Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 572; that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I live in a State--the State of Montana-- that has a northern border. ICE agents keep our border secure, and I want to thank them for the very important work they are doing.

Far too many people are coming into our country illegally and putting the safety and security of American citizens at risk. In fact, in Montana, the effects of unsecured borders are very personal. All across our State, communities at this moment are torn apart by the meth and opioids that are trafficked through the southern border. In fact, just last year, ICE seized nearly 50 tons of narcotics, nearly a million pounds of heroin, fentanyl, and other deadly drugs that criminals and cartels are smuggling into our country.

At a time when America is suffering from a drug epidemic, how many more lives would be lost if ICE agents were not protecting our borders? How many more innocent Americans would be harmed or murdered if we did not have ICE agents to arrest illegal immigrants with criminal convictions? These are the questions that those who call for the abolishment of ICE should be asking.

It is outrageous. It is irresponsible to call for abolishing one of our country's most critical security measures. Abolishing ICE would give terrorists, gang members, drug dealers, and other criminals a field day.

I stand for protecting American security. I stand for upholding the rule of law. That is why I stand with ICE.

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