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Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, an early report suggests that the Biden administration may have set yet another record at our southern border-- and not the good kind. If this early report is accurate, the number of migrant encounters at our southern border in January is the highest January number ever recorded. That, of course, would follow December's recordbreaking number of migrant encounters, which was a staggering 309,034. That is not only the highest December number ever recorded but the highest number for any month ever recorded. Before that, of course, there was September's recordbreaking number, and the list goes on.

The Biden administration has presided over a truly unprecedented crisis at our Nation's border. We have had 3 years of recordbreaking illegal immigration under the Biden administration. Fiscal year 2021 saw a recordbreaking 1,734,686 migrant encounters at our southern border. Then fiscal year 2022 broke that record, and then fiscal year 2023 broke that record. They didn't break that 2021 record by a small margin, either. Fiscal year 2023 exceeded fiscal year 2021 by a staggering 740,000-plus encounters. If the current trajectory continues, it is likely that fiscal year 2024 will break the record yet again.

All told, since President Biden took office, there have been more than 7 million--million--migrant encounters at our southwest border, and that is just counting the individuals who were stopped by Customs and Border Protection. Since January 2021, when President Biden took office, there have been more than 1.7 million known ``got-aways,'' and those are individuals the Border Patrol saw but was unable to apprehend. We have no idea how many unknown--unknown--``got-aways'' there have been over the same period.

I could keep throwing out numbers all day, but needless to say, my point is this: The situation at our southern border is a disaster, it is unprecedented, and it is untenable. We have to get this crisis under control.

I am thankful for Senator Lankford's efforts to address the chaos at our southern border. Senator Lankford has spent months now working to develop serious border security reform, and his work has further highlighted the ways the Biden administration has invited illegal immigration and undermined security at our Nation's border.

The worst border crisis on record will be a defining feature of President Biden's legacy, in addition to the high cost of inflation imposed on American families and the weakening of America's standing on the world's stage.

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