Floor Statements

Mr. President, on behalf of myself and Mrs. Blackburn, I ask unanimous consent that the following remarks be placed in the Congressional Record in recognition of Dr. Thomas Zacharia, Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory--ORNL.

For 35 years, Dr. Zacharia has provided transformative scientific leadership that has established ORNL as one of the world's premier research institutions, fulfilling national missions in diverse fields, including advanced materials, nuclear science and engineering, neutron science, and high-performance computing.

Dr. Zacharia's vision guided the creation of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and established ORNL as the Nation's leading supercomputing institute with the deployment of 10 supercomputers, including

the launch of Frontier in 2022, the first machine to break the exascale barrier.

Under Dr. Zacharia's leadership, ORNL has operated a research reactor with the highest neutron flux in the United States, the most powerful accelerator source of pulsed neutrons for materials research, the largest and most advanced additive manufacturing equipment, and facilities that produce, purify, and ship the most isotopes. He has positioned the laboratory to play a central role in our Nation's pursuit of breakthrough technologies for energy, cybersecurity, quantum, and other diverse fields.

Dr. Zacharia has also expanded the Laboratory's impact in the Oak Ridge Corridor by leading new ventures to attract technology startups and create a pipeline for the next generation of scientists and engineers.

I hope our colleagues join us in recognizing Dr. Zacharia for his tremendous contributions to the Nation, and on behalf of the U.S. Senate, we wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. President, earlier this week, a Federal judge in Washington, DC, outlawed the continued use of title 42 pandemic-related authority for the expedited removal of aliens who enter our country illegally. The judge found that the policy should be updated because the COVID-19 pandemic has changed since 2020. I agree. The pandemic is over. But the border crisis is not over. In fact, it is worse than ever.

That is why I have introduced legislation that provides a far stronger reason for invoking title 42 authority--the deadly drug smuggling crisis at our southern border that is killing a record number of Americans.

The Biden administration has dismantled our Nation's most effective border security policies. When I led a group of Tennessee sheriffs and mayors to the border this past April, Border Patrol agents in Laredo told me that the Migrant Protection Protocols, which are also known as MPP, or ``Remain in Mexico,'' were a painful illustration of the Biden administration's destruction of these border security tools.

MPP required that migrants seeking asylum in the United States remain in Mexico until it has been determined whether they were actually entitled to asylum. The vast majority of those claiming asylum are not entitled to it.

When MPP was implemented in 2019, the agents said it was like flipping a switch because people stopped coming when they learned they couldn't get in. Once the Biden administration halted this policy, illegal immigration catapulted to record numbers.

In fiscal year 2021, more than 1.7 million known illegal border crossings occurred--a new record. That record was short-lived, however, because in fiscal year 2022 that just ended in September, nearly 2.4 million illegal crossings were documented, exceeding the 2021 record by 37 percent. And that doesn't take into account the got-aways. Last month set a new record for October, with more than 230,000 illegal aliens. These figures are just the crossings that the agents see and document.

When I traveled to the border in April, Border Patrol agents told me that title 42 was the last tool that they had to at least partially stem the tide of illegal border crossings. If we allow a DC judge to remove title 42 authority, our Border Patrol agents will have no tool to stem the massive increase in illegal immigration that is certain to follow. And that is why, given this recent court ruling, passing my legislation today is imperative.

To illustrate, Border Patrol currently has capacity to process a maximum of roughly 5,000 illegal immigrants per day. Right now, they are already overwhelmed, processing nearly 8,000 per day. Predictions from agents and former immigration judges are that, without title 42 authority, this number would likely double to between 15,000 and 18,000 per day.

This would overwhelm processing capability, and the border would effectively cease to exist. Such a surrender of American security and sovereignty is intolerable.

The Department of Homeland Security itself said in response to this week's court decision:

We will prepare for an orderly transition to new policies

at the border. We know that smugglers will lie to try to take

advantage of vulnerable migrants, putting lives at risk.

Yes, it is true that we need policies to replace title 42, and it is true that smugglers will use this court ruling to entice thousands more migrants per day to cross the border illegally, which will risk lives and will magnify the humanitarian crisis at our southern border in a variety of ways.

If swift removal under title 42 is a possibility, would-be border crossers may decide not to embark. But without title 42, there is nothing left to dissuade them.

