Floor Statements

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran) would have voted ``yea''.

Mr. President, later today, the Senate will take a vote on whether or not to move to consideration of the national security supplemental bill. And make no mistake, this vote will fail. Not because Republicans oppose supporting our national security interests overseas but because Democrats are refusing to take seriously the national security crisis here at home.

From the beginning, Republicans have made it clear that any national security supplemental would have to address one of the biggest threats to our national security, the out-of-control illegal immigration at our southern border.

And when I say ``out of control,'' just look at the numbers. Yesterday, 12,000 people were apprehended at our southern border trying to come into our country illegally--not including the ``got-aways,'' not including the unknowns--over 12,000 people, which, I think, is an alltime, one-day high. Most ever. In history.

And think about that annualized. We are now talking about on the order of 4 million people annually coming across our southern border, being released into the country, coming across illegally.

When is this a crisis? This is a crisis. It is a humanitarian crisis. It has been that for a long time. But now--now it is a national security crisis because among those 12,000 people are some pretty unsavory characters.

There are people who are coming here for a better life, but there are a lot of people who are being apprehended now at our southern border. Some of whom are on the Terrorist Watchlist.

This is a crisis that needs to be dealt with, and it seems to be falling on deaf ears at the White House and among my colleagues here, Democratic colleagues in the U.S. Senate.

We have put forward meaningful ideas and solutions about how to deal with this, and yet crickets. Nobody seems to want to confront what is a major, major debacle at our southern border.

That is 12,000, one day--a new American record of people trying to come into this country illegally. Why? Because this administration doesn't seem to care or want to do anything about stopping or reducing that flow across our southern border.

It is a staggering number. And just to put it in perspective, Jeh Johnson, who was the Department of Homeland Security Secretary to President Obama, once said that a thousand a day would overwhelm the system--a thousand a day. He went on to say: I can't even comprehend what 4,000 a day would look like.

Yesterday was 12,000. Now, if you sustain that rate, annualize that rate, as I said, you are talking about 4 million people annually being released into this country.

And you have heard from countless now, not just Members on my side of the aisle or overcrowded communities on the southern border or members of the Customs and Border Patrol who are underwhelmed and underresourced and undermanned down there to deal with this crisis.

But you are hearing from cities in the interior of this country-- large cities--who are complaining about not being able to deliver basic services to their constituents now because they are having to deal with a migrant inflow into their communities--New York City being one notable example. The mayor of New York City says he would have to freeze hiring police officers, he would have to close libraries, and cut education funding to keep up with this massive, massive inflow of people who are coming into this country who need to be cared for.

So let me just say, this is not an extraneous issue, which is what the Democrat leader suggested last week. Border security is a national security issue, and anyone who thinks that our Nation can be secure while we have hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants pouring over our southern border each month needs to think again.

The month of October, 240,988 individuals were encountered at our southern border. That was the highest October number ever recorded. But on top of that, the month of October saw an average of 1,000 ``got- aways'' per day, individuals the Border Patrol saw but was unable to apprehend. That is 30,000 unidentified individuals entering our country in just 1 month--30,000.

And there is no telling how many unknown ``got-aways''--these are known ``got-aways''--how many unknown ``got-aways'' there were during that same period. And there is no question that some of those ``got- aways'' were dangerous individuals who should not be entering the country.

During fiscal year 2023, there were 169 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist who were apprehended attempting to illegally cross our southern border. That was fiscal year 2023, which ended September 30, 169 in 1 year.

Well, if the numbers continue to ramp up--and you look at the daily numbers we are encountering now, you know that number is going to go up significantly as well. Because why? People have figured out, you want to get into the United States, come across our southern border.

And thousands of what are known as--what we call special interest aliens, those individuals who may pose a threat to the United States, have been apprehended trying to illegally cross our southern border over the past 2 years.

Then there have been the criminals who are trying to make their way into the United States, and those range from drug traffickers to child predators. One border reporter noted last month:

Border Patrol's Del Rio Sector has arrested at least 21

child sex predators crossing illegally since the new fiscal

year began on October 1.

Twenty-one child sex predators in a single sector of our southern border.

And, again, all of these numbers I am mentioning only refer to individuals who have actually been apprehended. With 30,000 unknown individuals entering the United States in October alone, there is no telling how many terrorists, how many criminals, how many other dangerous individuals have made their way into our country without our knowledge.

So I think it is fair to say that the issue of border security is not ``extraneous'' but is, in fact, fundamental to our national security and something that the Democrat leader ought to realize.

