Speech #1140007200

President. I appreciate the remarks from the Senators from Missouri and New York because I think they reflect my sentiments as well. The senior Senator from Texas suggested that we dont want to debate immigration. We are happy to debate immigration. In fact. I would love to debate immigration reform with our colleagues. But the bill before us is not about immigration reform. It is about whether we are going to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The fact is many of the issues the senior Senator from Texas raised about immigration were addressed in the comprehensive immigration reform bill this body passed in 2013. I am happy to go back to that debate. but that debate should not come in place of our willingness to fund national security and the Department of Homeland Security. That is the issue that is before us today. and we should not hold up our willingness to fund the Department because there are certain Members of the Republican Party in the House and Senate who want to talk about the Presidents Executive action. This bill is not about that. It is about whether we are going to fund the Department of Homeland Security. I thought it might be instructive to point out some of the changes Congress has made which are included in this bill and which actually strengthen border security. since that is one of the concerns that has been raised. Over the past 10 years. Congress has gone to extraordinary lengths to secure our borders against the threat of smugglers. of human traffickers. and of illegal immigrants. Since 2005 the combined budgets for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have grown by an astounding 97 percent97 percentfrom about $8.5 billion in 2005 to more than $16.7 billion today. In fact. the combined budgets for these two border security agencies now account for more than 42 percent of the entire discretionary appropriations of the Department of Homeland Security. But Congress just hasnt thrown money at the problem. We have made wise investments to ensure our borders are more secure than they have ever been. Since 2011 Congress has steadily maintained 21.370 Border Patrol agents. That more than doubles the size of this force since 2001. Over the past 2 years Congress has added 2.000 Customs officers to help stop the flow of illegal drugs and prevent human trafficking while still facilitating legitimate trade. I have been to the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego. I have seen the advanced technologies that have been implemented to make sure that legitimate trade can get across the border yet stop those people who are coming illegally. Congress has deployed enhanced border security technology. including integrated fixed towers. remote and mobile video surveillance systems. tethered aerostats. and other technology to secure our southern border. We have also funded the construction of 652 miles of vehicle and pedestrian fencing at critical locations determined by the Border Patrol agents on the ground. The Departments ability to detect illegal border traffic has grown substantially due to simultaneous investments in airborne assets. including Blackhawk helicopters. multirole enforcement aircraft. and surveillance planes critical in the war against drugs. as well as nine unmanned. unarmed Predator aerial systems. Since 2011 Congress has provided more than $721 million above the Presidents request for these important airborne assets that strengthen our border security. In the bipartisan fullyear budget that Senator MIKULSKI and Congressman ROGERS negotiated last Decemberthe same bill that Senator MIKULSKI and I have introduced in this session of the Senatewe included those critical investments made to continue those efforts to secure the border. These investments will not occur or they are going to be delayed if we have a shortterm budget. if we continue with a continuing resolution and. heaven forbid. if we shut down the Department of Homeland Security. which some of the Members of this body and the House have suggested is not a problem for us to do. The clean bill includes a $119 million increase for Customs and Border Protection. This is the funding level that supports the largest operational force levels in history21.370 Border Patrol agents and 23.775 CBP officers. The agreement restores funding cuts to CBPs Office of Air and Marine proposed by the administration. That enables them to fly more patrols along the border and to continue purchasing critical assets. The clean bill also increases funding for the border security. fencing. infrastructure. and technology account by $20 million to provide additional video surveillance systems and adapt surplus Defense Department equipment for border security purposes. For Customs and Border Protection. a shortterm budget also means that pending contracts for border security upgrades are going to be put on hold. When I met last week with CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske. he told me that $90 million in contracts for mobile and remote video surveillance technologythe very technology that is going to help us keep illegal aliens from coming across the borderis going to be put on hold due to funding uncertainty. A clean. fullyear budget bill provides an increase of $700 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. the agency responsible for apprehending and detaining undocumented immigrants in this country. If we dont pass on fullyear bill. ICE will have insufficient resources to maintain a statutorily mandated level of 34.000 detention beds for detaining illegal immigrants. the vast majority of which are criminals. They are going to fall over 4.000 beds short of that mandated level under a continuing resolution. Furthermore. they will have no funding to complete construction and continue operating new family detention facilities in Texas. Now. 3.000 family detention beds are supposed to be completed in Texas to deal with the surge of unaccompanied children and families to the southwest border. The very people who are complaining about border security. who are complaining about illegal immigrants coming into this country are opposing the funding that would address that border security. It makes no sense. The bill also increases ICEs capability to engage in domestic and international investigations with a $67 million increase for antihuman smuggling and traffic activities. to combat cyber crime. to combat drug smuggling. and to expand visa vetting capabilities. With a shortterm budget. a continuing resolution. these additional investments will not be made. We should not be holding up this funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security with critical border protections in it because we have a few Members of the House and Senate who want to make this an ideological battle about the Presidents Executive action. Lets have that immigration debate. but this is not the place to do it.