trial in the senate would tie up their legislative work for days, and have some pressing matters to deal with. and one of them is reauthorization of that foreign intelligence surveillance act which expires on friday. the senate right before the recess move to that piece of legislation, a procedural move that would allow them to bring it up and vote on it this week. over on the house they are talking about aid bills to israel, taiwan and ukraine, the would-be votes on that and if they're able to pass that over a knauss, the senate would then have to act on that legislation as well. so will not of legislative this is happening here in washington today right now here on c-span2. getting your thoughts on an impeachment trial, impeachment charges against the homeland security secretary.

texas, republican, let's hear from you, thanks for taking my call. listen all these people to about wasting taxpayer money on this impeachment trial. this president has wasted so much of our taxpayer money syndicate across overseas and they're saying let the guy do his job. he's had over three years to do his job. he's a homeland security, he is not securing our homeland, lesson have to leave it there. the senate is back. we'll go to that live coverage here on c-span2.

to the senators today. they are expected to walk across the capital from the house to the senate floor, present the articles of impeachment against the homeland secure secretary them. we will continue here with live coverage on c-span2.

>> the senators are waiting for the articles of impeachment to be brought over by the end of an impeachment managers. these articles of impeachment against the homeland security secretary, he is only the second cabinet secretary to be impeached by the u.s. house in u.s. history. as many of you know, there is debate in senate chamber whether

or not to dismiss these charges expeditiously and not have a full trial. that's what democrats would like to do. republicans are demanding a full trial. punchbowl news is reporting just this afternoon after 2 p.m. that senator tillis seven republicans discussed at lunch the idea of entering into a unanimous consent agreement with democrats that would allow for a few hours of debate on the mayorkas impeachment articles, and a few motions that would be recognized at the end, including a motion to dismiss or table. punchbowl news goes on to say that democrat leadership begin discussing this option last week. would in theory satisfy those like senator romney were inclined to dismiss these charges want to hear arguments and debate first. this would probably take all afternoon and evening. if no unanimous consent

agreement democrats could jam a motion to dismiss or table. >> joining us now is anthony adragna, political congress reporter for "politico."

anthony adragna, once these articles are presented to the senate and then they are red, what happens next? >> guest: after that all eyes are going to be on majority leader schumer to see what happens, and as you mentioned he is looking to dispose of this as quickly as possible. we have only seen republicans over the last couple of days erect procedural roadblock. they are procedural tactics that they could use to slow down this process. however if all democrats dedicated they have 51 seat majority effectively. they will be able to carry the day and could dispose of these articles to look at the quickly. i think that's what we're going to wait and see. >> host: will that motion to table discharges happen today? >> guest: i believe the motion would come tomorrow and will have to see exactly what happens. i think the senators to watch will be those who are up for reelection. it's been interesting to see sort of the divide within the democrats come people like joe

manchin of west virginia who is retiring as outspoken want to do with this process as quickly as possible. others like senator jon tester of montana who is facing a competitive reelection have been more circumspect. we will have to and see exactly what happens once that motion is made but if the most democrats want to do away with this as quickly as they have a bunch of other things under agenda. >> host: the articles impeachment will be walked over by 11 impeachment managers. describe this group. >> guest: it's a nursing mix of folks. the most interesting one of the group is marjorie taylor greene who obviously has expressed her intention to offer a motion to vacate, trigger it i should say come against speaker mike johnson. she party impeachment crew here i think it will be really interesting to see exactly how it is played out as republicans continue to grapple internally with the leadership and

questions around those issues. >> host: so this group of impeachment managers, they come over to the senate today, they will present these articles, they will read the articles. what will the senators be doing when that is happening? >> guest: senators have to be sworn in. they would be a prompt that threatens under questions of imprisonment that they need to be sworn in and be faithful jurors in this process. it's going to be interesting to see but a lot of the things are relatively perfunctory, ceremonial important to be sure but it will not be doing a whole lot at least in the interim here as a way to see what leadership does with the articles. >> host: if the majority leader chuck schumer does move too quickly table these charges against the homeland security secretary, what tools do republicans have to respond?

and what are their warnings to the democrats on this? >> guest: that's a great question. they are having a conference later this afternoon to discuss after the articles are delivered. they have -- that's probably the best leverage here. they've been calling for more than a week for a full trial. they want idriss baker we've seen people that might be more open to acquitting the secretary of these impeachment article, people like mitt romney expressing openness during the debate, one to to the arguments. that's sort of the folks to watch or maybe the moderate republicans as well as the other one to dispose, how quickly you want to dispose of these articles come even folks that are not complying overall to convict the secretary of the charges. >> host: and do you think democrats have the votes and how

many do they need on a motion to table these charges? >> guest: a simple majority. theoretically they have the votes. so i think again the folks to watch are the folks that are up for reelection this year, people may be an competitive races that we have not heard a lot of dissent so far. obviously anything is possible with the senate but barring anything unforeseen i would imagine democrats have the votes here to dispose of these pretty quickly. they have a large number of the things on the plate. i don't think they want to spending more time than actually have to on this trial. >> host: anthony adragna covers congress for "politico." thank you very much. >> guest: thanks for having me. >> drama that was a conversation earlier today with a reporter from "politico." we are now still waiting for these 11 impeachment managers to gather right there on your screen outside of the chamber of the house and then they will walk over the articles of

impeachment, two of them, against homeland security secretary to the senate floor. they will go across the capital to the senate floor where the senators have been waiting for them to appear. the senate majority leader chuck schumer has asked all the senators are in their seats for the presentation of the articles of impeachment. they will be read and then we will wait and see what the senate majority leader does next. there's new reporting from andrew desiderio of punchbowl news that the could be a unanimous consent agreement in the works that would allow them to have some debate on these articles of impeachment. on your screen there is speaker johnson walking across the capital. we are still waiting for these 11 impeachment managers. there they are. walking across the capital to the senate floor. live coverage here on c-span2.

