>> the lives of the land on c-span's q and a. you can listen to all our podcasts on our c-span now apps. c-span has been delivering unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years, here are highlights of key moments. >> although this city was the nation's capital for only a short time, from those early days, the eyes of the world continue. one year ago, the great center of history, enterprise and creativity suffered the greatest of cruelties and showed itself to be a place of valor and generosity and grace. where so many innocent lives were suddenly taken, the world thought acts of kindness and

heroism that will be remembered forever. >> c-span powered by cable. several senators spoke about immigration issues at the southern border and the impeachment of homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas from the senate floor. this as the chamber waits on the house to deliver the articles of impeachment in order to start a trial. it is now expected to occur sometime next week. >> thank you. i rise today -- >> we are in a quorum call. >> i asked that we vitiate the quorum call. >> without objection. >> i rise today because we are at a historic time for this chamber. in the house of representatives it is expected to send over articles of impeachment against a cabinet officer for only the second time in our nation's history. this is not routine business. this is a very serious moment. on february 13th, the house

agreed to articles of impeachment against department of homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas for, quote, willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law, end of quote, and breach of public trust, end of quote. this chamber will soon have a constitutional duty to uphold and i firmly believe that the senate, the u.s. senate must conduct a full impeachment inquiry trial for secretary mayorkas. the constitution gives the senate the responsibility and the duty to try all impeachments and it requires a vote of 2 thirds of the senate present before the federal officer is convicted. that's a pretty high standard for a constitutional process. for every impeachment in our history the senate has held some form of a trial, unless the federal officer has resigned prior to the trial. this time should be no

different. under president biden and secretary mayorkas there have been more than 9. 2 million illegal crossings along the country's southern borders. or to put it another way, the average monthly encounters have increased 400% almost under the biden/mayorkas dhs. the record illegal crossings this past february of 189,922, march 7th consecutive month of the highest number of encounters these months of ever seen. on top of this there have been 36 straight months with higher encounters at the southern border than any other month under the trump administration. these numbers are shocking. it is still i have spoken on this before, just amazing to me the president and secretary

mayorkas haven't tried to change this at all, statistics have become a regular occurrence under the leadership of secretary mayorkas and he bears responsibility for the worst border crisis of our nation's history. this crisis did not happen by accident. we have seen the biden/mayorkas dhs failed to uphold the law and secure our borders starting on day one of this administration. the broad and willful effort by the biden administration to open our borders began by ending successful trump era policies that brought those numbers down my contracts, the remaining mexico policy known as migrant protection protocol protocols, and safe third country agreements. again, the numbers don't lie

and they do not provide the administration with any hover. unlike the cover the administration gives daily by turning their backs to the cartels are making billions of dollars with human smuggling, drug trafficking, operations, as long as this crisis continues. furthermore we've seen secretary mayorkas abuse the parole process expanding the program more than any prior administration which has led to 3 million immigrants coming into our country who would otherwise have been inadmissible. parole is supposed to be as great a threat as one by one case-by-case basis but under secretary mayorkas's leadership dhs has created categorical parole programs to give entry to migrants for many south american and caribbean countries with minimal vetting. as the crisis has developed

throughout president biden's three years in office, my nearly half of the migrants encountered in the southern border are coming from countries outside of mexico, guatemala, honduras, el salvador. immigration crisis on the southern border is more multifaceted than ever. why is that? because it has been allowed to keep fomenting. the open border policies of the biden/mayorkas dhs allowed all of this to happen. we have no idea who is entering the country illegally. we have apprehended 336 individuals on a terror watch list that illegally crossed our southern border during this administration but these are the individuals that we know of. to put this into perspective, only 14 terror suspects were apprehended between the ports of entry during the trump administration, 14 over four years, 336 in this

administration. that the national security crisis at a time of heightened national security this is chance we should not be willing to take. we've also seen the biden/mayorkas dhs, abuse the asylum process expanding eligible you to admit a record number of asylum-seekers which is led to creating decades long delays and backlogs in our immigration courts. this ensures that anyone who enters our country and passes the low screening standard will be here for years without any fear of deportation. this policy allows the alleged killer of laken riley, who was brutally and senselessly murdered to be entered enters remains in this country even though he was apprehended by law enforcement on at least one occasion, he still was here, this will serve as a reminder that secretary mayorkas's catch

and release policies have allowed the catastrophe at the southern border to impact every single community. when our overwhelmed border patrol agents are faced with thousands of encounters per day of migrants claiming asylum we know some border crossings are able to slip through. these are the people who don't want to be caught and they are the individuals we need to worry about the most but don't take my word for it. in a recent interview, border patrol chief jason owens referred to the situation at the southern border as a national security threat and that the one hundred 40,000 known got aways are what is keeping me up at night. this is something all of us should be concerned about and the ripple effect, that communities fall away from the southern border. additionally, this is

