. With that, madam president , i yield the floor. Mr. Murphy madam president. The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Murphy nearly every day, republicans come to the floor to tell us how much they care about the border, how much they believe in Border Security. Yet, when they have an opportunity to do something about it, they dont just balk, they run for the hills. Mr. Murphy if you care about securing the border, you have to pass legislation that secures the border. It doesnt secure itself by itself. Our statutes are outdated, our Border Patrol doesnt have enough resources. You have to change the law, you have to put more resources on the border. That is what the bipartisan Border Security bill did. I regret the fact that all but four republicans voted against it after they requested that we engage in a bipartisan process to develop that Border Security bill, after they demanded that we pass bipartisan Border Security legislation. But because we believe that this issue is so important, because the American People believe that security our border and compassionately treating those who arrive at our border is such an important issue, we are going to bring this bill back for another vote tomorrow. Were going to give republicans a Second Chance to do what they say they want to do work across the aisle in a bipartisan way to provide more resources to control our southwest border. Im glad to be on the floor today with a number of my colleagues who believe as i do that this is the time to pass significant Bipartisan Legislation to secure our border, to reform our broken immigration system. Its what the American People want. We should stop playing political games. Republicans should choose the security of this country ahead of their president ial candidates political prospects and leave the we have the opportunity to do that this week. Grateful to have so many colleagues on the floor. I believe starting our remarks will be senator kaine. I yield the floor. Mr. Kaine madam president. The presiding officer the senator from virginia. Mr. Kaine madam president , im thrilled to join my colleagues on the floor to talk about the importance of this Border Security bill, but im also going to talk about my own n naivety and admit to being a very naive senator. When i came into the senate in 2013 with senator murphy, one of the first things we did in june was pass a significant and bipartisan Immigration Reform bill, and that Immigration Reform bill was comprehensive, including a 40plus billiondollar investment in Border Security. We passed it in a bipartisan way in this body, with nearly 70 votes, and my naivety was this, yes, there was a Republican House, when the bill own over there, having been a governor, watching state legislatures, i assumed the Republican House wouldnt just embrace our bill but do their own version of an immigration bill, then wed sit in a conference and hash out some middle ground. No, i was wrong. The republican majority house decided to bottle the bill up in committee, never took it up and never did their own bill. That was in 2013. The education of a naive senator. Years later, in 2018, during the trump administration, when we had a republican majority in this body, we dealt directly with President Trump and he wanted 25 billion in Border Security over ten years. We basically came up with an offer that was can you take yes for an answer. I was part of an eightmember grew negotiating a bipartisan deal, protection for dreamers and 25 billion in Border Security. Every penny donald trump asked for, not one penny less. He told us that he supported dreamers. He told us that if the bill got to him he would sign it. Because we had a democratic house, if we could get it through this body, we would get it to President Trumps desk. As soon as we rolled out the bill with eight democrats and eight republicans as cosponsors, President Trump did a 180, turned tail, trashed the dreamers, said the bill was awful, encouraged republicans to vote against it, and we got get to the 60vote margin. For the second time we did a bipartisan deal that was going to do good things and invest a whole lot in Border Security, killed by President Trump. Now this most recent effort. I so applaud senators murphy, sinema, lankford and others from the administration who worked on this deal. Bipartisan Border Security provision with other important provisions normalization of afghan refugees. We have more in virginia than any other state. Really important work in this bill, bipartisan. Its not lost on me how hard it is to do a deal where both the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Border Patrol union, who tend to be quite opposite politically, take a look at a compromise and say, you know, this isnt perfect, but we need to do this. I dont know of another issue where these two organizations have said we need to do this. That was the needle that these senators were able to thread after months and months and months of negotiation. But just as in the first two instances, a significant effort to protect our border and make our country safer in a bipartisan way got shot down when President Trump came out and encouraged republicans to oppose it, even though they had been briefed on the negotiations every step of the way and supported it. President trump, as soon as he said they should oppose it, folks turned tail and ran. President trump was honest, ill give him this, he was honest about the reason. He didnt say oppose it because he didnt like clause a. Or c. He pretty much said we dont want to fix this problem. We would rather raise heck and blame joe biden about this problem than fix it. Were sent here to solve problems, and when we have a bipartisan solution that fits this narrow window, where both left and right say its the right step to take, we should do it. Im so glad this is going to be up on the floor for a vote tomorrow. Look forward to joining my colleagues in supporting it. Urge others to do the same. I yield back, madam president. Ms. Klobuchar madam president. The presiding officer the senator from michigan. Ms. Kl ms. Klobuchar thank you, madam president. Im really pleased to be here ms. Stabenow thank you, madam president. Im pleased to be here with my colleagues to get something done. Senator kaine talked about 2013. I was here as well. It was an amazingly difficult piece of legislation to negotiate at the time, but it was comprehensive, and in the end it was a big, bipartisan vote in the United States senate. I agree with senator kaine. When it went to the house, we said okay, we put together this comprehensive bill thats not only Border Security. Its about how we manage and create a pathway to citizenship and address young people who have been there their whole lives, who have been here as dreamers and agriculture jobs which i work with all the time. Our farmers need ag labor and want to know theres a legal path to be able to have people work here. And it covered everything. But then at that time republicans in the house didnt want to deal with it, didnt want to solve it. So we have been down this road before, but i really did think this time in the context of the National Security bill and the demand from republican colleagues they wouldnt consider the supplemental Security Issues without a tough border bill. I thought okay, here we go. So we all know major negotiations, months of negotiations. Senator murphy, senator sinema, senator lankford, everybody stretching and pushing and trying to get to a spot for something that would really, really make a difference. And they did. And the vast majority of us said okay, were going to support it. But that was 105 days ago. 105 days ago. That republican colleagues had a chance to solve the issue that they come to the floor on every day. They keep coming to the floor every day. We need to do something about the border. We need to do something about the border. Well, we offered a bipartisan bill, tough bill to do something about the border, and at the last minute they said no. Madam president , i want to speak for a moment about one piece in here thats so important. We think about the southern border, and theres certainly funding in here for the northern border. But one of the things that is in here, and i know our presiding officer cares deeply about as well. It affects every part of the country, it certainly affects michigan, is the capacity to stop the flow of deadly fentanyl. So important, and its in this bill. On april 2, the Justice Department announced the largest Law Enforcement seizure of fentanyl in the entire history of michigan. April 2. 40 kilos of fentanyl were found, enough to kill every single michigan resident. On april 19, a michigan medical examiner raised the alarm on what was quoted as a really bad patch of fentanyl in michigan and warned the public that there had been six drug overdoses in 11 days, raising the flag what was going on here. It only takes one pill to be able to cause a death. These are just two p headlines from last month in michigan. And they do not come close to encapsulating the pain and the tragedy michigan families have faced over the years due to drug overdoses. So weve got to do more to combat the fentanyl crisis. This bill does that. This bill actually does that. We need to give the u. S. Customs and Border Security the tools they need to stop the drug from crossing the border, to combat the fentanyl crisis. This bill would invest in 2,400 more customs and Border Protection officers, desperately needed. New innovative inspection equipment to decrease detection. We know theres always kinds of ways its coming it in, from tires and every part of a vehicle, every imaginable way its coming in. And theres equipment that can detect that, and we need that new, innovative equipment at the border to help our agents. Drug Enforcement Agency efforts to disrupt Drug Trafficking networks in mexico, in this bill. Enhanced lab analysis of fentanyl samples in this bill. Improve technology for autonomous capabilities, air assets, in this bill. In the bill we will be voting on tomorrow. And so when we hear colleagues talk about doing something about drug offenders or about drug overdoses or about fentanyl, they have a chance tomorrow to do that. But its been 105 days since republicans were given the opportunity for a strong bipartisan