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Floor Speech

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Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President:

I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

That is the oath that we all take once we become Senators of the United States.

Just imagine that you are Allyson and John Phillips. Last Thursday afternoon, you get a phone call from law enforcement in Athens, GA. The voice on the other end of the phone says that your daughter has been murdered by an illegal immigrant. I cannot imagine what that feels like. I cannot even begin to understand the shock and sadness and anger.

Laken Riley was a nursing student at Augusta, GA, this past year. On Wednesday morning, she went out for a jog on the campus of the University of Georgia. She never came back. Police found her body in the woods a few hours later around noontime. She was covered with blood and injuries from head to toe.

An autopsy found that she died of blunt force trauma to the head. The charging documents in this case say that her skull was disfigured. This was a brutal murder of an innocent young woman.

Laken Riley was just 22 years old. She had her whole life ahead of her. She had a bright future. Now that future will never be realized.

You know, I spent 40 years of my life on college campuses. I have dedicated my life to coaching young adults, but I wasn't just a coach; I was also a mentor. There is nothing more heartbreaking than losing a promising young person like Laken Riley, and I want to offer my condolences to the Riley family.

Our No. 1 commodity in this country is our young people. Laken's death is even more heartbreaking because it could have been prevented and should have been prevented. On Friday night, police arrested and charged Jose Antonio Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and hindering a 911 call.

Jose Ibarra is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. In other words, he should never have been in this country in the first place. This brutal and horrific murder would have been prevented if Joe Biden and Democrats had done their job by enforcing the law.

Jose Ibarra crossed the southern border in El Paso in September of 2022, a year and a half ago. He was paroled into our country, and I will talk about parole here in just a minute. His social media accounts show that he went from El Paso to New York City. New York is a sanctuary State and city. That means that illegals who commit crimes will not be turned over to the immigration police when their jail time is up.

This is an open invitation by New York City to criminals. We have a lot of these sanctuary cities in our country today. According to ICE immigration police, he was arrested just 5 months ago in New York, charged with acting in a manner to injure a child and for driving without a license. Specifically, he was arrested for allegedly endangering a 5-year-old child, 5 months ago.

Athens police called the murder of Laken Riley a crime of opportunity. In other words, this was, essentially, a random act of violence. It could have been anyone's daughter. She did absolutely nothing wrong.

So my question is: Where are Georgia's Senators today? What are Georgia Senators doing to secure the border, to protect more people like Laken Riley? Where is their outrage? Soon, the Senate will hold a trial on articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, the guy that is in charge of our border.

Georgia Senators, how are they going to vote when the trial comes up? Are they going to vote for Secretary Mayorkas since he has been impeached in the House? Because he is the one that let this killer in.

Are Senators from border States like California and Arizona going to save Mayorkas' job, the job that he has refused to do for the last 3\1/ 2\ years? We will find out and find out soon.

In the House, every single Democrat fell in line and voted--and voted to save Mayorkas' job just a few weeks ago, every single Democrat--and the guy hasn't done his job in 3\1/2\ years.

Every single House Democrat endorsed the job that Secretary Mayorkas is doing; that includes five Democrats from the State of Georgia where Laken Riley was killed.

In a separate vote, 150 House Democrats voted against deporting illegals who had been convicted of drunk driving.

Mr. President, 150, all Democrats, voted against deporting illegals if they got caught drunk driving. That includes all five of Georgia's Democrats in the House.

This is today's Democrat Party, and I go back to the oath that we all took to protect domestic and foreign, to protect.

Are Senate Democrats going to put their political careers on the line by continuing to support the least popular President in modern history, who has not done his job at the border? We will soon find out.

Or are they going to stand beside somebody who has broken the law? If Laken Riley were my daughter--if Laken Riley were my daughter, Secretary Mayorkas would have a lot more to worry about than a pending impeachment trial. He would need to go into hiding. It is embarrassing to this country of how these people are holding people accountable under the law.

I would do everything in my power to ensure he never forgot her name and that his inaction led to her death. Blood is on his hands.

I cannot possibly understand what this family is going through today. But for open borders--all the open-border crowd--she is just collateral damage, just somebody else that has been murdered. It won't be talked about again. Don't worry about it. All we care about is votes. All we care about is power.

To Democrats in this administration, Laken Riley is just another sacrifice on the altar of woke ideology. The blame for this crime lies with this administration and with the Democratic Senate majority. Democrats run Washington right now. The buck stops with them. They uphold the laws.

Democrats could have stopped this if they would have secured the border, if they had done their job. But they have utterly refused for the last 3\1/2\ years.

In fact, this administration has done exactly the opposite. This is globalism. This is putting the interest of other countries ahead of our own country, our own people, our own citizens.

Joe Biden has effectively erased our southern border--we don't have a border--and has invited the world in with no oversight or plan to figure out who is here and why.

I have been talking about this issue since I was elected to office 3 years ago. Nearly every American--excuse me. Nearly every Republican has been talking about it in both the House and the Senate.

