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Floor Speech
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Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, in order to be a strong nation, we have to have strong borders, and right now we don't have that. We haven't had that for 3\1/2\ years. In fact, we are in the middle of the worst border crisis in American history.
This is a crisis of President Biden's own making. Starting on his first day in office, he has intentionally and repeatedly undermined security at the southern border. During his first 100 days in office, President Biden took 94 Executive actions to open the border, and, 3\1/ 2\ years later, nearly 10 million illegal aliens have entered our country.
Now, those 10 million include an unknown number of dangerous individuals, hundreds on the Terrorism Watch List, countless transnational cartel members, drug smugglers, and human traffickers. It is a laundry list of evil. And perhaps the worst consequences that we have seen over the past 3\1/2\ years are the tragedies: the innocent men and women taken from their families by an illegal alien who should have never been here in the first place.
So imagine being a mother or a father. You send your daughter off to college. You are beaming with pride, but you are also a little heartsick that they are going to be out there on their own. Then, a few months later, you get the worst call in your life. And that is the reality for the family of Laken Riley.
Or another situation: Let's imagine that your uncle is a sheriff's deputy. You couldn't be prouder of him. You know he gets up and he goes to work every day to defend and protect his community. One day, you see his name on the news as a victim of a pack of illegal alien gang members who brutally murdered him while he was on duty. That is the reality for the family of Wake County, NC, Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd.
Now, I recognize that the debate around illegal immigration is full of passion and sometimes antagonism, but I believe we can all agree that if an illegal alien commits the crime of assaulting a police officer, he or she must be subject to immediate deportation.
And that is why I stand here today to propose that the Senate pass the POLICE Act. It is a straightforward bill. The POLICE Act simply states that an illegal alien can be deported for assaulting a police officer, firefighter, or other first responder. The bill has already passed the House, and it can be sent to the President's desk by passing it right now. Any Senator who claims to support the police should have no problem supporting this bill. So let's help remove dangerous individuals before another tragedy strikes.
2494 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
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Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, it is such an honor to serve the people in North Carolina, all 100 counties, all from different backgrounds. I don't profess to know what it is like in Connecticut, but I thank my colleague for his remarks.
But it is disheartening to hear that a simple piece of legislation, the Police Act, which states that an alien--illegal alien--could be deported for assaulting a police officer, firefighter, or first responder is nothing. I don't profess to understand that. Perhaps it is different in Connecticut than North Carolina. I don't know.
I don't want to put words in the mouth of the family of Laken Riley or the family of Deputy Sheriff Byrd, but I don't believe it is nothing.
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