responsible for fueling the addiction epidemic that has devastated communities across this country particularly in my home state of west virginia. west virginia alone, it is estimated that during the year 2023, 1327 residents died at the hands of illegal drugs, the highest per capita of any other state. at the national level numbers are startling. according to us borders and customs protection agents they see the all-time high of 27,009 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border in fiscal year 23. that amount of fentanyl is enough to kill 6 million people. however, what is even more troubling is cbp reported federal officials are estimating they were only able to seize 5% to 10% of all the

fentanyl that has been smuggled through the southern border. border patrol has been stretched unfathomably thin with this, no telling the amount of drugs that are getting through undetected. regarding the matter that will soon be of before the senate, the impeachment articles against secretary mayorkas make serious allegations and detail a crisis we have all seen unfolding for more than three years. it is unconscionable for senator schumer to dismiss these charges without allowing the senate to hear the evidence. doing so would deny this body from a holding our constitutional duty to hear a case and decide whether or not secretary mayorkas should be convicted or acquitted. the decision to take up these articles of impeachment lies with senator schumer and senate democrats. they must do the right thing

and conduct a full trial. with that i yield the floor. >> senator from kansas. >> thank you. i appreciate what i heard from the senator from west virginia and i am pleased to follow her and precede a number of my colleagues as we address the issue of the crisis at the southern border. i want to highlight something i heard her say and reiterate myself, this is a national security threat. there's many reasons to care about what's going on in our borders, and you can take a look at the issue of sovereignty and the nature of our country, we need to enforce our laws. fentanyl and drugs, human trafficking, but sometimes overlooked is the reality of what a security threat a border like we have between the united

states and mexico, all our borders, they create a threat to the safety and well-being of the citizens of our country. and yes, we have to deal with the growing drug and crime emergency. it is exacerbated. i've been talking to a number of law enforcement officers in kansas, sheriff departments and police officers and there's no question what they see in kansas, the challenges are exacerbated by the lack of security, lack of law enforcement at our borders and see the consequences of that activity in human trafficking and drugs. it is important to talk about all of the things, focus on all of the things related to our national security, it is the primary responsibility of the federal government to make certain americans are safe. i was on the senate floor several weeks ago highlighting something i think is important to our national security, the

passage of the emergency supplemental land consequences for the united states, consequences that lack of passing that as a consequence to the people of ukraine and the people of israel and the middle east about the safety and security of other countries in the south pacific but i would highlight the passage of that emergency supplemental as a negative consequence if it is not passed on safety and security of the american people. to highlight the need to proceed i also highlighted the consequences of ignoring the border and i want to say at the the border is a national security issue, so while we focus on the things we normally think about national security sometimes we forget the dangerous circumstance that has been created. i have been to the border numerous times. on my last visit i watched as border patrol agents apprehend

the chinese nationals attempting to come into our country illegally. that in and of itself odd to cause us to have great concern. under secretary mayorkas's watch border patrol has apprehended 336 individuals on a terror watch list. the terror watch list and the people who came here on 9/11 and the consequences of us failing to exclude him. 336 have been apprehended from that terrorist watch list. that doesn't include the ones that we've not caught. it suggests to us, suggests to me and i hope to us that there is a real serious issue about our national security as a result of our country's failures, this administration's failures on the border. in fiscal year 23, a year ago fiscal year, men and women of the united states customs and border protection had

approximately 2.5 million encounters along the southern border. these historic levels of crossings at the southern border have put an astronomical strain on the immigration system and seriously compromised our national security. not every immigrant is a criminal but the sheer number of migrants at the border allow the with evil and malicious intention to enter the country and detected and to harm americans. the historic failure is not an accident. migrants making their way to the united states often through assistance of criminal organizations know our laws and the current lack of enforcement of those laws. this administration created these conditions and has done nothing to dissuade migrants from making that dangerous journey to our borders. migrants no the administration resisted detaining those who cross the border illegally, they know that this administration has resisted hardening border infrastructure and they know the

administration's abuse of the parole system will increase the chances of remaining in the united states if they can get across the border. those factors lead us to where we are today. last fall i questioned the department of homeland security secretary, alejandra mayorkas, we had a joint appropriations committee, the hearing was on our national security and the topic was the supplemental i referenced in my remarks several weeks ago on the senate floor and a moment ago. when i asked secretary mayorkas if he was willing to work on areas immigration reform whether it was bipartisan consensus, certain issues i believe in regard to border security would receive 60 votes on the senate floor and be signed into law the secretary told me he wanted comprehensive reform. i've been in this body, the senate, the house, before then we talked about immigration changes, border security, those things go hand-in-hand in my