Indeed the fact that New York City, as I mentioned, is currently facing across-the-board cuts to its city services, including a staggering 13.5-percent cut to its police force--to its police force-- as a result of the migrant crisis should be all the information the majority leader needs to realize that our current situation is not sustainable, even without the national security risk imposed by unchecked illegal immigration.

Now, I support aid to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, and I believe it is in our

national security interest to support these allies. So I want to see us take up this national security supplemental, but national security begins at home. And we can't pass a bill to advance American interests abroad while ignoring the national security crisis at our own border. We owe the American people better than that.

And the Democrat leader needs to understand the Republicans are serious. We have said all along that this national security supplemental must address the national security crisis at our border, and we will continue to hold that principle.

And while we recognize that in a negotiation, neither side will get everything it wants, the final border security component in this supplemental must have real teeth. Cosmetic measures are not acceptable. We can't afford anything less than real solutions to our Nation's border crisis.

Ten thousand-plus individuals were encountered at our southern border on Sunday, another 10,000 on Monday. It went up to 11,000. And as I said yesterday, now 12,000 in a single day. Things are getting worse, not better. We have an obligation to do everything we can to get this crisis under control--this administration, as I said, something they have had no interest in doing.

So I will vote against moving the supplemental while it lacks serious border security policy changes, and I hope that today's failed vote will clearly demonstrate to our Democratic colleagues that there will be no national security supplemental without the kind of border security measures that we need to keep our Nation secure.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, $11,434--that is how much more a typical family has to spend today to maintain the same standard of living they had at the beginning of the Biden administration--$11,434. That is a lot of money. Needless to say, it is money that a lot of Americans don't have.

Nearly 3 years of high inflation has taken its toll. Americans are exhausted from constant price hikes, and they are struggling to keep pace with the huge increase in their cost of living.

One recent news story noted:

Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they

had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.

Let me just repeat that.

Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they

had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.

In other words, we have had 10 years of price increases packed into the last 4 years. The lion's share of those increases has occurred during the Biden administration. Since President Biden took office, the price of groceries has risen by almost 21 percent, gas prices have risen by 54.8 percent, electric bills are up almost 25 percent, car repairs and maintenance are up 26.5 percent, rent is up 18 percent, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, at this point, it is

clear that today's high prices are here to stay.

Inflation didn't come out of nowhere. Inflation is the result of too many dollars chasing too few goods and services. That is exactly the situation the Biden administration and Democrats helped create in 2021.

The President's first major piece of legislation was a massive and partisan $1.9 trillion spending bill filled with unnecessary spending and handouts to Democrat interest groups. The bill flooded the economy with unnecessary government money, and the economy overheated as a result--no big surprise there. Almost 3 years down the road, we are still dealing with the inflation crisis the President and Democrats helped create. So it should come as no surprise that the President's ``Bidenomics'' pitch--his attempt to sell the American people on his economic record--is falling flat, even among members of his own party.

A substantial majority of Americans have a negative view of the economy. Fifty-five percent of voters say they are worse off financially under President Biden, and a large percentage are cutting back on spending to make ends meet.

President Biden claims that ``Bidenomics is just another way of saying `the American Dream.' '' Well, for a lot of Americans, Bidenomics has proved to be less dream and more nightmare because the reality is that under Bidenomics, working Americans are struggling to get by. They are tapping into their savings. They are taking on more debt. They are falling behind on car payments or other bills.

Increasingly, one key measure of the American dream, which is owning your own home, is out of reach for many Americans. The higher interest rates the Federal Reserve was forced to put in place to help rein in President Biden's inflation crisis has meant more expensive mortgages, which, combined with higher home prices, have eroded home buyers' purchasing power.

A recent NBC news article reported:

[I]n late 2020, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical,

newly sold home was around $1,100 in principal and interest.

It's now about twice that.

It is now about twice that.

On the car-buying front, Americans are facing loan rates last seen, as one article noted, during the great recession.

And soaring credit card interest rates are making it difficult for Americans to afford their credit card bills much less make progress in paying them off, a situation not helped, of course, by the fact that many Americans have had to turn to their credit cards to help them get by--get by--under Bidenflation. Under the Biden administration, Americans can't catch a break.

President Biden has spent a lot of time talking about giving families ``a little bit of breathing room.'' But the reality of Bidenomics is that a lot of families have seen their breathing room disappear. Perhaps the President should remember that before he gives another speech touting his economic record.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Braun), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), and the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Tuberville).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley) would have voted ``nay.''