Further, without title 42, the drug cartels send migrants across the strategic points to bog down Border Patrol agents with paperwork processing. And the paperwork processing timeframe is five times longer without title 42. Do the math. Removing title 42 will collapse what is left of our Border Patrol's capacity. And with Border Patrol bogged down further, the cartels will use the resulting enforcement gaps to move their fentanyl, which they produce with the help of the Chinese Communist Party, across our southern border. We cannot allow more enforcement gaps for deadly drug smuggling.

That is why I have introduced legislation to add drug smuggling as an additional basis for title 42 authority. It is called the Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act. Overdoses have become an epidemic in America. This legislation would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use title 42 to combat substantial dangerous drug trafficking across the border. This bill would give Border Patrol a necessary tool to focus on stopping drug traffickers.

According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths reached another record high last year. Nearly 107,000 Americans died, many from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids coming across this southern border. We desperately need title 42 to aid in the fight against this drug epidemic.

Without this authority, the recordbreaking border crisis, and the deadly drug overdose crisis that it fuels, will become unimaginably worse.

Therefore, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 3959 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, my Democratic colleague is objecting to legislation that simply gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to limit border crossings when necessary to combat substantial, dangerous illicit drug smuggling.

It doesn't provide authority to stop all asylum claims. It only applies where substantial illicit drug smuggling is endangering public health. More than 100,000 Americans are dying annually of drug overdoses, many of which result from drug smuggling at our southern border.

The legislation isn't a mandate. It is a tool to help save American lives whenever that is possible. Everyone acknowledges that an already recordbreaking crisis will get far worse without title 42. American lives and communities hang in the balance. Yet my colleagues across the aisle are categorically opposed to a commonsense policy to address this glaring problem. It begs the question: What do Democrats propose that we do in response to this title 42 ruling? refuse to deal with the problem? hope this crisis won't spiral further out of control? These are not acceptable answers.

More broadly, is any volume of illegal immigration or drug overdose deaths adequate to get this administration to secure the border? How much longer will we allow our broken border policies to be manipulated by a criminal alliance between the Chinese communists and the billion- dollar Mexican drug cartels that are shipping huge quantities of deadly illegal drugs into the United States across our southern border?

I yield the floor.

Reserving the right to object.

Dr. Gupta received a tie vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. There is a Senate process that has been agreed to by both parties by which the leader can discharge a nomination with a tie vote from this committee to bring it before the full Senate, if he so chooses.

I am saying this as a person who has been put through 30 hours of cloture himself when I served in the executive branch and went through this very process.

We should not break from Senate process and procedure with regard to Dr. Gupta's nomination. Members should have the opportunity to vote, and the majority leader can schedule it.

Additionally, I think the vast majority of Senators from both sides value the economic empowerment of women everywhere around the globe. The previous administration made economic empowerment for women worldwide one of its signature initiatives.

I served as a diplomat at that time in the previous administration, and the senior Senator from New Hampshire was a valuable partner in many of our efforts, which I very much appreciate.

So I think that there is a goal we share, but there are valid concerns on our side that the current administration is tainting this worthy goal and dismantling the bipartisan achievements of the previous administration. We deserve to have a better understanding of what this administration is doing before we rush ahead and totally bypass the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to confirm the person who will be the chief implementer of this administration's policies.

I am not comfortable giving consent to expedite consideration of this nominee.

Therefore, I object.

Madam President, I have great respect for my colleague from New Hampshire. I worked very hard on the WGDP initiative that was put in place by the previous administration. It has the potential to do so much good.

I am very concerned about elements of that being dismantled right now, and I would like to remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that this is a matter of priorities.

Again, I will reiterate that I was put through 30 hours of cloture. The rules have been improved since then to reduce that amount of time. I think it would be a total of 4 hours in this case, yet the priorities set by the leadership of the other side indicate that they don't care as much about these positions because they won't even schedule it.

It is certainly within the Senate majority leader's power to do that. Rather, the Senate majority leader would rather prioritize seating the Postal Board of Governors than putting Ambassadors into place.

So I have difficulty with this argument, and, with all due respect, my objection stands.

Mr. President, I wish to recognize Fred Smith, founder and executive chairman of FedEx for receiving the distinguished L. Welch Pogue Award for his outstanding lifelong contributions to the field of commercial aviation.