one, point legal clerical and other necessary assistance and incurring such other expenses as may be necessary to be paid from amounts available to the committee on homeland security resolutions, or for the applicable amounts of the house of representatives. two, persons and papers edified with a sector of the senate on the part of the house of representatives, any pleadings in conjunction with or subsequent to the exhibition of the articles of impeachment that the managers consider necessary. with the permission of the senate i will now read the articles of impeachment here house resolution 863. resolved that alejandro nicholas mayorkas, secretary of homeland security of the united states of america is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following artists impeachment exhibited to the united states senate.

articles of impeachment exhibited by the house of representatives of the united states of america and the name of itself and the people of the united states of america against alejandro nicholas mayorkas secretary of homeland security of the united states of america in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. article one, willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law. the constitution provides that the house of representatives quote shall have the sole power of impeachment, end quote, and that civil officers of the united states including consecutive homeland security quote shall be removed from office on impeachment for an conviction of treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors, end quote. in his conduct while secretary of homeland security, alejandro n. mayorkas in violation of his oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic to bear

true faith and allegiance to the same and to well and faithfully discharge the duties of his office, has willfully and systemically refused to comply with the federal immigration laws in that. throughout his tenure as secretary of homeland security, alejandro n. mayorkas has repeatedly violated laws enacted by congress regarding immigration and border security. in large part because of his unlawful conduct, , millions of aliens have illegally entered the united states on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the united states. his refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the constitution of the united unitd states, it also threatens our national security and has had a direct impact on communities across the country. despite clear evidence that is willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law has individually contributed to unprecedented levels of illegal

immigrants, entrance, to increase control of the southwest border by drug cartels and the imposition of enormous costs on states and localities affected by the influx of aliens, alejandro n. mayorkas has continued in his refusal to comply with the law and thereby acted to the great detriment of the interest of the united states. alejandro n. mayorkas engaged in this scheme or course of conduct through the following means. one, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused refush the detention mandate set forth in section 2352a of the immigration and nationality act, requiring that all applicants for admission to our quote not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted shall be detained for removal proceeding, end quote. instead of complying with his requirement alejandro n. mayorkas implemented a catch and

release scheme whereby such aliens were unlawfully released, even without effective mechanisms to ensure appears before the immigration courts for removal proceedings or to ensure removal in the case of aliens ordered removed. two, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refuse to comply with the detention mandate set forth in section 235 b1, b2 of such act requiring that an alien who is placed into x but a removal proceedings and determined to have a credible fear of persecution quote shall be detained for further consideration of the application for asylum, end quote. if that a with this requirement, alejandro n. mayorkas intimated a catch and release scheme whereby such aliens were unlawfully released even without effective mechanisms to ensure appearances before the immigration accords for removal, proceedings or to ensure removal in the case of aliens ordered removed.

three, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention set forth in section 235 b1 b3 four of such act requiring that an alien who is placed and expedite removal proceedings and determined not to have a credible fear of persecution quote shall be detained until removed, , end quote. instead comply with this requirement, alejandro n. mayorkas hasn't committed a catch and release scheme whereby such aliens are unlawfully released even without effective mechanism to ensure appears before the immigration courts are removal proceedings or to ensure removal in the case of aliens ordered removed. four, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention mandate set forth in section 236c of such act requiring that a criminal alien who is inadmissible or the portable on certain criminal and terrorism related grounds quote shall be taken into custody, end

quote. when he it is released from w enforcement custody. instead comply with this requirement alejandro n. mayorkas issued quote guidelines for the enforcement of civil immigration law, end quote which instructs department of homeland security here and after referred to as dhs, officials that the quote fact individuals remove a noncitizen should be alone of enforcement action against them end quote. and that dhs quote personnel should not rely on the fact of conviction alone, end quote. even with respect aliens subject to mandatory arrest and detention pursuant to section 236c of such act to take them into custody. in texas versus the united states, 40f2052022 the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit concluded that these guidelines had quote every indication of being a general policy that is so extreme as to

amount to an abdication of statutory responsibility, end quote. and that is, quote, replacement of congresses statutory mandates with concerns of equity and raise extralegal and plainly outside the bounds of the power of conferred by the i&a, end quote. number five, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention mandate set forth in section 241 of such act requiring that alien ordered removed quote shall be detained quote during quote the removal period end quote. instead he comply with this mandate, alejandro n. mayorkas issued quote guidelines of the enforcement of civil immigration laws end quote which instructs dhs officials that the quote fact an individual is removal noncitizen should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them end quote, and that dhs quote, personal

should not rely on the fact of conviction alone, end quote. even with respect aliens subject to mandatory detention and removal pursuant to section 2418 of such act. six, ali hendrie mayorkas willfully exceeded his parole authority set forth in section 24 d5. such act that permits a role to be granted quote only on a case-by-case basis end quote temporarily and quote, for urgent to military reasons or significant public benefit end quote, in that a, alejandro n. mayorkas paroled aliens in mass underage release them from mandatory detention despite the fact that as the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit concluded in texas versus biden, quote, rolling every alien dhs cannot detain is

the opposite of a case-by-case basis determinations required by law, end quote. and quote, dhs pretended power to parole aliens while ignoring the limitations congress impose on the parole power is not nonenforcement. it's miss enforcement, suspension of the i&a, or both. b, alejandro n. mayorkas created, reopened or expanded a series of categorical parole programs never authorized by congress. for nationals outside the united states, including for certain central american minors, ukrainians, venezuelans, cubans come haitians come nicaraguans, colombians, salvadorans, guatemalans and have runs which enabled hundreds of thousands of admissible evidence to enter the united states in violation to the laws enacted by congress. alejandro n. mayorkas willfully exceeded his release authority

