scrutinize it, yes, but we don't treat it like just another tactical place for partisan disagreement. that is the way forward. that takes leadership. that takes people who are involved in the process to not be open hypocrites meaning you raise doubts about an election as you are campaigning, you raise doubts as votes are being counted and then when you go ahead, suddenly blessed the system as fraud free. there are a few candidates right now who have done that exact thing. that an open-air act of hypocrisy. must be evaluated as such, described as such, absorbed as such, and we have to take a typical rhetorical give and take in politics where you

emphasize or deemphasize different positions, things you used to say, things you used to believe about policy, there's a lot of give and take, you watch it, i watch it. treat this as a sacred space. >> host: major garrett, david becker, thank you so much. that's a great ideological middle and everyone else goes out and buys your book. >> thank you. >> after a late night last night the senate returns this morning to continue work on funding for the federal government through next september. we expect votes on amendments to the bill throughout the day. current government funding runs out at midnight tomorrow, live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. ..

the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, barry c. black, will now lead the senate in prayer. dr. black. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, to whom a thousand years are but a moment, help us to maximize today's possibilities with humble and grateful hearts. lord, please bring peace on earth and goodwill to humanity. have mercy upon the ukrainian

people as they seek to survive warfare during a freezing and fearful christmas. remind us all that humanity is wrapped in a blanket of mutuality and tied to a single garment of destiny. continue to use our lawmakers as instruments of your peace, empowering them to make the rough places smooth and the crooked places straight. we pray in your sovereign name. amen. the president pro tempore: pleae join me in reciting the pledge f 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 president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the president pro tempore: witho ut objection,so ordered. mr. schumer: mr. president, it was a very late last night for those of us who were here and the staff. 2:00 a.m. was when we finished, 2:01, to try to finish an agreement on the omnibus bill. we're getting ever closer to reaching an agreement but we're still not there. i hope that we will lock an agreement in some time later this morning. in the meantime, we'll start today with a vote on the confirmation of franklin parker to serve as assistant secretary of the navy. i want to thank my colleagues for both sides of the aisle on their cooperation. i thank the clerks for being here late, late last night as we waited and waited and waited for an agreement which hasn't

yet come. and for showing up early this morning. and i hope we can finish the omnibus today. there's no reason why we can't. the bill is so important to get done because it will be good for families, for veterans, our national security, even for the health of our democratic institutions. to go to a c.r. or even worse, a government shutdown, would be a huge disservice at any time, and particularly at holiday season, to the american people. to ensure that we minimize any delays, i ask members to stay near the floor and be ready to get voting when the time comes. if we can keep this process moving, then we can finish in time for members and staff to get home for christmas safely before the blizzard wreaks havoc across much of the country. i yield the floor. the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the

leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, franklin r. parker of the district of columbia to be an assistant secretary of the navy. the president pro tempore: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is a sufficient second. the question is on the nomination. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: vote: vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any other senators who wish to vote?

vote:

vote:

votevote:

administration after administration to address our broken border and immigration system. as a native arizonian i see how it falls squarely on border states, risking our communities and the migrants themselves. we're experiencing a dangerous tipping point. the combination of an over worked border and never before seen immigration, asylum seekers and smuggling efforts have completely ruined an already broken system.

to make matters worse, title 42, the public health order, that stops some migrants from entering our country may soon expire. allowing thousands of migrants to enter arizona, texas and other border states without at proper plans and structure in place. let me be clear, this is a humanitarian and security nightmare. already our border towns can barely keep up with the demand from the overwhelming immigration. in some a small community of 37,000 people right on the arizona-mexico border, the fire chief recently told us that three of his fight ambulances are used solely to care for migrants in need leaving only two ambulances for the entire local community on any given night. the city of tucson has accepted over 15% of its total population

