the competition deadline is friday, january 19th 2024. for information visit our website at student cam.org. >> ♪♪ watch c-span peace campaign 2024 coverage as we're on the ground in iowa with republican presidential candidates in their final week of campaigning before the first of the nation's caucus. hear the candidates' comments to voters and experience what it's like on the campaign trail. watch our live coverage of the iowa caucuses on the c-span network, a free mobile app, or online, c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just like like this, a looks like this where americans can see democracy at work, where

people are continually informed, it thrives. c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, from the nation's capitol to wherever you are to get the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> we take you live now to the floor of the u.s. senate where today lawmakers are expected to continue work on several judicial nominations with votes expected later in the day. this week, congressional leaders are continuing work also on legislation to fund the government with the first shutdown deadline on january 19th. live coverage now of the u.s. senate on c-span2. will come . the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal father, you are our hope for the years to come.

in this sacred moment, we turn our thoughts to you. we think of you because you have promised that no weapon formed against us will prosper. we think of you because you have given us mercy and grace to help us face life's difficulties. we think of you because you have guided this nation through seasons more challenging than we face today. we love and depend on you, so continue to use our lawmakers as instruments of your peace.

we pray in your great name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, january 10, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, karoline mehalchick of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the

republican leader. mr. mcconnell: here on the floor yesterday, i warned that the administration's efforts to deter iranian-backed houthi threats to international shipping and american credibility were grossly insufficient. just hours later the houthis proved my point with a significant escalation in the red sea. tehran's proxies fired more than 18 suicide drones along with anti-ship cruise missiles and ballistic missiles into one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. and at great cost, american and british navy vessels launched expensive interceptor to defend

against these relatively expensive houthi weapons. on january 3, america and coalition partners warned that, quote, the houthis will bear responsibility for the consequences should they continue to threaten lives and global economy on the free flow of commerce in the region's critical waterways. well, the houthis crossed that red line. the question is now whether president biden will finally impose sufficient consequences on the houthis and their patrons in tehran. the world is watching, but american credibility and security isn't just on the line in the red sea. our nation is facing the most

serious array of national security challenges since the fall of the soviet union, and the senate's responsibility to address them remains unfilled. take the first major land war in europe since 1945. on one side of the war in ukraine is a free world that recognizes sovereignty. on the other is an autocrat with imperial ambitions that extend beyond ukraine's sovereign borders. with assistance from a nuclear armed rogue state, the most active state sponsor of terrorism, and a friendship without limits with america's top strategic and adversary, russia has spent a decade trying to subjugate ukraine militarily.

putin is waging a war of torture and brutality, in some cases it forces crimes like those of the hamas terrorist responsible for october 7, were documented proudly by the perpetrators themselves. and moscow has mobilized a war economy ramping up military production while also tapping into the industrial capacity of its axis partners in beijing, tehran, and pyongyang. the war has jolted european allies out of history, the holiday from history. producers in norway are racing to streamline production of air defense estimates. poland and germany announced major increases in defense spending. and denmark, for example, has

resurrected an entire dormant industry to contribute ammunition. but even these historic overdue investments have not yet turned the tide. this conflict has also exposed the glaring shortcomings of america's own arsenal and supply chains for critical capabilities. as i've explained repeatedly and in great deal here on the floor, our supplemental appropriations to support ukraine have included heavy shechlts in expanding -- investments in expanding our defense industrial base and purchasing the cutting-edge weapons our own forces need to deter our biggest adversaries. and the legislation we're considering this month would do even more to help meet urgent requirements of our own armed forces. it will increase procurement of

critical munitions, long-range fires, and air defenses, and invest in our own defense industrial capacity. this is essential for long-term competition with china and russia, america and our allies still face serious shortcomings and they extend well beyond the war in ukraine. by one recent tally, russia and china's arsenal of land-based air defense system far exceeds the combined stockpile of the united states, europe, and japan combined. the west is outdone in critical capabilities, so let's not waste time indulging the misconception that standing behind our european allies is an obstacle to competition with china. let's give no credence to the

idea that america should cut and run from our own allies and partners, precisely as our adversaries work closer and closer together. with continued american leadership, european allies are shouldering more and more of the burden of collective security on the continent. there's just no question that our nato allies are building military capacity and taking on more responsibility for restoring and maintaining the sovereignty of america's closest trading partners. but america is a global super power and retreating from our leadership of nato before seeing the job through won't make competition with china any easier. handing russia victory in ukraine on account of a waning attention span will only shred

america's credibility, weaken critical alliances and force us to contend even more directly with two major adversaries at once. i honestly can't think of a more shortsighted strategic gamble. only time will offer a full accounting of the missed opportunities of the past three years, but it's already clear that hesitation and self-deterrence on the part of our commander in chief cost ukranian lives and chances of swift victory over russian aggression. of course the brazen violence of iran's terror network reminds us that this weakness and timidity is contagious. we cannot let them spread. we cannot let shortsighted

govern our approach to the strategic competition that will define the next century of american history. we cannot give china any ^ more reasons than this administration already has to doubt america's resolve to stand with sovereign democracies and to vigorously defend our interests. in the very near future it will be time for the senate to demonstrate that we understand what time it is. on a different matter, this year two of america's most elite universities are in the market for new chief executives. what makes for good leadership in higher education might once have been common sense, but if the past three months have taught us anything, it's that the virtues of a college president might need to be spelled out in a bit more detail. for starters, the prerequisite

for campus leadership should be a personal, scholarlily record that models academic rigor, prolific writing, publication, and an excellent, excellence in one's field. i'm not an ivy leaguer, but it would seem to me that someone who had produced fewer than a dozen peer-reviewed articles might not usually meet this standard at a place like harvard. it may once have gone without saying that university presidents should also model to codes of academic conduct and integrity to which they should hold their students. an academic record riddled with plagiarism should disqualify any cand candidate. perhaps more importantly, an in fact president must be committed to ensuring that the culture of

speech on their campus, however far it might diverge from the prote protections enshrined in our first amendment is administrated fairly. suffice to say that harvard did not wind up dead last in a watchdog ranking of free speech on american campuses for nothing, which made its former president's free speech justification for anti-semitic hate laughable. over the past several decades, our country's most elite universities have let intolerant l leftist dogmas like dei replace the robust exchange of ideas as ordering principles on campus. one harvard professor and former dean recently noted that the words white supremacy and intersectionality appear more frequently in the harvard course

catalog than the term scientific revolution. these course offerings seem to indicate a drift from harvard's stated motto veritas, latin for truth. of course, it doesn't have to be this way. hundreds of american universities outside the dusty confines of the ivy league aren't showing any signs of abandoning the rigorous pursuit of truth for woke madness. places like harvard and penn would be well served by a leader who takes an approach like our former colleague ben sasse has taken as president of the in fact of florida -- as the president of the university of florida. to put it recently, quote, universities must reject victimology, celebrate individual agency, and engage

the truth with epistemological modesty. institutions ought to embrace open inquiry. more curiosity, less orthodoxy. engage the ideas, pull apart the best arguments with the best questions. by all accounts, the heads of leading universities in my home state of kentucky, president kim shutsle of university of louisville and eli capiluto at the university of kentucky aren't finding it especially difficult to foster campus climates of integrity and academic rigor. i don't ep i have those tasks -- i don't envy those tasks with finding new leaders to right the ship of the ivy league, restoring the tarnished reputations of our nation's most elite universities will be no small task, but maybe they'll have some luck if they look beyond their northeastern bubble

and trade in the meaningless jargon of postmodernism for the simple wisdom of their mottos.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, having experienced legislative efforts in both the house of representatives and the senate, it would be a surprise to many people to learn that many members come to the floor to address issues of personal importance to them, something that happened in their lives that motivates them to take up an issue, introduce a bill, try to create a new law. that happened to me in the house of representatives many, many years ago when i first confronted the tobacco issue. i lost my father to lung cancer

when i was 14 years old, and it was a profound experience as you might guess in my life, and i remembered what he went through in the last 100 days of his life, fighting lung cancer and eventually succumbing to it. so i took on the tobacco issue in the house of representatives on a personal basis as well as a public basis, trying to reduce the power which the big tobacco lobby had in the house of representatives. when i arrived there in 1982, they were the most powerful lobby in washington. we were warned as new members of congress, on both sides, democrat and republican, don't touch the tobacco issue, it is an issue that is very important for us to maintain our majority, and you shouldn't bring it up. well, i ignored that advice and introduced several ideas on reducing the power of the

tobacco lobby on capitol hill. the one issue that i pursued with success, had a profound impact on this country, much more than i ever imagined. i introduced the first bill, successful bill, in the house of representatives to ban smoking on airplanes. it seemed so obvious -- seems so obvious today that it would be a fiction to suggest there's a smoking and nonsmoking section on an airplane. we know those people who were smoking were generating second-hand smoke, which was dangerous as well. well, with the amazing bipartisan majority, we passed my bill to ban smoking on airplanes. it was taken up by senator frank lautenberg here in the united states senate, successfully, signed into law. the rest is history, as they say. what we did not anticipate, that this law in and of itself was

going to be a tipping point. people said, thought and said, wait a minute. if second-hand smoke is dangerous in an airplane, why wouldn't it be dangerous in a bus, on a train, in an office, in a hospital, in a place of work, in a restaurant? next thing you know, we saw dramatic change over the years and the attitude -- in the attitude towards smoking. new members of congress historically, before that was passed, would head to the stationery -- stationery shop as soon as elected to buy an ashtray po put on the coffee table in their office for those visitors who wanted to smoke. that is unthinkable today. i'm not sure they sell the ashtrays any more. they used to being embossed with the big congressional seal. things started changing across america. one of the things that led to that change was the discussion of the impact of tobacco on children. we knew that tobacco, with its

