Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2014

Floor Speech

Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, the majority leader has brought a $3.5 billion emergency supplemental spending bill to the floor at the request of President Obama. This bill, while it shaves off $1 billion from the President's original request, is still a blank check that does not solve the crisis along our southern border.

This Democratic spending bill isn't a solution, and it is not a reasonable or responsible request. The majority in the Senate want taxpayers to fund a bandaid that is needed because of the President's own policies and practices.

Not only does the President want a blank check, but he wants unfettered authority to keep people unlawfully in the country from being returned to their home country. While we are facing a crisis, President Obama is looking at ways to weaken our immigration laws.

I understand that there are a variety of reasons that people come here--to be with family, to find work, and to have a better life. We are a compassionate country, and we provide a safe haven for people who need it. But we are also a country based on the rule of law.

That rule of law has been a principle of our country since its founding. This principle means that the government will enforce the laws it writes. People need to be able to trust their government and trust that it will be fair.

Today, people don't trust the government to enforce the laws. They see lawlessness at the border. Individuals--including both children and adults--are crossing the border without repercussions, and instead of taking responsibility for it, the President wants to fuel the fire and provide them with more benefits.

Instead of providing a blank check, Republicans have come forward with solutions. Today, Senators Cornyn, McConnell, Flake and I are introducing a humanitarian solution to the problem. We provide funding while changing the law to ensure speedy repatriation of unaccompanied minors to their home country.

We provide equal treatment to young children of noncontiguous countries to voluntarily return to their home country when apprehended by a border agent. Today, these young people can't voluntarily return. They wait 6 or 12 months until they go before an immigration judge. They are released, and we can only hope that they will show up for their court date.

Our bill provides a new and special process for unaccompanied children to have an immediate court proceeding. This new process would be conducted within 7 days, and children would remain in protective custody.

We also require expedited removal--meaning, no opportunity for formal removal proceedings--of criminals, gang members, those who have previously violated our immigration laws, and those who have fraudulently claimed to be an unaccompanied alien child. Expedited removal is a tool that will help border agents return people who don't have a right to be here, and it will avoid an influx of individuals going through our lengthy court system.

Our efforts, unfortunately, are only worthwhile if the home countries cooperate. We would require the President to certify that the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are cooperating in taking back their nationals. Moreover, we tie taxpayer dollars to their cooperation.

In addition to fixing the immigration court system for children, our alternative approach requires information sharing between Federal partners, including the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services.

It requires information sharing between the Federal Government and States, providing transparency and notice to States about individuals released. This administration has an abysmal record with transparency, and many States are left wondering how they are going to deal with the influx of undocumented children in their schools and health systems.

By the end of this fiscal year, up to 90,000 children will have entered the country. People are rightly concerned that they are being released into our communities. They are also being released to nonrelatives and people without lawful immigration status. Our bill fixes that. It requires children to be in the government's protective custody unless their parent is in legal status and undergoes a criminal background check.

Our bill prohibits the government from placing children with sex offenders or traffickers. Doesn't that just make sense. We are talking about vulnerable young people, and we need to be careful about who is taking custody of them.

Why are these young people coming? Aside from President Obama's weak policies, there is reason to believe that they are being trafficked and used as a commodity by drug traffickers. There are serious gang issues in some of these countries. And these issues are seeping into our country.

Our bill ensures that alien gang members are not provided a safe haven in the United States by rendering them inadmissible and deportable, requiring the government to detain them, and it prohibits alien gang members from gaining U.S. immigration benefits such as asylum or temporary protected status.

Border Patrol agents are being strained during this crisis. They are being taken off the line to care for children and adults. States along the border are stepping up and paying the price. Our bill supports State and local governments by reimbursing the costs they have had to bear.

Our bill ensures that Customs and Border Protection agents are provided access to Federal lands along the border. It also increases the penalties for smuggling offenses.

Finally, our bill deals with the lawless policies of this President and his administration. Over the last few years, the President has shown an astonishing disregard for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of American citizens and legal residents. He has made promises and threats to go around Congress by using his phone and pen.

Well, today we are exercising our constitutional right in cutting off funding for the President to expand his administrative amnesties. Our bill would stop him from expanding the deferred action for childhood arrivals. It would stop other legalization programs that President Obama is contemplating. Congress has a role to play in reforming our immigration system. He should not circumvent the process and go against the will of the American people.

Again, our bill is a reasonable alternative to a blank check. We have a solution that provides due process for minors who illegally enter our country. We are being responsible and showing leadership on this issue, and I encourage my fellow colleagues to seriously consider our proposal so that we can humanely deal with this crisis.

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