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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, over the last 2 weeks, Americans were aghast watching two disasters unfold simultaneously: one abroad, one right here in this Chamber. Abroad, Donald Trump is escalating his ill- conceived Iranian incursion, threatening to wipe out an entire civilization, driving up gas prices with no plans and no end in sight.

And right here at home, congressional Republicans are keeping the Department of Homeland Security shut down because they cannot govern themselves, let alone govern this country.

Why? Because Stephen Miller won't let them. Stephen Miller, an unelected ideologue, is calling the shots on immigration policy in this country, not Congress, not Senators, not the Appropriations Committee-- Stephen Miller.

Here is the bottom line: Stephen Miller and Donald Trump refuse to accept commonsense, bipartisan reforms to ICE and Border Patrol. Republicans would rather keep DHS shuttered than cross the man who has made cruelty the centerpiece of this administration's immigration agenda.

Republicans are rejecting bipartisan reforms--reforms rooted in transparency and oversight and rule of law--because they refuse to cross the one man whose agenda is built on cruelty.

So let's be clear: What have Republicans chosen? What have Republicans chosen? Not a clean funding bill with commonsense reforms, not bipartisan solutions. They have chosen--the Republicans have chosen chaos. They are dragging the Senate through a painful, arduous, and partisan reconciliation process, not because it is the best path but because it is the only way they can avoid accountability for how ICE and Border Patrol operate.

They would rather walk the plank politically, vote after vote, amendment after amendment, than show a shred of independence from Stephen Miller. That is not leadership. That is not governing. That is dysfunction, plain and simple.

And to make matters worse, they can't even agree among themselves on how to do it.

On the SAVE Act, Republicans continue to push forward on their effort to pass the SAVE Act. While Republicans claim it is a voter ID bill, the insidious truth is, it is a subterfuge for a voter suppression law that would disenfranchise millions of Americans.

The SAVE Act purges millions of Americans from voter rolls. The SAVE Act kills online mail-in voter registration. The SAVE Act rejects common IDs to register, forces Americans to register in person, and punishes married women. The SAVE Act does all of that.

This isn't about protecting elections. That is a lot of bull. Republicans are going all out to pass the SAVE Act because they are afraid they will not win the midterms and are trying to cheat to get ahead. If Republicans can't win over the voters, they just don't get to write American voters out of the system.

Instead of reversing course on their unpopular agenda, the Republican answer to their political problems is to make it harder for people to vote.

Senate Democrats will continue to fight this SAVE Act with everything we have.

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