deal that included fentanyl efforts, and 105 days ago they killed the bill. And we know why. We know why. Its been said over and over again. Donald trump told them to. He called the people and said we dont want to solve this. We want chaos. Thats my middle name. Maybe its his first name, i dont know. But chaos, chaos, chaos, chaos. We want people to be afraid. We dont care about people getting hurt about whats happening. He actually was quoted as saying p please blame it on me. I want you to vote against it. Please blame it on me, which we are more than happy to do, because it was him. It was him. We want to solve the challenges at the border. We know they are serious. And we want to give the Biden Administration additional tools to solve them. And they want that. They have been asking in every single budget since President Biden was elected, every single budget hes asked for more resources to do the things in this bill. And folks have said no, no, no, no, no. This legislation does what needs to be done. And as i said before, it was bipartisan, toughly negotiated, and we appreciate that. Lets be clear, this bill would significantly improve our nations security in a number of important ways. It would reform the broken asylum system so that decisions would be made more quickly on who should be allowed to remain in the country and who should be deported. Those allowed to stay would be provided authorization to work so that they could take care of themselves and their families and fill crucial jobs in our economy while waiting for their cases to be resolved. The legislation would create a new Emergency Authority that would allow the president of the United States to pause the processing of an asylum claim of migrants who arrive between ports of entry when cases rise above a certain point. It would expand legal pathways to citizenship and increase access to work authorizations, something that republicans claim to support. And those immigrants who serve in our military, who serve in our military would gain quicker access to citizenship, something i think we can all agree they have earned. And people styles forget that michigan, my home state, is a border state. This bill would provide up to 100 million in grants to states and local and tribal Law Enforcement agencies to secure the northern border, which is extremely important to me and the people i represent. Republicans say they care about solving the challenges at the border. Their actions, unfortunately, show otherwise. Madam president , we stand ready to pass this legislation. We stand ready to strengthen our Border Security and to keep our communities safe. Were ready to do it. Lets go. Tomorrow our republican colleagues will be given another chance to join us to pass this bipartisan bill. And i urge them to vote yes. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Carper for years many of our colleagues have said on this senate floor, theyve said in Committee Hearing rooms, they have said in cable news shows that there is a crisis at our southern border, and they have been right. Today we actually have the opportunity to do something about it. Once again we have Bipartisan Legislation before us that works to address the challenges of a broken and decadesold immigration system. Along with our other colleagues here this afternoon, i rise to urge all members of the senate to put aside politics, to do what i think we all believe to be the right thing, and to vote in favor of the bipartisan border act. Madam president , as a former chairman of the Senate Homeland security and Governmental Affairs committee, i know that we have tried to come together in congress to fix our immigration system for about as long as i can remember. Under president s and congressional leaderships of both parties. My colleagues have heard me say Bipartisan Solutions are Lasting Solutions and thats true. In the case of fixing our nations immigration laws, that has never been more true. Thanks to the tireless work of a democrat from connecticut, a republican from oklahoma, and an independent from arizona, along with members of their staffs, weve reached a bipartisan compromise on one of the toughest issues our country faces today. Im proud to say that after four long months of negotiations between our three colleagues and members of the Biden Administration, including the secretary of Homeland Security, we have crafted the strongest Border Security bill in decades. The legislation produced during these negotiations proves that bipartisanship is not just aspirational. Its ours for the taking. Legislation produced during these negotiations proves bipartisanship is not just aspirational, but its actually possible. Despite all this hard work and the countless hours our colleagues invested in hammering out this critical piece of legislation. Many of our republican colleagues rejected this bill earlier the same year largely at the behest of donald trump. Id like to quote again what donald trump said on his social media account earlier this year. This is a quote. Republicans should stop wasting their time on immigration until after we elect more senators and congressmen and women in november. Democrats are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solve this decadesold problem. We can pass great legislation after the red wave, close quote. While democrats and republicans and independents negotiate p in good faith, it was donald trump it would decided to sow chaos at the border rather than fix it. It was disappointing to see so many of our republican colleagues especially in the house turn their backs on this bipartisan approach and play politics with our immigration policy. They chose to put donald trump first for what is best for our country. Fixing the crisis at our southern border requires tough policy choices, but it also gives us an opportunity to seek some wisdom from the scripture. I believe we need to look no further than the new testaments matthew 25, where we find these words. When i was a stranger in your land, did you welcome me . Thats what it says. When i was a stranger in your land, did you welcome me . Many immigrants seeking refuge here oftentimes leave their home countries and brave p horrible conditions at home in order to seek a better life in this country, a life of freedom, a life of opportunity. We know all too well the factors that have contributed to the challenges at our border. Among them are a global pandemic, increased violence in criminal activity, the smuggling of illicit narcotics, and our nations own devastating addiction to illegal drugs. Not to mention authoritarian government rule and poverty throughout the southern hemisphere. Those are just some of the root causes. If we are serious about addressing the challenges of our immigration system, its imperative that we focus on these root causes of migration. The bipartisan border act before us would finally work to make our country safer by increasing resources and implementing policy changes both at the border and to our immigration system as a whole. And this legislation has numerous endorsements from some unlikely places, including the border parole union and he u. S. Chamber of commerce. So today we have another opportunity to choose policy over politics, to choose principle over politics. Everyone on the Senate Floor Today knows that improving the security of our border is not just good policy. It is the right thing to do. In fact, 84 of all voters in this country believe that we should be prioritizing return to our immigration system rather than sticking to the status quo. 84 . As u. S. Senators, we elected to serve our constituents, the American People, and we have an opportunity today to meet that responsibility by enacting the legislation that is before us. Our our 3 Senate Colleagues have proved working together is possible and now its up to the rest of us to do the right thing. Lets finish the job. Lets implement a lasting solution, and lets do it together. With that, i yield back the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from New Hampshire. Mrs. Shaheen madam president , i agree with my colleagues, we have a crisis at the southern border. And in New Hampshire it is affecting us because there are too many deadly drugs flowing into our country and not enough telling, equipment, or personnel to stop it. Its not every day i agree with my republican colleagues on an issue as big as the border, but on this one, i agree. We needed to act, thats why a group of negotiators, republicans, were led by senator lankford, democrats by senator murphy and senator sinema. I appreciate the work that all three of them did. They rolled up their leaves, they got to work, for months they passed paper back and forth, they ironed out big and small details of the bill that we voted on thats before us, and the final agreement is the strictest i think thats worth repeating. It is the strictest Border Security legislation that we have seen certainly since my time in the senate. It is to supply the border that is necessary to increase security, stop the flow of illicit drugs and better protect all americans many now, our republican colleagues were for this bill until donald trump put his thumb on the scale and said, dont fix the border. I want to campaign on it as a crisis. And as we heard, he acknowledged, we should blame him for the fact that the border deal failed. But, unfortunately, our colleagues walked away from the strictest Border Security deal that weve had in decades all because donald trump told them to make it a Campaign Issue rather than do whats in the best interest of the country. Now, we need to pass this bill because it includes more funding for identifying, tracking, and stopping fentanyl at the border. I dont know about all of our colleagues but in my home state of New Hampshire, we have lost too many people because theyve died from fentanyl overdoses. In the period from 2013 to 2023, New Hampshire lost 4616 people from drug overdoses. 