Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. 20240702

Attempt to advance legislation which would require the support of at least 60 senators. Nearly everyday republicans come to this floor to tell us how much they care about the border, how much they believe in Border Security. And yet, and yet when you have an opportunity ton do something about it, they dont just walk, they runun for the hills. If you care about securing the border than you actually have to pass legislation that secures the border. It doesnt secure itself by itself. Our statutes are updated. 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 regreti 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 passed bipartisan Border Security legislation. Le but because we believe this issue so important, because the American People believe that securing our border and compassionately treating those who arrived at our border, is such an important issue, we areo going to bring this bill back for another vote tomorrow. We willd give republicans a Second Chance to do what they say do want to do, work across the aisle and it bipartisan way to provide more resources to control our southwest border. So 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, secure our border, to reform our broken immigration system. Its what the American People want. We should stop playing logical games. Republicans should choose the security of this country ahead of the president ial candidates and political d prospects, and e have the opportunity to did this week. So grateful to have o some of my coat on the floor, and avoid starting a remarksem will be senator kaine. I yield the floor. Madam president . The senator from virginia. Madam president , im thrilled to join my colleagues on the phone to talk about the importance of this Border Security bill but im also going to talk about my own naivete and admit to being a very naive senator. When i came into i set in 2013 with senator murphy, one of the first things we did in june of my first year in the senate was passed a significant and bipartisan Immigration Reform bill. And that Immigration Reform bill was comprehensive. Including a 40 plus billion dollars investment in Border Security. We passed it in a bipartisan wy in this body with nearly 70 votes, and my naivete was this. Yes, there was Republican House. When the bill went over there having been a governor and watchedte how state legislatures work, i assume thatat Republican House wouldnt just embrace our bill, but that they would do their own version of a immigration bill and then we would sit down 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 u up ad 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 you wanted 25 billion in Border Security over ten years. And we basically came up with an offer that was can you take yes for an answer . I was part of an eightmember crew negotiating a bipartisan deal, protection for dreamers and 25 billion in Border Security. Every penny dont ask for, not one penny less. He told us that he supported dreamers. He told us that if the bill got to them he would sign it because we had a Democratic House if we could get into this body we would get it to President Trumps desk. But 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, encourage republicans to vote against it and we r couldnt get to the 60 vote margin. Okay, so for the second time we did a bipartisan deal that was going to do good things and thats a whole lot in Border Security, killed by President Trump. And now this most recent effort, i so applaud senators murphy, senator sinema, senator lankford and others from the administration who worked on this deal, bipartisan or security provision with other important provisions. Normalization of afghan refugees come withha more in virginia thn 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 immigrationig 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 is a 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 the senators were able to thread after months and months and months of negotiation, but just asca in the first two instancesa significant effort to protect our border and make our country safer in a bipartisan way got shot down when President Trump came out and encourage republicans to oppose it. Even though theyen had been briefed on the negotiated every step of theon way and supported it. President trump assumes he said they should oppose it, folks turned tail and read. And President Trump was honest. I mean out given this, he was honest about the recently he didnt say oppose it because didnt like claws a or b. He pretty much that we dont want to fix this problem. We would rather raise heck about this problem and blame joe biden about this problem then fix this problem. We are sent here to solve problems, and when we have a bipartisan solution that fits this narrow window where both left and right say its right step today, we should do it. Im so glad that this is going to be up on the floor for a vote tomorrow. Look for to join my colleagues in supporting it. Urge others to do the same. I yield back, madam president. The senator from michigan. Thank you, madamto president. Really pleased to be here on the for with my colleagues who just wanted to get something done on the border. I mean hello, how long are we talked about this . Senator senator kaine. [talking over each other] this in 2013. I was there as well. It was20 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. And i agree with senator kaine, when it went to the house we thought okay, we put together this comprehensive bill. Only Border Security. Its about how we manage and create pathways to address young people a been there the whole lives, who have been here as dreamers, and agriculture jobs which i work with all the time. Our farmers labor. They need to know theres a legal path to be able to have people work year. And the covered everything, but then at the time republicans in the house did want to deal with it. They didnt want to solve it. So weve been down this road before, but i really did think this time in the context of a National Security bill, and the demand from republican colleagues, they wouldnt consider the supplemental on Security Issues without a