just in migrant releases since april of this year. and in yuma, the threat of street releases persists every single day, including today. with thousands of migrants coming to our border and seeking asylum, our overwhelmed border patrol agents are now additionally tasked with processing asylum seekers taking agents away from the important work of patrolling the border apprehending illegal crossers and stopping cartels, drugs, and smugglers. the consequences are plain to see. the mayor of san luis reported seeing migrants travelling along inner city highways because border patrol was too overwhelmed to apprehend them closer to the border. while towns like san luis,

humanitarian organizations across our state and our brave men and women in blue, green and brown, shoulder the system washington continues to politicize solutions. politicians are retreating to their partisan corner instead of examining the problem for what it is, not what one party or the other party wishes it was, and and foe tusing on finding meaningful solutions. some refuse to acknowledge the need for increased security at all and others have a singular view of what kind of security is sufficient. some want to welcome all who come to the border into our country, while others want to keep everyone out. and a few want to defund the very agencies who are tasked with enforcing our immigration laws or underfund the very humanitarian organizations that provide vital services and care for the asylum seekers our

country has always pledged to help. as someone who has seen all the challenges at our border my entire life, i know these are all false choices that's why i rejected the partisan echo chamber and partnered with my good friend, senator thom tillis on a bipartisan proposal to help solve some real problems that our borders and immigration system continue to face. just as we have on a number of complex issues, from gun violence, to marriage equality and religious freedom, we focused on our shared values and shared goals. before we could tackle the issue of a backlog asylum process we now we had to focus first on securing the border, a problem as big as our broken border needs a smart comprehensive

solution, and that solution starts by investing in the brave men and women who keep our border safe. a robust, well-trained and well-resourced border patrol, office of field operations and air and marine are critical to secure the border to keep our security safe and fair and humane treatment of migrants. senator tillis and i focused on boosting pay, increased sizes and providing officers equipment and technology they need to do their jobs safety. and the armed men and women in blue, green and brown, we're committed to securing our border. we need physical barriers where they make sense, but relying only on physical barriers is a

17th century answer to a 21st century problem. the fact is the majority of illegal drugs seized coming into our country arrive through our ports of entry. this past october our office of field operations officers reported a 73% increase in fentanyl seizures compared with just one year ago. and just two weeks ago, the office of field operations officers at the nogales point of entry seized over 1.5 million fentanyl pills in less than five days. a wall alone can't stop these drugs from finding a way into our country, and killing our friends, our neighbors, and our loved ones. we must supplement security barriers with innovative technology solutions. we must boost our border protection and patrol forces and

we must update the policies governing our border to meet the moment. for years our asylum system has represented the promise of america, welcoming those fleeing persecution to find freedom and safety. today though, our asylum system is broken. our border patrol isn't able to do their jobs and catch dangerous criminals and our border communities cannot keep up. in order to uphold the promise of protection and freedom, and ensure that our asylum system work for those who seek to serve, we must acknowledge that the status quo is no longer functional. our immigration courts and officers remain completely backlog with simple cases taking years to resolve sending a message that america does not take this process seriously and that our system can be manipulated. in arizona, the impact is clear.

small towns along our border, like san luis, nogales, yuma, are overwhelmed daily struggling to care for their own residents and managing an influx of hundreds of migrants every day. with our asylum system broken, more migrants make the add arduous journey to the border and risk not getting the attention and care that they need. now, arizona's humanitarian organizations do incredible work. they go above and beyond every day to avoid street releases and to ensure that migrants are treated fairly. but they can only do so much. for example, the main humanitarian organization in tucson, casa alita, has been operating over capacity for over a month, an average of 600

asylum seekers a day and yuma's regional center, is now contracting hotel rooms and buses due to the large number of migrants coming to that small city. with the snow bird season and finding season well underway, hotels are limited placing more strain on yuma's already overwhelmed public health and emergency response system. so senator tillis and i understand, we cannot address the border without also fixing our asylum system. our bipartisan plan creates an orderly system where those wishing to claim asylum by streamlining the asylum process in a manner that respects american values, we will quickly and fairly adjudicate claims and remove those who do not have a valid claim of asylum sending a message to those in other countries that our asylum system