4,416. The majority of those people died as a result of fentanyl, about 70 of those deaths were the result of fentanyl. And anything anything we can do to cut down on the amount of fentanyl thats coming into the United States, we ought to be doing it. We know that fentanyl has moved across the u. S. Mexico border in huge quantities, often in cars and trucks, and we know it comes across almost 100 at our ports of entry. And they cant search every vehicle in every way, and thats why we need technology. We need to be able to scan vehicles for drugs and other contraband. We need to make sure they can expand these capacities, which is why there is a provision in the bill to provide significant increases in funding for ccp to deploy more nonintrusive specks technology that would more efficiently search for fentanyl and other drugs. The bill also gives immigration and Customs Enforcement increased funding for counterinvestigationings and enforcement because we need more boots on the ground dedicated to fining fentanyl and other drugs and dedicated to holding those accountable who are bringing these deadly drugs into our country. The danger of the continued fentanyl epidemic demands more action from congress. We need more funding, we neared agents on our borders, and with this bill, we would do just that. Now, New Hampshire also doesnt border our southern border, but it does border canada, which has the Longest International Border in the world, over 5,000 miles. New hampshire has a very short piece of that, but there are many stretches of the border, particularly in New Hampshire, that are remote, that are sparsely populated, and unlike many other borders, not militarized. That means our northern border is vulnerable to exploitation, and we have a program that we have had in past budget called operation stone garden, its in the department of Homeland Security, so senator peters, i know knows that program. But it provides Police Departments providing annual grants to help them particularly in rural areas that are struggling for rural operations. These are funds that allow Police Departments to pay police overtime. Sadly, in the northern border, most of those funds have been diverted to the southern border and many of our agents who have patrolled the northern border have been diverted to the southern border. Thats a challenge for states like New Hampshire and others where we have large sections of that border that are rural that where in parts of New Hampshires border we dont even have access to internet so there are cameras on the border, but they cant pick up anything because we dont have a signal. But despite this programs importance, its been underfunded for a number of years, leaving states without sufficient resources. So one of the pieces thats in this legislation that were going to vote on tomorrow is 100 million with 25 of it that would go to states that are not on the southwest borders, states like New Hampshire to make sure that our Law Enforcement is also supported and well funded. So we have a lot to do with our border. Passing this bill tomorrow, getting our republican colleagues to join us would make a huge difference in addressing the challenges at our southern border. I hope that they will join us, that they will put aside the opposition from donald trump and that they will do whats in the best interest of the country, not whats in the best interest of donald trump. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from michigan. Mr. Peters madam president , tomorrow the senate will consider legislation that would send Critical Resources to secure our borders. This legislation was forged by serious, bipartisan negotiations. But when it first came to the senate floor this past february, as part of a foreign aid package, my republican colleagues voted against it and blocked us from even having a debate on this most serious of issues. They plan and unfor the they plan, unfortunately, to do the same tomorrow. They are refusing to even come to the table to help strengthen our Border Security and support lawful trade and travel that drives our economy. This bill is not perfect. Its not comprehensive Immigration Reform, but we must keep working towards a broader approach where we modernize immigration laws and address the immigration system as a whole, but we cannot let that holding us back to take action right now to secure our borders. This legislation is a meaningful step in the right direction. It would address some of our most pressing challenges on the issue and tackle them head on. The bill would allow us to hire more than 2,000cbp officers, addressing a critical shortage of front line personnel who safeguard our security at points of entry each and every day. It would provide 2 billion for advanced screening technology, this would allow cbp to expand these tools helping them to identify illegal cargo and stop dangerous drugs like fentanyl from poisoning our communities. Fentanyl overwhelmingly enters this country through our ports of entries. This bill also aims to change the asylum application process, congress has been unable to pass for decades. Republicans in Congress Certainly like to talk about the need to secure our borders, but they use this issue to stoke fear in communities all across our country. When you get a commonsense bill like the bill we have before us to vote on, a a bill that aims to address the problems they claim they want to solve, they simply walk away. They talk the talk, but they refuse to walk the walk. We need to walk the walk. And thats why republicans walked away last february. They took orders from donald trump when he told them to vote against this Bipartisan Legislation. They made it abundantly clear that republicans would rather campaign on this issue than actually fix it. They would rather throw rocks than solve the problems facing our country, and, unfortunately, it looks like theyre going to do it all again tomorrow. Americans deserve better. Our communities deserve better. Our front line personnel deserve better, the victims of the fentanyl crisis deserve better. Those fleeing often horrendous conditions in their home countries and seeking asylum on our southern border, they deserve better. And its an absolute shame that our republican colleagues have decided not to act because these challenges are not going to go away on their own. As chairman of the Homeland Security committee, i have worked hard to craft bipartisan bills and pass commonsense Border Security legislation in my committee. Ive had the opportunity to work with key senators on this issue, including senators lankford, sinema, and murphy, who helped broker this deal in the first place. And im going to keep working with any member of this chamber who is willing to come together and find Common Ground and find solutions to help our country and i hope some republicans join me. I yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from wisconsin. Ms. Baldwin madam president , i rise today in support of securing our border and taking action to fix our broken immigration system. Lets back up for a minute. Fixing our broken immigration system and securing our border has evaded congress for decades. We have poured pore pored many hours appeared much ink trying to solve the issues we have. I was proud to be a part of the gang of eight that would have tightened Border Security, provided pathways for citizenship for those already here and expanded work visas, i, along with many in this chamber, voted for a bipartisan bill that would have given path to citizenship for the dreamers who would have came to our country as children. We nearly passed the commonsense plan, a bill that would have invested 25 billion in Border Security and also provided a pathway to citizenship for our dreamers. All of these efforts, every single one of them died at the hands of congressional republicans. Recently, democrats and republicans came to the table yet again to find a path forward on Border Security and fixes to our immigration system. Together, my colleagues from both parties worked hard to find a bipartisan compromise, and they did. The result was a strong measure even endorsed by the largest Border Patrol union that curbs the flow of fentanyl from coming across our border, expedites our asylum process and boosts Border Security. Then many republicans walked away again. Apparently deciding that it was better politics not to secure our border. And what hits closest to home for me and every family whose watched a loved one pass away from fentanyl poisoning or an overdose is we have a real chance to disrupt the flow of these dangerous drugs into our communities. In the twoyear period, from 2021 to 2022, over 2,800 wisconsinites died of an opioid epidemicrelated overdose. In just two years, thousands of wisconsin families lost a loved one and gained an empty seat at the dinner table. I heard from countless parents devastated by losing a child. One mother, michele, got a call one morning november 2021, notifying her that her that her son kaib passed away. The night before cabe had gone out with his friends, he took one pill that he thought was percocet, it turned out to be 100 fentanyl. His mother said that cabe had his entire life ahead of him. He was home the weekend before he died talking about he was going to change his major to psychology and how he was going to travel the world. He didnt overdose from taking one bill, he was poise orn dz. Poisoned. Thats the stark reality of fentanyl. One pill can kill. In 2020 over 85 of opioid deaths were because of manufactured pill like pentle. We must do more to stop illicit drugs from coming into our communities, and we have that chance in front of us right now. We are bringing this bill back up because this is what the American People are demanding. While wisconsin is not on the southern border, we are impacted by the flow of fentanyl coming across that border. And wisconsinites want action. This bipartisan border compromise is that action. This legislation will invest in 100 new cutting edge inspection machines that help detect fentanyl at our ports of entry. This bill would also strengthen Border Security with more than 2400 new customs and Border Protection officers at our southwest border and give the president new authority to shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed. Not only would this compromise combat the fentanyl crisis, but this also gives us the opportunity to take on an immigration system that has been broken for decades. If passed, this bill would invest in asylum officers and Immigration Judges to expedite the process. Wed also send more resources to help communities across this country struggling to provide