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

Mr. President, before I begin, there is something I want to address today. I just want to make an observation about this discussion we are having on our southern border. I would reiterate what I have been saying now for some time, and that is that it is no longer just a humanitarian crisis. It is every bit of that, but it is a national security crisis.

We see the numbers on a daily basis, the number of people who are apprehended at the southern border trying to come into the country illegally. In the last 3 days--the last 3 days--that is over 9,000 per day--over 9,000 per day, and that doesn't include the ``got-aways'' or the unknowns. That is the people who are apprehended coming across the border illegally. And we now know that, in the month of September, for example, there were a significant number of people--18, actually-- apprehended coming across the southern border, who are on the Terrorist Watchlist.

People coming from all over the world have figured out that, if you want a portal, if you want to get into the United States, just come to the southern border, and we will wave you in, which is essentially what is happening today.

And the question I would ask is, In what universe does that make any sense?

I said this yesterday: We are a nation of immigrants. We have been a very welcoming country. We have ways of bringing people into this country legally, and we do that on an annual basis.

But we are a nation of laws, first and foremost. The rule of law is what distinguishes our country from many other countries around the world, and yet, at our southern border, that doesn't mean a thing.

Over 9,000 a day--annualize that. Think about what that means. That is 3 million people a year. And we have people who want to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to it.

We have an opportunity in this national security supplemental bill that will be on the floor perhaps as early as next week. It will deal with issues like Ukraine, issues like Israel--what is happening there-- and the Indo-Pacific, where we have national security interests at stake. We have to deal with the national security crisis at our southern border.

This is insanity. I don't understand it. I don't understand the administration. I don't understand some of my colleagues here in the Senate who feel like this isn't something that we need to be dealing with or addressing. This is a national security crisis on a daily basis--over 9,000 the last 3 days in a row--and, again, some of which we know, because they are catching them, are people on the Terrorist Watchlist.

In what universe does what is being done at our southern border make sense to anybody, to any rational person?

It doesn't make sense to the mayor of New York City or the mayor of Chicago, where, as migrants arrive there, they are having to divert resources to address that. The mayor of New York City said he was going to freeze hiring police officers in New York City. That seems like that would be a problem, if I were a New York City resident. He said he was going to have to close libraries and cut funding for education.

That is what we are talking about. This is not just an issue that affects communities on the southern border, although I have been down there a number of times, and, believe me, they are profoundly affected. This is an issue where every State becomes a border State, as literally thousands of people on a daily basis are released into the interior of the United States--waved by, with no regard or respect for our heritage as a nation of laws in a country that is built upon a foundation of the rule of law.

It has to be fixed. It has to be done, and it needs to be done now, and I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and our folks at the White House understand that. We can't wait any longer. This is out of control.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer) and the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Tuberville).

Madam President, today I want to speak to the issue of our southern border because I think it is a really important and relevant issue with respect to the national security package that we are considering or that we will be, I think, at some point, considering here in the Senate that deals with many of the national security crises we face around the world.

And as I think about this issue, I am always reminded that as a one- generation-removed-from-immigrant individual in this country--my grandfather came here back in 1906--I am reminded that we are a nation of immigrants.

We have had, throughout our history, a welcoming culture in this country. We are a country that is made up of people from all over the world, and I am representative of that, as I said, one generation removed.

It is also important to remember that we are a nation of laws, first and foremost. Ronald Reagan once said:

A nation without borders is not a nation.

I have heard it paraphrased that a nation that can't control its borders can't control its destiny. And I believe that to be true.

I think what we have right now at our southern border is a situation that has just run amok. It really has. You cannot defend what is happening at our southern border if you believe we are a nation of laws or, for that matter, if you believe we are a nation of immigrants because you have to have a legal way to get into this country. All countries do that, and the United States, as I said, is a very welcoming nation. If you look at the number of people who come here every year as refugees, the number of people coming to this country, you add up all the other countries around the world and the number of people they allow into their countries, the United States exceeds that, and that, to me, is a remarkable testament to the welcoming nature of this country.

But it is welcoming in the sense that it is done within the context of the rule of law, and that, first and foremost, has to be front and center as we think about this issue.

What we have right now at our southern border is essentially a huge welcome sign, a huge green light to come

across our southern border and to do it illegally. That is in direct contradiction and violation of everything that our Nation is about as a nation of laws.

And so as I talk about this issue, and we talk about it in the context of national security, it has become a national security issue because, once again, there has been another record set when it comes to the border and not the good kind, I should say, of record. This administration now has, during the month of October, seen 240,988 individuals be apprehended attempting to illegally cross our southern border. That is the worst October on record, and that is on top of the three previous months which were historic records; the month of September, 270,000 people apprehended at our southern border trying to come into the country illegally.