tough border bill. I thought okay, here we go. So we all know major negotiations, months ofat negotiations. Senator murphy, senator sinema, senator lankford, anybody stretching of pushing trying to get to a spot for something that would really, really make a difference, and they did. And the vast majority of us had okay, we are 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. When you do 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. Madampe president , a point to speak for a moment about one piece in here that is so important we think about the southern border, and there is certainly funding in your for the northern border, one of the things that is in here and i know our presiding officer cures to be about as welcome it affects a part of the country, certainly affect michigan, is the capacity to stop the flow of deadly fentanyl. So important, and its in this bill. Now, on april 2 the Justice Department announced the largest Law Enforcement procedure 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 have been six drug overdoses in 11 days, raising the flag, what was going on here . It only takes one pill to be able to causese a death. These are just p two 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 drugs from crossing the border, to combat the fentanyl crisis, this bill would invest in 2400 more customs and Border Protection officers, desperately needed. New innovative inspection equipment to decrease detection. We know theres all kinds of ways of coming in from tyers d every part of the vehicle, and 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. Enhance lab analysis of fentanyl samples, in this bill. Improved technology for economists capability, era 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 overdoses or about fentanyl, they have a chance tomorrow to vote to do that. Av but its been 105 days since republicans were given the opportunity for a strong bipartisan deal that included fentanyl efforts in 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 people andhe he said e 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 want chaos. We dont care people getting hurt or whats happening. And he actuallyar was quoted as saying, please, blame it on me. Vote against it, please, blame it on me. Which where 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. We want to give the Biden Administration additional tools to solve them, and the want that. They have been asking and every single budget since President Biden wasec elected, every singe budget hes asked for more resources to do the things in this bill. Folks have said no, no, no, no, no. Well, 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 Nation Security and 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 remaine 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 the cases to be resolved. The legislation would create a a new Emergency Authority that would allow the president of the United States to pause the processing of asylum claims of migrants arrived between portswe of entry when cases rise above a certain point. It would expand legal pathways to citizenship and increased access to Work Authorizations come something that republicans tend to support. And those immigrants who serve in our military, who serve in our military will gain quicker access to citizenship. Something i think we can all agree they have earned. And people sometimes forget that michigan, my host it, is a border state. This bill would provide up to 100 million in grants m to stas and local and tribal Law Enforcement agencies to secure the northern border, which is extremely important to me and to the people i represent. Republicans say they care about solving the challenges at the border. Their actions, unfortunately, shall otherwise. Madam president , we stand ready to pass this legislation. We stand ready to strengthen our Border Security and to keep our communities safe. We are 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. Store from Delaware Center from delaware. For years many of our m colleagues have sat on his telephone, they have said in hearing rooms. They have said in cable news shows that theres a crisis at our southern border. And they have been right. Welcome to date with actual 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 decades old 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 and congressional leadership of both parties. Our colleagues have oftentimes heard me say that Bipartisan Solutions are lasting solutions, and h thats true. And in the case of fixing our nations immigration laws that has never been more true. Thanks to the tireless work of the democrat from connecticut, a republican from oklahoma, and the independent from arizona, along with members of o their staffs weve reached a bipartisan compromise on one of the toughest issues our country faces today. I am proud to say that after four four long months of negotiation 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 the bipartisanship is not just aspirational. Its ours to grasp. Its ours for the taking. Legislation produced drinking negotiations proves the bipartisan bipartisanship is not just aspirational but it is actually possible. Yet, despite all this hard work and countless hours, our colleagues invested in hammering out these critical piece of legislation, many of our republican colleagues rejected the same bill early this year, larger at the behest of donald trump. Id like to quote again as senator stabenow has 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 solveny this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the red wave, close quote. While democrats and republicans in his princess negotiated in good faith, it was about trump who wanted to sow chaos, chaos at the border rather than to do with this. It was this what you see so many of our republican colleagues especially in the house turned their backs onus this bipartisan approach and play politics with our immigration policy. They chose to put donald trump first. Over what is best for our country. Mentioned the crisis at the southern border requires tough postures but gives us an opportunity to seek some wisdom from the scripture. I believe we need to look no further than the new