Speech #1140007210

They see this evil going on. and now this horrific. barbaric action we saw that took place with the Jordanian pilot is unimaginable to us. that people could act this way to other humans. With that being said. we have to stand united in supporting our values and protecting our citizens in the United States of America. This is not the forum for debate on immigration. and I have said that. I would hope some of my colleagues would feel the same way. We should fully fund the DHS. and this is one that has necessary levels that must be funded for the protection of our country. Then we can deal with our immigration system which is broken. I think we have stated that in the Senate. We have stood bravely. we voted. and we did changes and took some tough votes that needed to be made. I agree with all of my Republican colleagues that our borders need to be secure. I dont think any of us disagree with that. It has to be secured first and then must stem the tide of illegal immigrants flowing into our country. We have seen them coming in all different sizes. races. and sexes. It continues to be something we should be concerned about. I also agree with my Republican colleagues that President Obama should not have executed actionhe should not have used his Executive action to make changes in our immigration system. I think we should have doubled down and gotten this bill before us and get the House. I disagree with the Houses decision not to even take up the bill we sent. In a bipartisan fashion it was debated on this floor. put together by Democrats and Republicans. I have been here for 4 years. I havent seen a bill worked more intensely than the immigration bill. I havent seen the border security worked more intensely and Republicans and Democrats working together to make sure we have a Homeland Security that will secure our borders. That is the first time I saw the Senate truly work since I have been here and saw what the potential would be if we worked together. I was very excited about that.