On September 14, Mr. Smith, a proud Memphian and generous benefactor to his city, will receive due commemoration for his renowned achievements and contributions involving his organization, career, and passion.

Since 1971, the iconic Tennessee company he founded has facilitated deliveries not just in the United States but across the world.

This includes FedEx's work on the Project Airbridge Operation, a partnership executed by FedEx under the direction of the Federal Government that expedited the importation of critical supplies at the height of the pandemic.

This award, first presented in 1994, recognizes individuals with a lifetime of achievement in aviation and recognizes individuals who not only have a vision for where the industry is headed, but have acted to make it a reality.

I can think of no one more deserving to receive such an award. Let us celebrate this achievement and commitment to excellence that Mr. Smith has shown throughout his career.

Mr. President, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask to dispense with the reading.

Mr. President, in fiscal year 2021, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 12,000 illegal aliens with aggravated felony convictions. An alltime record number of illegal border crossers entered our country last year. This is an unprecedented national security crisis.

Before we spend billions of dollars on Green New Deal programs, the Department should first do its core job of securing the homeland.

This same policy was adopted 53 to 46 during the budget resolution process last August, with four of my Democratic colleagues joining me. Now, 1 year later, we have a worse crisis and an opportunity to provide real funding to protect our citizens from individuals who endanger our communities.

I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will maintain their previous support for this commonsense approach to fund law enforcement and put public safety and national security over partisan politics. We have a chance to address this in a real manner right now. Solving a major crisis like this is worth taking a little more time.

I urge my colleagues to support this motion.

Mr. President, do I have more time left?

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, since last year, I have been asking for a commitment from my Democratic colleagues that any future reconciliation legislation in this Congress will not incorporate policies that will reduce access to care in nonexpansion States, such as Tennessee.

Specifically, my concern is that the reconciliation legislation that the House of Representatives passed last fall, which is the very vehicle for the reconciliation bill currently being discussed in the Senate, included provisions that cut DSH and uncompensated care pool payments for nonexpansion States. This would result in less healthcare for vulnerable populations in my State, it would accelerate hospital closures, and it would disadvantage rural communities. These are places and populations for which we are trying to secure more quality healthcare, not less.

Because I still have not received confirmation that these provisions will not be included in the final text of the partisan reconciliation bill, I cannot consent to expediting confirmation of this nominee and, therefore, I object.

Mr. President, I would like to respond to my friend from Pennsylvania.

That is a very reasonable request. We are getting ready to go through a process of which I have not yet seen the text--an amendment process that is hard to anticipate--and dread to think that there would be another wraparound, that that could happen as well. But assuming that we get to an end point and this language that I have discussed is not in the bill--the same language that the House included is not in this bill--I would be more than happy to lift my objection.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, since last year, I have been asking for a commitment from my Democrat colleagues that any future reconciliation legislation in this Congress will not incorporate policies that will reduce access to care in nonexpansion States such as Tennessee. Specifically, my concern is that this reconciliation legislation that the House of Representatives passed last fall included provisions that cut DSH and uncompensated care pool payments for nonexpansion States. This would result in less healthcare for vulnerable populations in my State, accelerate hospital closures in my State, and it would disadvantage rural communities in my State of Tennessee. These are places and populations for which we are trying to secure more quality healthcare, not less.

Because I have not received confirmation that these provisions will not be included in any future reconciliation bill, I cannot consent to expediting confirmation of this nominee, and I object.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object.

As I mentioned a moment ago, I have been asking for a commitment from my Democratic colleagues that any future reconciliation legislation in this Congress will not incorporate policies that will reduce access to care in my home State of Tennessee. Reiterating, my concern is that the reconciliation legislation that the House passed last fall included provisions that cut DSH payments and uncompensated care pool payments for nonexpansion States which would result in less healthcare for vulnerable populations in my State, accelerate hospital closures, and disadvantage rural communities. These are places and populations for which we are trying to secure more quality healthcare, not less.