set forth in section 230 6a of such act that permits in certain circumstances the release of aliens arrested on administrative warrant in that alejandro n. mayorkas release aliens arrested without and what despite there being subject to a separate applicable mandatory detention requirement set forth in section 235 b2 of such act. alejandro n. mayorkas release such aliens by retroactively issuing administrative warrant in an attempt to circumvent section 235 b2 of such act. florida versus the united states number 321 cd 1066, tango kilo whiskey charlie bravo northern district of florida march 8, 20? >> guest: the united states district court of the northern district of florida noted and i quote, this sleight of hand using an arrest warrant as a de facto release warrant is

administrative sophistry. at its worst, end quote. in addition, the court concluded that quote what makes dhs' application of 236a in this manner unlawful is at 235 b2, not to 36a kevin stitt detention of applicants for admission from dhs place in removal proceedings after inspection. alejandro n. mayorkas willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law has had a calamitous consequences for the nation and the people of the united states including one during fiscal year 2017 through 2020 an average of about 590,000 aliens, each fiscal year were encountered as admissible aliens at ports of entry on the southwest border or apprehended between ports of entry. thereafter, during alejandro n. mayorkas tenure in office that number skyrocketed to over 1,400,000 in fiscal year 2021,

over 2,300,000 in fiscal year 2022, and over 2,400,000 in fiscal year 2023. similarly, during fiscal years 2017-2020 and average of 130,000 persons who were not turn back or apprehended who were not turned back or apprehended after making an illegal entry were observed along the border each fiscal year. during alejandro n. mayorkas tenure in office that number more than tripled to more than 400,000 in fiscal year 2021, 600,000 in fiscal year 2022, 750,000 in the school year 2023. two, american communities both along the southwest border and across the united states have been devastated by the dramatic growth in illegal entrance. a number of aliens unlawfully present and substantial rise in the number of aliens unlawfully granted parole, creating

physical and human action crisis and dramatically degrading the quality of life of residents of those communities. for example, since 2022 more than 150,000 migrants have gone through new york city shelter intake system. indeed the mayor of new york city has said that quote, we are past are breaking point, end quote. and that quote, this issue will destroy new york city, end quote. in fiscal year 2023, new york city spent $1,000,000,000.450 million -- addressing alejandro n. mayorkas migrant crisis and city officials fear it will spent another $12 billion over the following three fiscal years causing painful budget cuts to important city services. three, alejandro n. mayorkas unlawful mass release of apprehended aliens and unlawful mass grants of categorical paroled aliens have entice an increasing number of aliens to make the dangerous journey to our southwest border.

consequently, according to the united nations international organization for migration, the number of migrants intending to illegally cross the border who have perished along the way either in route to the united states or at the border almost doubled during the tenure of alejandro n. mayorkas as secretary of homeland security from an average about 700 a year during during the fiscal years 2017-2020, to an average of about 1300 a year during fiscal year 2021-2023. alien smuggling organizations have gained tremendous wealth during alejandro n. mayorkas' tenure as secretary of homeland security, with her estimated revenues rising from about $500 million in 2018, to approximately $13 billion in 2022. five, during alejandro n. mayorkas' tenure as sector, to

immigration court backlog has more than doubled from about 1,300,000 cases to over 3 million cases. the exploding backlog is destroying the court's ability to administer justice and provide appropriate relief and the timeframe that doesn't run into years or even decades. as alejandro n. mayorkas acknowledged quote, those who have a valid claim to asylum often we use for a decision. likewise, noncitizens who ultimately be found ineligible for asylum or other protection which occurs in the majority of cases often have spent many years in the united states prior to being ordered removed, , end quote. he noted that of aliens placed an expedited removal proceedings and found to have a credible fear of persecution and as referred to immigration judges for removal proceedings quote, significantly fewer than 20% were ultimately granted asylum,, end quote. and only 28% of cases decided on

their merits are granted our grants of relief. alejandro n. mayorkas also admitted, quote, the fact that migrants can wait in the united states for years before the issued a final order denying relief and that many such individuals are never actually removed likely incentivizes migrants to make the journey north, end quote. during alejandro n. mayorkas' tenure as secretary of homeland security approximately 450,000 unaccompanied alien children have been encountered at the southwest border. and the vast majority have been released into the united states. as a result, there has been a dramatic upsurge in migrant children being employed in dangerous and exploited jobs in the united states. seven, alejandro n. mayorkas' go to enforce the law drawing millions of illegal aliens to the southwest border has led to the reassignment of u.s. border patrol agents from protecting

the border from illicit drug trafficking to processing illegal aliens for release. as a result, during alejandro n. mayorkas' tenure as secretary of homeland security the flow of fentanyl across the border and other dangers of drugs both at, at and between ports of entry has increased dramatically. u.s. customs and border protection sees approximately 4800 pounds the fentanyl in fiscal year 2020, approximately 11,200 pounds in fiscal year 2021. 2021. approximately 14,700 pounds in fiscal year '22, and approximately 27,000 pounds in fiscal year '23. over 70,000 americans died from fentanyl poisoning in 2022. and fentanyl is now the number one killer of americans between the ages of 18-45. eight, alejandro n. mayorkas'

has integrated public safety by leaving wide swaths of the border effectively uncontrolled as u.s. border patrol agents are diverted from guarding the border to processing for unlawful release the heightening ways of apprehended aliens, many who now seek out agent for the purpose of surrendering with a now reason expectation of being released and granted work authorization. and federal air marshals are diverted from protecting the flying public to assist in such processing. nine, during alejandro n. mayorkas' tenure executive homeland security, u.s. border patrol has encountered an increasing number of aliens on the terror watch list. fiscal years 2017-2020 combined, 11 noncitizens on the terror watch list were caught attempting to cross the southwest border between ports of entry. that number increased to 15 in fiscal year 2021, 98 in fiscal

year '22, 169 in fiscal year 2023, 2023, and 49 so far in fiscal year '24. ..

