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Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I am of the view that one of the most consequential votes that any Senator will make in their time in the U.S. Senate is one that we are facing now: the national security supplemental. I am here to encourage its passage--a national security supplemental to address the crisis at our southern border, to support Israel's right to exist, and to counter Russian, Chinese, and Iranian aggression.

Addressing these issues serves our national interests, and it is within the capacity of the Senate to mitigate these crises, to reduce the consequences of these crises with strong legislation, and to do it before the end of the year.

National security starts with border security, and I applaud my Republican colleagues for working to find a consensus on an emergency supplemental for addressing the President's failed policies at our southern border.

It is time for Senate Democrats and the White House and Republicans to continue their work, to get back to work, and to negotiate a bill that can pass the U.S. Senate. We must and we should show the American people that the Senate can be an institution that can come together in a responsible way to meet the most pressing challenges our Nation faces.

I saw a headline in the Wall Street Journal here recently: Does Congress even work these days? It is a call, a responsibility, that reminds us that we have serious and significant work to do together. Those pressing needs, those challenges we face, are support for Israel to defend itself against terrorism, resources for Ukraine, and policy changes to secure our southern border.

First, it is in our Nation's best interest to stand with our oldest ally in the Middle East, Israel. Hamas has stated its intent to wipe Israel off the map, even saying the terrorist attacks of October 7 were just the beginning. Now is not the time to waver in our support for Israel. We must provide Israel with the means to defend itself and destroy the terrorists.

The United States must also work to prevent escalation from Iran and other adversaries who may use this opportunity to escalate the war against Israel. Hezbollah, entrenched in Lebanon, to the north of Israel's border, will find no safe harbor if it attempts to intervene. Iran's leaders must know that the fury of the United States awaits if they become directly involved. We will stand against terrorism and its enablers and supporters.

Second, the success of Ukraine's defense against ongoing Russian invasion is vital to the national interests of the United States. The success of Ukraine is vital to the interests of our own country. Should Russia fully conquer Ukraine, which remains Putin's goal, more Russian forces would be spread across NATO's border, requiring more resources from the West--America and our allies in Europe--to be committed to defending those allies against further Russian aggression. I don't think we can make the mistake. Russia's failure in Ukraine will make America safer and will make our allies safer.

Congress has a critical role in providing the resources necessary not just to end the war but ending the war on terms favorable to Ukraine and our European allies. To date, a majority of the funding provided to Ukraine has been directly injected back into the U.S. economy through the development, production, and purchase of U.S.-made weapons to replenish U.S. stockpiles.

Following the leadership of the United States, European nations are helping shoulder the burden to support Ukraine's military and have made serious commitments to match those of the United States.

Supporting our partners and allies abroad cannot come at the price of ignoring the security interests faced here at home. The administration's failure to control the border has created not just a humanitarian crisis but a national security crisis. The crushing influx of illegal border crossings has included an increase in the number of encounters between U.S. Border Patrol agents and individuals the FBI has on its Terrorist Watchlist.

Our border is a humanitarian problem, but it is a problem for the well-being of the United States and its national security interests as well. As of September 15, border agents have encountered more than 150 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database at the southern border. These levels of encounters are astonishing, considering there were only 11 such encounters with these dangerous individuals from 2017 to 2020.

I have been on the border, I think, at least three times in the last year or so, and from conversations with, certainly, our Border Patrol agents but also our law enforcement agents as well, the number of illegal and foreigners coming into the United States who have the potential of providing terrorist threats and acting on terrorist behavior in the United States is only growing.

Our lack of operational control over the border has exacerbated the drug crisis, as we know, in our communities as well. The border is the single most important line of defense in disrupting these drug trafficking and distribution networks, and it is no overstatement to say American lives depend on a regulated border.

Madam President, I stand ready with my Republican colleagues, as they do, to find substantive proposals to mitigate this crisis. During an Appropriations hearing last month, I was dismayed that Secretary Mayorkas chose not to engage on the issues and, instead, fell back on the argument for comprehensive immigration reform.

I agree that major changes to our immigration code are in order and have agreed to that belief since my earliest days in Congress. However, since I have been in Congress, we keep waiting for comprehensive reform, and, as a result, we do nothing--nothing to make our country safer, nothing to mitigate the humanitarian crisis unfolding on our soil, nothing to increase our national security.

Support for Ukraine and defending our southern border are not mutually exclusive. We can and must do both. It is time to come together and resolve our differences on these urgent national security issues. The most sustainable and responsible route to a safer and more secure United States requires the Senate to take seriously our borders and ensure that our partners and allies are prepared and equipped to defend themselves against our enemies.

To my constituents in Kansas and across the country, this is a dangerous world we live in, and the decisions that we make in the next few days and few weeks--certainly, in the next month--have a consequence on the safety and security of Americans today and Americans in the future.

This ought not be a U.S. Senate that doesn't do its work. We ought to continue the efforts until we get a result, and I hope that occurs quickly.

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