Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, reserving the right to object,
before I address this issue, I will take a moment of personal privilege
to talk about the horrific tragedy that occurred in Surfside, FL, when
an apartment building collapsed earlier this morning.

Miami-Dade fire and rescue, Miami-Dade police, and our other brave first responders rushed to the scene and have been working nonstop to rescue those trapped in the rubble. It looks horrible. I have talked to quite a few people down there, and we know of one confirmed death, and, hopefully, there won't be no more. But I know they are still trying to get people out of the rubble.

So I join all my Floridians in praying for strength for these first responders and all those impacted by this disaster.

First, I want to thank my colleague for giving me a few moments to speak on this difficult moment for my State.

My colleague raised this same issue yesterday. I am here fighting for accountability for the American people. So I will say the same in return.

I voted to support Ms. Easterly's confirmation in committee last week. If Senator Schumer filed for cloture, like he has done for dozens of other nominees this year, I would vote to support her confirmation here on the Senate floor. In fact, I don't understand why Senator Schumer didn't file for cloture on Tuesday night when my office first learned of my colleague's intention to raise this. We could be voting on her confirmation right now.

As my colleague has said, this isn't about Ms. Easterly, in my mind. This isn't about cyber security. Remember, we announced and confirmed the National Cyber Director last week. Just yesterday, the Senate confirmed the Administrator of the General Services Administration, which is a key Agency for modernizing and protecting the Federal Government's IT infrastructure. I am here today because families in my State of Florida and across our Nation deserve accountability, and President Biden has shown a total lack of accountability when it comes to addressing the border crisis. That is why I announced last month that I will be holding all of President Biden's nominees for the Department of Homeland Security from being approved through our expedited process until he and Vice President Harris visit the border and see for themselves the crisis their failed policies of open borders and the amnesty have created.

As we all know, yesterday, the White House announced that the Vice President will be visiting the border tomorrow, and absolutely, I think we all hope that is true. The administration made a lot of promises they haven't kept. They promised not to raise taxes. They promised to reopen schools quickly. They promised to be tough on Communist China. There is quite a list.

So trust me--I am glad the Vice President seems to be taking my advice and finally listening to the American people and visiting the border. I truly hope she gets down to the border to see the crisis that this administration's failed policies have created.

I hope she meets with the National Border Patrol Council to hear from them what our brave CBP agents are going through every day to keep us safe.

I hope she meets with border community sheriffs who are responsible for keeping our families safe.

I hope she meets with our ICE and CBP section chiefs.

I hope she takes an aerial tour like I did and sees the gaps in the wall. I took a tour with Governor Ducey. You have the wall, and then all of a sudden, there are these openings where the fences weren't put up or the gates weren't put up.

A lot of people up here said: Oh, we don't need the wall; we need, you know, technology.

Well, there are the lights and cameras. I saw places where it just-- it wasn't electrified. It just doesn't make sense.

I hope she meets with families who have been victims of trafficking and hears their horrific stories, what this has put people through.

I hope she visits some of the border communities and talks to the mayors and talks to people down there about how they are housing and caring for this historic number of people illegally crossing our borders. This is a tough crisis that has been created.

I hope she talks to families who have lost loved ones from massive, massive amounts of fentanyl that now our cartels are moving across the border.

I hope she talks to ranchers who are impacted by people illegally crossing the border onto their property.

I think all of us would hope that it is not just a political stunt. I hope she actually says: I want to see the crisis. I want to understand exactly what happened here.

When she does, I am going to lift all of my holds, as I told my colleague.

What is happening at the border is a crisis, and I don't think there is another word for it. You can look at this chart. Look at how many people have come across. This is the number of people who have been apprehended. We don't know how many people there are who haven't been apprehended.

More than 180,000 illegal aliens tried to cross our southern border last month--the highest number in 21 years--threatening our national security and the safety of American families.

President Biden's immigration policies are putting unaccompanied minors at risk of human trafficking, violence, sexual abuse, and separation from their families. I mean, it is horrible. They are leading to an alarming increase in human trafficking and drug smuggling by cartels.

FBI Director Wray said there is ``no question'' that the cartel activity from Mexico is ``spilling over'' to the United States. We are seeing it in Florida. I talk to our sheriffs, and what they are telling me is that they are seeing a lot more deadly fentanyl coming into their counties, and it is showing up in their labs.

But instead of securing the border and finishing the wall construction projects--I don't get it. Why did President Biden terminate all the border wall projects? No one can--he has never had an explanation.

So this inaction of not going to the border by President Biden and Vice President Harris doesn't make any sense. Why can't they acknowledge that we expect and we deserve a secure border that is good for our Nation? Why can't they stand up against the radical left and say that open borders are dangerous for our families?

It should make every American furious. It is not something to laugh about. People are dying. Children are being exploited and abandoned in the desert.

This is a picture of two young 3- and 5-year-old Ecuadorian girls. You can see it. They were just dropped. Anybody who has been around little children, 3 and 5 years old--think about it. They were just dropped over the wall and just abandoned, just abandoned, hoping somebody was going to take care of them. Abandoned in the middle of the night. I mean, I have grandkids. I just can't imagine--I can't imagine anybody doing this.

The White House claims that Vice President Harris's last trip was to talk about the root causes of immigration. It doesn't make any sense. It seems like it was just a political stunt to me.

President Biden and Vice President Harris need to stop avoiding the crisis, stop laughing about the threat, get down to the border, and actually take real steps to really secure the border.

So if either of them goes to the border, I am lifting my holds, but as long as they refuse to help those risking their lives every day to keep us safe, as long as they refuse to visit the border and put an end to the humanitarian crisis they have created, I am going to keep my holds on.

Those two little girls, they deserve better. The millions of immigrants going through the legal immigration process, they deserve better. Our Border Patrol agents deserve better. Our local law enforcement agents deserve better. ICE deserves better. American families deserve better.

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