chemical nicotine, was addictive aened we into you kids -- and we knew kids naturally were being told not to touch tobacco products, started using them as soon as they could many of them developed addiction even before graduating from high school. we started requiring warning labels, restricting retail sales to try to protect kids from this addiction. it was an ongoing battle, because the tobacco companies were powerful and profitable and had many friends in high places, particularly here in washington. i continued that battle over the years, in the house and in the senate, with some success, dramatically refusing the -- reducing the percentage of children using tobacco. the tobacco companies knew they were in trouble. that was their source of addicted people who became adults and bought their products for the rest of their lives, until they died from that addiction. so the tobacco companies started a new campaign. it wasn't based on tobacco, but

on the chemical nicotine and the addictive nature of it, and they created something called vaping, and e-cigarettes. who did they go after? kids, of course. they had fruit-flavored vaping devices that looked like they belong in a computer or in a school bag going off to grade school and high school, and these kids started buying them and using them. so i switched my campaign not exclusively from tobacco but to vaping as their latest big tobacco project that was addicting children. i've asked the food and drug administration, through many adminis administrations, to basically police this product as they would a tobacco product, and they have promised that they would. i come here today to make a report, one very good piece of good news, and one very bad piece of news about that earth. first, i want to thank the supreme court, which on monday

left in place the california law banning the sale of flavored cigarettes. that is great news for kids and communities of color who have been preyed upon by big tobacco's aggressive marketing with flavored products. we know that flavors play a unique role in hooking new smokers, because they mask the harsh taste of tobacco and turbocharge the addictiveness of nicotine. particularly, we know men thol cigarettes have been purposefully targeted at black communities for decades, with heavy advertising, sponsorship of events and free samples. it's contributed to the fact that black adults in america are 30% more likely to die from heart disease and 50% more likely to die from a stroke compared to whites. there is a federal proposal on the table now to pro hint the manufacturing -- to habitue the manufacturing and -- to prohibit the retail sale of menthol cigarettes. that would save 650 lives,

including 250,000 black americans and eliminate the racial disparity in lung cancer deaths between black and white americans. this president cares deeply about the toll of cancer. it upped it his family -- it touched his family personally, as it has mine. to send a legacy for future americans, the administration must finalize this public health measure to end big tobacco's predatory promotion of menthol cigarettes. lives hang in the balance. that's the good news out of california and the supreme court. here's the bad news -- robert califf is the head of the food and drug administration. two years ago, he was approved by the senate in a very close vote. it was 50-346. if two -- it was 50-46. if two senators had gone the other way, he would not be commissioner of the food and drug administration. he came to my office and made a plea that i vote for him. i was planning on voting against him. he ended up getting five democrats voting against him and six republicans who voted for him, and that made the difference in the final roll

call. on the final roll call, because he looked me in the eye in my office in this building and promised he would take on the vaping interests, i voted for him. it has been a miserable disappointment to see what he's done with that office when it comes to this issue. as the calendar turns to 2024 and the new year, i'm afraid it's not brought any change in the food and drug admin administration's shameful, abysmal job of preventing tobacco companies from addicting our children. on january 1, the food and drug administration missed yet another court-imposed deadline to finish reviewing e-cigarette applications. even after repeated delays, the fda had told the u.s. district court for maryland it would finish reviewing e-sig rel am -- e-cigarette applications by december 31, 2023. it failed. that came and went. the fda is 28 months past the

original court-ordered delane to complete this re -- deadline to complete this review. that is not only unacceptable but embarrassing the law is clear no vaping or tobacco product can be put on the market without first proffering to the fda it is quote -- first proving to the fda it is appropriate for the protection of public health. the vaping industry has the lead burden of proof to prove their product will protect the public health. vaping companies cannot do that. we know they can't. yet, thousands of products continue to flood store shelves and addict america's children without having met that bar of proof. the fda has the power and the responsibility to protect public health by enforcing this premarket review requirement, but it appears to be giving big tobacco a free pass day after day, week after week, month after month, despite court orders to the contrary. while the fda has missed a

court-ordered deadline, it also failed to meet a statutory deadline for the regulation of synthetic nicotine products, an authority that the fda asked us in congress to provide. you see, vaping companies thought they'd found a loophole in the law by using nicotine synth sighs rah sized in a -- synthesized in a lab rather than from a tobacco leave. they thought they could exploit this ambiguity in the law. the same fda commissioner i referenced earlier, dr. robert califf, testified to the senate we've got to close this loophole. he pleaded with it. with us to close it, and he did. senators collins, murkowski and several others led a bipartisan effort to clarify the market. the fda would clear the market of all unauthorized nicotine products by july 13, 2022, 18

months ago, and they have failed. after asking us for this authority, after our passing the law and signed by the president, they ignored the law and requirement to clear the shelves since 2022. since then, fda's failed to issue a single marketing denial for a synthetic nicotine vaping application, p worse yet e-cigarettes using synthetic nicotine are now the most popular tobacco product used by children. there are many examples of that. think about that for a moment. the fda commissioner comes here and says, my hands are tied, i cannot regulate e vaping to protect kids because they are using synthetic nicotine and we're not sure the law covers it. we changed the law and told them now you can proceed, enforce the law you asked for, and do it two years ago to make sure the products are not on the shelves. they ignored it, after calling for our passage of the bill, they ignored the reality and the

shelves are stocked with these e-cigarette synthetic nicotine products that kids are using across america. the consequences for our children are devastating. according to the surgeon general, e-cigarettes can damage lung, heart, mental health, and part of the brain that control attention and learning. don't just take it from me. i recently received a letter from the -- from the chicago teachers union and here's what it said. teachers have noticed a growing frequency of vapes in our schools, they come in colorful packages and fruity kid-friendly flavors pushed in social media. some look like school supplies. it's not just the big cities like chicago. i received a letter from the superintendent of schools, from alexander, jackson, and union

counties, while most young people don't look at it as cool, they believe it is healthy. the fda was to product our kids and have consistently failed to do it under dr. robert califf. february 14, is the second anniversary of dr. califf's -- i expect him to comply with the court-ordered map dates which they have ignored for months and years. what is at stake? the health of our kids and addiction. if dr. califf cannot exercise the authority of the fda, it's time that we put somebody in that will. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, as congress approaches the january 19 funding deadline, less than ten days away, both parties in both chambers must work together quickly to ensure we avoid a government shutdown. congressional leaders agree, a shutdown would be a terrible way to start the year. speaker johnson and i are on the same page on that. a shutdown will hurt the economy, halt a lot of work of congress and government and endanger services that millions of americans rely upon. if reasonable members on both sides continue working together, we can ensure a shutdown's avoided. we took a big step last sunday

towards our goal when speaker johnson and i announced funding level top lines and appropriators right flou are hard at work drafting the 12 appropriations bills. it's good news that all four of the appropriators, the four corners, want to do this, senator murray, senator collins, chemicals granger and -- congress members granger. i want to return to a point i made yesterday about some of my colleagues in the house. and as everyone knows, this is a period of divided government. like it or not, it means that compromise is a necessity, and nobody is going to get everything they want in any negotiation. and, of course, the president's a democrat and the senate has a democratic majority. anyone who wants to get anything done knows that there has to be

a compromise between the democratic president, the democratic majority in the senate, and the republican majority in the house. of course taking into account our republican colleagues in the senate and democratic colleagues in the house. but right now there are 30 or so hard-right republicans in the house who labor under the illusion that they can bully everyone else into submission to get their narrow, hard-right agenda enacted into law. that's what they're trying to do in the appropriation's process. there's only one word to describe the hard-right tactics, bullying. they want to bully their own conference, bully the speaker, bully the congress, and bully the country into accepting their extremist views. and it's easy to see why the hard right spends so much time

trying to bully the rest of congress. they have little leverage otherwise because their views are wildly out of the mainstream. these 30 or so republican chaos agents don't represent the views of most americans, they don't even reflect the view of most republicans. their benchmark for success is paralysis, gridlock, chaos. they think a shutdown will help their party and the country, but virtually no one else agrees. they're on an island. but here's the thick. this kind of bullying almost never works. the hard-right's bullying didn't work when we avoided dwult, it didn't work when we avoided shutdowns last year and it's not going to work here. case in point. where things stand right now in the appropriations process is little different than where we were when we passed the fra last

summer. the hard right wasted almost a year in the house by trying to bully their colleagues through the appropriation's process. they wanted the speaker to renege on the agreement codified in the fda. they interest thwarted the -- they thwarted the house g.o.p.'s ability to pass their spending bills. they wasted time. for all their plusser, the hard right has nothing to show for their bullying. the agreement we reached sunday is practically the same number leadership shook hands on in june. in a body compromised of 435 voting members, it is lunacy for the maga hard right to puff their chests and bully their colleagues into mission is. it won't -- submission. this year the american people are going to pay close attention to which party is capable of addressing their every needs and

which will not. they will pay close attention to see who is reaching across the aisle to get things done and who is openly calling, almost excited for a shutdown, which will hurt the american people. and the american people will note which is the party of chaos and which is the party of getting things done. and make no mistake. the american people will not stand for radical maga republicans whose only strategy for governing is to bully the rest of the country into submission. it will not work. now, on the supplemental and ukraine. senate negotiators continue, they met several times yesterday, so senate negotiators continue their work on finalizing an agreement for national security supplemental. at a time of growing crisis around the world, our supplemental package is america's answer answer to this decisive moment in world history. the world stands at a crossroads.