testament matthew 25, were refined his words when when i was a stranger in your land did you welcomed me . Thats what it says. When i was a stranger in your land, did you welcomed me . Many immigrants seeking refuge here oftentimes leave their home countries and brave horrible conditions along in order to seek a better life in this country, life of freedom, 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 and criminal activity. The smuggling illicit narcotics and our nations own devastating addiction to illegal drugs. Not to mention the authoritarian Government Role in poverty throughout the southern hemisphere. Those are just some of the root causes. If you are serious about addressing the challenges of our immigration system, its imperative that we focus on these root causes of migration. Bipartisan border act before us would finally worked to make our country safer by increasing resources and him lamenting policy changes both at the o border and to immigration system as a whole. And this legislation has numerous endorsement from some unlikely, some unlikely places including the Border Patrol union and the u. S. Chamber of commerce. So today we now 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 immigration system rather than sticking to the status quo, 84 . We are elected to serve our constituencies, the American People, and we have an opportunity today to meet that responsibility by enacting the legislation that is before us. Our three Senate Colleagues have proven that working together is possible, and now its up to the rest of us to do the right thing. Lets finish the job. Lets implement ajo lasting solution, and lets do it together. With that i yield back the floor. Thank you. Madam president . The senator from New Hampshire. Madam president , i agree with my colleagues, we have a criss at our southern border, and in New Hampshire its affecting us because there are too many deadly drugs flowing into our country, and not enough technology and equipment and personnel to stop it. So its not everyday i agree with my republican colleagues on issue as bigep as the border, bt on this one i agree. We needed to act. Thats why 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. A rolled up their sleeves, 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 that is worth repeating, it is the strictest board is good legislation that weve seen certainly since my time in the senate thats an historic t agreement to supply e border with Critical Resources that are necessary to increase security, to stop the flow of illicit drugs, or to better protect all americans. 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 asd, we heard, he acknowledd 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 we had in decades, all because donald trump told them to make it a Campaign Issue rather than do to whats in e best interest of the country. Now, we need to pass this bill for identifying, tracking, and stopping fentanyl at the border. I dont know about all of my colleagues, but in my home state of New Hampshire we have lost too many people because they have died from fentanyl overdoses. In the period from 20132023, New Hampshire lost 4616 people from drug overdoses. 4616, the majority of those people died as a result of fentanyl, about 70 of those deaths were the result of fentanyl. A and anything, anything we can do to cut down on the amount of fentanyl that is 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 that he 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 theres a provision in the bill to provide significant increases in funding for cbp to deploy more nonintrusive inspection technologies that would more efficiently and effectively search fentanyl and other drugs. The bill also gives immigration and Customs Enforcement increased funding to focus on counter that no investigation and enforcement because we need more boots on the ground dedicated to finding fentanyl and other drugs and dedicating 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 need more agents on our borders. And with this bill we would do just that. Now, New Hampshire also doesnt border our southernrd border, bt it doesnt border canada, which has the Longest International Border in the world, over 5000 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. We have a program that weve had in past budgets called operation soundgarden, thats been the department of Homeland Security soap store petersen i know knos that program, but its helped Police Departments providing annual grants to help them particularly in rural areas who are really struggling to find normalur operations, let alonens responsibility along the border. These are finds that allow Police Departments to pay overtime for officers to patrol the border along with the u. S. Border patrol. Sadly, in the northern border, most of those funds have been diverted to thehe southern bord, and many of our agents who have patrolled the northern border have been devoted to the southern border. Thats the challenge for states like New Hampshire and others where we have large sections of that border that are rural, thats where imparted 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. Butgr despite his programs importance, its been underfunded for number of years, leaving states without so one of the pieces that in this legislation that were going to vote on tomorrow is the 100 million, with 25 of it that we go to states that are not on the southwest border, states like New Hampshire, to make sure that our Law Enforcement is also supported and wellfunded. So we have a lot to do with our border. Passing this bill tomorrow, getting a republican colleagues to join us with a huge difference in addressing the challenges 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. Madam president . The senator from michigan. 