arm of the state of residence releasing illegal rents with serious crimes in order to reach

united states to take over of afghanistan. knowingly made false statements apprehending aliens with no legal basis to remain quickly removed. knowingly made false statements supporting a false narrative u.s. border patrol agents maliciously went illegal aliens. alejandro mayorkas failed to comply with multiple subpoenas. alejandro mayorkas delayed or denied access dhs office and inspector general here in doctor

referred to as oig to dhs records and information tampering the ability to effectively perform battle investigations, audits, inspections and other reviews of agency programs and operations to satisfy oig's obligations under section 402b of title five. in part to congress initially while guitar implement security alejandro mayorkas reached public trust by willful result to fulfill statutory duty to guard the boundaries and borders of the united states against illegal entry of aliens as set forth in section 10385 of the immigration and nationality act. alejandro mayorkas inherited what is first border patrol called arguably the most

effective border security a nation's history. alejandro mayorkas proceeded to abandon border security initiatives without engaging and alternative initiatives without engaging in alternative efforts that would enable dhs to maintain control of the border and are against illegal entry and despite clear evidence of devastating consequences of actions, failed to take action to fulfill statutory duty to control the border. according to his first tooth the u.s. border patrol alejandro mayorkas rejected multiple options to reduce illegal entries through proven programs and consequences provided by civil service staff at dhs, despite clear evidence of devastating consequences of his actions he failed to take action

to fulfill statutory duty to control the border and that among other things, alejandro mayorkas terminated migrant production protocols hereinafter, referred to as mpt. in texas versus biden, mark 928, 2021 the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit explained that quote, the district court pointed to evidence that termination of mpp conservative to the current border search i think dhs phone's determinations cory the rate of entries. the district court also pointed out the number of enforcement encounters instances were immigration officials encounter immigrants attempting to cross the southern border without documentation directly the termination alejandro mayorkas terminated contracts for

portable construction. three, he terminated the cooperative agreement that would have equitably shared the burden of complying with international seven records. in all of this, alejandro mayorkas reached public trust knowingly making false statements to congress and the american people and avoiding lawful oversight in order to obscure the visiting consequences of his systemic refusal to comply with the law and carry out statutory duties. he's breached the public trust willfully refusing to carry out -- tory duty to control the border guard against illegal entry. notwithstanding the consequences of that duty. wherefore alejandro mayorkas for such conduct demonstrated he will remain a threat to national and border security, safety of the american people and constitution is allowed to remain in office the in a manner

closely incompatible with the will of, alejandro mayorkas once impeachment and trial, removal from office disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust and profit under the united states. that completes the exhibition of articles of impeachment against mayorkas. secretary of the department of home and security, managers request the senate take order for the trial and managers request leave to withdraw. >> thank you. the senate will notify the house appropriate when it's ready to proceed.

>> all senators under impeachment rules senators will be sworn in as jurors tomorrow 1:00 p.m. and i note the absence of a quorum.

[background noises] [background noises] >> the senate has received articles of impeachment against all my security alejandro mayorkas. what happens next? the senate tomorrow will convene 1:00 p.m. to swear in the jurors. the official getting up trial

proceedings, whether the upper chamber conducted a full trial to hear the evidence against the secretary remains unclear. the senate majority leader chuck schumer is looking to move quickly on the charges while republicans say any motion to dismiss impeachment articles would be unprecedented you can watch all of our coverage of the impeachment of the home and security secretary on our website standout work and watch live coverage tomorrow here on c-span2 or c-span now, free video mobile app.

the systematic refusal to force our nations relational laws and the extent of the crisis unfolded on the administrations watch. the crisis january of 2021 reported 7.5 million illegal crossings on our southern border. observers estimate 1.5 million known batteries the numbers ever

recorded. in two months is the house was impeached, the border crisis has only continued. every 22nd illegal alien was arrested in virginia for actually assaulting a minor. the very next day, another from venezuela was arrested for the murder of blake and riley, a young college student in georgia. mother was charged with murder for the shooting of a 2-year-old in maryland. for the americans living near the border things are not

improving. one man working in arizona, over 170 people from around the world for one such opening and matter of hours. house managers will make the case will and neglecting the crisis a rare responsibility convening court of impeachment is fall into undivided attention. the first shoshone senators get the opportunity trial is exactly what history instead, every time

upon to render judgment, we've done so trial in accordance with rule 11 agreed to the 1935 malika pointed a trial committee to dig in the face and give a recommendation. take the responsibility and failed the charges earlier today consideration they deserved. i will oppose any effort for the articles of impeachment.

the biden administration border crisis squarely in the face. an entirely different way -- mrs. shaheen: in light of the unpriss depthed attacks by -- unprecedented attacks by iranian forces against israel over the weekend, on the 64th day since the senate passed a bipartisan national security supplemental bill, i come to the floor to once again call on the house to pass critical funding for ukraine, for israel, for the indo-pacific, and importantly for our own national security needs here at home. over the past six months, i have worked with senators from both sides of the aisle to urge passage of supplemental funding to support our national security and i am beyond disappointed

that speaker johnson and house republicans have delayed much-needed critical aid, especially given the senate bill that passed here with 70 bipartisan votes. i believe, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle believe, that that would pass the house, if only the speaker would bring the bill to the floor. now, we hear this week that house republicans may be nearing a vote on this aid, and while i'm encouraged by that it is way past time for us to help the courageous ukrainians who are fighting literally for the life of their country. as chair of the european subcommittee of foreign relations committee, like so many in this chamber, i've met with president zelenskyy, traveled to ukraine, met with the women and men who are on the front lines of this war.