the war happening in ukraine is not just between one nation defending itself against another, but between tyranny and democracy itself. the ukraine war is a conflict of history-altering sponsors. -- importance. it could reset the power of balance for western democracies that's has endured since the end of the cold war. the ukraine war has not been in the news lately with so much going on at the gaza, at the border, and so many other things, but that does not mean nothing is happening in ukraine. right now, ukrainian soldiers remain determined, but russian soldiers are beginning to have an advantage as ammunition is starting to run out for ukraine. so passing the supplemental will be america's signal to the world that we will hold the line, not just to defend democracy in europe, but to defend our friends in israel, to deliver critical aid for innocent

civilians in gaza, and humanitarian aid across the world, and to outcompete the chinese communist party in the indo-pacific. and we must keep moving quickly here in the senate because ukraine stands at a dangerous moment in its war against putin. ukrainian fighters remain determined and have not lost their resolve to defend their homeland. but what they are losing are ammunition and armaments, which america has played a leading role in providing. that aid is running out, much to putin's delight. every senator needs to understand the stakes. if the senate does not approve more aid to ukraine, the war, with which is already trending in russia's direction, could a month from now dramatically shift in russia's favorite. it is only trend not guilty russia's favor now because of the lack of armaments, as i

quoted yesterday, a ukrainian officer said that for every salvos the russians fire at his troops, he can only fire one salvo back. a russian victory in ukraine would commence an ominous domino event. that is not a world anyone of -- any of us want to return to. in generations past, democrats and republicans would have bent heaven and either to stand up to russian dictators, we would have balked to the weakness of autocratic thugs, and those who invade their neighbors and hope for america's demise. we find ourselves at a new moment in history where democracy is under siege yet again. we heard directly from president zelenskyy about what's at stake if we fail, so fail we must not. it is, therefore, essential that

we finish the work of passing the supplemental. it is one of the hardest things the senate has done in a very long time, but for the sake of our national security of our friends abroad, of our fundamental values, we must stay the course. of course there are many difficulties with the supplemental, but we must keep our eye on the ball. we must get this done. ukraine hangs in the balance. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

mr. thune: mr. president.

the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, thank you. i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, negotiations continue on border security reforms to be included in the national security supplemental, and i'm thankful that after three years of chaos at our southern border, democrats have at least finally come to the table. because it is long past time to get the situation under control. as i said, for three years almost since the day president biden took office, we've confronted chaos at our southern border, and rather than improving this crisis -- rather i should say improving, this crisis has grown worse and worse with time. fiscal year 2021 saw a record breaking 1,734,686 migrant encounters at our southern border. fiscal year 2022 broke that record. fiscal year 2023 broke that record.

and if fiscal year 2024 continues on its current trajectory we will yet again end up breaking another record. december reportedly saw a staggering 302,000 migrant encounters at our southern border, not only the highest december number ever recorded but the highest number ever recorded for any month. period. my colleague from pennsylvania recently compared september's nearly 270,000 border encounters to having the entire population of pittsburgh crossing our southern border in one month. in one month, mr. president. and the comparison is even more apt with december's number. mr. president, we can't afford to be having a major city's worth of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border every single month. as border cities have long known

and as major democrat cities are now finding to their cost, this simply isn't sustainable. new york city, which has seen 150,000-plus migrants enter the city since last spring, is facing cuts to city services as a result of the influx. in fact, just yesterday it was reported that mayor adams is actually temporarily removing students from their classrooms to house migrants. it's not just new york that's overwhelmed. so are cities like denver, chicago. the mayor of chicago recently noted that the situation in his city and others are facing is, quote, unsustainable. so there are massive practice problems associated with having a city's worth of people coming across our southern border each and every single month. but, mr. president, that isn't the worst of it.

the even bigger concern is the national security crisis that this represents. our nation cannot be secure while we have hundreds of thousands of migrants flooding across our southern border each month frequently to end up released into the united states with court dates that are literally years into the future. the sheer volume smooths the way for criminals, terrorists, and other dangerous individuals to make their way into our country. and there are dangerous individuals trying to make their way into our country. make no mistake about that, mr. president. during the first two months of fiscal year 2024, 30 individuals were on the terrorist watch list apprehended at our southern border. that is literally one every other day.

fiscal year 2023 saw 169 individuals on the terrorist watch list apprehended at our southern border, which is more than the six fiscal years combined. and if we continue on our current trajectory, we will break the 2023 record this year, and that, mr. president, is deeply concerning. those are just the individuals that the border patrol is actually apprehending. we have no way of knowing how many dangerous individuals have entered our country over the past years without, without being apprehended. since the beginning of fiscal year 2021, there have been more than 1.7 million known got-aways, and those are individuals that the border patrol saw but was unable to apprehend. since october 1 alone there have been more than 83,000 known

got-aways. that is 83,000 individuals entering our country without our knowing who they are, why they're here, or where in the united states they're going. and there is no way, no way of telling how many unknown got-aways there have been. with the current chaos at our southern border, there is no question that some individuals are managing to make it into the united states completely undetected. and with so many illegal immigrants arriving at our border these days planning to get caught so they can take advantage of the biden administration's lax asylum and parole policies it is especially concerning to see these got-aways who are working to evade border patrol. some of them may indeed be entering the united states simply hoping for a better life,

but it is highly likely that a number of them have more maligned intentions. i mean, think about it, mr. president. you look at the number of people just in the month of october -- 1,569,000 convicted criminals got into the country, 50 gang members, 93 people who had warrants for their arrest, and 12 terrorists. that was one month, just one month. and those are the people that are apprehended. think about those got-aways which i mentioned, 83,000 known got-aways since october 1, and then the unknown got-aways who you assume are people who know how to evade law enforcement and to figure out how to get into the country illegally. the point, mr. president, simply is this, our southern border has become a portal for people with

all kinds of maligned interests to get into this country. arguably, there was a time when people came here from places like central and south america in pursuit of a better life. and obviously you can't blame them for leaving the places where they live and wanting to live in the united states. they come here illegally. we have ways of people getting into this country legally, laws that should be followed. we are a nation of laws. but the fact that people like terrorists, like criminals, like cartels who are trafficking in who knows what -- weapons, drugs, humans. you know how many people are dying every year from fentanyl in this country. our southern border is out of control. it is a danger to our national security, and it is a threat to the safety and security of every

community in this country, whether you're on the border or not. people used to think of this issue as something that affects people just along the southern border. it's not. i just mentioned new york, chicago, denver facing very, very hard decisions because they don't know how to manage this huge influx of migrants coming into their communities. and again, many of them coming here for reasons that are perhaps understandable. nevertheless, still in violation of our laws. but now what's most concerning, mr. president, is the very fact that so many of these people that are being apprehended have criminal records, members of gangs, or worse yet, on the terrorist watch list. what do you think they're doing trying to get into this country? it seems pretty obvious to me. and someday we're going to face something in this country that they're going to trace back some

incident harmful to americans, they're going to trace back to somebody that came across the southern border. and this administration and these lax policies and their unwillingness to enforce the law are going to be responsible for it. mr. president, we are a nation of immigrants. i've said that many times. my own grandfather was an immigrant. and immigrants have helped build this country into what it is today. and i'm a strong supporter of legal immigration. as i said, we have ways for people to come here. but, mr. president, we are first and foremost and fundamentally and foundationally a nation of l laws, and we will only be able to remain a nation of laws as long as the law is respected and enforced, meaning this -- immigration needs to be legal.

and we need to know who is coming into our country and why. so i'm very much hoping that in the very near future, the ongoing border negotiations will produce real reforms that will help us finally regain operational control of our southern border. three years of chaos is three years too many. it's time to get this done. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

into quorum call: quorum call: mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado.

mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. . is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, it is. mr. bennet: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the vice president: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. for the information of the senate, on behalf of the leader, i ask that yesterday's order with respect to the cruz nomination be executed at 11:30 a.m. today. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i'm delighted that you're in the chair for this conversation about judge kato crewses. today i rise in strong support of president biden's nominee for the u.s. district court for the district of colorado, judge cato crews. judge crews is a true son of colorado. he was born in pueblo, in the high desert, the southern part of our state. his family didn't have a lot while he was growing up, but his parents worked hard and always

put their kids first. since he was in middle school, judge crews knew he wanted to become a lawyer. his dad was a solo practitioner in pueblo, and although judge crews didn't really know what his father did for work he knew he was helping people, and that he had the respect of the community. judge crews attended public high school in rye, colorado, a small town in the san isabel foothills, where he was the only african american male in his entire school. he earned a b.a. from university of northern colorado, then a j.d. from the university of arizona where he served on the law review, where he made the dean's list, and offered pro bono services tore survivors of -- to survivors of domestic violence. after law school, judge crews returned to colorado to serve as attorney for the national labor

relations board, where he investigated and prosecuted charges of unfair labor practices, and he spent the next 17 years after that in private practice. first at a large firm in denver, where he made partner, later at a smaller firm he founded with colleagues. in private practice, judge crews focused on civil litigation and employment law, representing both workers and employers. he tried approximately 18 cases before federal courts, state courts, and administrative agencies, serving as chief or sole counsel in jury trial, bench trials, and administrative proceedings, and for the last five years he's served as a magistrate judge for the federal district of colorado. in this role, he performed most tasks expected of a district court judge on the federal bench, from randalling ev --

from handling everybody denverry proceedings to all matters before, during, and after trial. during his time on the bench, judge crews saw how prose litigants strug -- pro se litigants struggle to advocate for themselves. he saw younger lawyers eager for courtroom experience, so he founded a courtroom to give young lawyers in colorado for the first time valuable time in court and pro se litigants free help to navigate certain proceedings these young lawyers were capable of handling. that's just one example of judge crews going the extra mile, and of his commitment to making the legal system more accessible. a lifelong commitment to making the legal system more accessible, to litigants, to future lawyers, and to the community it serves, most importantly. as colorado's first african american magistrate judge, judge

crews spends as much time as he can in the community, serving on nonprofit boards, mentoring students and using the power of his example to help young coloradans imagine a career in law for themselves. former mentors and colleagues all describe judge crews as a true public servant who works hard, never loses his poise, and never forgets where he came from. he is one of the most accessible judges on the bench and in our state, and he knows the law as well as anyone. judge crews knows what it means to try a case as a litigator and to preside over one as a judge. he's practiced law for the government and firms, both large and small. he's tried cases from the perspective of employees and employers. for clients with a lot of money and resources, and for clients with none at all. if confirmed, judge crews will

follow in the footsteps of judge moore, who has taken senior status to become the only african american judge on the district court. judge crews will become the only district court judge born and raised in pueblo, colorado, and that means something to me and to the presiding officer. bringing a really important perspective to the bench, from a critical but sometimes overlooked part of our state. with his experience, with his intellect, with his character, judge crews will make a remarkable addition to colorado's district court. i urge my colleagues to confirm this morning judge crews with a strong bipartisan vote. i would say, before i surrender the floor to my colleague from colorado what an extraordinary job he has done in providing

leadership to the selection of these judges, to the nomination of these judges for president biden to consider. it's extraordinary. we've had a number of vacancies on the district court. we have worked very hard together to make sure those vacancies are filled in as expeditious a way possible. i would argue probably more expeditiously than any other federal district court in the country. that would not have happened without the leadership of senator hickenlooper, who with his team when he came into office observed that the process that i had in place was a little bit creekier than maybe it should have been. together, we've been able to improve it. and i want to say thank you also to the tireless advisory committee of members of the bar in colorado who have given us their best recommendations, all along the way, including the

recommendation that now has led to the nomination of judge kato crews and hopefully his confirmation today. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor, and i look forward to the next speaker. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. hickenlooper: thank you. the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. hickenlooper: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hickenlooper: today, the senate will consider president biden's nominee, judge kato crews, for the united states district court for the district of colorado as our senior senator so ably represented. i'm not a lawyer. i bring a slightly different perspective. but i do recognize the experience and sensibilities that senator bennet brings to this, and i would argue that there is no one else in the senate that has spent as much time really looking at our legal

system and examining it from a variety of different persp perspectives, and really understands what it means to serve on our federal courts. judge crews came before us, and comes before this body, with broad and well-earned bipartisan support, thanks to a career dedicated to the people of colorado. his experience, his intellect, his integrity set him apart. they make him an ideal candidate for the federal judiciary and will make him a judge for all colorado. as senator bennet mentioned, he comes from a part of colorado, pueblo, in the south central part of the state, that sometimes has been neglected in these types of appointments. and judge crews will bring that valuable experience from southern colorado, you about he also understands the whole

state. in addition to the more than 20 years of legal experience that he brings to the bench, judge crews also served as magistrate judge on the u.s. district court for the district of colorado, since 2018, the same court to which he has been nominated. he's also, as senator bennet mentioned, he has a tremendous commitment to pro bono work, founded that federal limited appearance program, a volunteer program that provides people with free representation when they first engage with our legal system. for many people, this can be unknown and scary time for them, really for any citizen, but this program lends a helping hand and helps people deal with that anxiety. judge crews' experience and community service has earned him enthusiastic support from members ever the colorado legal community, up and down the list -- former colleagues, labor leaders, elected officials.

in supporting his nomination, a group of attorneys who have appeared as opposing counsel in judge crews' courtroom wrote that, i'm going to quote this, as a group, they wrote that not one of us questions magistrate judge crews' intellect, integrity, respect for the law, and the profession we share. they then added that he has, and i quote, he has embodied what all hope to see in a judicial officer -- fairness and impartiality. and i could not agree more. cato has my full -- kato has my full and whole hearted support. he is exactly the type of person that needs to be on the bench, needs to join the court, and may the senate -- in may, the senate judiciary committee favorably reported his nomination to the floor. now i want to wholeheartedly

encourage all my colleagues in the senate to support his confirmation. this is a proud day for colorado. colorado should be and is proud that we can put forward someone like judge crews. i know it is also a proud day for judge crews and his family, of course. we want to make sure it's a really good day, so i hope everyone will support him. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: i ask unanimous consent that the role call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'm going to be brief. i decided this morning, i wanted to come in and talk about the events involving secretary austin and what we now know is his challenges with prostate

cancer. i want to look at it from two different perspectives. one, i want to be very brief. i think that secretary austin made a mistake by not notifying members of congress, by not notifying the administration. in other words, moving through the transition. i think that that was a mistake, and i hope that secretary austin has learned from that. but i'm not here to talk about that. that was just a mistake. it shouldn't have been made, part particularly in the circumstances we are now, with conflicts in israel, conflicts in ukraine and threats across the world, threats to this country. i'm here to talk about it because it was two years ago this month that i was diagnosed with prostate cancer. i made a decision very quickly after i learned about it, took me about a month, i had gone to my dr. with the annual check-up, you always check your psa, found out in probably september, october time frame my psa was

up. went back for a follow-up exam. through the christmas holidays. then the first or second week of january, in 2021, my doctor said you have prostate cancer and you need to take some course of action. there are several different courses of action. i made the immediate decision to be public about the fact that i was going through prostate cancer. now, secretary austin chose not to. for any individual person, that's your right. i hope you're not embarrassed by the fact that you got cancer, any more than a woman would be embarrassed for breast cancer, a lot of women died back in the day because a lot of women were ashamed of something they had no control over. my point is that secretary austin is a global figure. secretary austin is somebody who people around the world know. and secretary stirn, as --

secretary austin, as personal as it is to deal with cancer, as a public figure, i as a public figure and he has to know that this -- he knows you should not be -- not be ashamed of it and to tell other males, any male who has a history of prostate cancer in their family needs to tell those young men, you don't get to wait until you're 40 to get a psa test, you should start getting it at 30. every man over 40 should get a psa test every year, and then do your homework, study the courses of therapy, whether it was in my case, a procedure similar to what secretary austin got, removal of the prostate, whether it can be hormone therapy, it can be radiation therapy, capps -- and prostate cancer in particular, is one of the most treatable cancers there is.

highly likely i still have cancer. the goal with prostate cancer is to die with it, not from it. right? you can manage this cancer, but you can only manage it if public officials like secretary austin and u.s. senators step up and are not ashamed of it, but try to make sure that everybody else understands, it's something out of your control. you confront continue and you beat it. so the reason for my comments today was to use this opportunity to remind men across this country and across this world, don't be ashamed of prostate cancer, don't be ashamed of some of the side effects that may or may not occur. have the courage to tell everybody you're going to take it on and you're going to win. and by mentioning it and sharing this conversation like i am

today, hopefully you're going to save a few more lives. thank you, mr. president.

>> we are now in open forum x we were supposed to start our guest at 8:30. we were finding some technical difficulties with him. we reverted to open forum back then, and by the time we did that, the technical issues were resolved, and, therefore, that's when we continued the conversation. we will resume is as planned with open forum until 10:00, 8000 for democrats, 202-748-80011 for republican, and 202-748-8002 for independents. there's calls coming in. do want to remind you on capitol hill today as we talked about in reference this morning, one of the things to watch out for around 10:00 is the house homeland security committee as they meet to start that process of possibly impeaching the homeland security secretary, alejandro mayorkas, over issues of immigration. you can see that hearing at 10:00 on c-span3, c-span if now

and our web site at c-span.org. let's start in florida, democrats' line. we will hear from john in cocoa, florida. good morning, john. this is open forum. go ahead. >> caller: good morning. yes, i tried to get in when mr. cucinelli was in because being from florida, 90% of what he said is a lie. please don't cut me off, and let me explain some things mr. desantis said. first -- [inaudible] free speech. and he knows he's going to lose. second, he tried to take over a -- [inaudible] who does he think he is, mr. know it all or something? now i just saw today he's trying to get where kids under 16 can't have a social media contract.

>> host: okay. we we started with john, we'll go to john in maine, independent line. go ahead. >> caller: good morning, pedro can. just one question, you know? i've been watching c-span for the last couple weeks, and i just realized something. are you okay, pedro? if are you fine? if is everything good with you? if. >> host: why would you ask? >> caller: you seem a little tense lately. >> host: feeling good so far. but thanks forking having. -- for asking. again, 10:00 that homeland security hearing again with alejandro mayorkas. joining us to elaborate on what to expect on capitol hill when it comes to that hearing -- [inaudible] with the washington examinerrer, serves as congressional reporter, and he'll talk a little bit about what to expect. mr. gorman, thanks for giving us your time. >> guest: thanks for having me on. >> host: as far as what with we might see play out today, what happens? >> guest: today homeland security's going to have three attorney generals from non-border states come and

testify. now, these attorneys -- attorney generals from missouri, montana and oklahoma are set to testify about how this is not just a border state issue. we saw some excerpts of two of their statements, and that's kind of vote proceed immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the cloture motion. the presiding officer: cloture senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 174, s. kato crews, of colorado, to be united states district judge for the district of colorado. the presiding officer: the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that the debate of s. kato crews, of colorado, to be united states state district judge for the district of

colorado, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. collins, mr. coons. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown.

mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. vote:

the clerk: mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed.

mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- booker, cardin, coons, duckworth, durbin, heinrich, hickenlooper, kaine, menendez, merkley, rosen, schatz, shaheen, tester, van hollen. senators voting in the negative.

crapo, tillis. ms. butler, aye. mr. manchin, aye. mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: mr. tuberville, no.

the clerk: mr. sanders, aye.

the clerk: mr. padilla, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, no.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. marshall, no.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, no. mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. cornyn, no. mr. reed, aye.

the clerk: mr. wicker, no.

the clerk: ms. collins, aye. mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no.

the clerk: mr. thune, no. mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: mr. markey, aye. the clerk: mrs. britt, no.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, no.

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no. mr. king, aye.

the clerk: mr. cotton, no.

the clerk: mrs. murray, aye. vote: the clerk: ms. smith, aye. mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: ms. ernst, no.

the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. ms. cortez masto, aye. mr. warner, aye. mr. ossoff, aye.

mr. whitehouse, aye. ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: mr. casey, aye.

the clerk: mr. widen -- m mr. wyden, aye. ms. hassan, aye. mr. den net, aye. ms. warren -- mr. bennet, aye. ms. warren, aye. mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye. the clerk: mr. young, no.

the clerk: mr. barrasso, no.

the clerk: mr. vance, no. the clerk: mr. cramer, no.

mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, no. mr. grassley, no. mr. boozman, no.

the clerk: mr. paul, no. the clerk: mr. sullivan, no.

mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye.

mr. welch, aye. mr. kennedy, no. the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, no. the clerk: mr. romney, no.

the clerk: mr. daines, no.

the clerk: mr. leigh, no. mr. the clerk: mr. lee, no. mr. graham, no.

the clerk: mr. lankford, no. mr. cruz, no.

mr. rounds, no.

the clerk: mr. rubio, no.

the clerk: mr. mullin, no. ms. baldwin, aye.

the clerk: ms. sinema, no.

the clerk: mr. budd, no. mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, no. the clerk: mrs. capito, no.

vote:

the clerk: mr. johnson, no.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 51, the nays are 47 and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, s. kato crews of colorado to be united states district judge for the district of colorado. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the crews nomination be considered expired at 2:30 p.m. today and that following disposition of the crews nomination, the senate proceed to legislative session to execute the order from december 19, 2023, with respect to the veto message on s.j. resolution 32.

further, that all time on the veto message be considered expired and the senate vote on passage of the joint resolution. the objection to the president to the contrary notwithstanding. and finally, that upon disposition of the veto message, the senate resume executive session to resume consideration of the mcentarfer nomination. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reed: for the information of the senate, there will be two roll call votes at 2:30 p.m. today. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, it's common knowledge that america's southern border has been in crisis since president biden took office three years ago. since then, 6.7 million, 6.7 million migrants have showed up

at the border only to be released by the biden administration into the interior of the united states. that's 6.7 million people, is higher than the obama and the trump administration combined, and that was over a period of 12 years. in just three years we've experienced more illegal immigration than we did in the preceding 12 years. despite the eye-popping statistics, leaders in the biden administration have repeatedly tried to mislead the american people into believing everything at the border is just hunky-dory. in other words, they're saying don't believe your lying eyes. president biden has consistently attempted to down play concerns about the border crisis. of course my state, the state of

texas, which has 1,200 miles of common border with mexico, we are ground zero. but the president has even refused to visit the border until last january, nearly two years into his presidency, and then he did sort of a drive-by in el paso after much of the evidence related to the crisis had been cleaned up. at one point the president defended his decision not to go to the border by saying, well, there are more important things to do. what an abdication of responsibility. other leaders in the administration have offered weak and unconvincing claims that there's no reason to be concerned. some have just lied.

that sounds harsh, but there's simply no other reasonable conclusion. in the fall of 2022, vice president kamala harris, the appointed border czar by president biden, said we have a secure border. i don't know how she reached that conclusion other than maybe being just wishful thinking. she certainly has traveled to the border. she certainly hasn't studied the phenomenon associated with this mass migration of humanity across our border into the united states. and then the biden official principally responsible for border security, alejandro mayorkas, made a nearly identical proclamation saying this is under oath, penalties of

perjury, he said the border is secure. it's easy to see that these statements are demonstrably false. after all, the american people can turn their tv sets on and watch news footage of migrants streaming across the border, caravans making their way to the border mostly to just turn themselves in because they know the biden administration will release them into the countryside. we see photos of migrants lining the streets and sidewalks of our major cities like new york and chicago, which are more than 1,000 miles away from the u.s.-mexico border. we watch as people in communities die from fentanyl poisoning and know that the vast majority of that fentanyl comes

across the border from mexico. evidence of the humanitarian and security crisis at the border is all around us, but the administration refuses to be ho honest, refuses to be honest with the american people about the scope of this crisis as well as their response. here's just one of many shocking examples. last may, the chief spokesman for president biden, the white house press secretary, tried to address the concerns over the administration's catch and release policy. she said the claims that customs and border protection is allowing or encouraging mass release of migrants is just categorically false.

that was in may of 2023. what was false was her statement. migrants were being released in the united states with no immigration court date and no way of keeping tabs on their whereabouts. when one of the catch and release policies was vacated by a federal court, the court's final order likened the administration's actions to posting a flashing sign on the border. that sign says come in, we're open. that's what one court likened the biden administration's border policies to, a welcome sign. in the months since the white house press secretary made these obviously false comments, the biden administration has taken catch and release to a new

level. they have made that come in, we're open sign even brighter and even bigger, and they've laid out a welcome mat in addition. well, surprisingly, after falsely stating that the border is secure time and time again, secretary mayorkas, who traveled to eagle pass this last week, met with front line law enforcement officials. he told the border patrol agents that the current release rate of migrants caught crossing the border illegally was 85%. 85%. there is no way to reconcile these two statements. you know, some people say, well,

we need to build a wall. well, border infrastructure is important, but people can turn themselves in and be released, and the wall doesn't make much difference. yes, we need technology. yes, we need more border patrol. but unfortunately, the border patrol are being overwhelmed now, and the biden administration has made it their policy simply just to release people coming to the border. this, of course, is a huge magnet, or what the border patrol calls a pull factor, encouraging more and more people to come. that's why you're seeing unprecedented levels of illegal immigration during the biden admini administration, because people realize here is my opportunity, and no one is going to stop me. well, the main people benefiting from this, of course, are the transnational criminal

organizations and the drug cartels who get paid by the head or by the pound. and it's part of a really ingenious business model by the cartels because they know if you flood the zone with people, and you make $5,000, $10,000 a head for each person you smuggle into the united states, then you can overwhelm the border patrol so that they get offline in order to process the migrants, then here come the drugs. drugs that took the lives of 108, 000 americans last year alone. now, the statement of secretary mayorkas in january 2024, that over 85% of illegal border crossers are released, this was not made in a press release or in a speech, this was overheard as part of a private

conversation, and only after these border patrol agents, who are putting their lives on the line to enforce the laws that congress has written, when they pressed him on the comments he made earlier this week -- or last week. in that interview, interestingly, the secretary was asked about reports that as many as 70% were released into the united states, and he said that wouldn't surprise me at all -- that would not surprise me at all, he said, i know the data. i know the data. well, this is the guy who said the border is secure, time and time again, under oath, lying to members of congress in official proceedings before congress committees. he didn't say, well, the rate is actually higher than 70%. instead, he said i know.

he said i know what the numbers are, and he said it's not 70%, it's 85%. well, secretary mayorkas may be able to i did semble and prevoracate here in washington, but the front line personnel, our border patrol, the department of public safety personnel who are working at the order of governor abbott, as well as the national guard, which are trying to do the job that the federal government and the biden administration have refused to do, they know the tr truth. the fact is the american people know the truth. they know that president biden and secretary mayorkas, the white house press secretary, the vice president, all of them have tried to mislead the american people about the truth.

no area along texas' southern border has been spared the chaos of the biden border crisis, but eagle pass, texas, has been dealt an especially tough hand. over the past few months, migrants flooded this section of the border. it's not uncommon for agents to see thousands of migrants in a single day. this is not a major city with a lot of resources. eagle pass is a small border town with a population of roughly 28,000 people. it simply doesn't have the capacity to house, feed, or transport this many individuals. at various points, migration levels have been so high that customs and border protection did not have the resources to

manage both lawful crosses and unlawful migration. as a result, the administration shut down vehicle and rail processing so officers could help process migrants. well, suffice it to say that front line officers and agents in eagle pass know the impact of the crisis better than just about anyone. according to reports, they pushed secretary mayorkas on his comments and the secretary finally acknowledged the truth. it was a remarkable event of candor amidst a fog of lies and prevarication, dissembling and misleading. this is the just the latest example of the biden administration misleading, downplaying, and outright lying

about the border crisis. they don't want the american people to see the widespread catch-and-release policies in action because they know the backlash would be severe. here we are, about 11 months from the next election. president biden has finally realized this is a huge liability for him politically. our democratic colleagues are recognizing this could be the difference between winning and losing the senate. when 85% of illegal border crossers are released, it serves as a magnet for even more migration. this is another thing lost in the biden administration, when you lay out the welcome mat, when you say if you come to the border, we'll let you in and release you into the interior, it's an incentive for more people to come. there's no grand mystery about how to stop this trend.

while immigration policy can be complicated, the solution is not. we need consequences, consequences. we need to make clear anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained and removed. that's the key to establishing deterrence, and we've seen it used successfully in the past. let me just interject here, mr. president. you know, legal immigration has been one of the biggest blessings this country has ever experienced. we among all the nations of the world are the most open to people who want to come here for a better life, but we ask them to do it through legal, humane, and orderly channels, and we naturalize about a million people a year. but president biden has outsourced our immigration policy to the drug cartels and

criminal organizations, and it's a disaster. well, we know how to address this problem. in 2005, then secretary of homeland security michael chertoff testified beand spoke about the surge of migrants from brazil in that case. the department launched what they called operation texas hold em, which involved detaining, then removing, the illegal brazilians they apprehended. as secretary chertoff noted, word spread fast. word spread fast. he said, after 30 days, the number of brazilians dropped by more than 50%. in 60 days, it dropped by more than 90%. this is evidence, clear and convincing evidence, that

consequences work, and the only way to address this crisis is through deterrence that comes with imposing consequences for people coming illegally, rather than legally, to the united states. we need to make it absolutely crystal clear that anyone who does not have a legal basis to remain in the united states will be detained and removed. the biden administration is ultimately responsible for enforcing our laws and delivering consequences. so without their buy-in it will be nearly impossible to address this crisis in a significant way. but that does not mean we shouldn't try. i have very little confidence that the biden administration will experience an epiphany and, all of a sudden, decide to enforce the law when they have refused to do so over the last three years.

but we have to do the best we can, front line border communities and law enforcement are buckling under the weight of this crisis. fen fentanyl, which has taken the lives of 71,000 americans last year alone, and other deadly drugs are pouring across the border and killing american citizens. migrant children are being exploited and abused, and all the while the cartels and criminal organizations that get rich based on these policies are leaving a trail of death and destruction that the biden administration has enabled. the senate, the united states senate, has a responsibility to address this crisis head on as part of the security supplemental that president biden has requested. and i hope and pray we can make

some progress. i want to express my gratitude to the senator from oklahoma, senator lankford, for leading the effort on the part of the republican conference, and i know others, like senator sinema, senator murphy and others, are working in good faith to try to reach a reasonable conclusion. but i know all of us want to see an end to this current crisis, and any even incremental progress we might make as a result of our debate and vote on the national security supplemental will represent progress. mr. president, i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. moran: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: thank you. i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, i rise today to continue the conversation that i just appreciated hearing from my colleague from texas, senator co cornyn. i'm on the floor to call attention to and express my grave concerns with the continuing humanitarian and national security crisis on our

southern border. since president biden took office we've seen the largest year-to-year increase in migrants crossing our southwest border. congress has provided resources for physical security, for walls and fencing and personnel. however, to keep our nation safe and secure we need to change administration's policies. while money and programs are important, the green light that this administration's policies provide encourage people to come here has to come to an end. policies that encourage more migrants to enter our country legally and once they enter, there's no consequence. i'm concerned about the administration's carefree attitude for those seeking to abuse our asylum system and increase the use of parole. this increases -- it is harder

for others to utilize it while stretching thin our border personnel. the customs and border protection had is 2.5 million encounters along the southern border. the number of encounters in 2020, only three years earlier was only 458,000. at the time we thought that was a terrible number to deal with. from 458,000 to 2.5 million in three years. the vast majority of those encounters are with those who claim to be seeking asylum in our country. when someone arrives at the southern border whether they present at a designated entry or not, they only need to say they are taking advantage of the policies instituted by president biden and secretary mayorkas. without being detained, these individuals are provided an asylum hearing date, sometimes several years into the future.

unsurprisingly, no surprise here at all, the majority of those released under this process then fail to report as they were directed. in december of 2023, border authorities were forced to deal with more than 10,000 migrants crossing daily. in response to this, president biden and secretary mayorkas suspended rail service and closed the international crossings at eagle pass and el paso. this greatly harmed our carriers' ability to move goods across the north american rail network and to the north american consumers who rely on them, it -- it had negative impacts on many other agriculture commodities as well. i race that -- raise that point because it is an example of trying to fix something here to fix the problem here that is not a successful outcome because it

is so damaging when we remove border patrol from a railroad crossing to stop people from crossing elsewhere along the border. i join my colleague senator ricketts to immediately resers that harmful situation. the magnitude of this crisis is felt all across the country and it is impacting every pass the et of -- facet of our daily lives. a high school in new york was returned to remote lerpg for students because their classroom is being used to house nearly 2,000 migrants. every state is a border state, rather than providing tangible help to legitimate asylum seekers, we are robbing students of their education to make sure that migrants don't have to spend a night in a tent. the historic crossing amount the southern border has not only put

an incredible strain on our national security. i believe that our country is facing one of the most dangerous times in its history with the forces that are aligned around the globe to our detriment. but the border, our southern border, is a significant proponent of protecting our national security. the cartels are sophisticated, adapted and ruthless. not only do they take advantage of individuals attempting to trek to our southern border to pay thousands of dollars to fund their operationings, they -- operations, they will use it for their strategic advantage, they will send thousands of immigrants to the border while cartels bring guns and deadly fentanyl across the border undetected. our national security is threatened by espionage and terrorists. the last time i was at the

border several months ago, i witnessed the apprehension of two chinas nationals -- chinese nationals. as a member of the appropriations committee and top member on the committee of commerce, justice, and science, we must ensure that we have the federal resources necessary to keep america safe. yesterday was national law enforcement appreciation day and i use this opportunity to thank the committed men and women who go out and protect and serve our communities and country. in the face of risk and challenge, they continue to exemplify strength and resilience. i can tell you that at home in kansas, almost without exception, the conversation turns to circumstances at the border and what is occuring there and then in kansas as a result of those border

crossings. securing our southern border can't just be left to the front line law enforcement to handle alone, but it's also law enforcement across the country who are now struggling to make certain that the citizens across the country are safe from what happens at our border. we must prioritize additional border security measures that include a physical barrier and enforce our immigration laws and work to enforce immigration so that we award those who follow the law and disincentivize the legal crossings, president biden's and secretary mayorkas years of not addressing this crisis has youd this situation -- has allowed this situation to get worse. i thank my colleague from oklahoma, senator lankford. we are hopefully going to address the issue of the world, its condition and what it means to the safety and security to

americans. as i said a moment ago, i think we're at a dangerous time for americans and the danger for our country is at stake. with the actions of russia and ukraine, with what's taking place by hamas in israel, china's desire to expand and spread its influence around the globe to the detriment of the united states, iran and its terrorist activities, national security should be a top priority and it is something that the constitution of the united states invests in us to protect and defend the united states. we're in the process of figuring out our response to the circumstances the united states faces around the globe with an effort to be supportive of our allies and create challenges and difficulties to win over our adversaries. i applaud senator lankford's effort, who is negotiating, senator lankford who is negotiating a border policy to

be included in our national security appropriations process. it belongs there. it is important there. it is a national security issue and it is necessary to be included for us to be able to take care of the issues that we face around the globe. i stand ready, and as senator lankford knows, to work with him and with my colleagues. we want to hold this administration accountable and promote a sound border security policy and put an end to this crisis many we want to put an end to this crisis for the well-being of the people of the united states of america and for my constituents at home in kansas. madam president, i yield the floor. mrs. gillibrand: i ask unanimous consent to lay photos of guy and judy weinstein. the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: as people gathered last week to ring in

the new year, it was a heartbreaking moment for families of the remaining israeli hostages whose loved ones have been forced to begin a new year in hamas captivity. over the past month, i was devastated to learn that two of the hostages that i had spoken about have since died. israeli american judy weinstein and her husband gadd, decide from injuries they on october 7. gadd was -- he was a retired chef, jazz munition and a father of four and grandfather of seven, he was a man full of humor who knew how to make other people life. his wife judy was a person of peace. a new york native, she loved making pub ets and -- puppets

and teaching children of special needs. she used meditation and mindfulness techniques to help others. she was an activist for palestinian rights. in one of the posts she wrote on social media, she described herself as a lone pilgrim listening to a flute's homage beckoning her on. the deaths of judy and gadd are a sad conclusion to a long and horrifying saga. it's also a disturbing reminder of the perils faced by other hostages. i recently returned from a congressional delegation trip to israel, saudi arabia, and jordan. and i can tell you that the suffering and the grief that the jewish people and innocent palestinian people have faced

daily is truly devastating. the collective anguish, fear, and horror is palpable. the path to peace with all hostages being returned and the rebuilding of a palestinian state without hamas, with the support and investment of the arab and muslim world is now more urgent than ever. when meeting the families of the hostages, the urgency and anguish in their eyes was devastating. to know that your loved one could be suffering unspeakable horrors, they may be on the etsdz of death -- on the edge of death and feel powerless to stop it, is a pain that no family member should ever be forced to bear. they have spent every living day and moment since october 7

fighting to get their loved ones home. this nightmare must end now. one of the families i met with told me about their loved ones duron, a 30-year-old veterinarian nurse. she hid under her bed in her apartment as hamas terrorists rampaged her kibbutz. the last her family heard from her was a voice message in which she said, they arrived, they have me. she has a stomach condition and her family worries her health will deteriorate without daily medication, they worry about rape and sexual violence and sexual torture, they worry she will not survive the horrors of her captivity. i also met again with the families of etah and omir.

two new yorkers held hostage by hamas. etah was born in new york city and serving in the idf. he was supposed to return home to celebrate his brother's bat mitzvah. omir is an avid athlete and loves the new york knicks, he turned down to spend a gap year in israel before he joined the idf. he worked to defend the gaza border, he was last seen on a video being forcibly removed at the hands of hamas terrorists. in addition, i met with the family of another american hostage.

hersh goldberg poland. he had his lower arm blown off by a hand grenade. his mother says his injuries could easily have resulted in him bleeding to death and wonders if -- if he's alive, is he suffering? does he ever have a chance of coming home? these are just a few of the roughly 130 people still being held hostage by hamas, including eight americans. and with every day that goes by, the danger to them only grows. i hope that in this new year we can secure their safe return, their release and coming home to their families before it is too late. madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call: a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mrs. capito: i move that we vitiate the quorum call the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. capito: thank you. happy new year, madam president.

nice to see you. a r as eowe as we begin our new year, i rise to continue our discussion on one of the most pressing matters that has been so hard on our country. that is our open southern border. and the responsibility for this senate to take meaningful action. since this chamber last was in session, each of us have traveled back to our respective states and have had the opportunity to talk with our constituents about what they're thinking and what they're seeing. and hands down i can tell you the crisis on our southern border is on the tip of everybody's tongue in terms of asking questions. it is the number one issue for my state of west virginia and time and time again across a multitude of conversations, west virginians have asked me pretty logical questions. when will enough be enough? whr will president biden -- when will president biden finally wake up and realize that this is a crisis? what can congress do to stop

this? and what are you, me as a member of the senate, going to do about it? they see the numbers in the news. we saw them all through december. the mass humanitarian costs broadcasted on our tv sets daily, and the destruction that the flow of illicit drugs is doing and causing in our communities. so i share their frustration, and i've voiced it many times here on the floor. the crisis at our southern border is a topic that i have addressed repeatedly. the chronic failure of this president to act has led to the point where even my colleagues across the aisle, everyone has begun to raise alarm. as the consequences of the administration's bad border policy have become undeniable. one of my colleagues referred to the border as porist. it's kind of a nice way of

saying it's open and very, very easy to get through. i'm not sure what finally led to this universal recognition, but i do have in ideas. i could -- it could have been the 2.4 million migrant encounters this past fiscal year, 2.4 million. i live in a state of a little less than 1.8 million, my entire state came flew that -- through that border and more. after month after month of illegal crossings with the largest month being just this past december of 302,000 encounters, this past december. or the over 10,000 illegal encounters we're experiencing daily which is the size of many of the small towns in my state with the record being 12,600, again in december. 12,600 crossings in december. or the record 169 encounters with individuals on our terrorist watch list just this

past fiscal year with an additional 30 encounters the first two months of f.y. ^ 24. these are people we know have terrorist ties that we know can be a danger to us and yet we're catching them as they're joining this brigade of millions coming across our southern border. this is just an untenable national security crisis, one where we have no way of knowing how many terrorists have evaded apprehension and are now in the heartland of our country. so this is a risk that we cannot take, not now, not ever, and yet very little if any -- and i'd say none -- has been taken by this administration to really remedy the situation. there's been a lapse in this border security under the president and a subsequent mass flow of immigration is creating a real live humanitarian crisis of drug smuggling and human

trafficking. in fact, there is somebody who is thriving during this. the cartels are thriving with this billion dollars of business with our wide open southern border. it's important to remember that really i believe that this catastrophe is entirely the making of our president. and while congressional republicans did not cause this, we are now taking the responsibility along with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle of trying to address it and make meaningful addressing. this is why we need substantive policy changes to address our broken border. it has become increasingly obvious that now is the time to act. doing nothing will result in what? the continuation of 10,000 people a day, encounters per day on our southern border and cover for the cartels to smuggle drugs and traffic people. doing nothing will result in the

news like we got just i think yesterday or maybe earlier today. a new york city high school is being overtaken and housing migrants for shelter and the students are being told that they should engage in remote learning. in other words, don't come to school. we're using the school to house illegal migrants, and you do remote learning at school. what did we learn during covid about remote learning? it's not good for our students. a consistent remote program that we tried during covid, you could see our falling test scores and a lot of mental health issues at the same time. doing nothing will only increase the national security threats that our country is facing. therefore, doing nothing is unacceptable. so in a moment, as critical as this, we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. we are currently in a historically narrowly divided congress making bipartisanship

an essential component in getting legislation across the finish line, and that's what our senate negotiators are engaged in. we all talk about how bad the situation is at the southern border, but it's irresponsible to talk about the problem while refusing to solve it unless you get 100% of what you want. i've been here several years. i can honestly say there are very few times i get a hundred percent of everything i want in a bill. if we do not take this opportunity to make serious reforms, then the current crisis will continue with no end in sight. and we cannot do that. as negotiations continue, we await the text of a final agreement. the question that will soon be before us will not be whether this is a bill that each of us would have personally written, because it won't be, but rather if we will take this opportunity and make serious reforms, the most serious reforms in decades, serious reforms to help stop the

overwhelming number of encounters that our border patrol agents see every day and take back control of our southern border. we must bring order and process back to our immigration policies. so i admire the steadfast, in particular dedication from my colleague from oklahoma, senator lankford, who's personally called many of us -- called me three times over christmas. i know he didn't get much of a break with his family. he has displayed incredible strength throughout this process. i encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to recognize the importance of this moment and the urgent need to respond to the challenges that we have in front of us. as always, i maintain my optimism. i'm hoping next week we'll get the text and we can work that bill through this body and remain confident in this chamber's ability to deliver. we must take advantage of this opportunity. i've never been at the cusp of

an opportunity like this in the last 20 years on immigration that we have right now, something that will make a difference. so we have to take advantage of this and we have to make sure that we're making meaningful changes as we're moving through this process. so with that, madam president, i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call:

quorum call:

[background sounds] if. >> good evening. this is my fourth trip e to israel since the horrific hamas if attacks of october 7th.

so i'm here just over three months, 9 a 5 days -- 95 days, since those attacks occurred. we know that for the people who were most affected by the attacks and the conflict that followed, time moves differently. immediately before this i met with the families of hostages being held in gaza and with hostages who have been released. several of those families i've now met multiple times. for them, every day, every hour, every minute that they're separated from their loved ones is an eternity. time feels different for families in gaza as well. hundreds of thousands of whom are experiencing acute food insecurity. to the mother or father that's trying to find something to feed a hungry child, the passage of

another day without food is excruciating. time the also feels different for israelis and palestinians whose innocent loved ones have been killed. for them, time often falls into before and after. the after filled with a loss that most of us will never know and cannot fully imagine. finish and those are just a few examples of how heavy these 95 days have felt and continue to feel to the people most affected by this conflict. this immense human toll is one of the many reasons that we continue to stand with israel in insuring that october 7th can never happen again. finish it's also why we're intensely focused on bringing the remaining hostages home, addressing the humanitarian

crisis and strengthening protection if for civilians in gaza. and preventing the conflict from spreading. it's reason we're working urgent hi to forge a past towards lasting peace ask and security in this region. we believe the submission against israel to the international court of justice distracts the world from all of these important efforts. and moreover to, the charge of genocide is meritless. it's particularly galling given that those who are awe attacking israel -- attacking israel, hamas, hezbollah, the houthis as well as their support or, iran, continue to openly call for the annihilation of israel and the mass murder of jews. on this trip i came to israel after meeting with the leaders of turkey, greece, jordan, qatar, the united air a wrap emirates, saudi arabia -- arab emirates. all of those leaders sure are

concerned about the spread of the conflict. all of them are committed to using their influence, using tht it from escalating, to deer the new fronts are if opening -- deter new fronts from opening. all expressed dire concern about the humanitarian situation and the number of civilians killed in gaza. we know that facing an enemy that embeds itself among civilians who hides in and fires from schools, from hospitals, makes this incredibly challenging. but the daily toll on civilians in gaza, particularly on children, is far too high. important progress has been made in the increasing amount of aid getting into gaza including my opening -- [inaudible] nonetheless, 90 percent of gaza's population continues to face acute food insecurity according to the united nations. for children, the effects of long periods without sufficient food can have lifelong

consequences. as i learned in our meetings today, more food, more water, more medicine, other essentials need to get into gaza, and once they're in gaza, they need to get more effectively to the people who need them. finish and israel needs to do everything it can to remove if any obstacles from crossings to other parts of gaza, improving deconfliction procedures to insure that the aid can move safely and securely is a critical part of that. the united nations is plague an indispensable role in -- plague an indispensable role in addressing i humanitarian needs in gaza. there is simply no alternative. u.n. personnel and aid workers are continuing to provide life-saving services in, extremely challenging conditions. i spoke last night with the u.n.'s new senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for gaza about all of these efforts that are underway. finish now, he's someone i worked very closely with two

years ago when she led e the u.n. mission that destroyed the assad reregime's chemical weapons in sir -- syria, so i can say from exappearance she has what it takes to get this job done. she has america's full support, she must have israel's as well. today we also discussed the phased transition of israel's military campaign in gaza. we continue to offer do our advice for how israel can achieve its essential role in insuring that october 7th can never be repeated, and we believe israel's achieved significant progress towards this objective. as they move to a lower intensity phase in gaza and as the idf scales down forces there, we agreed on a plan for the u.n. to carry out an assessment mission able to determine what needs to be done to allow displaced palestinians to return safely to homes in the north. now, this is not going to happen overnight. there are serious security, infrastructure and humanitarian

challenges. but the mission will start a process that evaluates these bobs -- obstacles and how they can be overcome. in today's meetings i was also crystal clear, palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. they must not be pressed to leave gaza. as i told the prime minister, the united states unequivocally rejects any proposals advocating for the resettlement of palestinians outside of gaza, and the prime minister reaffirmed to me today that this is not the policy of israel's government. we also spoke about the tensions on israel's northern border with lebanon where hezbollah continues to launch daily rocket attacks on israel. as i told the war cabinet and other senior official, the united states stands with israel in assure -- insuring its northern border is secure. we're fully committed to finding a diplomat you can solution that avoids escalation and allows families to return to their

homes to live securely in northern israel and also in southern lebanon. finally, we continue to discuss how to build a more durable peace and security for israel within the region. as a i told the prime minister, every part her that i met on this -- partner that i met on this trip said their ready to support a lasting solution that ends the long-running cycle of violence and ensures israel's security. but they underscored that this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a palestinian state. these goals are attainable but only if they're pursued together. this crisis has clarified you can't have one without the other, and you can't achieve either goal without an integrated regional approach. to make this possible, israel must be a partner to palestinian leaders who are willing to have their people living side by side

in peace with israel as neighbors. and israel must stop talking steps that undermines -- [inaudible] violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, all make it harder, not easier, for israel to attain lasting peace and security. the palestinian authority also has a responsibility to reform itself, to improve its governance, issues i plan to raise with presidenting abbas among others when we meet together. if israel wants its arab neighbors to make the decisions necessary to help insure its lasting security, israeli leaders will have the make hard decisions themselves. when president biden addressed the people of israel days after the october 7th attack, he made a very simple pledge; the united states has israel's back today, tomorrow, always. the friendship between our nations is truly exceptional. it's our unique bond, and

america's enduring commitment to the people of israel that allows, indeed demands, that we're as forthright as possible in the moments when the stakes are the highest, when the choices matter the most. this is one of those moments. happy to take some questions. finish. >> the first question goes to simon lewis with reuters. >> thank you. mr. secretary, the future of the gaza strip has been the theme of g conversation in this body that actually matches the conversations happening around the country right now. you ask any random person on the street what are the key issues they're thinking about right now, almost every poll i've seen the past several months said people are concerned about the economy, and they're concerned about border security. just about every poll you've seen everywhere, that's been the one and two. sometimes border security has

been the top issue, sometimes the second issue, but it's been in the top two over and over again. not just border state, and not just republicans, it's republicans, democrats, independents alike. they see what's happening on the border and they just want to know what's the plan. because the news comes out in september that last september was the highest numbers of border crossings in the history of the country, for any september. then october was the highest number of illegal crossings of any october. then november was the highest number of crossings of any november in our nation's history. then december came, and it was not only the highest number of illegal crossings of any december in our history, it was the highest single month ever for any month in our history. typically, december is a lower month, but instead it was the highest month in our history, with the highest single day in our history, and an average of

10,000 people a day that illegally crossed the border. right at 300,000 people in a single month. just to put that in perspective, if i go during the obama admini administration, what we had in december and november exceeded any single year in the obama administration. just those two months. during the early days of the obama administration, we had 21,000 people a year that requested asylum. 21,000 people a year that requested asylum on our southern border. we had that in two days in december. that's how things have shifted. that's why this is not a partisan issue. this is a national issue. people understand the national security implications of this, that we literally have thousands of people crossing the border

every day, and we have no idea where they are. they cross the border, i can tell you quickly how. they cross somewhere in the desert in arizona either through a gap that's been cut in the fence or in areas where there is a gap at the fence and they go around it. they're given a couple of different options. one is parole authority, 236 parole, you're released in the country, take off. there's another one called a notice to appear. you'll hear the common term nta, saying there's so many people crossing right now, we don't have time to be able to go through the paperwork, so we're going to give you a piece of paper that says show up at an i.c.e. office and you can literally go anywhere in the country you want to go do. go anywhere you want to go in the country, hand in this piece of paper and turn yourself in and then get a hearing date set after that. maybe shocking to everyone, not many people are actually showing up at i.c.e. offices and turning

themselves in. they're just disappearing into the country by the hundreds of thousands month after month. in addition to that, if you come to our ports of entry and you're going to do an orderly entry, well, that shifted actually. since earlier this year, this administration has started using a parole authority that is termed humanitarian parole, but they're using it in a way no administration has ever used humanitarian parole in the history of the country. you see, earlier this year -- actually i should say last year now that it's january, earlier last year this administration announced to the world that if you will tell us ahead of time that you're coming, when you come to a port of entry we will give you a work permit when you arrive. that day. so 1,500 people a day come to their appointment at the port of entry from all over the world.

they show up, they're given a parole document called 212-d, and they're given a work permit that day and released into the country. we just ask the question how does that slow down immigration across the country? because parole is actually not a status. parole is actually listed in our law as a nonstatus, is that you're actually here. but humanitarian parole was designed for a situation like what we had in ukraine, or it was designed for a situation where an individual has a funeral that they've got to get to but in their country it takes too long to get a visa and 24e couldn't get to the funeral. they get humanitarian parole to be able to get to that funeral. it's not designed to say y'all come. it's not designed to be anyone from anywhere in the world just show up and i'm going to hand you a work permit when you get here and release you into the country at 1,500 people a day. americans see this.

this doesn't make sense to people. they just want to know what are we going to do to get order where there's chaos. they're not asking for a political solution. they're just asking for a solution. this shouldn't be something that we don't address here. for two and a half months now my colleague, senator murphy, my colleague senator sinema, and a whole bufrnl of folks around the three of us that are our colleagues in this body and their staff have worked together to try to get to a solution of how can we address this in a bipartisan way. this body requires bipartisan solutions. we've got to have 60. so we've got to work on hard issues. i will tell you the house of representatives did a very good bill called h.r. 2 that

addressed a lot of issues dealing with immigration, but unfortunately the house didn't have any democrats on board. in fact, they didn't even have all republicans on board that particular bill. they passed a very comprehensive set of solutions to be able to deal with border security. that's what they passed. this body's not passed anything to be able to respond. the house noticed a long time ago this is that needs to be addressed. this body has been allergic to working on how to solve the border crisis. for the past months we've worked in a bipartisan way to hammer out how do we solve this because it can't be ignored. the worst-case scenario is for americans to say who's going to do something and for this body to say not it. we've got to come to some solutions. some of the issues are obvious. the vast majority of people coming across the border will

say i have fear in my country because the cartels have told them if you say the magic words you'll be released into the country because that puts you on a track for asylum when actually what it does is it puts you into a ten-year backlog of claims that are out there. and people know if i cross the border and make a statement, i can be in the united states for the next ten years. it's the greatest country in the world. there's billions of people that would like to be able to be here. that's a pretty easy entry, to be able to just come across, say the secret word, and you're in. we've got to be able to resolve that. we as a nation should be able to filter through the people that are coming and to identify who actually qualifies for asylum and who is just wanting to come to be a part of the greatest nation in the world. if you want to just come from economic reasons, there's a way to be able to do that, to go through the legal process. we allow about a million people a year to legally naturalize into our country. we're one of the most generous countries in the world in our

legal naturalization process. we should continue to be able to to do that as we have for decades and decades. but for people that want to game the system, we are lawmakers. why would we ignore people that are abusing the law? if we ignore the abuse of the lawmakers what are we doing making law if it's not going to actually be enforced? so let's get back to identifying those who actually qualify for asylum and those who are just gaming the system, turn them back around and to say go through the legal process. don't run through the desert, don't swim across the river, don't come to a border agent and lie to them. let's figure out a legal way to be able to address legal immigration and turn around illegal migration. we should be able to solve this issue. it's obvious to everybody. we should be able to bring immediate consequences when someone's actually violated our law. currently someone crosses in the

border, it may be ten years before it's addressed. if we can't deal with immediate consequences as i've heard over and over again from parents and from every individual, a delayed consequence is a nonconsequence. if the consequence is delayed ten years, that's not really a consequence, and everyone knows it. so we've got to be able to have immediate consequences, and we've got to have solutions to this issue about just patrolling 1,500 random people from anywhere in the world. if the standard to get into america is literally just fill out a form and tell them that you're coming first and you're released into the country with a work permit in a nonstatus of parole, literally that is an executive authority that can be taken away at any moment. literally. the next president comes in, they could waive every single parolee on the next day and it would be legal because parole is not a status. it's release into a country. if we can't figure out how to be able to solve that when the mayors of chicago and of new york and of denver are saying

why is this administration releasing people into the country between ports of entry and this other parole process or nta with no work permit and just releasing them by the hundreds of thousands, why is this happening? if we can't answer that question, then we need to able to sit down at the table until we do. the senate is where hard things get worked out. this is a hard thing. this is something that's not been resolved in more than 30 years. i understand we have differences of opinion. so does america. except in this one issue. they want this solved. america wants a resolution on this. so i encourage us as a body to keep negotiating, keep working at it. we're not going to solve everything. we never do. but we need to solve as much as we can because this is one of the biggest issues in the

country. and i will tell you this is one of our greatest threats. in the past year, in the flood of people crossing our border, tens of thousands of people that came across our border, this administration declared as a national security risk. the term they use is special interest alien. tens of thousands of people that crossed were given that designation, special interest alien, and then released into the country. we have no idea where they are. these were identified at the border as a national security risk. but because we're not managing our border and we're overrun with capacity, the option they have is releasing them. for the sake of our nation's

national security and our future, let's actually go back to following the law. let's actually create a process where when we pass law, we expect it to actually be enforced and to be done. we can do a hard thing. that's our job. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: madam president, before the senator from oklahoma leaves, i was wondering if he will yield for a question? mr. lankford: yes, i would. mr. tillis: senator lankford, you've done an extraordinary job of negotiating what i think is going to be a successful compromise that's going to get support from republicans and democrats. but as you were going through this work in the years that you've spent studying this issue as a ranking member and chair in a committee of jurisdiction, i've got to believe you've looked at, let's say canada, for example. there are a lot of people that think what senator lankford and those of us who are trying to

support senator lankford are being draconian and being out of step with the western world. but, senator lankford, coup just briefly describe how what we're trying to do compares to, say, our partner to the north, canada, their loss. mr. lankford: i don't meet many people that call the canadians extreme. not a derogatory statement but they have a pretty consistent system on this. if you cross the united states into canada and ask for asylum they would ask you did you cross into the united states before you enter canada and if your answer is yes they immediately turn you back to the united states. to say you can't request asylum here in canada if you haven't requested asylum in the places you've already traveled through. that's the law in canada. mr. tillis: madam president, may i ask one follow-up? the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: senator lankford, isn't it true that tens of thousands of people who cross

our borders today have not taken, and who may ultimately request asylum have looked past an opportunity to safely relocate in the country they're seeking asylum from, likely transited to another country where they could have declared asylum. and in some cases passed through four or five or six different safe jurisdictions before they -- they made the dangerous trip to mexico, crossed the rio grande border? is that an accurate assessment of what hundreds of thousands of people have done during the trump administration? lafrpg lafrng that is correct. -- mr. lankford: we have millions of people that have crossed our border, either never requested asylum. at the border they declared they were going to ask for asylum but never did, never filled out the paperwork, never tried because they knew they weren't eligible.

or they traveled through multiple countries on the way, never requested asylum because they wanted to come to america which i don't blame them. it's the greatest country in the world. but that's not what asylum is. asylum means i have fear in my entire country. there is no safe place in my country so i fled to the next safe place. that's what the international definition of asylum is. mr. tillis: i thank senator lankford through the chair. madam president, i want to spend a few minutes on this subject as well. this is -- we're reaching a milestone that i think is critically important. since president biden has entered office, the number of encounters at the border, eight million, eight million since president biden entered office, that population exceeds the population of 30 u.s. states, the population of 30 individual u.s. states. that's the number we're talking about here. and, ladies and gentlemen, a lot of them are the people that we just