will no longer be manipulated. the crisis at our border represents an immediate threat, but those of us from border states know and we've seen up close that strong border security, healthy cross-border trade and a fair immigration system all go hand in hand. we can and we must achieve all three, in 2019, over two trillion dollars worth of goods were traded through our ports of entry and the nogales port alone handles over a billion dollar worth of produce every year. goods and services traded between arizona and mexico powered jobs across our state and often immigrant workers are the very ones fueling the cross-border trade and keeping this sector of our economy industry. to ensure that our nation's

economy continues for years to come, that's why our bipartisan proposal fixes a loophole in our visa system. for years hundreds of thousands of visas have gone to waste. by righting this wrong we'll increase our competitiveness and ensure that america has the work force it needs to power our economy and compete on the world stage. i believe the future resilience of the country includes inclusion of young people often known as dreamers. in america, we don't punish children for the actions of their parents. and millions of young people have been brought to our country through no-fault of their own. these kids have grown up in our neighborhoods, attended our schools, graduated, gotten jobs, served in our military, contributed to our economies, all while making our communities

more vibrant and rich places to live, but now they're stuck in limbo, casualties of washington's inability to solve our broken immigration system and that's why senator tillis and i have said enough is enough. we call on our colleagues to join us in a bipartisan plan to give these young people to have a chance to be recognized as americans. look, our proposal to tough, but it is fair. and i am certain that it will make america a stronger and safer place for all of us. i stand here today disappointed as we come close to closing out the 117th congress that washington has chosen yet again to retreat to its partisan corners instead of doing the hard and necessary work of finding the lasting solutions when it comes to the crisis at our border. and in arizona, we will continue

to shoulder the burden. now, part of the problem is that many in washington have never taken the time to really see our border up close and without seeing it for all of its diversity and its challenges, it can be easy to rely on the partisan talking points instead of focusing on the meaningful and realistic solutions. that's why when we come back to congress in january, one of the first thing i'll do with senator tillis is convene a bipartisan group of senators who are willing and committed to get something done. we're going to bring them to the border. we're going to see what arizonians see every single day because a crisis this big should not and cannot be ignored. and in arizona, we cannot afford for this crisis to continue much longer. over the past four years i've been privileged to work with colleagues in this body on both

sides of the aisle to solve some of our country's toughest challenges, through honesty and collaboration, we have shown america, there is so much more that unites us than divides us. we've shown america what is possible when we listen to one another, not to respond or debate, but to understand. there's no challenge more intractable, more difficult to bridge and more dire for us to solve than our border and immigration crisis. and i believe that we can come together and earnestly solve this challenge. i am willing to do this work, and i couldn't be more grateful for partners like senator tillis, who's also willing to do this work and today i call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us. put down the politics, let's get

this done. thank you. i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> senator from north carolina. thank you, mr. president, i first want to thank my colleague, senator sinema for her comments and she's framed a lot of the challenges that we're seeking to address that's going to persist into the next congress now. one of the things we have to do if we're able to achieve bipartisan consensus in the next congress is to get more people to recognize, just as senator sinema stated in her first few lines of her comments just before me, we have a crisis at the southern border and it's a crisis where the border states, southern border states bear the brunt of it, but it affects everybody in the united states, every city, every state, every community is being affected by

the crisis at the border. i think this administration has to recognize that it's interesting, if you watch the news coverage how suddenly one end of the spectrum says now it's time for congress to act. the crisis at the border, two million illegal crossings in each of the last 12 month periods for a total of four million people illegally crossing the border. we dodged a bullet this week when title 42, a policy which allows expedited removal for a certain group of those crossing the border illegally to be returned. but tomorrow or next week or in the next couple of weeks, that policy is going to come off the books. then border patrol says that they will no longer have control over the border. they already have said that they can barely keep up. the vast majority of people who are border patrol agents who should be responding to illegal