i know the dire state of affairs right now against russia. we've heard from our nation's top four-star generals, every single combatant commander. they have stressed the importance of what happens in ukraine to operations elsewhere around the world. fortunately, ukrainians remain fearless in the face of the brutality and aggression from russia. but what the united states and our allies must do at this critical juncture is provide the military and economic support to help ukraine win and define victory on its own terms. we must act now to ensure ukraine's continued survival. we've heard testimony that right now, for every shell that's being fired by the ukrainians, five are being fired by russia. if we wait another month or

more, it will be ten for every shell that ukrainians are firing. ensuring ukraine's survival is not just about ukraine. it's about pushing back on vladimir putin's campaign to return to the days of soviet occupation and aggression. we've seen this movie before, with vladimir putin. in 2008, he invaded georgia. in 2014 he illegally and nexted crimea -- annexed crimea and parts of the donbas in ukraine. then two years ago he launched his full-scale, unprovoked invasion of ukraine. if he wins, if the west fails to support ukraine, we know that vladimir putin is not going to stop. we've heard from the leaders of the baltic nations of poland, of other states in eastern europe

their fears for what happens if vladimir putin is successful in ukraine. and instead of letting putin rewrite the rules of the road, we should put an end to his thinking that he can do as he pleases without consequences. delays by pentagon house of representatives -- delay by the house of representatives to pass this house of representatives has -- and we've already heard from the chairman of the house intelligence committee, mike turner, chairman mike mccaul from the house foreign affairs committee who have already said that a third of the republican caucus are listening and spouting russian disinformation. and this isn't just about ukraine. american aid and support deters other bad actors from initiating conflict in other parts of the wowed and six months -- world and six months of inaction has

enabled our adversaries. we saw it as recently as this weekend when iranian forces fired off hundreds of drones and rockets toward israel. now as there is the potential for a broader war in the middle east that could imperil more innocent lives and make the world more dangerous, it's more important than ever that we take action in congress because these episodes -- ukraine, the attack in israel, what's happening in the indo-pacific -- they don't happen in silos. our adversaries are connected. they're sharing weapons and refeling -- and revelling in our inability to act. iran is currently supplying more than 70% of russia's drone capabilities. a top chinese official was just in north korea for the highest-level talks in years and the secretary-general of nato branded this partnership as a

dangerous authoritarian alliance. and he's right. this group of dictators, autocrats and adversaries threatens democracies. this is a threat that's very much like what we saw in the lead-up to world war ii, and if we don't pass the supplemental, our adversaries like iran will expand their own campaigns of aggression. if thank you he'll concerned about what -- if you're concerned about what china is doing is, if you're concerned about what iran is doing, the best way to deal a blow to these authoritarians is to support the ukrainians in their effort to defeat putin. we have a chance to take a stand for freedom and democracy, if only our house colleagues would finally pass the national security supplemental. i just got back from the indo-pacific with a

congressional delegation that included six members of the senate and one member of the house. it was bipartisan and bicameral. and what we heard in the nations that we visited in the indo-pacific was that they understand the connection between what's going on in ukraine and what's happening with china, with great power competition, with the aggression in the indo-pacific and the south china sea and against taiwan. if the house will pass the national security supplemental, we could degrade russia, we could degrade the iranian military capabilities, and we could do it without costing american lives. we can boost our economy through our defense industrial base and support for ukraine and our allies isn't a blank check. it's not charity. the united states is providing ukraine with critical equipment to defend itself and its territory.

this equipment is pulled from u.s. stocks, which also means that it's putting people to work back at home. but despite misinformation from too many house republicans, a majority of the funding in the bill the senate sent over more than 60 days ago is spent in the united states. it would be spent to replenish our own military stocks so that we can continue to meet our military requirements. it would shore up our military readiness and ensure the u.s. industrial base can keep up with demand. a destabilized yawp as a result of -- a destabilized europe as a result of ukraine losing this war would be a disaster for our economy. in my state we export about $3 billion to europe, our largest trading partner. putin poses a serious threat to

our security and a peaceful, prosperous future. our allies know this, and that's why by the end of this year 18 nato countries will meet the 2% defense spending goal set by the alliance. this historic investment in our collective security shows that the united states is not shouldering this burden alone. we can depend on our allies, and they must be able to depend on us. let's remind ourselves that our nato allies stood by our side after september 11. right now leaders from around the world are looking for the united states to step up and pass this bill. what message does it send to our allies if we ignore their pleas for support to save lives and ensure our collective security? what message does it send to our grandchildren if we tell them that we're willing to gamble sending them to fight in other

war in europe because there's one thing we know -- it's that putin is not going to stop in ukraine. america doesn't back down when it's called upon to defend freedom. at least we never have. ukraine is now on the front lines of the fight for democracy and freedom. we have the resources to act here. we have the ability to act. now it's time for everyone in the house to find the courage to act. because failure is not an option. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: i also ask unanimous consent that megan na the zel be granted floor privileges until april 17, 2024. the presiding officer: without objection u. mr. cassidy: mr. president, last week we saw terrible flooding in parts of louisiana, and here's some charts which show -- water shouldn't be up to the bottom of a vehicle. and there you see people getting on a bus wearing wader.