Because I have still not received confirmation that these provisions will not be included in any future reconciliation bill, I cannot consent to expediting confirmation of this nominee, and I object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of the Supreme Court Security Funding Act of 2022, which I introduced with Senator Warner just last week. Yesterday evening, the Senate approved by unanimous consent this bipartisan legislation, which provides emergency security resources to the Supreme Court of the United States and to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The House of Representatives must approve this bill without amendment or delay and send it to the President's desk before adjourning this week. The need is urgent and obvious. There is no question the Supreme Court, its Justices, their families, and Court employees are under unprecedented and unexpected threat. This includes recent highly publicized threats against Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Sotomayor. These threats may well become more acute in the coming weeks as the Court concludes its term.

There is no question that protecting the Court from these threats requires additional resources in Fiscal Year 2022 because unexpected resources are being deployed. This legislation provides those necessary resources.

More specifically, the U.S. Marshals Service has been providing around-the-clock security for the nine Justices at their homes and needs 10.3 million in emergency funding to cover these costs for the remainder of this fiscal year. The Supreme Court needs 9.1 million to cover its increased security costs for this fiscal year. These include overtime pay for Supreme Court Police officers, mutual aid payment to assisting law enforcement agencies, and increased physical security around the Supreme Court Building.

If Congress doesn't immediately provide this funding, the Court and Marshals Service may be forced to transfer funds from other critical functions and entities, like the U.S. District Courts and U.S. Courts of Appeal. That is an unacceptable outcome given the obvious and urgent need for this security funding and the gravity of the threat against one of our three constitutional branches.

Congress recently passed--and the President signed into law-- legislation by Senators Cornyn and Coons to increase the scope of authorized Supreme Court Police protection to include the Justices' immediate family members. Congress rightly provided this additional security authorization to protect the Court.

These expanded authorities are important, but there should be no question regarding whether Congress will separately provide the resources necessary to protect the Supreme Court during its hour of need.

I thank my colleague from Virginia, Senator Warner, for working with me on this legislation. I also want to thank the senior Senator from Alabama, Vice Chairman Shelby, and his staff, as well as the senior Senator from Vermont, Chairman Leahy, for their help and their guidance. Finally, I thank my Senate colleagues for their cooperation in ensuring the swift passage of this legislation in the Senate.

Now, I urge the House of Representatives to promptly send this bill to the President's desk before it adjourns later this week.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, with the President of the United States soon to be departing on his first Asia trip, I rise to speak today about U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific, an area of the world that I know very well, having served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan prior to joining the U.S. Senate.

While U.S. foreign policy in recent months has focused largely on Eastern Europe, we cannot take our attention away from our Nation's greatest strategic adversary, namely, the Chinese Communist Party. Confronting communist China is the essential responsibility of our time, as the China challenge--and how the United States and

our allies respond to it--will determine whether freedom or autocracy defines the 21st century. That is why I am pleased to see President Joe Biden investing the time and energy to travel to South Korea and to Japan this weekend.

I can tell you just how critical I believe this trip is because I made a trip similar to this just last month. In April, I led the first congressional delegation to visit Japan since the pandemic began. I was joined by my colleagues Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and Senator John Cornyn of Texas.

During our 6 days in Japan, our bipartisan delegation met with the country's top leaders, including the Prime Minister, his Cabinet members, Parliamentarians, and top leaders from Japanese industry. I think it is fair to say that our delegation returned with a great sense of optimism--optimism about the opportunities that lie before our two nations to increase our cooperation diplomatically, militarily, economically, and technologically and, by so doing, strengthening our alliance.

While I certainly have policy disagreements with the current administration, I am hopeful that this is one area in which we can find common ground. The fates of our Nation and the world depend on it. This challenge, quite frankly, is just far too important to get wrong. So I am hopeful that President Biden will seize upon the opportunities presented to him in the Indo-Pacific region to confront the China challenge head-on and that this trip will provide him with a greater perspective to do so.

I am pleased to see this administration maintain a focus on the Indo- Pacific region, a focus that President Trump began and that I personally was proud to help lead from my diplomatic post in Tokyo. I also applaud President Biden for the actions that he has taken to engage the Quad at the leader level. Much more can be done.

In terms of strengthening our diplomatic cooperation, the United States should warmly welcome Japan's proactive leadership in response to recent international crises. Japan is the world's third largest economy and a major financial player on the world stage. Japan is a member of the G7.

In the days after Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, the Government of Japan joined by imposing strong, multilateral sanctions against Vladimir Putin's war machine.

