McConnell Statement on Cloture Vote

Statement

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released the following statement on the cloture vote and the need for Congress to prove to its constituents that the border would finally be secured:

"From the outset of this debate, I have been clear about the fact that in order for a reform bill to succeed we would have to be able to prove to our constituents that the border would finally be secured. If we can't guarantee that, anything else we do won't be worth much. Unfortunately, the amendment we're voting on today does not include that guarantee. Despite the hard work and best efforts of our colleagues, I remain concerned that when it comes to the threshold question of border security, today's assurances may well become tomorrow's disappointments. And that's to say nothing of the process that got us here.

"When I called for a debate on immigration earlier this month, a massive bill, pushed up against an artificial deadline, without any real opportunity for review or amendment isn't what I had in mind. Since what we do here is far more important than how many votes we do it with, there is simply no reason we need to end this debate now in order to meet some artificial deadline determined by the Majority Leader's summer schedule.

"It continues to be my hope that we can do something lasting and important about our broken immigration system. Living up to our commitments to our constituents, particularly with respect to border security, has long been of critical importance for me. Sadly, I'm not convinced that this amendment solves that problem, and I see no good reason why we would need to vote on it so hastily. The American people deserve effective reform, but they will not get it without a full and open debate."

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