view. we know where this insistence of conference of immigration reform ends. no evidence in my time on the senate, no evidence in my time in the house that if we got to do everything the evidence is we do nothing and that's what i told the secretary. i would tell him that again, if you're unwilling to work with us to find the things we can agree on that nothing is going to happen to protect our borders and our immigration system remains so flawed. there is value in comprehensive reform, things the deal with all issues, top to bottom, to ensure the needs of safety for the american people and the importance of that to our economy but again my experience and my time in congress is up we keep waiting for comprehensive reform, the result is nothing. we do nothing. secretary mayorkas has an

obligation to use the tools congress has provided to enforce legislation that is already past, ready for comprehensive reform is an excuse from the secretary and president biden to do nothing. mayorkas's in action on the border and leniency toward enforcing the law has resulted in what we see, the crisis we face today. we keep waiting to reach the tipping debt that in that crisis but that is long past. migrants are living on the streets in new york, we plus thousands of americans to fentanyl poisoning, and our borders have been exploited by our enemies. my point is america is in jeopardy in many ways, we face tremendous challenges around the globe and our adversaries and enemies are aligned to do us harm. and one of the places we cannot look the other way is our borders and our border security. it's too great of a risk and

too much of an opportunity for death and destruction to come to the united states of america. the biden administration has made it clear over the last three years securing the border is not a priority of the heirs. and now it is up to the senate to hold the administration accountable to those failures, failures at the southern border that affect our national security, the number one priority of the federal government, every state is a border state and the american people deserve a secure border. madam president, i yield the floor. >> senator from tennessee. >> in our nation's 248 year history the house of representatives has officials in 21 cases perfecting the highly rare exercise of the constitutional power the senate has tried each such case except where the person before the senate trial, make such trial

moved. this includes two partisan democratic breaches of the former president, one in which republicans control the senate and it was equally divided. shattering norms has become a defining theme for democrats this year. wire my democrat colleagues so eager to shift their constitutional duty and ignore an impeachment? because they want to ignore the damning evidence of secretary mayorkas's immigration law. i can think of no better example than the secretary's decision to willfully and knowingly exceed his parole authority set forth. that law permits the secretary to grant parole but only on a case-by-case basis, temporarily, and for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, for

example, when a person is in need of urgent medical care, or a person needs to attend a family member's funeral. he has even created a new taxpayer-funded parole program to allow aliens from numerous countries to be flown into the united states. he has abused his case-by-case parole authority beyond any degree imaginable. he has now signed 30,000 illegal aliens per month directly into the united states, this is a blatant violation of the law and abuse of the parole law in particular. two weeks ago every senate democrat voted against my appropriations amendment to defund this parole program. that vote is impossible to explain to ordinary americans. they see the absurdity of flying and tens of thousands of illegal aliens right in the midst of an illegal immigration crisis. so instead partisan so-called

fact checkers quibbling over which flights, which airports are being used? this is clearly an attempt to distract from the basic problem with this taxpayer-funded program which is that it is illegal and it is absurd. i understand democrats want to cover it up. it's the same reason they don't want to consider these impeachment articles. similarly the secretary terminated border wall construction and refuse to expand funds the congress appropriated for this specific purpose. secretary mayorkas's empowerment of funds is a clear attempt to usurp the will of congress by refusing to fulfill their mandate, our mandate to build the border wall. the secretary replaced mandates that are enacted in law with unlawful mass catch and release policies that encourage illegal immigration. the law requires illegal aliens are detained until they are

deported unless they are clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be allowed into the united states. instead of complying with this requirement, the secretary has released millions of illegal aliens into american communities which we've seen the devastating effects of the biden administration's illegal border policies. we've heard from americans whose lives and property are being destroyed by droves of illegal aliens who are coming into the united states every single day. we've heard from border patrol agents who want nothing but to do their jobs and secure the border but whose hands have been tied by the mayorkas load department of homeland security. the american people have seen the chaotic images over the southern border under this administration, they witnessed the ravaging effect of illegal immigration in their own communities. this includes go-go producers, violent crime, local disorder, and the national security threat of unknown bad actors from all over the world coming

across our open border. 249 people on the terror watch list have been encountered at the southern border last year alone. since october a record number of chinese nationals, 22,000 and fact, have been encountered by our border patrol and in all, 10 million illegal aliens across the border under this secretary's watch, the collapse of the southern border in devastating consequences and future risks is the greatest national security risk we face as a nation. the house of representatives took the extraordinary step of impeaching a government official for his role in this and yet senate democrats want to ignore all this. they don't want you to hear about it. they want to sweep it under the rug in an election year.