Critical Services to newcomers and expedite work permits for people who are in this country and qualified so newcomers can provide for their families and help us meet workforce demands. It would help wisconsin businesses and farms. With communities across wisconsin and the country receiving migrants, this bill would deliver the necessary resources so that our local boots on the ground can effectively welcome these those legally entering this country and not stress their often stretched budgets. Many republicans walked away from this deal that they negotiated more than 100 days ago because some would rather make this a Campaign Issue. Well, i for one would prefer to make a difference. Our constituents expect frankly, they demand that we come here and work in good faith and find compromise where possible. Our colleagues found a compromise on Immigration Reform and securing our border. Is it perfect . No. Would it have been a huge step in the right direction . Yes. I nor anyone got anyone they wanted. This bill is a compromise, and there is more work to do. Even if we pass this bill, we must remain committed to fixing our immigration system, including creating a clear path to citizenship for immigrants already here, especially our dreamers. But in this instance we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We cannot allow politics to win out over progress. We cannot allow the same Old Washington games to stop us from saving lives. Right now we have a chance to take a step in the right direction, a chance to do the right things for moms like michele and every parent who has lost a child to fentanyl. Lets do something together right now to secure our border, stop the flow of fentanyl, fix our broken immigration system, and make a real difference for americans. I yield. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Blumenthal thank you, madam president. Im honored to join my colleagues in this colloquy and to support this measure. Were nearing the end of the debate for today. Were nearing a vote tomorrow. But the debate will continue, and we will have other votes. Whether this measure passes or not tomorrow, it is only the beginning of what we need to do. And so that debate nationally and in this body will continue. And there will be votes on other steps that Carry Forward the effort that this bipartisan security act reflects. But we must act. Everybody agrees that we must act to make our border more secure, to fix our broken immigration system, to find a path toward earned citizenship for millions, tens of millions of undocumented people in this country who are paying taxes and playing by the rules, and of course for the dreamers. And for people seeking visas so they can work here and fill jobs that otherwise will be vacant. We often hear republicans talk about the need to secure the border. I sit on the Judiciary Committee where it seems like my republican colleagues want to talk and talk and talk about the border every hearing, every markup, regardless of our actual agenda they want to talk. Republicans want to talk about the border so much that they send us sent us contrived articles of impeachment against a cabinet secretary for the first time in 150 years. More talk. Politics is the reason that this body failed to pass this measure just months ago. So for republican colleagues to now claim that politics is the reason were here, well, yes, their politics, their presumptive president ial nominee saying that they should not vote for it because of the political advantage they would have from keeping it as an issue. They made clear that all they want to do about the border is talk and use it politically. Democrats spent months negotiating with republicans. I give great credit to my colleague senator murphy, senator sinema, senator lankford and others who have worked on this issue over the years. I remember well 2013, the Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan measure that then was approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in this body. And it went to the house where it died, not because it was voted down but simply because it had no vote. The speaker of the house refused to give it a vote. Well have a vote tomorrow on a measure that falls way short of what that one did in in 2k0 13 we provided a path to earn citizenship for 11 million then undocumented for the dreamers. We provided billions dollars for Border Security. And reformed the visa and asylum programs among other ways by enabling more fairness in that asylum system. This bill is the strongest measure in recent history. It was endorsed by the national Border Patrol council and the union of Border Patrol agents. And lets be very cleareyed. It was a tough compromise. It limited asylum claims in a way that Many Democrats and i remained concerned about doing. But it included some key democratic priorities, including providing new pathways to citizenship for our afghan atrisk allies, ensuring legal representation to Vulnerable Children under 13, attempting to navigate the immigration process on their own, and providing for new ways for family members to enter the United States legally for short stays to visit relatives and attend major life events. Thats an issue ive worked with colleagues across the aisle for years as well as some of those other provisions. These are key parts of the democratic vision for immigration, fix our broken immigration system to continue growing our economy and maintain Americas International leadership at a time of severe global unrest. It will be tough for my republican colleagues to vote for this america. It will be touf for many of it will be tough for many of us, but thats why were here and thats the measure of why its a compromise. A lot of whats here we would not choose to include. Let me conclude by saying donald trump wants to campaign on the border, not fix it. The question is whether my republican colleagues are so beholden to him that they will follow that lead like lemons off a cliff and at the end of the data the country with them. My democratic colleagues and i are not giving up. To the dreamers, we will keep faith with you. To the undocumented, millions around the United States who are paying taxes, working hard, following all the rules, we are will keep faith with you. To businesses that want more visas so they can have workers, skilled and others, we will keep faith with you. We will keep faith with america on this issue. Were not abandoning this effort. Were not going away. Thank you, madam president. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senior senator from minnesota. Ms. Klobuchar madam president , i ask unanimous consent that the following senators be permitted to speak prior to the scheduled vote. Myself for up to five minutes, senator schumer for up to two minutes, senator murphy for up to ten minutes, senator butler for up to five minutes. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Klobuchar madam president , i rise today along with senator murphy and blumenthal and so many others in support of Bipartisan Legislation to improve our immigration system. As we face global and domestic threats securing our borders and points ever borders, our points of enter must be a top priority. As we discussed we had an opportunity in february to move forward in a bipartisan manner on broad an important reforms and security measures that senators murphy, lankford, and sinema spent months negotiating. Ill note that this legislation, as senator blumenthal noted, included my bipartisan bill to keep our covenant with the thousands of afghans living in the u. S. Who fought shoulder to shoulder with our troops, a top priority of the vfw, a top priority of the american legion, a top priority of those who have served in afghanistan. These were their enter terse. These were interpreters. These were the ones that gathered their intelligence. And now 80,000 of them are in our Country Living with a trapped door under them not knowing if they will be sent back to the taliban. Working, yes, but what they need, a permanent status. And thats what this bill that i have with senator graham with support on the afghan adjustment act as cosponsors, senators like senator mullin and senator wicker, the Ranking Member of Armed Services and senator risch, the ranking on Foreign Relations are all on this bill. When it comes to our borders, though, as were talking about today, this comprehensive legislation would have invested in hiring more Border Patrol agents and Immigration Judges while giving Law Enforcement the tools and technologies they need to make a safe border. Order at the border. It would have fixed our broken asylum system, provided 250,000 new employment and family visas and, yes, madam president , we have another opportunity to actually right this wrong and get this bipartisan bill done. Border security demands that we invest in both our southern and northern borders, which is something i like about this legislation having lived on a state that borders canada. Longest border in the world, america and canada. A strong, secure northern border is critical for maintaining our trade relations, for maintaining the terror screening database, and we have witnessed terrible insanctions of drug smuggling and instances of drug smuggling and human trafficking. Last year Sheriff Deputies in minnesota stopped a human smuggling attempt. Thats why this legislation is so important. And of key importance to me, and i know you, madam president , in the state of wisconsin, is fentanyl. And the work that can be done if this bill passes, not only to give the president Emergency Powers to shut down the border but also to ensure that we take on fentanyl trafficking. One pill kills. These pills are getting in the hands of schoolchildren and people that have no idea the pills are laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for americans ages 18 to 45. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl kill more than 150 people a day, and a dose of just two milligrams, small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, can be lethal. This isnt just numbers. Its 22yearold alex davis from west st. Paul, who died of a fentanyl overdose while being a student at the university of north dakota. 