Japan's support on sanctions is as important as it is necessary. I saw this firsthand when, as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, I worked with then-Prime Minister Abe and his administration in complying fully with U.S. secondary sanctions to end Japan's purchases of Iranian oil in 2018. With Japan's help, we dramatically reduced Iran's revenue stream and its ability to fund terror at that time. We see Japan's importance today with regard to multilateral sanctions against Russia.

Going forward, the United States must do its utmost to ensure that Japan always has a seat at the table on major international issues.

Indeed, I was very pleased to see Foreign Minister Hayashi become the first Japanese Cabinet member to attend a NATO ministerial when he traveled to Brussels last April. And I am even more pleased to learn that Prime Minister Kishida is considering attending the NATO Summit in Spain next month.

Here, I see an opportunity for the United States to engage further with Japan and NATO by exploring new ways to expand high-level diplomatic interactions and information sharing.

When I made the suggestion to Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in early May, I was glad to see that my suggestion was well received.

The second opportunity that I see is in the area of improving defense and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. The United States and Japan must further increase coordination on defense planning and procurement as Japan looks to significantly boost its spending on defense.

Japan has already begun the process of rewriting its national security strategy and its related national defense strategy. At the same time, leaders in Tokyo see growing support from the Japanese people to roughly double Japan's defense spending to 2 percent of GDP.

These developments come at a critical moment. Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have their eyes set on Taiwan, and they are surely learning lessons from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un continues to develop nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles as he poses grave and gathering threats to the United States and to our allies in the region.

Our nations, therefore, must act with great urgency to strengthen defense and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. In particular, the United States must encourage Japan to use their increased spending to field as rapidly as possible new defense capabilities that are mobile, lethal, and interoperable.

Japan must also significantly improve its cyber security capabilities and its ability to share intelligence and information with its allies. And it is critical that the American and Japanese militaries expand joint training exercises with one another.

I have had the honor of witnessing firsthand the success of our joint training exercises, and I encourage our nations to expand this invaluable training.

The third area where I see an opportunity is on energy security, an area in which we should be working together. This was the message that I heard last month in Japan as leaders expressed concerns with America's current energy policies.

Several years ago, I worked hard to encourage Japan to make significant investments in LNG infrastructure to allow greater LNG imports from the United States in order to strengthen our two nations' energy security and our national security.

I hope President Biden's visit will underscore the significance of American strength as an energy exporter to enhance the security of our allies. But all members of the Quad must engage in the critical topic of energy security.

India is the world's biggest democracy and now has an opportunity to decrease its energy and military reliance on Russia, and Australia is a significant energy exporter.

When Secretary Blinken recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I pointed out to him that the Quad already has high-level working groups working on COVID-19 vaccines, infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, space, cyber security, and environmental matters. But my argument to him was that adding a new working group in the Quad--one focused specifically on energy security--makes strong strategic sense, as energy security is inextricably linked to economic security and to our national security. Frankly, it is surprising to me that the Quad hasn't already made this issue a primary focus.

Secretary Blinken appeared to appreciate the suggestion, and I emphatically urge the administration to take this idea to heart and dedicate time and energy to discussing energy security in our Quad strategic grouping.

The fourth area of opportunity that I see is in technology. The United States and Japan already cooperate closely in this space. That was a point that I sought to underscore in many of our meetings with Japan's private sector leaders.

I see growing opportunities for our Quad partners to ensure our respective technology sectors continue to work together and to generate trusted alternatives in 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and in other strategic technologies.

When I served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, I helped the United States and Japanese Governments coordinate closely to counter Huawei and China's other heavily subsidized companies and to clear them from the 5G markets of our representative economies. This was important because Chinese companies like Huawei pose grave and growing national security and espionage risks.

Our U.S.-Japan strategy prevented Huawei and other Chinese Communist Party-directed technology firms from obtaining the global scale that they sought in their effort to dominate international markets.

It also created openings for firms in the United States, Japan, and partner countries to pursue trusted 5G alternatives in supply chains, including software-defined networks and ORAN technologies.

With each passing year, the technology competition with China is only intensifying. It is, therefore, imperative that the U.S.-Japan alliance and the Quad increase coordination and innovation in response to technological competition.