the secretary's alleged violations, it wents basic diligence in examining the evidence, and every senator should go on record regarding the charges. i have cosponsored resolutions by several colleagues establishing impeachment procedures that are in line with past senate impeachment trials, open to debate on details of the process but there must be a process. this is an important point. the current debate is not whether or not secretary mayorkas is guilty as charged but whether we should even examine the question. instead the senate majority leader reportedly plans to do, we should hide the evidence from the american people and avoid discussing this administration's failures at all costs. why? because this is an election year. if the majority leader wishes to preserve the world's greatest deliberative body i urge them not to take this unprecedented step of blocking

consideration of the impeachment articles against secretary mayorkas. i yield the floor. >> senator from nebraska. >> i ask unanimous consent the following interns from my office be granted for privileges in april 11, 2024. restart, nathan wallenberg. >> without objection. >> thank you. the fundamental purpose of our federal government is to protect americans, to keep americans safe. what we have seen happen at the southern border has put americans at risk. it is a national security crisis, drug trafficking crisis, child trafficking, sex trafficking, putting americans at risk.

and the people responsible for this open border policy are president biden and the secretary of the department of homeland security, alejandro mayorkas. since the biden administration has been in power, we have seen a flaw of drugs coming across the border. the cartels are making billions. fentanyl and other legal drugs are the leading killer of young americans in this country. if you are between 1845, the most likely cause of your death is drug overdose and a majority of that is fentanyl, 70,000 year dying because of fentanyl. when i was governor, we saw the amount of drugs coming into my state under president biden go up dramatically.

we saw twice as much of methamphetamines, 3 times as much fentanyl, 10 times as much cocaine. we have seen the number of people on terrorist watch lists skyrocket as well. under the trump administration a total of 11 people on a terrorist watch list were caught trying to cross the border during four years of donald trump. in the last fiscal year, one hundred 69 people on the fbi terrorist watch list were cross trying to cross the border illegally. since the biden administration has been in place, 9. 2 million people have either tried to get into this country illegally, or succeeded in getting into this country illegally. secretary mayorkas has

willfully refused to support our immigration laws the direction of this administration. what is going on at the southern border. if you ask americans who do you think is responsible, 57% say there has been a willful on enforcement of our laws. our laws are not being enforced, that include 60 one% of independents and 1/3 of democrats. if you wonder who is responsible for this, you need to look no further than a memorandum that was issued in 2021 from secretary mayorkas. according to news accounts secretary mayorkas issued a memorandum of -- to immigration and customs enforcement officials saying, quote, the fact an individual lose a

noncitizen, therefore should not alone be the basis of enforcement action against them. think about that. what he is saying is just because somebody broke the law doesn't mean you have to enforce the law against them. in fact you shouldn't enforce the law against them. that's not what the law is about. this is absolutely stunning. when you are in the private sector and somebody is not doing their job, you hold them accountable. we need to hold accountable the people who opened our southern border. 57% believe there has been a willful disregard and not only do those people and our country

believes that, the us house of representatives has passed in impeachment resolution condemning secretary mayorkas 4, i'm going to quote here again, willful and systematic refusal to comply with current us immigration laws and for, quote, breach of public trust. impeachment is serious. these allegations are serious. we in the u.s. senate need to treat them with that level of seriousness. we've seen in open border policy from this administration. secretary mayorkas is responsible for carrying out the policy. it is now our duty as u.s. senate to have the trial, to

determine guilt or innocence. this is a constitutional responsibility. however, it appears that our leader and the democrats are determined to table this, to set it aside in a manner that is unprecedented. it is never happened that the u.s. senate has refused to take up the charges. folks, we don't need to be breaking more norms in the u.s. senate. we are abdicating our constitutional responsibility if we do not hold this trial. the people responsible need to be held accountable. we need to hear the evidence so why don't the democrats want to hold this trial? perhaps because they are afraid of the american public hearing how bad the situation at the

southern border is. the 9.2 million people coming here, or perhaps they don't want to know how this administration and secretary mayorkas is abusing parole function. parole is a function that allows the executive branch to bring in foreigners. it is supposed to be done for the immigration and naturalization act on a case-by-case basis. only instant instances of extreme humanitarian need were the best interests of the country. under the obama and trump administration it happened 5600 times a year, 600 times the year. last year alone, the biden administration paroles 1.2 million people. we are doing whole classes of