So the highest October number ever recorded, and those are just the individuals--I would remind people--who were apprehended. The month of October saw an average of 1,000 ``got-aways'' per day, individuals whom the Border Patrol saw but were unable to apprehend. That is another 30,000 people, unidentified individuals, entering our country in just 1 month, and there is no telling how many unknown ``got-aways'' there were during that same period. It suggests a situation at our southern border that is completely and totally out of control.

The closing of the fiscal year in September marked the third successive, recordbreaking year of illegal immigration at our southern border under the Biden administration. As the October numbers point out, the end of this crisis is nowhere in sight.

If you think about it, the problems here are really too many to count. The men and women of the Border Patrol are under incredible strain and have been for pretty much the entirety of the Biden administration. Border cities are struggling to deal with the ceaseless influx of migrants, and major cities in other areas of the country are now discovering what border cities have been going through.

Just as a point of fact, big cities, the city of New York, the mayor of New York announced that he will be freezing the hiring of police officers in New York, closing libraries, and cutting education funding--this is in New York City--to deal with the migrant crisis, absent an infusion of Federal dollars coming in from Washington, DC.

So this is creating not problems just on our southern border but for communities all across this country, including the largest communities in the United States of America. The situation we currently have in front of us is encouraging migrants to undertake the dangerous journey to our southern border, sometimes with tragic results.

So I say that our national security is in jeopardy because a border security problem is a national security problem. This isn't a matter of speculation. We know, for a fact, that dangerous individuals are attempting to make their way across our southern border every month.

During fiscal year 2023, 169 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist were apprehended attempting to illegally cross our southern border. This is 2023, fiscal year 2023, 169 people on the Terrorist Watchlist trying to come across our southern border--18 in the month of September, another 13 in the month of October.

Those are the people who are apprehended at the southern border. That doesn't count the ``got-aways.'' My assumption is, if they are on the Terrorist Watchlist, they are going to be pretty good at evading the authorities, meaning that there are people trying to come into this country on a daily basis who are on the Terrorist Watchlist.

On top of that, you have thousands of what they call special interest aliens--and those are individuals who may pose a threat to the United States who have been apprehended at our southern border over the past 2 years--thousands of special interest aliens. Again, the numbers we have refer only to those who have been apprehended.

As I said, last month alone, 30,000 identified individuals made their way illegally into our country--I should say unidentified individuals; in other words, the ``got-aways,'' the unknowns. Many of them may simply have been seeking a better life. That is entirely possible, but it is not only possible, but I would say likely, that some of them were dangerous individuals who should not be entering our country.

This work period, we expect to take up supplemental spending legislation to address national security priorities, notably, support for our allies like Israel and Ukraine. And one national security priority this legislation must address is border security.

As the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel reminds us, national security requires constant vigilance, and our Nation is simply not secure as long as we are dealing with a massive flow of illegal immigration at our southern border. We must get this crisis under control.

Senators Graham, Lankford, and Cotton have been working to craft a set of border security measures for inclusion in the national security supplemental focused on the two areas in obvious need of reform: parole and asylum.

Under our current asylum system, a large percentage of individuals claiming asylum are released into the interior of the country after initial screening with court dates up to a decade later. The Associated Press reported that in March, 77 percent of individuals claiming asylum passed the initial screening.

In practice, this means that thousands of individuals who have entered our country illegally end up taking residence in our country, possibly, for a number of years, given our immigration court backlog. That is a problem.

Our parole system is in trouble as well. In fiscal year 2022, the Biden administration granted parole to 417,326 individuals. And that is because the Biden Department of Homeland Security has instituted an overly permissive application of parole, which means that, again, tens of thousands who have not been granted legal status and who may not have a case for remaining in the United States have been taking up residence in our country with instructions to report back a year or more into the future for further review of their status.

Now, given the backlog and overwhelmed nature of our parole system, this ends up being de facto permanent residence. Needless to say, this invites abuse, and individuals are availing themselves of these flawed policies to gain entry to our Nation. Any supplemental legislation must not only deal with border security generally but with our asylum and parole system specifically, if we want to get the crisis at our southern border under control.

Our porous southern border is a massive national security vulnerability. Republicans know it, and while they may not always admit it, I think my Democrat colleagues know it as well.

It is time for them to act on that knowledge and join Republicans to pass real border security measures as part of the national security supplemental.

I yield the floor.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz) and the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley).