mr. thune: mr.esident. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: it is. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, this past saturday marked three years of the biden administration, and after three full years under president biden, the question naturally arises is america better off? are americans better off? and for a whole lot of americans, the answer is no in a december poll, 55% of voters said they are worse off under president biden. in a january poll, 46% of voters said their personal financial situation is getting worse compared to just 28% who said it is improving. a recent abc b kbc news -- abc arting, in the sign of the times, barely more than a quarter americans say the american dream still holds true. end quote. mr. president, it's no wonder. perhaps the biggest legacy of the president's first three years in office is a massive i

mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune.&u mr.en. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wyden.. mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- hawley, johnson, lummis, marshall, tuberville. senators voting in the negative --7@■% boozman, britt, cantwell, capito, cassidy, collins, cornyn, cotton, ernst, fetterman, gillibrand, hassan, hoeven, hyde-smith, king, manchin, moran, mullin, murray, ossoff, reed, rickets, romney, rounds, sanders, schmitt, schumer, tester, thune, van hollen, welch, whitehouse. mr. heinrich, no. mr.peters, no. mr. wyden, no. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, no. mr. wicker, no. mr. mr. lujan, no. ms.hirono, no. mr. budd, aye. the clerk: mr. daines, aye. mr. the clerk: mr. lankford, no. ms. sinema, no. mrs. blackburn, no. . mr. tillis, no. mrs. fischer, no. mr. rubio, no. mr. kelly, no. mr. vance, aye. the clerk: mr. vance, aye. murk. mr. sullivan, aye. mr. ■oyoung, no. ms. warren, no. mr. scott of south carolina, no. ms. stabenow, no. mr. padilla, no. mr. cramer, no. mr. ri

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr.president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. thune: we're not? mr. president, 302,000. 302,000, that's how many migrants u.s. customs and border protection has reported to have encountered at our southern border in the month of december. one month, 302,000. to put that number in perspective, 302,000 is equivalent to roughly a third of the population of my home state of south dakota or almost half of the population of vermont or more than half, more than half, i should say, of the population of wyoming. and that's just one month of encounters. one month. just when you think the biden border crisis can't get any worse, it gets worse. mr. president, the situation at our southern border is unsustainable. we've had three successive record-breaking years of illegal immigration at the southern border under president biden. and if the current trend continues, we're well on our way to a fourth. the border patrol is stretched thin. the border towns are stretc

mr. thune: mr.atter how low the temperatures go or how high the snow banks rise,ouon south dako coming out to support local athletes. after all, there are games, tournaments, and trophies on the line this time of the year. sunday's win closed out -- excuse me. just a mvenlt and for sports mans like me, there is no better place to be than on the sidelines cheering for south dakota's year, mr. president, w have not been disappointed. on sunday the south dakota state university football team won■- s second consecutive national title. that's right, the jack rabbits are back-to-back sfc champions. this jacks team has a lot of talent and a lot to be proud sunday's colin closed out -- win closed out as a division win program. they boast a 29 game win street, the third longest in their history. their defense was impenetrable this season allowing an average of 9.27nts per game and allowing just 15 points to be scored against them in four postseason games. i want you to think about that, mr. president. you ge

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. senators voting in the affir affirmative, it baldwin, capito, cardin, casey, cassidy, collins, cornyn, cortez-masto, cotton, daines, durbin, ernst, fischer, gillibrand, heinrich, klobuchar, lankford, murray, reed, rosen, rubio, tillis, warner and young. senators voting in the negative, paul and tuberville. mr. bennet, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. mr. white house, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye. the clerk: mr. carper, aye. mr. brown, aye. ms. lummis, aye. mr. hoeven, no. the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye. mr. murphy, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, aye. mr. merkley, aye. mr. tester, aye. ms. murkowski, aye. the clerk: mr. risch, no. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye. the clerk: mr. welch, aye. mr. kaine, aye. the clerk: mr. wicker, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, aye. the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: mr. peters, aye. the clerk: m

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 -- bennet, butler, cardin, casey, collins, durbin, gillibrand, heinrich, king, markey, murray, ossoff, peters, reed, rosen, shaheen, stabenow, tester, warner, and warnock. senators voting in the negative -- boozman. cornyn, cotton, cramer, graham, kennedy, lummis, paul, rounds, rubio, and sullivan. the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. mr. kelly, aye. the clerk: mr. johnson, no. mr. grassley, no. mr. carper, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, no. the clerk: mr. daines, no. the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. van hollen, aye. the clerk: mr. risch, no. the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. the clerk: mr. tuberville, no. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. mrs. capito, no. the clerk: mrs. britt, no. the clerk: mr. young, no. the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. mr. welch, aye. the clerk:

mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. test. mr. thune. mr. tillis.r. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, bennet, butler, cardin, carper, duckworth, gillibrand, hassan, heinrich, kaine, klobuchar, mendendez, merkley, murphy, ossoff, padilla, peters, reed, rosen, schumer, van hollen, warner, warnock, warren, welch, and wyden. mr. casey, aye. senators voting in the negative -- cotton, hagerty, and paul. the clerk: mr. marshall, no. the clerk: mr. coons, aye. mr. crapo, no. mr. johnson, no. mr. cornyn, no. mr. tuberville, no. mr. cassidy, no. mr. young, no. mr. vance, no. mr. budd, no. mrs. hyde-smith, no. mr. schatz, aye. ms. cortez masto, aye. mrs. blackburn, no. mrs. murray, aye. mr. mr. lujan, aye. mr. risch, no. ms. stabenow, aye. mr. kennedy, no. mr. boozman, no. ms. sinema, aye. ms. ernst, no. mr. mcconnell, no. mr. daines, no. mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. mr. sanders, aye. mr. schmitt,

mr. thune: mr.sident. 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 bre

snl 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, capito, cardin, casey, cornyn, cortez masto, durbin, heinrich, hickenlooper, johnson, kennedy, king, klobuchar, merkley, romney, rosen, schatz, smith, stabenow, tester, van hollen, warren, welch, wicker. senators voting in the negative -- crapo, hagerty, schmitt, tuberville, vance. mr. murphy, aye. mr. risch, no.test. vote: the clerk: ms. ernst, aye. the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye. mr. reed, aye. mr. peters, aye. the clerk: mr. hawley, no. ms. butler, aye. mr. boozman, aye. mr. bennet, aye. the clerk: mr. braun, no. mr. warner, aye. the clerk: mr. lankford, aye. kaine mr. kaine, aye. -- the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. the clerk: ms. gillibrand, aye. ms. duckworth, aye. the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. the clerk: mr. marsh

mr. thune: mr. president.there's anything that keeps my democrat colleagues up at night, i'm pretty sure it's the specter of some aspect of society not being regulated by the federal government. how else to explain democrats' tendency to propose heavy-handed government solutions to address nonexistent problems? and there's no better example of a heavy-handed government solution to a nonexistent problem than the biden's federal communication commission's recent push to impose burdensome net neutrality regulations. so what is net neutrality, mr. president? at its core it's the idea that internet service providers shouldn't prioritize or block certain internet traffic at the expense of other traffic. understood in that way, it's a concept that has strong bipartisan support. but that's not what we're talking about with the biden fcc's proposal. the biden fcc wants to use the idea of net neutrality as a cover to assert broad new government powers over the internet using rules that were designed for telephone monopo

mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis.. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- hickenlooper, men men nez, sanders, schatz, stabenow, and wyden. senators voting in the negative -- cruz, graham, grassley, hagerty, hawley, hoeven, lee, moran, paul, risch, and thune. mrs. hyde-smith, no. mr. romney -- mr. casey, aye. mr. young, no. mr. romney, no.■■ mr. rubio, no. mr. mullin, no.v?[o the clerk: mr. crapo, no. mr. lankford, no. the clerk: mr. wicker, no. mr. manchin, no. mr. cotton, no.■■ mr. tillis, no. mr. cornyn, no. ms. lummis, no. the clerk: mr. durbin, aye. mr. welch, aye. ms. cortez masto, aye.■/■ the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no. mr. ossoff, aye. mr. braun, no. mr. marshall, no. the clerk: mr. carper, aye. the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. mrs. capito, no. mr. sullivan, no. the clerk: mr. tester, aye. the clerk: ms. collins, no. the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. mr. markey, aye. mr. cramer, no. vote: the clerk: mrs. fischer, no. the clerk: mrs. smith, aye. ms. hirono, aye. the clerk: mr.

baldwin. y mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr.m call? i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. over the weekend a reporter asked mr. biden if the situation at our southern border is crisis. no, the president said. i woul express surprise but unfortunately failing to recognize crises is pretty much par for the course for president biden. you can see also his inflation crisis or his withdrawal from afghanistan, but the president's answer is still notable for the complete disconnection it shows from the reality at our southern border. and it demonstrates why it has become absolutely necessary for congress to step in. because the situation in our southern border is, in fact, a crisis, a logistical crisis, a humanitarian crisis, an the pre editfication, i will run through the numbers. we have had three record-breaking years of legal immigration at our southern border on president biden's watch. fiscal year record breaking, one million 774,0007

mr. coons, aye. mr. barrasso, aye. mrs. capito, aye. mr. schatz, aye. the clerk: mr. thune, aye. mr. cruz, aye. the clerk: mrs. murray, aye. the clerk: mr. carper, aye. the clerk: mr. lankford, aye. ms. collins, aye. mr. cornyn, aye. ms. hirono, aye. mrs. fischer, aye. the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye. the clerk: mr. sanders, aye. the clerk: mr. hoeven,, no. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye. the clerk: mr. tester, aye. mrs. blackburn. mr. merkley, aye. mrs. blackburn, no. the clerk: mr. booker, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: mr. markey, aye. the clerk: mr. daines, no. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: mr. hawley, no. ms. cantwell, aye. vote: the clerk: mr. risch, no. the clerk: mr. manchin, aye. mr. browne, aye. -- brown -- mr. brown: aye. the clerk: mr. sullivan, aye. mr. mr. -- the clerk: mr. mullin, aye. mr. welch, aye. mr. braun, no. the clerk: mr. grassley, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye. the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. mr. yom, aye. -- mr. remove m /* romney, aye. the presiding o

mr. cruz aye. the clerk: mr. aye. mr. heinrich aye. the clerk: mr. thune, aye. mr. warnock, aye.he clerk: the clerk: mr. casey, aye. the cl the clerk: mr. wooidide -- mr. wyden, aye. mr. rubio, the clerk: mr. scott of florida no. braun, no. the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. the clerk: mr. paul, no. mr. marshall aye. the clerk: mr. lee, no. mr. kennedy, aye. mr. sanders, aye. the clerk: mr. daines aye. mr. rounds aye. ms. lummis aye. the clerk: ms. smith, aye.r. young, aye. mr. van hollen, aye. mrs. shaheen aye. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye. the clerk: mr. padilla, aye. the clerk: mr. boozman, aye. mr. schmitt, no. the clerk: mr. hawley, no.. king, aye.

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. senators voting in the affirmative -- butler, cardin, carper, duckworth, gillibrand, hyde-smith, johnson, kaine, king, murphy, peters, ricketts, rosen, shaheen, sinema, wyden. senators voting in the negative -- mullin, paul, tuberville. the clerk: mr. brown, aye. vote: the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. mr. ossoff, aye. the clerk: mr. crapo, aye. mr. budd, aye. ms. ernst, aye. the clerk: mr. reed, aye. mr. kennedy, aye. mr. daines, aye. mr. grassley, aye. mr. casey, aye. the clerk: mr. cornyn, aye. mr. tillis, aye. the clerk: ms. lummis, no. mr. kelly, aye. mr. thune, no. the clerk: mrs. capito, aye. the clerk: mr. manchin, aye. the clerk: mrs. murray, aye. mr. schatz, aye. mr. sanders, aye. mr. braun, no. mr. warner, aye. mrs. britt, no. the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. mrs. blackburn, aye. ms. cortez masto, aye. mr. mcconnell, aye. mr. durbin, aye

the clerk: mr. thune, aye.■ mr. durbin, aye. ms. klobuchar. aye. the clerk: mr. cotton, no.k: mr. cramer, aye. the clerk: mr. boozman, no. ms. smith, aye. mr. warner, aye.the clerk: mr. . mr. wyden, aye. mrs. britt, no. mrs. fischer, no. mr. schatz, aye.pg mr. cassidy, aye. mr. hagerty, no. the clerk: mr. schumer, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mr. young, aye. mr. heinrich, aye. thcl murray, aye. mr. booker, aye.■b the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. mr. kennedy, aye. the clerk: mr. rounds, aye.h. the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye. the clerk: mr. budd, no. the clerk: mr. padilla, aye. the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye.■g the clerk: mr. carper, aye. mr. casey, aye. vote: the clerk: mr. mullin, aye. the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. mr. warnock, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, aye. the clerk: mr. kelly, aye. 6, the clerk: mr. sullivan, no. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye. the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. mr. mcconnell, no. ms. lummis, no. the clerk: mr.braun, aye. ,v the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. ■z vote: the clerk: mr. hawley, no. y■lh the clerk: mr. cruz, no. ■t the clerk: mr. hoeven, no. ■u>91 vote: @ ■6 mehalchic

mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis.tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner.rnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. e clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, bennet, blumenthal brown, butler cantwell carper, casey, collins cornyn, cortez masto, cotton cramer duckworth, fetterman, fischer, graham, heinrich, hirono, kaine,ers kelly, king lankford, lujan, m mcconnell menendez merkley moran, mullin murkowski, murphy, murray ossoff, padilla peters reed rosen, sanders, schumer, shaheen, sinema stabenow tester thune, tillis, van hollen warner, warren welch, whitehouse, wyden, and la mr. -- mr. are issue, aye. senators voting in the negative -- braun, crapo, risch, scott of south carolina,and vance. mr. johnson, no. the clerk: m paul, no. mr. lee, no. mr. warnock, aye. the clerk: mr. budd, no. ms. lummis, aye. mr. scott of florida, no.vd vote: vote: mc the presiding officer: ms. smith, aye. mr. booker, aye. the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 68 the nay

the chair recognizes senator thune. >> thank you mr. chair. first i want to offer my deepest sympathy to the residents as well as express my gratitude for the first responders, ntsbve and other officials that arrived and remained on scene since the derailment. railroads remain one of the safest ways to transport all types of freight and including hazardous material. however, it serves as a reminder of the committee's vigilance and that agencies and railroads faithfully implement requirements set in place by bipartisan fast act which was signed into law included inexpensive materials title much of it directly responsive to the tragic derailment with others like it. the title set forth new stringent requirements for the operation of the flammable trains and is scheduled for complete replacement and retrofit of all tank cars carrying the reclaimable liquids the impact of future derailments. other safety requirements from the fast act were still pending regulatory agenda, something the committee needs to work to correct. i hope the discussion toda

senator john thune, republican from the great state of south dakota joins me now. mr. senator, you are insisting on a on the number of migrants paroled into this country but how do you place a cap? do we need a wall or a larger workforce? how do we forsake? >> we need a wall, we need more border patrol agents, technological barriers, all of that. we have to close the southern border and this president showed no interest in it. paroled is important because if you get into the united states today illegally, you have a 95% chance of being released into the interior, 95%, people come across the border illegally, released into the united states this year, stuart:. 2 million people, the way they do that is by the abuse and unlawful use of parole authority. we got to shut down parole. you can't shut down the southern border and reduce incentives for people to come here illegally unless you deal with this issue of parole. so that has got to be a part of any border security bill. stuart: this fight is going to go on for some time because the two sides are very far apart and as

the chair recognizes senator thune. >> thank you mr. chair. to offer my deepest sympathy to the residents as well as express my gratitude for the first responders, ntsb investigators and other officials that arrived and remained on scene since the derailment. railroads remain one of the safest ways to transport all types of freight and including hazardous material. however, it serves as a reminder of the importance of the committee's vigilance and that agencies and railroads faithfully implement requirements set in place by congress. the strong bipartisan fast act, which was signed into law included inexpensive materials title much of it directly responsive to the tragic derailment with others like it. the title set forth new stringent requirements for the operation of the flammable trains and is scheduled for complete replacement and retrofit of all tank cars carrying the reclaimable liquids both meant to reduce the impact of future derailments. other safety requirements from the fast act were still pendingg on the regulatory agenda, somethin

the chair recognizes senator thune. >> thank you mr. chair.nt to offer my deepest sympathy to the residents as well as express my gratitude for the first responders, ntsb investigators and other officials that arrived and remained on scene since the derailment. railroads remain one of the safest ways to transport all types of freight and including hazardous material. however, it serves as a reminder of the importance of the committee's vigilance and that agencies and railroads faithfully implement requirements set in place by congress. the strong bipartisan fast act, which was signed into law included inexpensive materials title much of it directly responsive to the tragic derailment with others like it. the title set forth new stringent requirements for the operation of the flammable trains and is scheduled for complete replacement and retrofit of all tank cars carrying the reclaimable liquids both meant to reduce the impact of future derailments. other safety requirements from the fast act were still pendingg on the regulatory agenda, someth