people, a clear abuse of power. this administration is also abusing the asylum system. secretary mayorkas has overseen the department of homeland security with both this new policy and parole and what's going on in asylum. think about this. say your someone who comes across that border and you are granted parole to get into this country like the venezuelan accused of killing laken riley, you get into this country, what is the first you are doing? you are contacting folks back home to tell them what happened to you? this creates more incentive for people to come here illegally. it's part of why we have this problem. we need to explore topics like this, or perhaps the democrats know how bad this is and don't want to defend the catastrophe that's going on at the southern border, they don't want to have to defend the administration's

policy. what secretary mayorkas has been doing with regard to parole. maybe they think it's bad too and don't want to have to defend it. whatever the reason, if our leader does not have a trial, it will be the first time this has happened is happened. it will be unprecedented. and we will be bringing breaking again another norm. for the u.s. senate. impeachment is serious. these charges are serious. the american people deserve an answer. we need to have a trial. i call on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to insist upon a trial, uphold our constitutional authority. let's have a trial so that we can hear and determine the

guilt or innocence. that is what the american people deserve. madam president, i yield back. >> madam president. >> senator from oklahoma. >> we are scheduled to begin a trial of the secretary of homeland security. doesn't begin a conversation about homeland security in the country, that conversation started three years ago now. the american people are frustrated with what they are seeing on the southern border and keep saying it over and over again in a nation where inflation continues to be stubbornly high, it is harder and harder to afford a carton of eggs and gasoline and all

the basics of life, all the areas you would think the economy would be the number one issue in the nation, national security and border security end up being number one regardless what state you live in. it's no longer a border state issue. americans feel this is a problem. in the past three years more people have illegally crossed the southern border than the previous 12 years combined and it is not close, the number. we are approaching 8 million people that have illegally crossed the southern border just in the last three years. cities feel it, americans feel it, school districts feel it, communities feel that, homeless shelters feel it. it continues to spiral into our country. this is not some accident of migration as the administration tries to say, that there's global migration happening

everywhere. this is a series of executive orders that were done in 2021 if that were intentionally designed to change what's happening at the southern border and they certainly have. decisions were made in 2,020 one by the biden administration to shift multiple things starting with loosening enforcement. day one of the biden administration, stopping construction of the wall and announce it publicly, we are no longer going to do wall construction, not even repair, step number 2, dramatically loose in the actual enforcement within the country so that fewer people would be deported when they came so if you cross the border illegally, much greater likelihood that once you get across you will not be deported. third thing, they changed the remaining mexico policy, simple policy to say you can request asylum but can't just be released in the country, they shifted immediately and shifted it from remain at the border or in mexico rather than being in detention you could be released anywhere in the country on your

own recognizance and to go anywhere you want. that dramatically increased the number of people that were crossing. also shifted where the state department is no longer negotiating deals with central america, guatemala, honduras and el salvador to stop migrants from moving through that direction they have withdrawn those agreements from central america and the state department stopped putting pressure on recalcitrant countries that wouldn't take their people back. these are not accidental things, these were intentional actions but what i don't think the administration intended was how this has spiraled out of control. the nation is reaping the whirlwind of this. almost 8 million people now that have illegally crossed the border. now it's no longer people from the western hemisphere. they are people from all over the world.

pick up any tracking at any point to track what's happening at the border you will find thousands of people crossing from china, russia, pakistan, west africa, all over asia. when i talk to people at the border and i do talk often to them, one of the first things i ask is what are the trends, what are you seeing and for the past year and 1/2 they continue to tally, greater and greater number of non-spanish speakers crossings that border that are males in their 20s from all over the world that are coming. just in the past year we've picked up individuals that are -- with hezbollah terrorist connections, folks with all kinds of different connections to all kinds of different terrorist organizations, we been able to pick up some, but some have gotten through and been released. this is an issue i bring up, this administration is not managing. in the past year there are over

70,000 individuals that were gentrified as what was defined as a special-interest alien, these individuals crossed our border, the administration designated them as special-interest alien and released them on their own recognizance into the country. let me clarify what that term is. a special-interest alien, this is their definition, a non-us person based on the analysis of travel patterns potentially poses a national security threat to the united states or its interests. 70,000 of those in the past year have crossed the border and have been released into the united states. this is no longer a simple migration issue. international security issue and one the administration not only invited but have chosen not to take seriously.