The fifth opportunity is in economic leadership in the Indo-Pacific. When President Biden visits the region, I expect him to speak more about the Indo-Pacific economic framework. It is clear that many of our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific are eager to see more U.S. economic leadership.

As a next step, the United States should take the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework's data provisions and turn them into a stand-alone, sector-specific free-trade agreement.

The executive branch should look closely at the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement of 2019 as a good starting point. This is the most comprehensive and high-standards agreement addressing digital trade barriers.

I was proud to help then-U.S. Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer negotiate this and other bilateral agreements with Japan. Our efforts brought about a more fair and reciprocal trading relationship between our two nations, helping not only our economies but also our workers.

The Biden administration has rightly maintained the Trump administration's tariffs on China as important leverage to uphold fair and reciprocal trade. This is a critical tool in our arsenal, and I hope the current administration continues to use it.

There certainly are other areas where the administration must hold the line against China. The administration could do more to hold communist China accountable for unleashing the COVID-19 pandemic upon the world. It also needs to press Beijing to stop the deadly flow of Chinese-origin fentanyl and fentanyl precursors from flowing across our southern border and killing more than 100,000 Americans a year through overdoses.

And we also know what is at stake when it comes to China's growing military threats against Taiwan. The last administration set a high standard on countering China, and I hope the current administration builds on that success.

I believe there is strong bipartisan consensus in Congress when it comes to the Indo-Pacific and when it comes to the rising opportunities that we see before us to further strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance and the Quad. So I urge President Biden to seize these growing opportunities that I have outlined when he travels to the Indo-Pacific. As the only former American Ambassador serving in this body and as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I stand ready to work with him as he does.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor the legacy and impact of Steve Berger, follower of Christ and beloved pastor, leader, mentor, and friend.

Since Steve was called to serve the ministry more than 30 years ago, he has been a giant in the faith. His passion, his boldness, and his resolve in spreading love and the glory of God has been an inspiration to so many, and has truly been a force for good in our community.

I commend the devotion to faith that marks Steve's life and has marked the lives of many others in turn. Through Steve's courageous preaching and wise leadership, Grace Chapel has transcended the walls of the local church and has seen such success across our great State.

Steve has always been one to lead by example, constantly showing his relentless love for the hurting, oppressed, and impoverished across the globe. Steve's profound devotion has taken him to some of the farthest comers of the world to serve, help, and save those who are suffering. Steve has brokered peace in war-torn countries and has been a faithful, generous, and loving friend to Israel. He has brought God's healing to the wounded, His Word to the burdened, His sustenance to the poor, and His hope to the persecuted.

And so it is with a glad and grateful heart that today I rise to affirm and honor the tremendous influence of Steve Berger.

Madam President, I am here today to discuss worrying developments in Mexico--one of the United States most important international partners and our neighbor to the south.

The nearly 2,000-mile border that our nations share, both binds us together and presents a series of challenges, including illegal immigration, drug control, and human trafficking.

But as we work through these difficult issues, our robust economic relationship has provided a firm foundation to strengthen and stabilize our efforts with an eye toward the future.

The innovative U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement--or USMCA, as it is called--has deepened the connections between our two economies, such that Mexico is now one of our largest and most strategic trading partners.

However, actions over the past year by the government of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, better known as AMLO, have weakened that bond and are threatening the economic and diplomatic ties of our two nations.

Through increasingly arbitrary and aggressive moves against companies based here in the United States and their lawfully owned assets in Mexico, the Mexican Government has abused its permitting and regulatory powers in ways that violate the letter and the spirit of our trade agreements and the special relationship that exists between our two countries. These decisions directly impact critical sectors of the U.S. economy, from agriculture to energy and mining, from transportation to tourism.

These capricious actions, which are falsely labeled as ``reforms,'' risk substantially undermining confidence in the commercial rule of law in Mexico, and these actions also risk jeopardizing the essential economic relations in North America.

Further, these actions likely violate our trade agreements by abrogating contracts, stripping investors of value, and eliminating private competition and oversight, thereby sending a clear message to U.S. capital markets that Mexico is no longer safe nor profitable for investing.

Earlier this month, AMLO even threatened to jail political opponents and investors who stand in his way, desperately attempting to impose a state-centered, anti-free-market agenda. If not quickly corrected, these actions risk choking off the economic relationship between our two nations.