-- waders. so people's lives were disrupted, just like any serious flood. so now families are turning to fema, a the national flood insurance program. and moments like this are why people buy insurance. but what about after we've recovered and the sun shines once more? there's increasing concern among americans that they will not be able to afford their flood insurance for when the next storm hits. a house is the biggest purchase most people make in their lifetime, unless you're among the wealthiest, you are taking how the a mortgage to make that purchase. after you've bought your home, imagine fema changes the rules and your flood insurance costs more than the mortgage. but this is the story i am hearing frequently from people in louisiana. the cost of living crisis is being fueled by the inflation created by this administration.

inflation is costing louisiana families $840 more than in 2021. they're frustrated that they're paying more an getting less. folks are not only worried about how to put food on their table but also how to pay for gas. the they're how they're going to believe able to stay in their homes and afford a good education for their childrenment. i would like to do something about some small part of that. congress -- that congress has the power to do something about. that is, to make flood insurance affordable. the national flood insurance program was created as a safety net for the most vulnerable americans. it covers 4.7 million american homes. but those homes are at risk of losing their protection because of skyrocketing premiums caused by fema's new risk assessment system, risk rating 2.06789

le -- 2.0. fema introduced risk rating 2.0 in october 2021 and it is slated to take effect. since americans who rely on flood insurance have been held in a state of uncertainty. before they're hit with the first bill, many families didn't know if their premiums would jump up, by how much, and when the rate hikes would end. fema told us that 77% of po policyholders would see a price hike but refused to publicly disclose how the individual policy rates are calculated. so now fema sending americans a bill and won't tell them how they came up with a price. if you were the american getting that bill, you'd be incredible bring frustrated. you wouldn't accept it if your mechanic stuck you with a crazy bill but didn't tell you what was wrong with the car.

why should we just accept from a government agency that same kind of model. theoretically the government agency is here to serve us. now, louisiana is one of the states getting hit the hardest. nfip premiums are expected to go up by 234% in louisiana with some zip codes seeing as much as an 1100% increase. that's 1,100%. in real terms, some subsidied codes will see an increase from around $600 to more than $8,000 annually. couple that with the homeowners insurance crisis, couple that with inflation across the country, couple that with the cost to heat your home, couple that with the cost to go to the grocery store, it is clear why americans feel they cannot keep their head above water. now, insurance just like everything else has become less affordable. and when folks can't afford flood insurance, they begin to drop that coverage.

and the pool of policyholders shrink. the amount of risk is then placed on a smaller number of policyholders, which increases their premiums, which makes them drop their policy, and then we enter what is called an actuarial death spiral. fema itself forecasts that over 20% of policyholders will leave the program because of higher premiums within the next ten years. we're studying the program -- we're setting the program up for collapse and leaving americans and american taxpayers holding the bucket. now, some groups will be hit even harder than others h fema won't tell us what they expect americans to pay, but we don't know they don't factor in income or the ability to pay. there is no discount for consideration for an elderly couple who is retired and

living on a fixed income and never have flooded and now their insurance premiums are rising. this is a really -- this is a real human condition. now, congress has the 0 you are to address this and we need to step up now. if my colleagues and our friends in the house of representatives wish to honor the people we serve, let's start with the 4.7 million policy holders being -- don't knee if the word is mistreated but mishandled by the national flood insurance program. i urge my colleagues to read our reauthorize reform act. come talk to us about it. it is bipartisan and, reasonable, sensible and will actually address this need. our goal is to make the national flood insurance program more affordable for the homeowner, more accountable to the taxpayer, more sustainable for society. and our bill does that. but we can only do so by working to the. with that, i yield.

i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

is going to do tomorrow, dennis fraudulent and an insult to the

senate and the service that every american citizen who believes in the rule of law. >> good afternoon, perfect. not having an impeachment trial is a true threat to the not having an impeachment trial is unconstitutional doctor like myself and read the constitution and seek impeachment articles are delivered. it's important that everybody understands two or three democrat senators for impeachment trial, just two or three of them they would force this to go forward started rather securely stationing watch discharging his boat to order overtake more about developing families laken riley we don't

care. a vote to tell 250,000 families who lost a loved one that it doesn't matter, a lot of order doesn't matter. i just hope states like montana transylvania michigan and wisconsin, there's a lot of about paying attention, and opportunity to reach out to their senator and asked them to have an impeachment trial and hold them accountable" november. and we told you a couple of stories and montana, illegal alien charged with aggravated kidnapping and burglary convicted of stabbing a 19-year-old man to death. also in montana the fentanyl pills, 12,000 pounds of fentanyl

in 2023 hello, enough to kill every american. and ohio, and illegal mexican gang member here in the united states with 11 prior arrests was charged with aggravated murder while intoxicated. and ohio, the minivan with felipe people in it and uncovered human trafficking. the stories are purely similar. unconstitutional, it's not right, americans are demanding accountability. secretary mayorkas is bidding, they both need to be held accountable. >> i was sitting in that

chamber, you couldn't help but be struck by the gravity and i do think the people in this room oftentimes are caught up in the 24 hour news cycle -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. kennedy: i ask that we come out of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. with me today is one of my colleagues from my office, mr. matt turner. i want to talk about the woly mammoth in the room people, and i want my colleagues to put aside for a second the legal aspect of this. just stop thinking for a second

about how many lawyers can dance on the head of a pin, and let's just think for a moment what's about to happen over the next two days. a few moments ago the managers from the united states house of representatives came over, every member of the senate was here and seated and read their articles of impeachment, their charges about secretary mayorkas. the united states house of representatives, did you notice i said that -- representatives of the united states house of representatives came over to us.