this body knows full well. i believe there are some things that can only be done by acts of this body, changing the definition of asylum, increasing the number of detention beds, multiple issues we need to take response ability for but this body should not sit and say nothing can be done when the white house has authorities they are not using. we should do our job, the white house should do their job and currently that is not happening at the threat continues to increase. so next week, we start an impeachment trial which is never happened in the history of the department of homeland security, to be able to have an impeachment of the secretary. that starts but can i say to you, even if the secretary is removed, the white house has still created this policy.

the obama administration had multiple leaders in that role but they had one policy, the trumpet menstruation had multiple leaders in that role but had one policy. this white house has a policy of maintaining an open border, and until this white house changes that policy and actually uses the authority they already have none of this is going to change. so my challenge is to us, we should do our job and work on the issues we should do, this white house needs to step up because right now they are just hoping that none of those 70,000 people they defined as a national security risk actually does an act of terrorism or crime in the country. i don't want to just hope that someone we have defined as a national security risk doesn't actually carry it out. i think we need to enforce the

law. i think we need to discourage illegal immigration and we need to have a secure border and i don't believe i'm alone in that, in this body or our great country. i yield the floor. >> senator from alabama. >> homeland security secretary mayorkas and globalist democrats have been derelict in their duty to secure the border under president biden. i repeat, derelict in their duty. are border is the least secure it has been in the history of our country. in fact, it is almost nonexistent. at least 9 million illegal immigrants have entered our country since the beginning of this administration. our border patrol agents are

overwhelmed. and receive such little support from the biden administration to enforce our laws that they have been forced to release millions of illegal immigrants into the us and those who are released on parole are given work permits. tell me this. how does handing out work permits discourage illegal immigration? it doesn't. how do these actions secure the border? it doesn't. we might as well start mailing out every criminal, drug trafficker, and terrorist an open invitation to invade our country. i have spoken numerous times on the floor to highlight stories of americans dying at the hands of illegal aliens, 12-year-old

traversable from missouri, 22-year-old laken of georgia, chris, the tragic deaths are a direct result of secretary mayorkas in action. how many more americans have to die before the globalist democrat party takes meaningful action to secure the border. this madness must end. americans deserve to be safe from the drug traffickers, terrorists and murderers who are flooding into our country. the number of people crossing into the us are on the terrorist watch list. it is unprecedented it. fentanyl flows freely across our borders and is killing more and more americans every day. law enforcement officers in alabama tell me time and time again their officers must wear heavy equipment. .. far

con -- narcon spray to protect them from friendle that is pouring into our communities. three years ago they never heard of the word fentanyl says our police chief in the city of montgomery. the cartels are trafficking professionals. professionals. the cartels are trafficking professionals. they are managing the human drug trafficking at our border. this is ary billion dollar industry that the biden administration is turning its back on and allowed. secretary mayorkas has completely, completely 110% refused to do his job. he swore an oath, swore an oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states from all enemies, foreign and domestic. can anyone of us seriously say that secretary mayorkas has upheld his oath of office? progressive democrats are going to try to table two articles of

impeachment and sweet biden'sme border bloodbath under the rug. every house democrat already voted. they've already voted to save his job. globalist democrats are lying to themselves and asking the lives, are risking the lives of american citizens. senator schumer and progressive democrats can't say they want to fix our border while voting to save secretary mayorkas' job. despite the critical need to secure our borders and discourage illegal immigration, secretary mayorkas travels the world discussing national security with our strategic partners while his own country is being invaded. it's embarrassing. last month, secretary mayorkas was in guatemala discussing migration flows from south america to the u.s. have these folks than anything

to stop the border invitation from their countries? they have done absolutely nothing. in february mayorkas travel to austria to speak with chinese officials about counter narcotic efforts.it did he discuss with them the flood of chinese illegal immigrants coming to the u.s. through the southwest border? 22,000 chinese nationals have been arrested by border patrol agents at the southwest border since i october, and released io our country. most of these individuals are single adult males of military age. yet the media tries to act like these, all these people cross the border are nice people, nice women and children. some of them are but most are not. this is nation is more than a border crisis. its nationals get a crisis.