Many important supply chains stretch across the U.S.-Mexico border, supporting millions of good jobs and making both countries more attractive for capital investment. This is certainly true for my home State of Tennessee. Because of that success, I have advocated for further expanding the integrated North American supply chain for critical industries as a better and more stable alternative to manufacturing and exporting from communist China.

Utilizing the successes of the USMCA as the backbone for a renewed vision of North American competitiveness would benefit both American and Mexican prosperity, as well as both of our nations' national security. It would also better align the economic strategies and national interests of our two countries.

But without a basic respect for private property and the rule of law, that mutually beneficial progress will not happen. In fact, failing to protect private property and the rule of law will inevitably lead to the disintegration of economic ties.

Therefore, I urge President Lopez Obrador to reverse course before more damage is done. Instead, we should be looking for opportunities to work together to attract investment and unlock economic opportunity that is presented by the global rebalancing of supply chains away from communist China. Let's seize the opportunity together rather than damage our shared interests for short-term political gains.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I am here today to discuss what I saw this past weekend when I took a trip to our southern border in Texas.

I led a delegation of eight sheriffs and mayors from my home State of Tennessee. We went to see what is happening, what the effects of the border crisis are, and to hear from them and allow the border agents to hear from them the effects of the border crisis in our own communities in Tennessee.

Our mayors and sheriffs are seeing record drug overdoses, gang violence, and other forms of criminal activity right there in Tennessee.

We learned that what is really happening at our border is quite simple: Well-financed, operationally sophisticated drug cartels, with the help of the Chinese Communist Party, are exploiting our immigration policies and human economic desires to make billions of dollars from drug and human trafficking.

Ignored by the Biden administration and the corporate media, this increasingly powerful criminal enterprise is expanding further into American communities.

Our trip revealed two key insights. First, under Biden policies, this national security crisis is unmanageable. Second, and paradoxically, this crisis is well within the Federal Government's ability to fix.

My central takeaway was this: If every American saw what we saw and heard, this would end. America wouldn't tolerate this. It is a crisis.

Here is the cartels' business model: Fentanyl ingredients are shipped from China to Mexico. In Mexico, the cartels turn these chemicals into astonishingly potent drugs bound for the United States.

Last year, fentanyl seized at the border was more than enough to kill every American. And that is just what we caught. Think about what has not been caught. Think about what is getting through.

The cartels control the entire Mexican side of the U.S. border, and each migrant must pay thousands of dollars for safe passage to these cartels. Often, they have to pay through subsequent indentured servitude. Many young women become victims of human trafficking.

So in this vicious cycle, the more illegal immigration, the more money for the cartels; and the more money for the cartels, the more drugs they produce.

For cartels, the illegal immigrants are more than an expendable revenue source. They are a tool for facilitating transport of drugs and criminals. The cartels push scores of migrant customers across the border so they can occupy American border agents. Then they exploit the resulting gaps in patrol coverage to move across drugs, gang members, those they refer to as ``high-value'' individuals, terrorist-watch-list members, and others.

Border Patrol agents told me that, given the recordbreaking border crossings they are currently facing, there are times when every agent is busy processing migrant paperwork, leaving the border wide open for drug and human trafficking. The drugs and gang members and the accompanying violence will then flood into our American communities.

As one agent put it: The people crossing the border don't stay in this area, and neither do the drugs.

More than 100,000 Americans died last year from drug overdoses, mostly from fentanyl, which are really more akin to CCP-engineered poisonings. Several thousands were Tennesseans. The Tennessee sheriffs and mayors on this trip told me that deaths from illicit drug overdoses in their counties are at record highs. Our Tennessee sheriffs know the families in their communities. They told me the toughest part of their job is to see a mother or a grandmother, to go to their home and tell them that their son or their grandson will never return. It is heartbreaking. Each one of these obituaries has the CCP's fingerprint on it.

The migrants' money and usefulness to distract border agents are essential to the cartels' operations. These illegal immigrants are incentivized to come because of our current catch-and-release policies.