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 brought it up and locked us from even a debate of this most series of issues. They plan, unfortunately, to do the same tomorrow. They are once again 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. It is not comprehensive Immigration Reform, but we must keep working towards a broader approach where we modernize immigration laws and addressze immigration system as a whole, but we cannot let that hold us back from taking action right now to secure our borders. This legislation is a meaningful step in the right direction. It would tackle them head on. The bill would allow us to hire more than 2000 cbp officers come addressing a critical shortage of frontline personnel who safeguard our National Security at ports of entry each and every day. It would provide 2 2 billir our advanced screening technology. This would allow cbp to expand use of these tools, helping tent identified illegal cargo and stop dangers of drugs like fentanyl from reaching and poisoning our communities. Fentanyl overwhelmingly interested this country through our ports of entry. This bill also aims to change the asylum application process, a priority that congress has been unable to pass for decades. Republicans in Congress Certainly like toon t talk aboue need to secure our borders, but the use of this issue to stoke fear in our communities all across the country. But when you get a commonsense bill like the bill that we have before us to vote on, a bill that aims to address the problems they claim that 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 frontline personnel deserve better. The victims of the fentanyl crisis deserve better. Those fling often horrendous conditions in their home our southern border, they deserve better. And its an absolute shame that my republican colleagues haveou decided not to act because these challenges are not going to go away on their own. As chairman of the Homeland Security committee, i worked hard to craft bipartisan bills and pass commonsense Border Security legislation in my committee. Ive hador the opportunity to wk with key senators on this issue including senators murphy, sinema and lankfordrp who helped broker this deal in the first place. Im going to keep working with any member of this chamber is willing to come together and find Common Ground and forge solutions to help our country. And i hope some republicans join me. I yield the floor. 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 invaded congress for decades. Decades. We have poured many hours and much ink trying to solve the very real issues that we have, and we have come close. I was proud to advance the bipartisan gang of eight Immigration Reform that would have tightened Border Security, provided pathways to citizenship for those already here, and expanded work visas. I along with many in this chamber also voted for a bipartisan bill that would have given a path to citizenship for the 1. 8 million dreamers who came to our country as children. We nearly passed the commonsense plan, a bill that wouldve invested 25 billion in Border Security, and also provided a pathway to citizenship for our dreamers. All of these efforts, every them, has 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 walk away again. Apparently come decided it was better for politics not to secure our border. And what hits closest to home for me and every family who has watched a loved one pass away from fentanyl poisoning or an overdose, we have a real chance to disrupt the flow of these dangerous drugs into ours. Communities. In the two years from 20212022, over 2800 wisconsinites died of an opioid related overdose, in just two years. Thousands of wisconsin families lost a loved one and gained an empty seat ats the dinner table. Ive heard him countless parents devastated by losing their child. One mother, michelle, got a call one november morning in 2021 notifying her that her son, jade, a freshman at uw milwaukee, had passed away. The night before hed gone out with friends. He took one pill that he thought was percocet. It turned out to be 100 fentanyl. Michelle told me earlier this year that he had his entire life ahead of him. He was home from college the weekend before he died talking about changing his major to psychology and how he wanted to travel the t world. He deserved to learn from his mistake, not die from it. He didnt overdose from taking one pill. He was poisoned. Thats the stark reality of fentanyl. One pill can kill. In 2020, over 85 of opioid deaths in wisconsin were connected to a synthetic or manufactured opioid like fentanyl. We can and we must do more to stop illicit drug some come into our community. We had that chance ine front of usig 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 come 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 and ten points of entry. It also strengthens Border Security with more than 2400 new customs and Border Security Protection Officers at our southwest border. And give the president es new b authority to shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed. Not only would this compromise combat the fentanylth crisis, bt this also gives usrt 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. We would also send more resources r 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 qualify so that newcomers can provide for their families and help us meet workforce demands, and 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 those legally entering this country, and not stress often stretched budgets. Many republicans walk 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. Its a perfect . No. Would it have been a huge step in the right direction . Yes. I nor anyone got everything that they wanted this bill is a compromise and there is more work to do. Even if we passed 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 lives. Right now we have a chance to take a step in the right direction, a chance to do the right thing for moms like michelle, and every parent who was lost a child to fentanyl. Lets do something together right nowlo to secure our borde, stop the flow of fentanyl, ticks our broken immigration system, and make a real difference for americans. I yield the floor. Madam president . The senator from connecticut. Thank you, madam president. Im honored to join my colleagues in this colloquy and to support this measure your we are nearing the end of the debate for today. We are 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 it will be votes on other steps that Carry Forward the effort that this bipartisan securityct act reflects. But we must act. Everyone agrees that we musts at to make our border or secure, to fix our broken immigration system, to find a path toward earned citizenship for millions, tens of billions of undocumented people in this country who are paying taxes andpl playing by te rules and, of course, 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 sit as contrived articles of impeachment against the cabinet secretary for the first time in 150 years. More talk. Politics is the reason that this body failed t to pass this mease just months ago. So for republican colleagues now claiming that politics is a reason were here, well, yes, their politics, their presumptive residential nominee saying that they should not vote for it because of the political advantage they would have keeping it as an issue. They make 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 colleagues, senator murphy, senator sinema, senator lankford and others have worked on thisss issue over thes. Years. I remember well 2013 the Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan measure that then was approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in i 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. We will have a vote tomorrow on a measure that involves way short of what that when did in 2013. We provided a path to earned citizenship for 11 million then undocumented forli the dreamers. We provided billions of dollars for Border Security and we reformed the visa and asylum programs, among other ways by enablingng 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 clear. It was a tough compromise. It limited asylum claims in ways that Many Democrats and i remained concerned about doing. But it includes some key democratic priorities, including providing new pathways to citizenship for our at an at risk allies, ensuring legal representation to local 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 the ten major life events. Thats an issue i have worked with colleagues across thehe aie for years, as well as some of those other provisions. 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 a lot of whats here, we would not choose to include. And let me conclude by saying, trump wants to campaign on the border, not fix it. The question is, what are my republican colleagues are so beholden to him that they will follow that lead like lemmings off a cliff and at the end of the day take 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 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 this issue, were not abandoning this issue, were not going away. Madam president. The senator from minnesota. Speak prior to the scheduled vote, myself for up to five minutes, senator schumer up to two minutes, senator murphy up to 10 minutes and senator butler for up to five minutes. Without objection. 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 of entry must be a top priority. As we have discussed, we had an opportunity in february to move forward in a bipartisan manner on broad and important reforms and security measures that senators murphy, lankford and cinema spent months negotiating. Ill note that this legislation as senator blumenthal noted my bipartisan bill covenants with afghans living in the u. S. , who fought shoulder to shoulder, with the top priority of the american legion, and those served in afghanistan. These were their interpreters, the ones that gathered their intelligence and now 80,000 of them are in our Country Living with a trap door under them, not knowing if they will be sent back to the taliban. Working, yes, but they need a permanent status and thats what the bill that i have with senator graham would support on the afghan adjustment act of cosponsors, senators like senator mullen, and senator wicker, the Ranking Member of Armed Services and senator risch, the ranking 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 the 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 terrorist Screening Data base, and weve witnessed terrible incidents of drug smuggling and human trafficking. And in kitson county, sheriffs stopped a human smuggling attempt. Thats why this legislation is so important. And of key importance to me and 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 school children. These pills are getting in the hands of people that have no idea that the bills they have 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 flick from erskine, minnesota, killed by a fake pill laced with fentanyl. Devon norah who bought a percocet over snap chat, it wasnt a 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 of 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 they dont know has fentanyl in it, the answer is simple, vote for this bill. Thank you, madam president , i yield the floor. Madam president , first i want to thank senator murphy for organizing this important floor block. And i want to thank my colleagues who participated. And thank senator blumenthal and klobuchar and others who participated. And what were talking about is the need to pass our bipartisan border bill to crack down on fentanyl entering our country. Every one of us in our states have talked to families who lost loved once because of fentanyl. Particularly young people, it breaks your heart. Some of the family members didnt know their loved ones had fentanyl, had taken fentanyl and were dead within 24 hours, just gone. I have experienced that with some 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 again. Three months ago, donald trump told his allies to block the largest border bill in a generation. It would have gone a great deal to stop the vicious fentanyl into the United States. So were trying again tomorrow because we hear about the families that senator klobuchar mention that i mentioned that others mention. We have to and i hope this time our republicans will join us to achieve a different outcome. Unlike hr2, a very partisan bill, this is written with the goal of 60 votes in the senate. And input from republicans and democrats. And hr2 got virtually no democratic support. If anything is political, hr2, used politically, but never seriously to get something done. Lets be perfectly clear our bipartisan border bill represents a real chance, in fact