32yearold katie glick from erskine, minnesota, killed by a fake pilled lapsed with fe fentanyl laced with fentanyl. Devin norring from hastings who bought a percocet over snapchat. It wasnt percocet, laced with fentanyl. It killed him. He was only 19. Thats why we call on our colleagues to join us in support of the border act. This legislation, supported by Border Control agents, gives Law Enforcement officers significant funding and support to hire more officers and intercept fentanyl coming into our country. I thank senators lankford, murphy, and sinema for their work on this bill. I thank senator schumer and senator mcconnell for their leadership. There is not controversy about this bill, except on the political side. If you look at this from the viewpoint of americans and what makes people safer and what will stop kids from dying, because they take one pill that they dont know has fentanyl in it, the answer is simple vote for this bill. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer madam president , first, i want to thank senator murphy for organizing this important floor bloc. I want to thank all of my colleagues who participated. I see senator blumenthal, of course senator klobuchar and others who participated. What were talking about is the need to pass our bipartisan border bill to crack down on fentanyl entering your our country. Every one of us has talked to families who lost loved ones because of fentanyl, particularly young people. It breaks your heart. Some family members didnt know their loved ones had fentanyl, had taken fentanyl and were dead within 24 hours, just gone. Ive experienced that with some fam families. So, now we have a chance to do something with it in this bill. Tomorrow, senators face an important decision. Will both sides come together to advance a bipartisan Border Security bill, or will partisanship get in the way yet again . Three months ago, donald trump told his republican allies to block the strongest bipartisan border bill congress has seen in a generation, something that would have gone done a great deal to stop the flow of vicious fentanyl into the United States. So were trying again tomorrow, because we hear about these families that senator klobuchar mentioned, that i mention, that others have mentioned. We have to. And i hope this time our republicans will join us to achieve a different outcome. Unlike h. R. 2, a very partisan bill, this bipartisan bill was written with the goal of getting 60 vote in the senate. It had input from both republicans and democrats. H. R. 2 cant claim that. It was totally put together by republicans, got virtually no democratic support. If anythings political, its h. R. 2. It has been used politically, but never seriously to get something done. So lets be perfectly clear our bipartisan border bill represents a real chance, in fact the best chance in decades, to act on Border Security. The bill would make huge strides towards crashing down on the scourge of fentanyl, delivering billions for dea, dhs to hire officers to focus exclusively on drugs. Billions, we now have stateoftheart equipment to detect the flow of drugs at the border. Why arent we allocating the money, instead of playing political games . We shoulding dob that doing that right now. I thank my democratic colleagues today here highlighting how this bill does more than anything weve done thus far to deal with the scourge of fentanyl. If you told me a year ago this kind of bill that we had before us, that really cracked down on fentanyl, which we must fight, i would have thought wed have a good chance, we thought republicans would have leapt at the opportunity to enact this into law. By objective measure, its strong, its necessary. So tomorrow, were laying out a clear choice. Tomorrow well see whos serious about actually wanting to fix the border, who is serious about actually crashing down on fentanyl, and those who prefer to merely talk about it. I yield the floor. Mr. Murphy madam president. The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Murphy thank you, madam president. Tomorrow were going to have a chance to come together, republicans and democrats, be able to secure our border, make better accepts of our immigration sense of our immigration system. This is what the American People want us to do. They dont elect us to hold press conferences or post on social media, they dont elect us to argue. They elect us to solve problems. To my great gladness, there are republicans who are willing to solve these problems. Senator lankford is one of them. Senator sinema, an independent, senator lankford and i sat in a room for four months, and we negotiated a bipartisan compromise, a compromise that would allow us to get tougher on our southern border, to make sure that only the right people are coming into the United States, those that have a legitimate claim of asylum, those legitimately fleeing terror and torture, that would create a more compassionate, more effective and efficient system of immigration. We were engaged in this process because republicans demanded it. Republicans said we want you to pass bipartisan Immigration Reform, we want you to get to a result, well vote for it if you achieve that result. They selected senator lankford as the chosen negotiator. We achieved that result. Senator mcconnell was in the room for those negotiations. It was endorsed by some of the most conservative outlets and organizations in the countries, including the chamber of commerce, the wall street journal and very conservative Border Patrol union. But it only got four republican votes. So i want to talk for just a minute about why that happened, what the bill does, and why its important that we have another vote this week. First, lets talk briefly about what this bill does. Probably first and most importantly, it fixes the broken immigration system, the asylum system in particular. Right now, you come to this country and apply for asylum, it takes sometimes as long as ten years before you get your claim heard. Thats not fair. Thats not fair for the individual whos applying, but thats not fair for others waiting outside of the can ont to try to come to outside of the country to come to the United States. Its not fair for communities that ultimately have to house and provide services for all those individuals waiting to apply for asylum. So this bill fixes that broken system. It takes that fiveyear or tenyear wait down to weeks or months. This bill gives the president emergency authorities to close down portions of the border when crossings get too high. You cant handle 10,000 people a day at the border. We all know that, republicans and democrats, the American People knows that. They saw that chaos at the end of last year. This bill says president , whether youre republican or democrat, has the Emergency Authority to close down the border during high crossings. This bill makes significant investments in combating fentanyl. My colleagues talk about the scourge of fentanyl. Hundreds and hundreds of people dying in my state, thousands across this country. This bill invests significant new resources in stopping the flow of drugs across our border. Its a 20 billion investment overall, much of that targeted towards fentanyl. It takes a bunch of commonsense steps to treat those coming to the United States in a more humane way. It says if youre coming here with a legitimate claim to asylum, you should be able to work while your claim is being processed, that you should have a right to a lawyer during that process, that we should provide a little bit of money for young kids, for 8yearolds to have representation, it provides a pathway to citizenship for certain really critical populations, including afghans, including the children of h2b holders. Inside this bill are a number of really important reforms. The system just makes more sense, its more effective, its more humane. At the foundation of this bill is Border Security, making sure that we have a border thats manageable, that is not chaotic. Now, i agree with my colleagues. This bill does not do everything we need to do to reform our broken immigration system. Of course i want a pathway to citizenship for People Living in the shadows. I want to make sure those kids, who know nothing except for being americans, have a chance to stay here permanently. But this bill is a really important down payment, a really important bipartisan down payment on Border Security and Immigration Reform. The question is why did it fail, why did a bill that had the support of senator lankford, the appointed negotiator, the support of senator mcconnell, fail . And the answer is simple donald trump told republicans to kill the bill. Donald trump told republicans that their party would be better off if the border was a mess, if nothing passed, because more republicans would get elected this november if there were scenes of chaos at the border. So even though you got a bipartisan border bill, kill it, because politically its better for republicans if the border is a mess. Thats not my analysis. That is literally what republicans have said on the record repeatedly. Senator mcconnell said it himself, said donald trump told us to do nothing. Senator mcconnell didnt say donald trump told us to write a better bill. He said donald trump told senator republicans do nothing. So thats why were here today, because the American Public wants us to pass bipartisan Border Security legislation. Democrats want to pass bipartisan Border Security legislation. But as far as i can tell, republicans do not, because they want the border to be a mess. Well see tomorrow. Well have another chance. This is an emergency like republicans say, then lets give it one more shot. Let me end with this, because i do think its important to just explore for a minute why keeping this issue of immigration unsolved, keeping the border chaotic is so important to republicans, and in particular to donald trump. The reason is that making americans afraid of each other, turk us turning us against each other is the centerpiece of Donald Trumps message, and thus for this election at least the centerpiece of the republican platform. The idea is to keep the border broken, to keep the immigration system broken, because it helps breed and maintain resentment towards immigrants, towards people that are different from you. Just last month, trump said this, he said, immigrants are not human, they are animals. If