crossings are working in the aftermath of two million people coming across the border over the last 12 months. they're providing housing, transportation, they're not actually doing law enforcement. if title 42 goes away, that two million is estimated to be three million the next 12 months and it could go up from there. ever since president biden's taken office we have to keep in mind that this is just an objective observation in the 12 months before president biden came into office, there were about half a million illegal crossings. in the 12 months before. in the 12 months after, there were two million. and the 12 months after that there were two million and now we have the threat of three million and continuing. what's even worse than that though, you have to-- on the one hand when you see somebody risking their life to come into this country you have to kind of take it as a compliment. they want to realize the american dream and i admire

that, but one of the very reasons why we're so attractive as a country to come and live and prosper, we're a nation of laws, we have order. now we have disorder at the border. even though it's a huge problem to have two million crossings every year, it's even worse problem to have 50,000 got-aways. the way it works at the border, i've been to the border several times. the vast majority of the people that cross the border immediately, you literately see the northern side of the rio grande, an arrow that points you to where you can go to be processed. they know they're going to be treated respectfully, they'll be given housing, food, go through the process. what's concerning is that there are some 50,000 per month who intentionally evade apprehension. now, why on earth, if you've got

a valid asylum claim or you don't have a criminal record would you avoid border patrol and processed and released in a few weeks. the reason for that, many of them have criminal background records. we had 750 resently apprehended documented members of gangs in their country of origin. these are people coming to this country and quickly going to the communities that they're most like, and making -- respect 70, the nays are 21. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate will resume legislative session. the clerk will report. the clerk: house message to accompany h.r. 26617, an act to

amendment the -- to amend the united states code. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the following be the only matters remaining in order to the house message with respect to h.r. 2617. that the amendments be called up en bloc, reported by number and considered in order, paul 6561 and motion to waive, johnson 6555, johnson -6r 55 -9d, sinema-tester 6 # 2 -- lee 6576, lankford, 65777, cassidy 6558, cornyn, 6588, graham 6596, merck

9595, klobuchar 6 659967, menenz 6617. that the senate proceed to the consideration of the scott of florida bill that is at the desk. that the bill be considered read a third time and the senate vote on passage of the bill. that if the bill is passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that upon disposition of the scott bill, the senate resume consideration of the house message. further, that the senate then vote on the motion to waive, if made, and in relation to the amendments in the order listed, that upon disposition of the amendments, the motion to refer be withdrawn, 6567 -- in the house amendment to the senate amendment number 4 to h.r. 2617 with amendment 6552, with two

minutes for debate equally divided and all votes after the first vote be ten minutes votes with 60 affirmative votes for the passage of the scott bill. the motion to concur with the amendment and adoption of all amendments except 6555, 6577, 6563 and 6576, if the negotiation to concur with amendment is agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table without intervening action or debate. proo is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: so, mr. president, we have an agreement now. we will vote on all of the amendments in order and then vote on final passage. it's taken a while, but it is worth it and i appreciate the cooperation of everyone here. the first vote will take a while until the members can assemble, but after that, we intend that everyone sit in their seat and

we go through the amendments quickly as we know the storm is coming. we want to have people both get the bill done and be able to go home once we have done our work. please cooperate and no appointments far away. we're going to vote quickly. hopefully members will sit in their chairs for ten minute votes. i note the absence of a quorum. proo the clerk will call the -- the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. i ask that the quorum be dispensed with. proo the following amendments will be called en bloc and reported by number. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposes amendments en bloc 6561, 6555, 6559, 66 6621, 6563, 6576, 6577,