I haven't seen Georgia Senators down here on the floor sounding the alarm on the southern border, not one time in the last 3\1/2\ years. I haven't seen California Senators giving speeches about the border and why is it open, because they are being overrun. I haven't seen Arizona Senators down here giving speeches on the border: You have got to help us. Let's close the border.

I haven't seen that. I am not sure I have seen one Democratic Senator on this floor in the last 3\1/2\ years talking about the open borders that we have--not one.

This is the biggest problem facing our country by far. President Biden says it is climate change. You have got to be kidding me.

Democrats don't want to talk about this. Republicans have tried to fix the problem.

I introduced the Border Safety and Security Act, which would close the border until the Federal Government regained control of operations along the southern border. I have sponsored legislation like H.R. 2, which is the best border security bill that we have had. I have offered more than 50 border amendments to the recently passed national security supplemental bill--any one of them which would have helped fix the border crisis.

Democrats have blocked me and the Republicans at every turn. They are the majority of the Senate, and they control the floor. I understand that.

A few week ago, we almost took up a so-called border bill from Senator Schumer and Senator Murphy. They worked on it for months. For months, they worked on it--embarrassing. It was more of a border giveaway--a border giveaway--than a border bill.

This would have not stopped the deaths of these young people. It would not have stopped and prevented the death of Laken Riley.

Unbelievably, the senior Senator from California actually opposed it for being too conservative. The people of California are suffering because of a wide-open border, just like all the people across our country.

I will just mention a few, starting in California. Last May, an illegal alien named Carlos Dominguez stabbed three people in Davis, CA. Two of them died, David Breaux and a student named Karim Najm. A third person was stabbed but survived, named Kimberlee Guillory. The alleged attacker in this case, Carlos Dominguez, came here in 2009 as an unaccompanied minor. He just had his first preliminary hearing in court this past week. Where is the outrage from the California Senators about the death and the stabbings of these people?

Let's talk about Arizona. Last year a young man named Harly Sellers was killed by a drunk driver in Fountain Hills, AZ. The alleged drunk driver who killed him is named Hilario Ortiz Cruz. He is an illegal alien who had previously been deported in 2013.

It is a felony to reenter this country after being deported. A lot of people don't realize that, but it is. We don't go by many laws anyway.

Harly Sellers was 29 years old. He was engaged to be married in just 2 months. That wedding will never happen. Harly Sellers left behind two young children, including a 1-year-old baby named Carter. Carter will never know his dad.

This was a crime that could have and should have been prevented. Where are the Senators from Arizona? Where is their outrage? The silence is deafening.

Part of the blame for this crime falls on this city, here in Washington, DC. This city should be blamed because we make the laws, and we push the laws.

Just a couple of weeks ago in Texas, a 16-year-old girl named Lizbeth Medina was killed in her own bedroom--just a couple of weeks ago. A grand jury has now charged an illegal alien in the case. He is charged with breaking into the home and then beating her to death and stabbing her.

This is happening all across our border. But it is not just limited to the border. Every State in our country now is a border State.

Just last night, people arrested and charged an illegal alien just a few miles from this building--just a few miles. It is about a 30-minute drive from the U.S. Senate. Police allege that an illegal alien named Nilson Granados-Trejo was among a group of gang members who shot at another group of gang members. Police say it was all about a drug dispute.

Caught in the middle of the crossfire was a mom and her 2-year-old son. That 2-year-old, Jeremy, has died. He didn't have a say about the border.

Nilson Granados has previously been arrested twice for alleged theft. The guy that shot this kid right here, twice has been arrested. He was subject to a deportation order from a judge in New Jersey, but he was released from custody several times, even though immigration police filed a detainer. He was never sent back.

Nilson Granados should not and should have not been in this country. He should have never been here in the first place. He should have been deported when he was caught the first and second time. Like the judge says, this crime could have and should have been prevented. But it was not prevented because of Joe Biden's open border.

Just this week, an illegal alien was arrested in Louisiana for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl. He also allegedly stabbed someone in the face during an armed robbery a few weeks before.

A month ago, an illegal alien pled guilty in court to stabbing a man to death in Bozeman, MT, in 2022.

Just yesterday, in my home State of Alabama, in Albertville, police arrested two illegal aliens for alleged child exploitation. This goes on and on and on. I could have been up here all day.

Americans are dying due to our open borders at the southern and northern borders, and they are dying every single day. Who cares? We are worried about a budget here. We are worried about sending $60 billion to Ukraine. We are not worried about the citizens of the United States.

People are going to wake up, and when they do, there is going to be a huge change around here, and I hope it happens.

Americans are dying due to open borders every single day when it comes to drugs, and 100,000 Americans die every year because of drug overdose. You would think that would be something that people would talk about. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. That is 300 Americans a day dying from fentanyl--300 a day. That is like a commercial airliner crashing every day.

Nobody cares. This building doesn't care. Everybody is worried about their next election, getting reelected. That is our problem here. They don't do what is right.