a Major Political figure said that 20 years ago, thered be, i think, republicans and democrats both standing up and condemning that kind of language. Donald trump calls immigrants animals, says theyre not human, he says it on a regular basis, and hes celebrated by republicans. I wish this werent true. I wish it werent a foundational aspect of modern republicanism, to try to turn us against each other, to try to make us afraid of people coming to this country just to save their familys lives. Thats where we are. Thats where we are. But that doesnt on i have ate obviate us from the responsibility to govern. So republicans can complain that were asking them to vote on a negotiated bipartisan compromise, because its inconvenient for them to vote against a bill that was endorsed by highprofile Senate Republicans and by highprofile conservative groups, its inconvenient for them to vote against a bill that actually brings security to the border, that fixes the problem that they want to be fixed. But that is our job. Our job is to come here and not just do press conferences, not just search for clicks online. Our job is to fix problems. This bill doesnt fix all of those problems, but its the biggest fix weve had a chance to vote on in a generation. So yes, we need to vote on this again. To give republicans the chance to do the right thing, to choose the security of this country, to choose fixing a problem that they identified. Instead of choosing to try to gain some political advantage in this election, instead of choosing to continue to double down on this strategy of dividing americans from each other. Thats why were voting tomorrow, and i am hopeful that republicans and democrats will come together to support this important bipartisan Border Security legislation. I yield the floor. Ms. Butler madam president. The presiding officer the junior senator from california. Ms. Butler madam president , in just a few moments, this chamber is going to consider the confirmation of judge dena coggins to be the United States judge for the Eastern District of california, and i would proudly want to rise and speak in support of her confirmation. Before i begin, i do want to appreciate that judge coggins family is watching proudly and eagerly the Senate Floor Today. Her mother, cynthia ambrose, judge coggins son, elias, and her daughter, aliah, highway met during her who i met during her nomination hearing. I know they are excited for the opportunity for her mother to continue her Public Service at the highest levels in one of the busiest districts in the state and in the country, and so i just want to take the time to thank ms. Coggins mother, ms. Ambrose, elias and aliah for supporting their mom, her daughter, for she is an incredible woman. If confirmed, judge coggins will join the federal bench at a critical moment for the Eastern District. The Eastern District of california is currently seeing an average of 803 filings for each judgeship on the court. That caseload level is the sixthhighest in any Federal District in the country. And given her remarkable track record serving californians from all walks of life, i have the utmost certainty and confidence in judge coggins readiness for this role. Her work ethic, integrity, and unwavering commitment to the rule of law make her an exceptional nominee to meet this moment with the urgency that it demands, and i am confident that she will be successful. Born and raised in sack sacramento, she completed her undergraduate degree at california state university, received her juris doctorate degree in sacramento. She began her career in litigation and family law where she built a strong reputation as a skilled litigator, with experience in both federal and state court. From 2015 to 2017 and again from 2018 to 2021 judge coggins served as an Administrative Law judge at the state of californias office of administrative hearings. In this capacity, judge coggins presided over more than 150 evidentiary hearings and trials. She also served as supervising attorney and hearing officer for the california Victims Compensation board where she oversaw Legal Proceedings and ensured that victims of Violent Crimes receive the compensation and the support that they needed. Since 2021, judge coggins has severned on the superior has served on the superior court of california in sacramento county. Shes handled assignments in both the criminal and Juvenile Court. She has served as the presiding judge of the Juvenile Court since 2023, presiding over 100 juvenile dependency. Kimberly mueller is the first woman to ever serve on the District Court of california and for who judge coggins served as an intern. Judge coggins is an experienced jurist who has seamlessly transitioned to and excelled in numerous roles on the state befrments. The reverent she has earned is validated by the overwhelming support she as received since her nomination, including a letter written by several of her colleagues at the state bench addressed to the senate Judiciary Committee. Speaking of her service on the Juvenile Court as a Juvenile Court judge, they say, quote, she is a humble and quiet leader, not seeking the spotlight or fanfare, simply working day in and day out to improve the court. She has put considerable thought into her words and that her reasoning and judgment are sound. They go on to say, in the courtroom she also demonstrates her steady did i and fair temperament. She is thorough. She is efficient with her time on the bench and has handled substantial caseloads. She analyzes issues in a careful and balanced manner, provides thoughtful, wellreasoned, commonsense decisions. Shes compassionate to all who appear before her and takes time to understand the impact each decision will have on them, end quote. Judge coggins is exactly the kind of jurist that we need this the Eastern District and has exactly the kind of experience californias federal bench needs. Her legal intellect, her composure, her record as an effective, efficient, thoughtful jurist makes her a strong nominee. And her appointment to the bench comes at an historic time. Just this morning we marked the milestone of confirming President Bidens 200th appointment to the federal judiciary. Including one Supreme Court justice, 42 Circuit Court judges, 155 District Court judges, and two judges to the u. S. Court of international trade. President biden has nominated and the senate has confirmed 126 nonwhite federal judges, more than any president in history. The majority of these judges are women, 127 exceptionally qualified jurists. Notably, the professional diversity of these confirmations is so remarkable and unprecedented, including public defenders and other legal backgrounds whose perspectives and experiences have not been fully respected on our federal bench. With this in mind, confirmation of judge coggins nomination is part of the broader work to strengthen our judicial system. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her confirmation to the Eastern District of california. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor. The presiding officer question is on the nomination. Ms. Butler i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote the clerk ms. Baldwin. Mr. Barrasso. Mr. Bennet. Mrs. Blackburn. Mr. Blumenthal. Mr. Booker. Mr. Boozman. Mr. Braun. Mrs. Britt. Mr. Brown. Mr. Budd. Ms. Butler. Ms. Cantwell. Mrs. Capito. Mr. Cardin. Mr. Carper. Mr. Casey. Mr. Cassidy. Ms. Collins. Mr. Coons. Mr. Cornyn. Ms. Cortez masto. Mr. Cotton. Mr. Cramer. Mr. Crapo. Mr. Cruz. Mr. Daines. Ms. Duckworth. Mr. Durbin. Ms. Ernst. Mr. Fetterman. Mrs. Fischer. Mrs. Gillibrand. Mr. Graham. Mr. Grassley. Mr. Hagerty. Ms. Hassan. Mr. Hawley. Mr. Heinrich. Mr. Hickenlooper. Ms. Hirono. Mr. Hoeven. Mrs. Hydesmith. Mr. Johnson. Mr. Kaine. Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kennedy. Mr. King. Ms. Klobuchar. Mr. Lankford. Mr. Lee. Mr. Lujan. Ms. Lummis. Mr. Manchin. Mr. Markey. Mr. Marshall. Mr. Mcconnell. Mr. Menendez. Mr. Merkley. Mr. Moran. Mr. Mullin. Ms. Murkowski. Mr. Murphy. Mrs. Murray. Mr. Ossoff. Mr. Padilla. Mr. Paul. Mr. Peters. Mr. Reed. Mr. Ricketts. Mr. Risch. Mr. Romney. Ms. Rosen. Mr. Rounds. Mr. Rubio. Mr. Sanders. Mr. Schatz. Mr. Schmitt. Mr. Schumer. The clerk mr. Scott of florida. Mr. Scott of South Carolina. Mrs. Shaheen. Ms. Sinema. Ms. Smith. Ms. Stabenow. Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Tester. Mr. Thune. Mr. Tillis. Mr. Tuberville. Mr. Van hollen. Mr. Vance. Mr. Warner. Mr. Warnock. Ms. Warren. Mr. Welch. Mr. Whitehouse. Mr. Wicker. Mr. Wyden. Mr. Young. The clerk ms. Cantwell, aye. Vote the clerk mr. Warnock, aye. The clerk mr. Paul, no. The clerk ms. Stabenow, aye. The clerk mr. Scott of florida, no. The clerk fiduciary and Investment Risk Management association baldwin, butler, cantwell, carper, cortez masto, klobuchar, merkley, murphy, rosen, shaheen, stabenow, warnock. Senators voting in the negative crapo, ernst, fischer, hydesmith, johnson, kennedy, marshall, hawley, ricketts, rounds, schmitt, scott of florida, tuberville, young. The clerk mr. Peters, aye. The clerk ms. Hassan, aye. The clerk mr. Markey, aye. The clerk mr. Vance, no. The clerk mr. Cramer, no. Mr. Kaine, aye. Ms. Lummis, no. Ms. Hirono, aye. Mr. Tillis, no. The clerk mr. Scott of South Carolina, no. The clerk mr. Welch, aye. Mr. Lee, no. Mr. Thune, no. Mr. Reed, aye. Mr. Hickenlooper, aye. The clerk mr. Cornyn, no. Ms. Duckworth, aye. Mr. Casey, aye. Vote the clerk mr. Daines, no. Mr. Cardin, aye. Mr. Lujan, aye. The clerk mr. Braun, no. Mr. Cassidy, no. Mr. Fetterman, aye. Mr. Hoeven, no. The clerk mrs. Blackburn, no. Mr. Schumer, aye. The clerk ms. Smith, aye. The clerk mr. Wicker, no. The clerk mr. Durbin, aye. The clerk mr. Sullivan, no. Mr. Schatz, aye. Moz murkowski, no. Mr. Padilla, aye. The clerk mr. Lankford no. Ms. Warren, aye. Mr. Grassley, no. Mr. Cotton, no. The clerk mr. Heinrich, aye. The clerk mr. Budd, no. The clerk mr. Booker, aye. Mr. Sanders, aye. Mr. Rubio, no. Mr. Graham, aye. The clerk mr. Warner, aye. Vote the clerk ms. Collins, aye. The clerk mr. Moran, no. The clerk mrs. Capito, no. The clerk mr. King, aye. Mr. Risch, no. The clerk mr. Whitehouse, aye. The clerk mrs. Murray, aye. The clerk mrs. Gillibrand, aye. The clerk mr. Wyden, aye. The clerk mr. Bennet, aye. The clerk mr. Romney, no. The clerk