6569, 6588, 6596, 6595, 6597, 6607, 6617. mr. schumer: i note the absence of a quorum, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to the consideration of s. 355. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from florida, mr. scott, introduceses a bill -- introduces -- 5355, making emergency supplement appropriations for fiscal year 2023, and for other purposes. mr. scott: mr. president. the presiding officer: there's now two minutes of debate equally divided. mr. scott: immediately after hurricane ian passed, i promised to get the floridians, the assistance they needed. i urged my colleagues to get

much-needed aid to florida families. immediately after the aid, floridians desperately delayed to be stuffed into this massive $1.7 trillion omnibus bill. i have heard from floridians, especially our growers and others in agriculture that without changes this will not be delivered in the most efficient way possible to ensure their recovery. we should take this opportunity to act on their concerns today. make needed changes to ensure this federal disaster does as much good as possible. there's no reason to delay this further many i urge my colleagues to help those recovering from storms and those who put food on the table. support this bill. mr. leahy: mr. president . the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i still agree with the senator from florida that we have a responsibility to help americans the wake of disaster. it doesn't make any difference whether you're a republican or democrat or from a blue state or red state, we have to stand

together to help communities recover and rebuild. i've done that on this floor for 48 years, voted for disaster bills for all states, but i believe in reality, not rhetoric. we don't have time to play politics, we have to enact the omnibus bill now and that will get the aid to people in florida and other communities that need it most. so i -- i urge all senators to vote for omnibus and let us get these things done. it's time to go forward. we don't have time for further delay. so i -- the presiding officer: under the previous order, the bill is considered read a third time and the question occurs on the passage of the bill. is there a sufficient second?

there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 22, the nays are 73. the 60 vote threshold not having been achieved, the bill is not passed. mr. schumer: now, madam president, can i have the attention of everybody, please. the presiding officer: order in the chamber. mr. schumer: okay. i urge everybody to stay in their seats. we are having ten-minute votes. we have to get out of here as quickly as possible. so we need cooperation from everybody. okay. thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: for years members of congress have lamented their inability to control spending and debt. on rare occasions, though, congress has actually passed rules to try to tame their primal urge to borrow and spend, from gram-rudman-hollings to pay-go, good legislation is out there to

restrain deficit spending only to be universally ignored and rejected by future congresses. today's legislation breaks the congressional budget act rules so congressional leaders have included in this monstrous spending bill language to simply waive the pay-go rules. congress has time and time again waived its own rules, and the result has been over $31 trillion in debt, inflation --. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. paul: and weakened economy. let's respect the american people by being responsible stewards of their tax dollars and adhering to our own budget rules. the pending measure, senate amendment 6552, contains matters in division o title x section 1001 parenthesis dethat relates to the pay as you go act of 2010 which is matter within the jurisdiction of the budget committee. the pending measure was neither

reported nor discharged from the budget committee. therefore, i raise a point of order against this measure pursuant to section 3067 of the congressional budget act of 1974. mr. sanders: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: madam president, pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974, i move to waive all applicable sections of that act and any other applicable budget points of order for purposes of the pending message, and i ask for the yeas and nays. before that, madam president, let me be very clear. if we do not waive this budget point of order raised by senator paul, it will kill the entire appropriations bill that we are debating. not just this section dealing with sequestration. in other words, if we do not waive this budget point of order, the government will shut down just before christmas, not a particularly nice christmas gift to give to the american people. madam president, this bill,

this omnibus bill is not the bill that i would have written, not the bill that anybody else here would have written, but it includes a 30% increase in the child care development block grant program, nearly $1 billion more for head start, doubles funding for community schools, and does many other important things. madam president, i would urge my colleagues to waive this point of order and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 65, the nays are 31. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to and the point of order fall. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. there will be order. mr. schumer: may i have attention in the chamber? that was a 12-minute vote. we can do two minutes better. please stay in your seats. (applause).

