“Democrats in this body have done nothing to secure the border. They’ve done nothing to stop the flood of illegal immigrants […] My proposal finishes the wall. It pays for it by clawing back unused COVID funding. This wall is absolutely vital to our border security.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo) took to the Senate floor to request unanimous consent to consider the Build the Wall Act of 2024. This bill finishes the southern border wall and uses unspent COVID-19 funds to pay for it.

“We know that the border wall works. My proposal finishes the wall. It pays for it by clawing back unused COVID funding. This wall is absolutely vital to our border security,” Senator Barrasso said on the Senate floor. “If Democrats are serious about securing our border, they should start by voting for a policy that actually works and is paid for.”

Senate Democrats subsequently blocked consideration of the Build the Wall Act.

Senator Barrasso’s Build the Wall Act of 2024 is cosponsored by Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

Excerpts of Sen. Barrasso’s Remarks:

“I come to the floor today to continue this discussion about the crisis at our southern border.

“When Joe Biden walked into the White House, the southern border was secure. Tragically for our country, he then signed 94 executive orders in his first 100 days.

“He rolled out the welcome mat and millions and millions of illegal immigrants flooded into our nation. Democrats in Congress joined him.

“They joined the president, they worked with him, they aggressively rolled back Republican-led policies that had worked to keep our country safe.

“Our southern border is now a pipeline for illegal crossings. Since Joe Biden took office, almost 10 million illegal immigrants have invaded America.

“Democrats’ uncontrolled, illegal immigration, it strains our tax dollars, it undermines the safety of our citizens, and it endangers our communities.

“Hardworking American taxpayers are now paying for housing, health care, and government handouts all for illegal immigrants.

“According to one study, the Democrat border crisis costs states and cities close to $450 billion each and every year.

“The heaviest costs of this crisis are born by families, by communities, and by local law enforcement. Day after day, lives are cut short or changed forever.

“Just two weeks ago, in Florida, an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted
by a 20-year-old illegal immigrant. Brought into this country under the Catch-and-Release program by President Biden. He’s here because of this dangerous program.

“The local sheriff had this to say: ‘The Federal government is victimizing the people who live in this country by letting these people in.’

“To my Democrat colleagues who voted for open borders, I ask you this: What if that were your daughter? What if this were your granddaughter? Kidnapped by an illegal immigrant, brought in under the Catch-and-Release program.

“Fortunately, this young girl’s mother was able to identify the situation and ran desperately to get that daughter who had been kidnapped.

“We are here fighting to secure the border and to make our communities safer.

“Democrats in this body have done nothing to secure the border. They’ve done nothing to stop the flood of illegal immigrants. The record of the Democrats is appalling. And let me start with H.R. 2.

“H.R. 2 is of course the House bill. It’s called the Secure Our Border Act of 2023. It’s the strongest border security bill in our history.

“It completes the wall – because walls work. It surges new technology to the border. It hires more border patrol agents and gives them a bonus. It ends Catch-and-Release. And it reinstates the successful plan of Remain in Mexico.

“If signed into law, H.R.2 would stop the flood of illegal immigrants.

“The House of Representatives passed this bill, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, on May 11, 2023. That’s over a year ago. The Senate Majority Leader refuses to bring this House-passed bill to the floor. He has been blocking the bill for over a year.

“Of course, it’s not just blocking the Secure the Border Act that is the problem. Democrats will not vote for real border security measures.

“For three years now, open-border Democrats – each and every one of them – have rejected solutions aimed at fixing the border crisis. Not once. Not twice. Twenty-two different recorded votes.

“Democrats banded together to say no to finishing the wall. No to ending catch and release. And no to restoring the Remain in Mexico policy. They blocked the Laken Riley Act.

“Meanwhile, they embrace policies that tried to smooth the flow of illegal immigrants when people all across America are saying stop this flood.

“This includes sending illegal immigrants cash payments – paid with taxpayer dollars.

Democrats continue to fund sanctuary cities.

“For three years, my Democrat colleagues seemed to welcome the crisis at our southern border. They now want to run away from their record.

“And we know why. It’s because Election Day is less than 6 months away and they can read the polls. So Democrats can run, but they cannot hide.

“The Majority Leader recently said, ‘The situation at the border is unacceptable.’

“I’m not sure he actually believes that.

“After all, one of his first comments after the 2022 election, he endorsed amnesty for illegal immigrants. The Majority Leader said at the time that opening up our country to illegal immigrants is ‘the only way we’re going to have a great future in America.’

“Democrats have no desire to secure the border. Every single Democrat in this Capitol is responsible for the drugs, the death, and the destruction brought on by the invasion of our nation by illegal immigrants.

“This is the cycle of suffering that Senate Republicans are determined to stop.

“This week, I introduced the Build the Wall Act. We know that the border wall works.

“My proposal finishes the wall. It pays for it by clawing back unused COVID funding. This wall is absolutely vital to our nation’s security.

“Once upon a time Senator Schumer supported a border wall in the past. Many of his Democrat colleagues supported a border wall. When Joe Biden was then Senator Joe Biden, and I served with him in this body, he actually voted for a border wall.

“They all flip flopped, and we know why: politics, plain and simple.

“To my Democrat colleagues I say this: You are responsible for innocent Americans being victimized by illegal immigrants in communities all across the nation.

“If Democrats are serious about securing our border, they should start by voting for a policy that actually works and is paid for.

“That’s the reason to vote for the bill I’ve introduced, the Build the Wall Act.”

Follow Up to Senator Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) Objection:

“Let me be very, very brief in just pointing out that this bill calls for using unspent COVID money specifically as a result of the COVID pandemic that hit our nation. Money sent to be spent for that.

“It does seem to me just about every American that we are way beyond that period of time and money designated for that purpose, it has not yet been spent, should be readily available for a project like this.

“I’d also note that my friend and colleague who’s on the floor was along with President Biden and Leader Schumer, was one of those who did vote on September 29, 2006, for a bill at the time, it was called the Secure Fence Act of 2006.”

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