mrs. Britt, no. The clerk mr. Mcconnell, no. The clerk mr. Mcconnell, no. I am proud very proud the first country to recognize israel we have been steadfast allies in support one another time spoke prosperous and challenging. However, this years israeli Independence Day came during a time of great turmoil. Israel battled horses but waged war against them since october 7. We join as they mourn the loss 1200 israelis killed in that initial attack and pray for the safe return of hostages still kept in captivity and hamas. His longstanding u. S. Israel relationship is now becoming unnecessarily strained by President Bidens left to appease those in his party do not support the state of israel. Democracy and freedom in the middle east. October 7 attacks marks the most horrific attack israel has suffered the founding and deadliest day for the jewish people as the holocaust. How do we get to this . Seen all across our College Campuses. We saw President Biden clap along to these demands again as he delivered commencement address just this past weekend. Whats even more mindboggling fist those protesting are demanding mark where they demanding ceasefire from . I havent heard campus protest group call for hamas to lay down its arms. Call for hamas to release hostages. They want israel to stop fighting and defending itself. They want israel to lose. A ceasefire was in place october 7. They deliberately attacked innocent civilians in the most brutal and barbaric ways. The border towns in Israel Attacked some of the most supporters in israel with Palestinian People. Anti israel and antisemitic protests that ultimately stop jewish people from attending class and a rabbi at Columbia University to recommend jewish students to return home. They demand israel drop their weapons cap knowledge the other instigator of the work. We now know what buses entire plan was, to minimize the chance of peace in the region. Undermine the incredible progress so horrific that israel had no other choice but to respond. And what world would we expect the country the attack was such brutal to defend itself. Its important to know the chaos and instability benefits one factor above all else and that is the remaining. Hamas would not been able execute the terrorist attacks. Iran has splitter supported the efforts watching over 300 projectiles at israel on april 13. Unless we forget it was in a radiant made drone the killed the american soldiers jordan january 29. Harm to the United States and citizens. Their aim to repeat the october 7 attack a second, third and fourth time. They must root out the evil so we learned International Criminal court would seek arrest warrant leaders of hamas and israel of war crimes. It is shocking that icc would be to establish delusional level of equivalency actions of israel and hamas. Ive seen the footage of the attacks on israeli and american citizens that occurred october 7 and its clear hamas is a real criminal involved to show no regard for his own people spending billions and 300 miles it refusing to allow palestinian citizens to show that hospitals and schools, places of worship for military purposes knowingly facing citizens in harms way. Israel is founded on development for the benefit of all inhabitants the only mission destroy israel. Their leadership and action could not be anymore different the icc would attempt to argue otherwise. These times of instability hope the president of United States for display strength. Instead President Biden decided to play politics facing a hold on Security Assistance congress recently approved. This is just the latest wonder from Administration Like my weakness on the international stage. Shortly after weapons hamas subs away from negotiations on the safe return of hostages. Seems like a big coincidence to me. Hamas so Holding Hostages captive although i wonder how many are still alive as we discovered in President Biden should do everything. Hes publicly withholding weapons from our ally giving adversary cover. Ironclad support for israel and now publicly backing down but promise projecting to our allies and adversaries u. S. Promises can be subject to political pressure. To further underscore the administrations lack of responsibility the committee came across something disturbing and our ongoing oversight of President Bidens inflation reduction act. He might wonder what the ira has to do with israel and their battle against terror but we discovered the Climate Justice alliance, a group that received 50 million from the Biden Administration december openly denies israels right to exist and actively support horrific actions of hamas and promote graphics tion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senates action. The clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 552, Melissa Griffin dalton of virginia to be under secretary of the air force, signed by 18 senators. The presiding officer by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of Melissa Griffin dalton of virginia to be under secretary of the air force shall be brought to a close. The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. The clerk ms. Baldwin. Mr. Barrasso. Mr. Bennet. Mrs. Blackburn. Mr. Blumenthal. Mr. Booker. Mr. Boozman. Mr. Braun. Mrs. Britt. Mr. Brown. Mr. Budd. Ms. Butler. Ms. Cantwell. Mrs. Capito. Mr. Cardin. Mr. Carper. Mr. Casey. Mr. Cassidy. Ms. Collins. Mr. Coons. Mr. Cornyn. Ms. Cortez masto. Mr. Cotton. Mr. Cramer. Mr. Crapo. Mr. Cruz. Mr. Daines. Ms. Duckworth. Mr. Durbin. Ms. Ernst. Mr. Fetterman. Mrs. Fischer. Mrs. Gillibrand. Mr. Graham. Mr. Grassley. Mr. Hagerty. Ms. Hassan. Mr. Hawley. Mr. Heinrich. Mr. Hickenlooper. Ms. Hirono. Mr. Hoeven. Mrs. Hydesmith. Mr. Johnson. Mr. Kaine. Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kennedy. Mr. King. Ms. Klobuchar. Mr. Lankford. Mr. Lee. Mr. Lujan. Ms. Lummis. Mr. Manchin. Mr. Markey. Mr. Marshall. Mr. Mcconnell. Mr. Menendez. Mr. Merkley. Mr. Moran. Mr. Mullin. Ms. Murkowski. Mr. Murphy. Mrs. Murray. Mr. Ossoff. Mr. Padilla. Mr. Paul. Mr. Peters. Mr. Reed. Mr. Ricketts. Mr. Risch. Mr. Romney. Ms. Rosen. Mr. Rounds. Mr. Rubio. Mr. Sanders. Mr. Schatz. Mr. Schmitt. Mr. Schumer. Mr. Scott of florida. Mr. Scott of South Carolina. Mrs. Shaheen. Ms. Sinema. Ms. Smith. Ms. Stabenow. Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Tester. Mr. Thune. Mr. Tillis. Mr. Tuberville. Mr. Van hollen. Mr. Vance. Mr. Warner. Mr. Warnock. Ms. Warren. Mr. Welch. Mr. Whitehouse. Mr. Wicker. Mr. Wyden. Mr. Young. Senators voting in the affirmative p bennet, blumenthal, brown, butler, collins, duckworth, hirono, and king. Senators voting in the negative blackburn, britt, capito, cornyn, cotton, cruz, ernst, graham, johnson, risch, romney, and rubio. Mr. Daines, no. Mr. Mcconnell, no. Mr. Tillis, no. Vote the clerk mr. Lankford, no. Mr. Barrasso, no. Mr. Young, no. Mr. Cassidy, no. Mrs. Fischer, no. Mr. Young, aye. Mr. Warner, aye. Mr. Scott of South Carolina, no. Mr. Grassley, no. The clerk ms. Stabenow, aye. Mr. Scott of florida, no. The clerk mr. Thune, no. The clerk ms. Hassan, aye. The clerk mr. Budd, no. Mr. Vance, no. Mr. Crapo, no. The clerk mr. Schmitt, no. Ms. Smith, aye. Mr. Murphy, aye. The clerk ms. Klobuchar, aye. Mr. Moran, aye. The clerk ms. Cortez masto, aye. The clerk mr. Rounds, aye. Mr. Reed, aye. Mr. Tester, aye. Mr. Peters, aye. Mr. Heinrich, aye. Vote the clerk mr. Schatz, aye. Mr. Cramer, aye. Ms. Murkowski, aye. The clerk ms. Baldwin, aye. The clerk ms. Sinema, aye. The clerk mr. Van hollen, aye. The clerk mr. Paul, no. Mr. Marshall, no. Mr. Hoeven, aye. The clerk mr. Kelly, aye. Ms. Lummis, no. Ms. Rosen, aye. Mr. Sullivan, no. The clerk mr. Fetterman, aye. The clerk mr. Kennedy, no. The clerk mr. Padilla, aye. Mr. Cardin, aye. The clerk mr. Coons, aye. The clerk mrs. Hydesmith, aye. The clerk mrs. Shaheen, aye. The clerk mr. Tuberville, no. The clerk mr. Braun, no. Mr. Wicker, no. The clerk mr. Markey, aye. The clerk mr. Wyden, aye. The clerk mr. Ricketts, no. Vote the clerk mr. Boozman, no. Mrs. Murray, aye. The clerk mr. Ossoff, aye. Mr. Lee, no. Mr. Carper, aye. The clerk mr. Warnock, aye. The clerk mrs. Gillibrand, aye. Ms. Warren, aye. The clerk mr. Welch, aye. The clerk ms. Cantwell, aye. The clerk mr. Lujan, aye. Mr. Sanders, aye. The presiding officer mr. Casey, aye. The clerk mr. Kaine, aye. Test vote the clerk mr. Whitehouse, aye. The clerk mr. Booker, aye. The clerk mr. Hickenlooper, aye. The clerk mr. Durbin, aye. The presiding officer on this vote the yeas are 56, the nays are 38, the motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, department of defense, melissa grifen dalton, of virginia, to be under secretary of the air force. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from alabama. S the presiding officer the senator from georgia. Mr. Ossoff i ask unanimous consent that the confirmation vote on the dalton nomination occur tomorrow, further, that the cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed to 4361 ripen at 2 00 p. M. Tom. The presiding officer is there an objection . Without objection. Mr. Ossoff madam president , for years too Many Democrats have been be in denial about the National Security risks at our southern border. And i have been critical of fellow democrats who have failed to acknowledge these risks, who have failed to recognize that knowing and controlling who enters our territory is fundamental to our sovereignty and our National Security. But now, madam president , the situation has changed. There are more than enough Democratic Senators ready and willing to pass a strong bipartisan Border Security bill, a Border Security bill coauthored by a conservative republican senator, senator lankford of oklahoma, whos done extraordinary work crafting this legislation. A bill that would surge enforcement resources to the southern border, that would tighten asylum standards, that would expedite the removal of those who abuse asylum to enter our country unlawfully, that would hire urgently needed Border Patrol officers, and take the fight to drug cartels flooding our communities with fentanyl. This is a bipartisan bill to help defend the nation against terrorists who would exploit weakness at our southern border to enter our country and kill americans. And now its republican senators who have already once blocked and this week are threatening again to block