and yet i seriously doubt secretary mayorkas even brought that upin in his meeting with te chinese officials a few months ago. in february secretary mayorkas was in germany for the munich security conference, the munich security conference is the largest international security meeting in the world. secretary mayorkas was there giving speeches on strengthening global security and partnerships. americans are dying, dying from our dangerous open borders. and he's talking about other borders across the world. the secretary is responsible for securing and it's, collecting passports while lecturing other countries on their national security. our allies, they must be laughing at us. the secretaries priority should bebo here securing our borders,, not somebody else's, protecting citizens, not somebody

else's.ns, not somebody president biden has made the u.s. a joke on the world stage, an absolute joke. we need to get our house in order. we are in trouble. so far there has been only taught as a border as for security that has been concern for thela last three years. now is the time for every senator to go on the record if you are at all concerned about the drugs and criminals flooding into our country and moving to your state, you will vote for a full and fair trial. this is not a gray area. secretary mayorkas as intentionally intentionally failed to do his job. it is time that the senate takes action. the families of laken riley, travistr wolfe, trooper and countless others deserve, they deserve a fair trial. i will be voting to hold secretary mayorkas accountable, and asked my colleagues to do

the same. i yield the floor. >> the senator from oil. >> thanks madame president.o first i like to congratulate and commend the comet by the previousor senator, the speaker from alabama who makes important points regarding the history as well asay the future of this country. and i rise today to speak as he did about the impeachment of the secretary of the department ofho homeland security, secretary mayorkas. and i bring with me today to the floor the federalist papers written by alexander hamilton, james madison and john jay, and prefer to federalist 65. and as i sit here and stand and look at the pages in here in the pages in the book and the pages in the front of the senate chamber, i would recommend to them that they read the federalist. i recommend then same to my intern who is here on the floor today and the students were in the gallery.

there's a lot to learn t about e country, a lot to learn about our history, heritage, the reason that we have the nation that we have today. federalist 65 talks about impeachment. this is about the abuse of violation of public trust. hamilton goes on to say that impeachment is an important power to remedy quote injuries done immediately to the society itself. this is the case we are here to talk about today, and why i bring the book along. the charges against secretary mayorkas are serious, their substantive. the facts in support of them are compelling. they deserve careful consideration by this body. secretary mayorkas must be held accountable. his duty as secretary is to protect the homeland. not what's happened.

instead, he refuses to secure the border. theho house charges secretary mayorkas has willfully and systematically refused they say to enforce border security laws. secretary mayorkas wants to open our borders so the entire world from beijing to belize can come in. he has turned a secure border into a welcome center. remember, madam president, in september 2021 of 2021 they issued a shocking priorities memorandum. our country has been shaken as result of that memorandum and has not been forgotten. the memose severely limited who i.c.e. was allowed to arrest. that's immigration customsn, enforcement. he also we find the catch and release program and has abuse parole laws. in fact, the secretary bragged on msnbc that he had, quote,

secretary mayorkas, quote, rescinded so many trump immigration policies it would take so much time to list them. for people who prefer a secure border of for nation care abr nation's security, this is an admission of willingness to ignore the law of the land. it also provided an open invitation for illegal immigrants, or as the biden administration calls them, newcomers. after three years of open borders the number of illegal crossings is up to at least 9.2 million people intoe this country illegally. crimes are up. drug overdose deaths across america are up. what about the number of the deportations or illegal immigrants?an well, they are not being sent back.

deportations are dumb. arrests are down. illegal immigrants are not being detained. murderers, rapists, other criminals, they are not being deported. that's a decision that's come out of this administration and the secretary of homeland security. americans like l lincoln riley d ruby garcia had been brutally murdered. america is less safe. secretary mayorkas claims he's come to the senate and plan come come to the house and claim that the border is secure. laugh knowing how untrue it is. it's a lie to the city, ally to thehe house. such a serious matter though it's hard to laugh. meanwhile, a country losing control over borders to the cartels into the criminals. every fair amount of person knows that these are serious charges, and the senate must hold a full and fair trial.

it is our constitutional -- constitutional duty, the houses that it's a job. yet senate democrats each and every one of them are refusing to do theirs. seems this week theei democrat leader is scheming to bury these charges against mayorkas without a full andr fair trial. the constitution demands there be one. the senate majority leaders actions would turn the center from the world greatest deliberative body into the world's quickest dismissal body. senate majority leader estado do for today seems to be afraid of allowing the case against the lawless actions of the secretary of homeland security to even be presented to the american people. his plan to bypass the trial breaks the rules, it breaks the standards, it breaks the traditions of this body. let us set the record straight. the senate has always done its constitutional duty. we know the history.

the house and senate impeachment articles of the senate 21 times in history of this country. and the senate has never dismissed those articles without the official first resigning. 17 of those cases went to trial writer in the senate and ended an in a decision of either guilty or not guilty. three of the cases were dismissed during the trial. the reason why is the official resigned or they were expelled before a verdict was reached. one of them never went to trial because the official resigned before the trial began. democrat leader doesn't seem to care about any of this. not at all. he wants to ignore the charges against mayorkas without a trial all.th this would be disastrous, madam president, for the senate and for our nation. withinna the next week the senae

democrats must make a choice. will they provide the transparency that the american people demand, the accountability american citizens deserve? or will the democrats each and every one of them vote to bury these serious charges before the senate is allowed to hear a single piece of evidence? senate democrats of the established the history of coddling criminals. people who have come to this country illegally. all 100 senators have a solemn responsibility to work to keep our nation safe and secure. without a full and fair trial, there would be no accountability. republicans want the senate to do what it is always done, allow the house to present its case, allow the senate told a full trial, and let the american people hear the truth.

