-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in calling attention to the devastating fentanyl fallout, made significantly worse by 4 years of failed Democrat open border policies and to note the return of commonsense border security policies led by Senate Republicans and President Trump.

In March, Border Patrol agents encountered just 7,181 illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border--the southern border, 7,181. This is in stark contrast compared to just 1 year ago, when, under President Biden, the total encounters for the month of March totaled 137,473. That represents a 95-percent decrease in crossings, from over 137,000 to about 7,000.

This sharp drop of illegal encounters is thanks to a new administration and a new Republican majority in the House and Senate, which has prioritized securing our border by resuming policies that brought historically low encounters just 4 years ago. And, I mean, policies that we put in place 4 years ago that worked then, we have put them back in place. They are working now.

So all that discussion on the part of the Biden administration saying, oh, my gosh, they needed some new law somehow, just isn't so; is it? The numbers make that abundantly clear.

And, of course, that means reinstating the migrant protection protocols, or the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy. Again, commonsense policies. Reinstating these policies helped curb illegal entries of individuals at our border and has begun the process of making our country safe again.

But the work is not done. While taking advantage of the failed border policies of the prior administration, cartels and other transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs, flooded the border and gained a criminal foothold in our country. The presence of the cartels and other bad actors operating within our borders led to criminal acts like drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other illegal activities.

On his first day in office, President Trump signed a series of Executive orders addressing the border crisis that had been affecting our country and began the process of removing criminals who had illegally entered under the previous administration.

These Executive actions have served as the first steps in reversing the catch-and-release policies that allowed members of cartels, gangs, and violent transnational criminal organizations, like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, to remain in the United States while operating criminal enterprises.

By declaring an emergency at the border, DHS, DOD, and DOJ were able to take a whole-of-government approach and begin working together to identify the criminals that were illegally operating these networks within our country.

The result of these harmful Democrat open border policies has been felt by us all and has turned every State into a border State.

Leadership for the DEA Omaha Division, which includes my State, said it plainly and simply--the repeated presence of fentanyl in our communities is due to outside forces.

The precursor chemicals are coming from China. They go down to Mexico and from there, they're pushed up into our communities.

The numbers reflect this. In 2023, officials in North Dakota seized 21,000 more fentanyl pills than the year before, 30 pounds more meth, and 2\1/2\ times more pounds of cocaine.

Last month, the Republican majorities in both Chambers, the House and the Senate, voted to continue funding for key programs at DHS and DOJ that combat the rise in illicit drugs like fentanyl. Unfortunately, our colleagues across the aisle voted against that effort.

While the United States stands prepared to take on the scourge of fentanyl that is impacting our citizens, other countries must step up as well.

As a result of the actions taken by this administration, both Canada and Mexico have begun to be engaged partners on this issue.

In February, the President of Mexico agreed to send 10,000 National Guard troops to help secure its northern border with the United States.

The Canadian Government has named a fentanyl czar, listed Mexican cartels as ``terrorist groups,'' and launched a Canada-U.S. joint strike force to combat organized crime, fentanyl, and money laundering. Additionally, the Canadian Government increased its law enforcement presence at the border, with a 56-percent increase in border personnel at land borders and ports of entry.

CBP officers, Border Patrol agents, and State, local, and Tribal law enforcement are stepping up to take on the fentanyl crisis at our borders.

I urge our Democrat colleagues in a bipartisan way to join us and support the effort to continue securing our border and to go after the criminals that have illegally entered our country and continue to do harm.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source