mr. paul: madam president, moments ago i made a budget point of order against a 4,155 page bill, spending $1.7 trillion, given to us in the middle of the night, at 1:3. the point of order was waived, as it always has been by the senate. it has become far too easy for congress to escape its own rules, designed to prevent reckless spending. there has been enough time for a single -- there hasn't been enough time for a single person to have read this entire bill. the bill in process ignores soaring inflation, rising interest rates and our ballooning debt of $31 trillion. enough is enough. i now ask my colleagues to support my amendment to raise the threshold to waive a budget point of order from three-fifths to two-thirds. mr. sanders: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from very much. mr. sanders: i rise in strong opposition to senator paul's amendment. this would require 67 senators

to waive a budget point of order instead of 60. in other words, go this amendment were passed, a tiny minority of u.s. senators could prevent action on a national health care crisis, an economic crisis, or a natural disaster. that would put the people of this country in, in my view, in a very dangerous position. i urge my colleagues to vote no on the paul amendment. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 34, the nays are 63. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of the amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the leader. mr. schumer: so that one was 11. we're making progress. will members please sit in their seats when called and speak loudly so the clerk can hear how you vote. that will speed things up a little more. maybe we can break the ten-minute mark. mr. johnson: the presiding officer: mr. pres. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will now two minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to the johnson amendment amendment number 6555.

mr. johnson: mr. president. the presiding according to the national association of state officers, states are sitting on a surplus cumulatively of over $250 billion. in addition to that, they have rainy day funds approaching over $130 billion, that totals up to about $380 billion. this omnibus is going to spend around $1.7 trillion and yet it's still not enough. here's the 625 pages of earmarks earmarks. almost $10 billion worth of additional money going into the states when they're sitting on close to $420 billion. earmarks -- my amendment simply

eliminates all of the earmarks from this goa grotesque omnibusi ask my colleagues to support the elimination of all the remarks in the bill. the presiding officer: the president pro tem. mr. leahy: we are -- he wants to creed -- we are asking to be able to reflect what the voters of our state want. as a senator from vermont, i speak with community leaders, dairy farmers and vermonters across my state every day. i've done this for 48 years many i understand what they need and try to reflect it. in fact under rule xl iv, rule 44, additional rules i

established last year, we have have transparency, far more transparency than at any time in my 48 years in the senate. i ask unanimous consent that the rest of my remarks be included in the record and i oppose the johnson amendment. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the president pro tempore: on this number 410, the yeas are 34, the nays are 63. the amendment is not agreed to.

the president pro tempore: under the previous order, now two minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to the johnson amendment number 6559. mr. schumer: mr. president. the president pro tempore: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: that was 8 1/2 minutes. let's keep it up. stay in your seats. mr. johnson: mr. president, i have a chart showing monthly apprehensions at the southwest border since 2012. this little blip over here in 2014, this is the humanitarian crisis declared by president obama when monthly apprehensions exceeded about 60,000 a month. president trump had to deal with one month about 4,000 people a day, but still under 150,000 people per month. and he solved the problem by returning people and having a

consequence for illegal entry into this country. president biden took office, opened up the border, and now we are exceeding over 200,000 people entering this country illegally every month. this is a crisis. this is a humanitarian crisis, but this administration won't even admit it's a problem. they say it's a challenge. so my amendment is pretty simple. it takes whatever funds are appropriated for transporting illegal immigrants and only allows those funds to be used to send them home or to a safe third country or to mexico or to a detention facility here in america. we need a consequence. we have to secure our border. this is out of control. i ask all my colleagues to support my amendment. a senator: mr. president. the president pro tempore: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. president. i'm going to strongly urge opposition to this amendment. this amendment uses terms not traditionally used in the immigration code so it is pretty

hard to understand what the impact is going to be. if the intent is for these to apply to asylum seekers, the amendment effectively ends the asylum program for everyone. i'm frankly not sure there is even republican consensus to do that. if it's not meant to apply to asylum seekers, the strange drafting has really bad, probably unintended consequences. for instance, in an individual was here on a student visa and they committed a serious crime, this amendment doesn't seem to allow for that individual to be transported for the purposes of removal because they aren't here unlawfully. that's all to say that this amendment really isn't ready for prime time, and i would urge its rejection. the president pro tempore: the question is on the amendment. the clerk will call the roll. is there a sufficient second? there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the president pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 47, the nays are 50. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. the majority leader. mr. schumer: let's keep it up. the president pro tempore: under the previous order, there are now two minutes of debate prior to vote in relation to the sinema-tester amendment number 6621. who seeks recognition? sin sin mr. president. -- ms. sinema:it's pathetic congress is here at the 11th hour. tunnel vision on damaging the