as i said the other day, we're not talking about some snow bro who likes chicken mcnuggets and weed and has an opinion. we're not talking about some -- some gameboy who is living in his parents' basement and has an opinion. though both of them are entitled to their opinion because this is america. we're talking about the united states house of representatives. for months they investigated the open bleeding wound that is the southern border and why it is open and why -- it is bleeding. and after investigating it, not for days, not for weeks, for

months, the united states house of representatives voted two articles, two charges in an people of secretary mayorkas. and those are serious charges. they're as serious as four heart attacks and a stroke. the first one is willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law. not negligence. willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law. the second charge is breach of the public trust -- breach of the public trust. serious, serious charges. now, this doesn't happen every day or every week or every month

or even every year around here. our country's almost 250 years old. this has only happened 22 -- 22 times has the united states house of representatives impeached a public official. and every single time -- check -- go google it -- every single time -- you can write this down, take it home to mama -- every single time except for when the public official has quit, the united states senate has done its job through thick and thin, whether the democrats were in the majority or the republicans were in the majority. it didn't matter who the president was, we did our job because we respect the

institution of the constitution, we respect the three branches of government, we respect the united states house of represe representatives. we respect them enough to do our job. we held a trial every single time except when the public official quit. now, in the next two days you're going to hear one of my colleagues, the majority leader, say we don't need to hold a trial. he's going to say the evidence is insufficient. it's not worth our time. i want you to think for a moment. just ask yourself this question. how does he know the evidence isn't sufficient? how does he know? he hadn't heard the evidence.

what you're about to see, folks, it breaks my heart to say this, over the next two days when you're going to see is not about the evidence. it's -- it's not about the law, it's knots about the -- it's not about the process, it's not about, but should be, 250 years of -- of precedent and history. it's about raw gut politics. some of my colleagues in this body do not want us to talk about the border in an election year and we all know that. you know that, i know that, everybody watching knows that, the american people know that. they may be poorer under president biden, but they're not stupid.

they can see that. and that's not right. it is factus, it is fraudulent. regardless of what you think or you may think you think without having heard the evidence, the united states senate should do its job. we should hold a trial. now, my democratic friends have the votes. they -- they can do pretty much what they want to. they can make a -- when you've got the votes, you know, you can -- what's the old expression? you can make a -- you can make a he could wbear -- you can make bear eat hot peppers and like it. they've got the votes, and i believe in the rule of law and the rules are the rules.

but sometimes the majority just means that all of the fools are on the same side. that's why we have a bill of rights in our constitution to protect our rights that the majority can't take away. and i want to say this as respectfully as i can. because i understand politics. i've been in this business for a while. you have too, mr. president. i've seen the dark side of it too. i've seen the good side, but i've seen the dark side of it. and what i'm seeing right now is the dark side. i'm seeing the dark side. this is a political decision, and it's an insult to the senate and it's one more step of the united states senate rotting from within where we don't do our job for political reasons. so i'm asking my democratic colleagues with -- i say this

gently with as much respect as i can muster, pretty please, pretty please, pretty please, pretty please with shoeing rar an -- sugar on top, let's do our jobs. don't dismiss these people proceedings summarily, like it's spam in your inbox. the united states senate needs do its job. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

threatening americans on the street. it's the most egregious violation as we study this case.

... threatening americans on the street. what i think the most egregious violation is this as we studied this case. under eight usc 1228 of the immigration nationality, the government shall take into custody any alien that has committed an aggregated felony. what does that mean? well, the definition of aggregated -- aggravated felony is murderers, rapists, pedophiles and drug traffickers. and for the lawyers here we know shall is mandatory.

it is not may or do what you feel like. it is shall detain. september 2021 in a memo, the guidance for law enforcement of immigration law to his border patrol agents he says don't pay attention to that law. whether a noncitizen poses a current threat to public safety is not to be determined to bright lines or categories he says. our personnel should not rely on the fact of conviction or just a database search alone. he violated the law. he violated the intent of congress. he violated the american people. he has caused injuries of founding fathers talked about two hours so society. my children have been to too

many funerals. going upwards of 300,000 people now. more than world war ii and vietnam combined because of this one man. you know, people ask me, why are you guys doing this? they are just going to toss it out. we have a name for the house of representatives. it is called the people's house because we are the voice of the people. the voice of the people is very clear. secure the border and impeach this man, this criminal. it is very, very clear. we did our job in the house. and i pray that senator schumer will do his job in the senate as he is required to do under the constitution. i want to close with this. a very well respected supreme

court justice in 1833 when they are talking about impeachment where a lord admiral has neglected to safeguard the seas, that shall be redeemed and impeachable offense. i would say, secretary mae arcus has neglected to safeguard not only the seas, but the air, land and the seas to the great detriment of the united states of america. i would like to turn it over to my colleague. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i represent a border district just like every other member of congress. i want to thank them for hosting us today. i am here along with not only the chairman of the foreign affairs and the chairman of homeland security but my colleagues that are impeachment. mr. lee from florida and mr. biggs from arizona.