bipartisan Border Security legislation. Why the American People ask would republicans in Congress Block Border Security legislation amidst a National Security crisis. The answer is simple. Asked recently on fox news why Senate Republicans were blocking the border act, senator lankford, the republican co. Author of the bill put it very simply. Quote, President Trump said dont fix anything during the president ial election. President trump said dont fix anything during the president ial election. The former president would rather wield the border as an election issue than see congress secure it. And republicans in congress appear to be falling in line even though it leaves the country at grave risk. Madam president , i urge my republican colleagues to reconsider their position. Just as i have criticized democrats who for years buried their heads in the sand about the threat at the southern border, just as i have criticized the Biden Administration for its failures at the southern border, this is a time for republican senators to stand up to President Trump and say no, we will not obey your command to leave the country at risk. Instead we will do whats right for the nation. Madam president , the threat of Terrorism Associated with unlawful entry at the southern border is real. It is pressing. If the senate fails to pass Border Security legislation, refuses to tighten asylum standards, refuses to hire more Border Patrol officers, refuses to expedite the removal of those who abuse our asylum system to enter the country unlawfully, our nation faces a grave National Security risk. The first vote well take later this week on the border act will not even be a vote on passage of the bill. It will be a vote on whether the senate agrees to debate and consider amendments to the legislation. If Senate Republicans think this bill is imperfect, if they want to offer amendments, they will have that opportunity. So i urge my republican colleagues ignore the former president. President trump said dont fix anything during the president ial election. Hes not your boss. Hes not your constituent. We have an obligation to National Security. The country is at risk. Let us debate the border act. And i yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from alabama. A senator madam president , its great to hear my democratic colleague come out against whats happening at the border. It is a disaster and it is a National Security threat. Mr. Tuberville three weeks ago, two Illegal Immigrants attempted to break into the marine base at quantico in virginia. Both individuals are jordanian nationals who were apprehended by customs and Border Patrol protection at the southern border and released into the United States. One of them is allegedly on the terrorist watch list. Now, how did we get here . How did we get to the point where two people who entered the country illegally and were not screen or vetted tried to drive a truck on to a military base . Let me say that again. These people are not being screened or vetted. We have no idea who these people are. But heres what we do know about the people who have invaded our country. 25,000 chinese nationals have entered our country since october 1, 2023. 184,000 haitians have entered under joe bidens Mass Parole Program along with 101,000 venezuelans. 91,000 from cuba. 75,000 nicaraguans and this doesnt count the 76,000 afghans who came here after joe bidens disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. As ive repeatedly said, ive got no problem with Legal Immigration nor do my republican colleagues. America is the land of freedom and opportunity. If people want to come here legally, well welcome them. But we cannot, we cannot have terrorists crossing our borders unverified. Ask the fbi. Beyond the safety concerns, we simply cannot afford to support the 11 million Illegal Immigrants who have illegally crossed our borders in the past three and a half years. I dont know if joe biden missed the memo, but, folks, we are dead broke. Dead broke. Yet were shelling out hundreds of billions of dollars to support these 11 million Illegal Immigrants. And this does not count the millions of what we call gotaways who obviously, if they can come across and not be apprehended, why in the world would they go somewhere and run from the Border Patrol . Its because they are criminals. A recent report from the House Committee on Homeland Security estimated the southern border surge is costing the american taxpayers about 450 billion a year. You got that right. Its costing the american taxpayers 450 billion a year. After ten years were looking at a 5 trillion bill. In terms of actual benefits, it is estimated that illegals receive 42 billion in welfare annually, 68 billion in education, 7 billion in health care. Were spending hundreds of billions of dollars to support all these people. The american taxpayers can simply not afford it. So why are joe biden and the globalist democrats allowing this to happen . Why is this going on . It is simply because democrats care more about keeping power than they do about safety and protecting the american taxpayer and the american citizen. A new york congresswoman confirmed this. She said she welcomes ilLegal Immigration because it helps with redistricting. The president and his Progressive Left Democrat Party know that the more people that they can get in this country, the longer they stay in power by increasing the population in the blue districts. Simple fact. But enough is enough. Too Many American lives have been lost due to the blatant disregard of u. S. Law by the Biden Administration. It is time elected officials fulfill the obligation and the oath of Office Starting by protecting the country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. So this bill, the border act of 2024 that schumer is forcing us to vote on is basically an absolute joke. And by the way, President Trump has never told me and and i talk to him weekly never said one word about the border. I dont know where my colleague from georgia got this information. But its false. If he had told nick, he would have told anybody, he would have told me. This bill, border act of 2024, it doesnt even have the word security in the title. Thats because this bill will only make the crisis at the southern border worse. Its a border invasion bill. Its not a border bill. Its a border giveaway paid for by the american taxpayers, trillions of dollars. It also weakens the power of the president by suggesting the president close the border only when customs and Border Patrol has apprehended 4,000 Illegal Immigrants a day. Yeah, you heard that, a day. So were going to pass a bill thats going to allow 4,000 people to come here a day. Thats insane. Last time i checked, the commander in chief already has full authority to secure the border. Nothing new about that. Thats supposed to be a basic requirement of his job, protect the american citizens, protect our borders, protect our country. The bill also includes zero funding for the border wall. Zero. And it codifies dangerous catch and release policies. So how did we get here . How is the border bill crafted that does nothing to secure the border . Republican leadership put together this bill. They pushed things without telling the rest of the caucus and said, at the end of the day, this is the bill weve come up with and we rejected it. Most of us didnt even know what was in the bill, almost at the time of the vote. The bill is just another puppet relation Public Relations stunt from globalist democrats pretending to care about the border during an election year. We need to get serious about National Security created by open borders. Serious. If we dont believe that, we need to ask our allies over in europe that pretty much had their country destroyed by immigration. The American People dont want another messaging exercise. They want to feel safe in their neighborhoods. They pay our bills. They deserve it. Were here for them. Over the last three years americans have watch in disbelief as joe biden has intentionally erased our borders and invited millions of Illegal Immigrants to invade our country. My bill, the border safety and security act which shut down our borders until the department of Homeland Security regains operational control, because as we speak, the border is being overrun. That means the border would be completely closed until dhs is able to track exactly who is coming into the country by either detaining them or setting up a program similar to remain in mexico. Its that simple. If democrats are serious about securing the border, they will support the border safety and security act. As if in legislative session, and notwithstanding rule 12, i ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 696 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. Further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Durbin reserving the right to object. The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Durbin mr. President , the background leading up to this moment is worth a minute or two to be explained. It was october. We faced some ominous challenges around the world. Our allies and friends were in conflict and the United States wanted to stand by them. President biden made a request for a defense supplemental and said we need to move on this quickly. For example, our friends in ukraine are fighting off the barbaric tactics of vladimir pu putin, need our continued help. We shouldnt waste any time. And at the time, several members of the senate on the other side of the aisle said no, you cannot even consider helping ukraine fight this war against putin unless you do something about our border. Theres got to be a change in our border policy. And so there eventually emerged a group that took on the task of writing a bipartisan bill. And make no mistake, legislation on the subject as serious as this will never pass as a partisan piece of legislation. It has to be bipartisan. And so both sides of the aisle decided to enlist the colleagues to sit down and do a dlibive effort to deliberative effort to write a bipartisan border bill to address the crisis we face at the border. The republicans chose as their spokesperson, their negotiator James Lankford of oklahoma. James lankford is a certifiable conservative republican, respected on both sides of the aisle