The DEA tells us drugs that were brought here over our southern border are absolutely destroying the young people in this country. So Joe Biden, our President, is going to the southern border tomorrow-- hallelujah.

This will be only--I want you to think about this. This is a guy who has been up here for 50 years. Now, I don't know why. I don't know why anyone would want to be up here 50 years to watch what goes on here. He has been up here 50 years as Senator, Vice President, and President. This is only the second time he has been to the border. And he asked why we don't have border policies.

Well, hell, man, you have been here forever. What did you do while you were in office?

He did zero. His first time ever at the border was last January, after 50 years in politics. And he is trying to run for reelection again. Good luck.

He went to El Paso. Border Patrol cleared the streets of all illegal camps and immigrants. There was nobody there. He didn't talk to any illegal immigrants. He didn't go to the Border Patrol station. He just took his picture, walked around with his sunglasses on, had a relaxing day, not worrying about the border, not worrying about what is coming across the border. He just went down there to have his picture taken.

Now, the media says he is going to Brownsville, TX, tomorrow to get his picture taken. He is going to Brownsville, TX. Yesterday, 12 illegals come across at the border there.

You know we have got another President, former President Trump. He is also going to the border tomorrow. He has been down there many times. He is going to Eagle Pass, TX. Yesterday, there were over 500 that came across the border there. No matter what you think about President Trump, he actually cares.

One of Joe Biden's Executive orders was to let asylum officers give out asylum at the border without ever going to a judge.

In other words, when you come to this country, you are supposed to be given a time and a day to go see a judge to see whether you get to stay here or not. But, in the last 3\1/2\ years, we have been giving asylum at the border, giving a piece of paper which has a destination that you are going to; put on an airplane and flown somewhere across the country, and finding out what you can do to make a living and where you can go.

I know. I was on a plane not too long ago with a planeload from McAllen, TX, of illegals that were put on there, on this plane, going to cities all over the country. I was on there with them.

I am watching them come on. I am thinking: You know, it took me 45 minutes to go through TSA. I got patted down. All my stuff was scanned and didn't have anything on.

They brought them up straight to the plane, opened up the door, and let them get on. It was absolutely amazing.

Why do we need TSA? That is another point.

Meanwhile, as we are giving out all this asylum, Joe Biden has taken 94 Executive actions against immigration enforcement since he has been in office. In other words, 94 times he says: OK, we don't need this at the border. That is my law. That stands. We don't need this one--94 times.

Meanwhile, he said we can't do anything to fix the border.

If you want to fix the border, Mr. President, just take those 94 Executive actions and put them back somewhere on the shelf, and let law enforcement do their job. One of these Executive actions was the abuse of the parole system, and I said I was going to say something about this.

(Ms. CORTEZ MASTO assumed the Chair.)

That is how Jose Ibarra, who killed Laken Riley, got into this country. Joe Biden paroled him into the country, meaning he was arrested when he got to the border by Homeland Security and then released.

Federal laws say that parole is supposed to be used only on a case- by-case basis. Why are you here? Why do you need to come here? Full information given by the immigrant and should be on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons. That is the reason you are here. They just wave him on through.

That is not what Joe Biden is doing. He is not looking into the backgrounds of these people. They are just coming right through the front door, laughing at us--we have seen the pictures at the border-- and going on.

Joe Biden is paroling massive numbers of people into this country. We better wake up. This is illegal, but Joe Biden is doing it anyway. And now Laken Riley is dead. People will forget about her, except for her parents and her friends. I mean, we will go on to some other tragedy down the road. But we had better wake up. We had better wake up.

We need to bring back the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy. We have to bring it back. We do not need more asylum officers. Joe Biden has just turned our Border Patrol and our asylum officers into Walmart greeters at the border. Again, I have been down there several times, and these people need help.

He is going to go there tomorrow and say: Oh, we need a lot more help down here, more secretaries. We don't need law enforcement.

We don't need any more Walmart greeters. We need a wall. We need to bring back the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, as I said a few minutes ago. We need to go back to the policies of President Trump. President Trump's policies worked, and the reason Joe Biden changed them is because he wanted to do exactly opposite of what Trump was doing. He didn't want to give him any credit. Joe Biden has the exact same laws on the books that President Trump had, but the difference is day and night.

Laken Riley's death and the death of every other American caused by this border crisis rests with President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas. I hope they can't sleep at night, because this could have been prevented. We need to go back to the policies that work, stop playing these dang games, and stop playing politics. Otherwise, this will keep happening.

We are here, and we took an oath of office to say we are going to watch over the citizens of this country. If we don't do something, more Americans will die, more Americans like Laken Riley. More parents will be forever scarred for what happened last week. We have to do something. We can't forget about this.

Every time we have somebody who has lost their life in this country because of an illegal alien, I am coming back up here and I am going to rub it in the faces of the Democratic Party, Secretary Mayorkas, Senator Schumer, and Joe Biden. It is 100 percent their fault.

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