Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. Res 285 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 149, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

I further ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 573 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I further ask unanimous consent that the amendment at the desk be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 4969 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the Corker substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 672 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session and the Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of PN Nos. 2705 and 2706; that the nominations be confirmed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, here is where we are.

The Senate will next meet for a pro forma session on Monday. That is the 24th. The next scheduled session will be on the 27th of December.

As I said earlier today when we opened, I am glad that productive discussions are continuing. When these negotiations produce a solution that is acceptable to all parties, which means 60 votes in the Senate, a majority in the House, and a Presidential signature, at that point, we will take it up on the Senate floor.

Senators will be notified when a vote is scheduled and, in the meantime, the discussions and negotiations continue.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for a pro forma session on Monday, December 24, at 11 a.m.; I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Monday, December 24, it next convene at 4 p.m., on Thursday, December 27; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the House message to accompany H.R. 695 under the previous order.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

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

Mr. President, yesterday the House passed an amended version of the continuing resolution to sustain government funding and sent it here for our consideration. In addition to giving the entire Federal Government the necessary resources to operate into the new year, this legislation also provides much needed investments in disaster relief for hard-hit communities and in our national security, particularly the integrity of our borders.

In my view, this legislation would be quite uncontroversial in a more normal political moment--in a moment when both parties put the obvious national interest ahead of any personal spite for the President.

I support the additional border security and disaster aid that the House added to the bill, and I am proud to vote for it. It is not a radical concept that the American people's government should be able to control the people and the goods that flow into our country. It is not a radical concept that physical barriers play an important role in achieving security--unless there is a caucus of lawmakers who go to bed at night with their front doors wide open that I am not aware of. What is radical, what is way out of the mainstream, is this absurd premise of the open-borders far left that achieving basic stability and law enforcement on our southern border is somehow in itself without compassion or discriminatory or immoral.

Fairness and compassion don't mean enforcing only some of our laws halfheartedly; fairness and compassion mean that we fulfill our governing duties for the American people. If we continue to throw up our hands and tolerate a status quo that is allowing too many drugs and dangerous criminals to travel freely into our land, then this Federal Government is not doing its duty.

The facts are clear on this. The need for greater security on our southern border is not some partisan invention; it is an empirical fact, and the need is only growing. Apprehensions along the border have nearly doubled in the past year. The men and women of the Border Patrol are encountering greater numbers of gang members and individuals with criminal histories, more family units, more seizures of cocaine and fentanyl.

This is a real crisis. The implications for American communities, for vulnerable children, and for Border Patrol units that are already stretched thin are very real.

There is no bright line of principle that sets this request for border funding apart from similar requests that many Democrats have supported in the past. A lot of them have supported this in the past. There is no sharp distinction between the proposal my friends across the aisle have decided to oppose today and proposals they have been happy to endorse in the past. All that has really changed are the political winds way over on the far left. That is what has changed.

So let's not end this year the way we began it--with another shutdown over the issue of illegal immigration. Remember this back in January? It was all because the Democrats were unwilling to support commonsense measures to address it. Let's advance this legislation. Let's pass it. Let's finish our work for this year. Let's secure our country.

Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate the House message to accompany H.R. 695, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. Vice President and colleagues, here where we are. It is now clear there are enough votes to proceed to the pending legislation on government funding, disaster relief, and border security.

Within the Republican conference, there is strong support for the President's reasonable request for more resources to tackle the urgent situation at our southern border. Republicans support the House-passed bill, which includes additional border security funding. We are also, however, eager to complete the remaining appropriations bills that the Senate has already passed.

However, obviously, since any eventual solution requires 60 votes here in the Senate, it has been clear from the beginning that two things are necessary: support from enough Senate Democrats to pass the proposal at 60 and a Presidential signature.

As a result, the Senate has voted to proceed to legislation before us in order to preserve maximum flexibility for a productive conversation to continue between the White House and our Democratic colleagues. I hope Senate Democrats will work with the White House on an agreement that can pass both Houses of Congress and receive the President's signature.

Colleagues, when an agreement is reached, it will receive a vote here on the Senate floor.

Motion to Concur

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 695.

I expect my friend from Tennessee is going to make this point in a moment, but if ever there were a stressful moment for the tradition that even though it was possible to filibuster the Executive Calendar, it was not done, would my friend agree that it would have to be the Clarence Thomas nomination for the Supreme Court?

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 148, which was received from the House.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.