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Floor Speech
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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, before I begin, there is something I want to address today. I just want to make an observation about this discussion we are having on our southern border. I would reiterate what I have been saying now for some time, and that is that it is no longer just a humanitarian crisis. It is every bit of that, but it is a national security crisis.
We see the numbers on a daily basis, the number of people who are apprehended at the southern border trying to come into the country illegally. In the last 3 days--the last 3 days--that is over 9,000 per day--over 9,000 per day, and that doesn't include the ``got-aways'' or the unknowns. That is the people who are apprehended coming across the border illegally. And we now know that, in the month of September, for example, there were a significant number of people--18, actually-- apprehended coming across the southern border, who are on the Terrorist Watchlist.
People coming from all over the world have figured out that, if you want a portal, if you want to get into the United States, just come to the southern border, and we will wave you in, which is essentially what is happening today.
And the question I would ask is, In what universe does that make any sense?
I said this yesterday: We are a nation of immigrants. We have been a very welcoming country. We have ways of bringing people into this country legally, and we do that on an annual basis.
But we are a nation of laws, first and foremost. The rule of law is what distinguishes our country from many other countries around the world, and yet, at our southern border, that doesn't mean a thing.
Over 9,000 a day--annualize that. Think about what that means. That is 3 million people a year. And we have people who want to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to it.
We have an opportunity in this national security supplemental bill that will be on the floor perhaps as early as next week. It will deal with issues like Ukraine, issues like Israel--what is happening there-- and the Indo-Pacific, where we have national security interests at stake. We have to deal with the national security crisis at our southern border.
This is insanity. I don't understand it. I don't understand the administration. I don't understand some of my colleagues here in the Senate who feel like this isn't something that we need to be dealing with or addressing. This is a national security crisis on a daily basis--over 9,000 the last 3 days in a row--and, again, some of which we know, because they are catching them, are people on the Terrorist Watchlist.
In what universe does what is being done at our southern border make sense to anybody, to any rational person?
It doesn't make sense to the mayor of New York City or the mayor of Chicago, where, as migrants arrive there, they are having to divert resources to address that. The mayor of New York City said he was going to freeze hiring police officers in New York City. That seems like that would be a problem, if I were a New York City resident. He said he was going to have to close libraries and cut funding for education.
That is what we are talking about. This is not just an issue that affects communities on the southern border, although I have been down there a number of times, and, believe me, they are profoundly affected. This is an issue where every State becomes a border State, as literally thousands of people on a daily basis are released into the interior of the United States--waved by, with no regard or respect for our heritage as a nation of laws in a country that is built upon a foundation of the rule of law.
It has to be fixed. It has to be done, and it needs to be done now, and I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and our folks at the White House understand that. We can't wait any longer. This is out of control.
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