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Floor Speech

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Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank Senator Murphy for his extraordinary leadership. He and Senator Lankford and Senator Sinema came together, leading an effort that was amazing-- intense, hard-fought negotiations on something so very, very important. And they got it done. They got it done--a bipartisan border security bill, the toughest in our generation.

I want to thank Senator Murphy for that and for his continual advocacy and putting a spotlight on the fact that we can still do this. We have this bill. We have this bill in front of us.

The President of the United States, President Biden, has gone to the border to say: Pass the bill, the bipartisan bill.

Donald Trump has gone to the border to say: Yay, more chaos. Keep it coming.

The truth is--and we hear it all the time; I have heard it my whole time in the Senate--Republicans like to portray themselves as being the party of national security. If you want your family to be safe, you need to vote for Republicans.

Well, 22 days ago and counting--we will see how high this number gets--22 days ago, we had a chance to boost our national security by voting for the strongest border security bill in our lifetime; and 22 days ago, they killed it. That is a fact, and we all know why. Donald Trump told them to do it, and if Donald Trump tells Republicans to jump, the only question they ask is, How high, sir?

Democrats are committed to solving the challenges at the border. There are multiple issues that need to be addressed and that are addressed in this bill, and we know it is critical that we give President Biden the tools he has been asking for, ever since he came into office, to be able to resolve these issues. Again, that is exactly what this legislation would do. It is bipartisan. It meets all of the tests that people have been asking for for months.

And, if it passed, it would significantly improve our Nation's security in a number of important ways. It would reform our broken asylum system so that decisions would be made more quickly on who should be allowed to remain in the country and who should be deported. Those allowed to stay would be provided authorization to work so that they could take care of themselves and their families and fill crucial jobs in our economy while waiting for their cases to be resolved.

The legislation would create a new emergency authority that would allow the President of the United States to pause the processing of asylum claims of migrants who arrive between ports of entry when cases rise beyond a certain number.

The legislation provides important resources to increase our border security: more border security agents and more equipment that our agents have been asking for over and over again and that the President has asked for over and over again. This is one of the reasons that the border security union strongly supports this as a major step forward that will make a major difference in solving the problems at the border.

And, so importantly, this legislation included the FEND OFF Fentanyl Act, which would make our communities safer by helping government Agencies more effectively disrupt the flow of opioids and penalize traffickers. By the way, that is the whole country impacted by that. People in Michigan, families in Michigan, are impacted by that, not just those at the border. Oftentimes, people forget that Michigan is, in fact, a border State. We are a border State.

This bill would provide up to $75 million in grants that are critically needed for our State and local communities and Tribal law enforcement Agencies to help secure our northern border.

You know, Republicans say they care about our national security, but actions speak otherwise. Growing up, I had heard over and over again from my mom, ``Actions speak louder than words,'' and it has never been more true than on this issue of border security.

Democrats stand ready. We have been ready. We are ready. We are ready tomorrow. We are ready next week to pass this critical legislation to improve our border security and keep our communities safe. Now, 22 days have gone by--22 days have gone by-- since the Republicans said no. Let's come together and do the right thing. It is not about just talk; it is about action. The American people deserve action, and we are ready to act.

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