holding a a full and fair tris a matter of transparency and accountability. avoiding a trial would be an act of partisanship at the expense of public trust. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. >> madam president? >> the senator from west virginia madam president, i did not intend to speak on secretary mayorkas but wanted to say a few words before i get into a speech. what i would say is this. i this with my colleague, france on republican republican side of the aisle, the politics that's being played. coming of the state of us west virginia and i made an awful lot of appointments as far as what we call will and pleasure. i asked the state senate to confirm people i felt would work into a great job for the people of west virginia. it was my responsibility. if it went wrong or did not basically fulfill their duties, that was my responsibility. if they had criminal charges brought against him whether

civil or criminal, then the courts would take them but they have a right to live. i would've been respectfully obligated to remove. ando if not they had a right to the beach. we are not n there. i doev when seems to be upset tt the secretary mayorkas which i know to be a good man is being ostracized for doing the job he has done, that he has basically been directed to do by false, the president of the united states. if you're unhappy unhappy come to thed polls. it's the boss, , okay? that's what is. i think it's been a disaster. the first two or three years might have been a disaster. i asked, i have begged the president to change, secure our border. it has to be secure. it's the most interesting we face. when i said that i said declare a national emergency. oh, the mistakes president have made basically tight to be corrected when he supported the piece of legislation we have the force of up or three weeks ago that was negotiated, the lead

negotiator which it was one of most honorable people, we haven't sent is republican our friend james lankford from oklahoma, senator lankford. is think was a committed piece f legislation and would give us more secured at a border, which saw only flow. but it was still politicize and it didn't happen. i think all the hundred mayorkas is blamed for that, too. i'm sorry, it was not in. fresco through a trial before precious time is left with all the challenges we have, let's just put on securing the border. once and for all secure the border. let's photo taking care of our responsibilities aroundle the world and at home, securing our border and helping our allies defend their own. that's what we should be doing but everything is politicized to the point that we can't get the on whose fault it is rather than pay, where americans. if i'm a democrat your republic and vice versa you are not my enemy. you're my colleague who i might have differences with we can work itut out. no one wants to find that sensible middle anymore. it's a bad word,le compromised. you never hear anymore. but n to blame secretary mayorks

for you thinking he didn't do the job of what, the violation of the constitution is ridiculous. it is basically something that i can't wait to vote against an kitted out as soon as it comes in. why wait until next week with we could've voted on it today or tomorrow. why? do want toit let it fester low bit. doesn't make any sense whatsoever. with that being set up help we i could come to her senses and get the real problem we have with american the site of the people who are living with very high pricing, food, basic w necessits and life is difficult for a lot of people my state of west virginia. with that, this is that one way to get a job done. we waste more time at something that is so senseless and reckless. >> the house is planning to send impeachment articles against homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas to the senate chamber next week or so senate republicans requested the dog in order to have chamber conduct a full trial instead of democrats plan to quickly vote to dismiss or table the artics.

live coverage in next week on c-span2, on c-span there free mobile video app and online at c-span.org. >> today on c-span, the house and senate have for joint meeting to hear and address some japanese prime minister fumio kishida. our live coverage starts just after 10:30 a.m. eastern. on c-span2 at 9:30 a.m. eastern and house judiciary subcommittee holds a hearing on protecting journalists sources from overreach and censorship. on c-span3, fbi director christopher wray testifies on the president to 125 budget request for his agency before house appropriations subcommittee. that gets underway at two p.m. eastern. you can also watch our live coverage on the c-span no video app or online at c-span.org.

>> will you solemnly swear that in the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you cut? >> saturdays watch american history tvs congress investigates, zwick for major investigations in our country's history by the u.s. house and senate. each week authors and destroys will tell these stories and will see if stored footage will examine the impact and legacy of key congressional hearings. this week a senate committee led by tennessee democratic senator examines organized crime in interstate commerce in the early 1950s. hearings were held throughout the country including key figures including crime boss frank costello resulted in fbi's technology national organized crime syndicate and eventual passage of the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act in 1970. watch congress investigates saturdays at 7 p.m. eastern on c-span2.

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