S. Res. 616

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORENO. Mr. President, I want to urge my colleagues, at 4:30 today, to vote strongly in objection to S. Res. 616.

This resolution, introduced by our Democrat colleagues, is a relic of a failed past approach to Central America, one that imposes a leftist ideology and a purity test and ties our hands, while cartels flood our streets with poison and chaos spills across our borders in the hemisphere. It demands a report dredging up old allegations against a former Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, focusing on events from his administration.

The irony is striking. Many of these activities and challenges occurred during the Obama administration, when Democrats were asleep at the wheel in the Western Hemisphere. They allowed narcotrafficking to flourish and created the Western Hemisphere's worst migration crisis, without decisive action.

This resolution also fails to mention the radical, leftwing Castro administration, which ravaged Honduras with policies that exacerbated migration and opened the doors to China.

Yet this resolution remains completely silent on the Biden administration's foreign policy failures and the open borders agenda that poured fuel on that fire.

Honduras suffered under the Biden and Castro era, but now it has absolutely turned a page. Under President Tito Asfura, who I had the chance to go visit in person a little less than 2 weeks ago, it is a new day in a bilateral relationship. He is aligned with the ``America First'' priorities. He is a key partner in the Shield of the Americas and the Counter Cartel Coalition.

Honduras is working with us on intelligence sharing, going after the cartels, extraditions, and securing the hemisphere from Chinese and criminal influence.

President Asfura is hyperfocused on fixing what Castro and Biden broke and restoring stability and prosperity for the Honduran people.

This resolution singles out past issues under a previous government, while the current administration in Honduras and our own administration are focused on results: dismantling trafficking networks, ending the migration crisis, and building long-term prosperity.

As a side note, as you just heard from the Senator from Virginia, this actually has nothing to do with human rights. This has to do with clickbait speeches that are all intended to embarrass the President about a pardon.

Of course, it is ironic, given that President Biden pardoned tens of thousands of serious criminals.

But, back to Honduras, this resolution risks undermining the very security assistance and cooperation we need to keep Americans and Hondurans safe.

Section 502B is a tool, but in the hands of those who prioritize bureaucratic processes over results, it becomes a bludgeon against effective policy.

President Trump's approach? Security coordination, economic incentives for partners fighting cartels, and putting the stability and prosperity of the Western Hemisphere first.

It is delivering results: zero illegal border encounters this last 12-month period.

We are seeing deportations of criminals, revived extradition efforts, and a coalition that is actually confronting the cartels instead of studying the cartels.

Colleagues, the American people are tired of hollow and ideological resolutions that achieve nothing but clickbait headlines. They want secure borders, safe communities, and a foreign policy that puts our hemisphere's stability ahead of nonsense reports.

Objecting to this resolution isn't ignoring human rights. It is refusing to let the past paralyze the future.

Let's come together. Let's support our Western Hemisphere allies, like President Tito Asfura.

I urge my colleagues to reject S. Res. 616.

Let's focus on advancing the Shield of the Americas, supporting vetted partners, and delivering real results against the drug cartels that threaten us.

I will say one last thing. The Senator from Virginia has evidently another resolution on Honduras that is intended to slow the process down of passing actually meaningful legislation here in the U.S. Senate. Let's take that one up, too, now because if not, what you just heard me say you are going to have to hear again for a second time. This is not why people elected us.

I think that when the Presiding Officer travels to Missouri, people ask him: What are you doing? What are you doing to make the country better?

Debating what happened a decade ago isn't making the country better. We should be talking about how to make our economy stronger, how to make our communities safer, and how to make our communities more secure. We should be talking about ensuring--ensuring--that we complete our duty and fund our government, not posturing months ahead of time to defund our government again.

Again, colleagues, let's get this done. Let's deal with this resolution swiftly, quickly, and vote no.

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