the best chance in decades to act on Border Security. Would make huge strides towards cracking down on the scourge of fentanyl delivering billions for dea, dhs to hire officers, to focus exclusively on drugs and billions we now have state of the art equipment that can detect the flow of drugs at the border, why the heck arent we allocating the money to pay for it, instead of playing political games. We should be doing that right now. I thank my democratic colleagues who today are here highlighting how this bill does more than anything we have done thus far to deal with the scourge of fentanyl. If you told me a year ago that this kind of bill, that we had before us, that cracked down on fentanyl that we must fight, i would have thought that we have a good fight, to enact this bill into law by objective measure, its strong, its necessary. So tomorrow, were laying out a clear choice. Tomorrow, well see who is serious about actually wanting to fix the border, who are serious about actually cracking down on fentanyl and those who prefer to merely talk about it, yield the floor. Madam president. The senator from connecticut. 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 sense of our immigration system. Thats what the American People want us to do. They dont elect us to hold press conference, dont elect us to 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 cinema, 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 to the United States. Those that have a legitimate claim of asylum, those that are fleeing tower and torture, for a compassionate and effective 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 and they selected senator lankford and as the negotiator, and senator mcconnell was in the room for negotiations. It was endorsed by some of the most conservative outlets in the country. The wall street journal, the conservative Border Patrol union. And only got four republican votes. I want to talk about that, why that happened, what the bill is, and why its important that we have another vote this week. First lets take briefly what the bill does. 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, sometimes 10 years before you get your claim heard. Thats not fair. Thats not fair for the individual who is applying, but thats not fair for others who are waiting outside of the country trying to come to the United States. Its not fair for the community that ultimately have to house and provide services for all of those individuals waiting to apply for asylum so this bill fixes that broken system and takes that five or 10 year wait down to weeks or months. This bill gives the president Emergency Authority to close down portions of the border when crossings get too high. You cant handle 10,000 people a day. They saw that chaos the end of last year. This bill says president , whether youre a republican or democrat, the emergency to close down the borders during the times of high crossings. This bill makes significant investments in combatting fentanyl and my colleagues have talked about the scourge of fentanyl. Hundreds and hundreds of people dying in my state. Thousands across this country. This bill invests significant resources across hour border. A 20 billion much of that money for fentanyl. And it takes those coming to the United States in a more human way, youve been coming here and legitimate claim to asylum to work while your claim is processed. You should have a right to a lawyer during that process, that we should provide a little bit of money for young kids for eight year olds 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 and the system makes more sense and effective and more humane. But the foundation of this bill is Border Security, making sure that we have a border thats manageable, thats 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 that are living in the shadows. I want to make sure that those kids who know nothing except 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 and support of senator mcconnell fail . The answer is simple, donald trump told the republicans to kill the bill. Donald trump told the 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. And so even though youve got a bipartisan border bill, kill it is politically, its better for republicans if the border is a mess. Thats not my analysis. This 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 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. And 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, turning us against each other, is the centerpiece of Donald Trumps message. And thus, for this election, at least, the center piece of the republican platform. The idea is to keep the border broken, to keep the immigration system broken because it helps to breed and maintain resentment towards immigrants, toward people that are different from you, just last month trump said this. He said immigrants are not human. They are animals. A Major Political figure said that 20 years ago, theyd be, i think, republicans and democrats both standing up and condemning that kind of language. Donald trump calls immigrants animals, says theyre not human and he says that on a regular basis. And hes celebrated by republicans. I wish this werent true. I wish it werent a foundational aspect of modern republicans to try to turn us against each other, try to make us afraid of people coming to this country just to save their families lives. Thats where we are. Thats where we are. But that doesnt obviate us from the responsibility to govern, and were asked to vote on a compromise because its inconvenience for them to vote against a pill endorsed by high profile republicans and high profile republican groups. Its inconvenient for them to vote against a bill that actually brings them to the border, that they want to be fixed, but thats 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 problem and the broken border and immigration system is problem. This bill doesnt fix all of those problems, but its the biggest fix weve got a chance to vote on in a generation. So, yes, we need to vote on this again. To give republicans a chance to do the right thing, to choose the security of this country. To choose fixing a problem that they identify. Instead of choosing t