opposition and preventing the other side frlg getting a win replaced thoughtful ledge -- legislating. the border in arizona is a crisis. enough is enough. stop using the border as a political tool. we are here to do our job. this amendment keeps title 42 until a permanent plan is in place, boosts funding for security, investors in officers and stops the flow of drugs. i call on my colleagues to support this amendment. i yield to my colleague. mr. tester: this gill -- bill ensures processing for evaluating plans, provides resources for technology, gives law enforcement at the southern broarpd additional resources and overrieppedz president biden to -- overrides president biden's decision to end title 42. i encourage your aye vote.

the president pro tempore: the senator from utah. mr. lee: this is a ruse designed to provide political cover for people who recognize the crisis on the border and want to appear to be doing is -- something about it but it doesn't. it proposes tens of billions of dollars to sim polyp manage the border crisis, not stop it. it doesn't do anything to stom fentanyl or actually secure our border. the sponsors will tell you it pro hibbs the repeal of title 42. that is a lie. it only funds when the surgeon general, housed in hhs, has the authority to do so. and how would it manage this crisis? well, it would do so by funding the processing of people coming into this country faster than they're currently being processed, and more costly lawsuits await against our enforcement policies. i strongly encourage my colleagues to oppose this amendment, which is a ruiz. it doesn't do -- which is a ruse.

doesn't do what it purports to do and distracts from the crisis unfolding on our southern border. the president pro tempore: the question is on the amendment. the yeas and nays have been requested. is there a sufficient second? there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the president pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 10, the nays are 87, the amendment is not agreed to. under the previous order, there are now two minutes of debate prior to vote in relation to lee amendment number 6563. mr. lee: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, during our recent border crisis, title 42 has become the only sustained control we have over illegal immigration. in 2022, just this year alone, we've had over 2.7 million undocumented immigrants at our southern border. that doesn't even include those who came across, sneaking through undetected. the biden administration is only expelling people from the border, exclusively under title

42. that's it. that's all we've got. in the last three years, title 42 has been used to help us expel 2.5 million illegal immigrants. over the last seven days alone, mr. president, the border patrol in arizona showed us it's not just the people coming across illegally, it's also drugs, dangerous drugs. in the last seven days alone, border patrol agents in arizona confiscated 1.5 million fentanyl tablets. that's enough to kill america's entire population nine times over. we have no business passing this bill unless this is in here. vote for this amendment, i implore you. thank you. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: . the logic of title 42 is a public health response to a crisis. it was determined that foreigners coming into the

united states could be turned away under title 42 and more than a million were last year. now, what has happened to the public health crisis? in june of this year, our government announced it would no longer require covid tests for foreigners entering the united states. we have 22 million international visitors each year, and now there's no longer a requirement for testing. let's be honest -- this is not about public health anymore. of it is our excuse for not tackling the very real challenge of coming up with a border policy on a bipartisan basis. i salute senator sinema and tillis for their undertaking. i want to work with them in the future, and i think we should reject this amendment. the president pro tempore: the question is on the amendment. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the president pro tempore: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: it during a vote, debate is not allowed. order in the senate.

the presiding officer: still continuing. debate is not in order. the presidingthe president pro . ri in -- parliamentary inquiries are not in order.

the president pro tempore: the yeas are 47, the nays are 50. the amendment is not agreed to.

under the previous order, there's now two minutes of debate prior to vote in relation to the lee amendment numbered 6576. mr. lee: before i begin my remarks on this, i would like to know how long the vote was held open on the last vote. the president pro tempore: the -- it was 16 minutes total. mr. lee: longer -- the president pro tempore: 18 minutes. mr. lee: 18 minutes is longer than 10. mr. president -- the president pro tempore: the senator will withhold until the senate is in order. on both sides. the senate's in order. the senator may proceed.