To illustrate the current policy of absurdity, last Friday, around midnight, near a stretch of--of course--unfinished border wall, right outside of McAllen, TX, our vehicle came across about 15 recently arrived migrants. They approached us and asked us where they could find the Border Patrol agents. They wanted to turn themselves in, having been coached by their cartel handlers that this was the first step to U.S. Government-funded release into America. Our policies are so upside-down that the suspects are looking for the officers.

Nevertheless, U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement Agencies are working tirelessly day and night to protect our Nation. Understandably, morale is at an all-time low with a Biden administration that refuses to give them the tools that they need to deal with this crisis.

Border Patrol can process a maximum of roughly 5,000 migrants a day. Right now, they are facing nearly 8,000 migrants a day. And when the Biden administration lifts title 42 authority, they fear that the number could exceed 15,000 per day.

Therefore, and unsurprisingly, the constant plea I heard from Border Patrol agents was this: We need effective policy, not more agents, not more equipment. Bad policies are what have created this incentive to cross the border, and eliminating these policies is the only fix. Our agents signed up to protect our border, not to facilitate its demise.

Border agents in Laredo told me that the Migrant Protection Protocols, known as MPP, were a perfect illustration of the need for policy change. MPP was a policy that required migrants seeking asylum in the United States to remain in Mexico until it was determined whether or not they were actually entitled to asylum. Most are not.

When it was implemented in 2019, the agent said it was like flipping a switch because this stopped people coming when they knew that they wouldn't get in.

This ``Remain in Mexico'' policy cut illegal border crossings dramatically in fiscal year 2020. Yet the Biden administration nixed the MPP, and, not surprisingly, border crossings more than quadrupled in fiscal year 2021.

With the help of their media allies, Washington Democrats ignore this crisis and they hope that the American people will too. They don't travel to

the border because they don't want to answer for the crisis that they have created. They have chosen appeasement of loud, radical immigration groups over American security, over American sovereignty.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris haven't seen the border stations where the agents sacrifice day and night, mentally and physically, battling a crisis that their Departments haven't given them the tools to address.

For many Americans, this crisis seems far away, at least until it is too late--until it is their child, their grandchild, their brother and sister who become a statistic.

That is the other thing that I heard constantly from Border Patrol and law enforcement agents: We need someone to tell America what is happening here.

With the President and media averting their eyes and abdicating their responsibilities, it becomes even more critical to spread the word before more American lives are needlessly lost, before more migrants' lives are destroyed in the journey or through indentured servitude once they arrive, and more communities are damaged beyond repair.

So what can we do to address this crisis?

Even though the border cries is worse than ever, the Biden administration is voluntarily ending title 42 pandemic-related authority for expedited removal.

The Border Patrol agents I met this weekend believe that this will make this recordbreaking crisis substantially worse. Such a surrender of American security would be intolerable.

And there is another health crisis that title 42 is critical to battling. The cartels send migrants across at strategic points to bog down Border Patrol agents with paperwork processing that takes five times longer without title 42. Then they use the resulting enforcement gaps to move fentanyl across the border.

We have to close these enforcement gaps with better policy.

So I have introduced legislation to add drug smuggling as an additional basis for title 42 authority. Overdoses have become an epidemic in America. This legislation would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use title 42 to combat drug trafficking across the border. This bill would give our Border Patrol agents the tools they need to quickly remove migrants who illegally cross the border, substantially freeing up agents to focus on actually stopping drug traffickers.

More than 100,000 Americans died last year from drug overdoses, many from fentanyl coming from across our southern border. We desperately need title 42 to fight this drug epidemic. It is a tool that would quite literally save American lives in every State in the Union immediately.

So, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 3959 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, I want to thank my colleague from Hawaii for his remarks, but I want to explain what just happened here.

My colleague objects, despite the fact that recordbreaking numbers of Americans are currently dying from overdoses, fueled by fentanyl coming across our border. This legislation is a tool to help save American lives. Indeed, 100,000 American lives were lost last year to drug overdoses. These lives are being deprived of the American dream forever. So Democrats are categorically opposed to commonsense border security tools to prevent drug trafficking into America no matter how bad the drug overdose numbers get? How much longer will it take to change course from the Biden administration policies that have created this national security crisis? How much longer will we allow our immigration system to be manipulated by a massive transnational criminal alliance between the Chinese communists and billion-dollar cartels who are shipping deadly quantities of illicit drugs into the United States?

I yield the floor.