we are attorneys. we have been defense attorneys, we have been judges. we know the law. we know the constitution. we are used to studying cases, determining the facts and laying those facts out not only to juries, but to the public. in this case, it is clear and we look forward to laying out the case to the senate into the members of the senate individually that mae arcus has violated the law. has violated the public trust, has violated his oath to the constitution of the united states. we look forward to laying out those facts. i trust this institution. i have great respect for this institution. great respect for the individual senators, respect for the constitution and i would only ask, we would only ask, as managers, that the senate show us the same respect by hearing

those facts. by hearing that evidence and by respecting the american people that sent us to congress and behalf of whom we are here presenting these articles to the senate. thank you. with that, i would like to turn it over to congressman lee. >> the american people deserve to hear the facts and the evidence that led us to this day the american people deserve to hear the things that we and the committee on homeland security heard. the staggering statistics. the deliberate implementation of policies that led to this crisis they deserve to hear the impunity with which secretary mae arcus subverted the law. the existing federal law of the united states and the orders of federal courts directing him that his policies were unconstitutional. the american people deserve to

hear the same stories that we heard in the house of representatives. the facts and the evidence that lead us to the conclusion that this was a necessary decision by the house. that this is so much more than a disagreement about policy. this is about one branch of government that refuses to acknowledge the will and the authority of the others. both congress where secretary mae arcus came in and time after time after time misled the members of our committee about the true nature, the true significance and what was going on at the southern border. his defiance at the core. his refusal to accept that as an agency head he did not have the authority to make the law. most importantly, we must always bear in mind the consequence of

these actions. that every day these policies have been in place, every day that secretary mae arcus has been in his job, americans are less safe. the catastrophic consequences to our country by the failure to control our southern border, by the failure to understand who has come to our country, where they are and what the intentions may be. as a fundamental breach of the public trust. the house of representatives has done it. it is time for our colleagues in the senate to do their spirit with that, i recognize my friend and colleague. >> anxious to see a trial take place in the senate as i am. i will never forget sitting in judiciary committee when secretary mae arcus was testifying on one occasion. we said to him, is the border

operationally secure pursuant to the secure fence act of 2006. then we put the statute out. nobody can really ever obtain operational control of the border in the statute. he said so we concocted our own. our own rubric and we feel that the border is secure. now, mind you, at the time, we were setting record apprehensions month after month. record number of encounters. record number of known got a ways and similar to the large number of known got away. well, in the case of you we versus texas, the solicitor general admitted in that particular case that when an executive branch determines it will not enforce the laws that the framers political checks in

that circumstance, you know if an administration did something that extreme and said we just will not enforce the law at all, then the president would be held to account by the voters and congress has tools at its disposal as well. the solicitor general for the biden administration. what are those tools? enforcing the congressional mandates. there enforced in the united states. solicitor general said congress could use the power of the purse justice kavanaugh noted. i think your position is instead of judicial review congress has to resort to shutting down the government or impeachment. in some administration comes in and says we will not enforce laws or we will not enforce laws to the degree that congress by law has said it should be enforced, i understand your

position. forcing congress to take dramatic steps, i think. what is the solicitor general saying. >> she admitted i think if those dramatic steps would be warranted it would be in the face of a dramatic application of statutory responsibility of the executive. what more of overt avocation statutory responsibility have we seen from the biden administration. there has been a lot. but what this particular secretary has done, he is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths of u.s. citizens. i had in my office just yesterday, two friends that live along the border and the traffic on their ranch has increased fourfold under this particular administration.

now, if you going to high crimes and misdemeanors, we could go into evidence that we have to show, but i will just tell you where the evidence leads always. this is willful, purposeful and intentional on the part secretary mae arcus. this is not some notion of incompetence. i am not telling you what to come. don't come now. this is what he meant when he issued the september 2021 clarifying memo saying, you know what, it does not matter if someone is here illegally it does not even matter if they are here under criminal austin says it we are not necessarily going to do anything about this. it will take something far worse even then they will not do

anything. so, there is much to be said and much to be done. but i can tell you this, their multitude of statute that required not a suggestion, not a wish, but as the justice described it, a congressional command. that this secretary and his agents obtained and in some cases removed. and this secretary has said i am not going to do it. and that leads me back to the original point. i will not go back to the evidence for every case, every issue that we. we are ready to go. we are ready to go. even the biden administration agrees. if an executive agency is fully

advocating the statutory requirements its duties, its responsibilities the house did its job. deciding to do its job and let that trial take place. let us see mae orca should be after office. that is what they have indicated and that is what is necessary in this case. with that, i turned it back over to my friend senator from utah. >> let's open up her questions. >> what steps can you take to try to force a trial to take place in our are you already negotiating with democrats to try to come up with an opportunity to present options.

>> yes. look. we convene at 1:00 o'clock whereupon we will be sworn in to decide the case. deciders of fact and judges of the law in this case. after that, motions will be entertained and in theory, you can have unlimited motions while you are discussing those. once we receive the impeachment articles, if the case is not been rendered by vacancy or debt , then the senate negotiates a standing order. in order to govern the intricacies of the trial. what happens when you go to a pretrial conference with the judge. you set out the timing for a pretrial briefing and then the timing for the opening statements, cross-examination of witnesses and sowh forth. that is what we would deal. sam.

we deferents need more data to tell us what is so painfully obvious in schools and homes across the country -- social media platforms with their wildly powerful, covert, and addictive algorithms are driving our kids deeper and deeper into a sea of despair that they can't find their way out of. kids are being sucked into rabbit holes that leave them in had a constant -- lacking meaningful friendships and connections. the idea that a young kid can feel so unhappy and unfulfilled at the tender age of eight or nine, so much so that they seriously contemplate self-harm, is appalling and it is a uniquely modern crisis created over the past decades by profit-chasing tech companies for whom nothing and no one is

off-limits, not even very young kids. the math for them is very simple -- attention means money, and the best way to hold people's attention is to make them upset and keep them upset. you talk to any parent, whether they're raising a toddler or a teenager, whether they are had a voter, a none voter, a republican or a democrat, they are worried and frustrated about all the ways social media is harming kids but they don't know what to do about it or if they can do anything about it. some may work two jobs and unable to monitor their kids time online. some may unable to set limits on screen time. all they really want is for their young kids to be off social media altogether because there is no good reason that a

9-year-old should be tend spending hours every day scrolling through tiktok, those been programmed with no concern as to whether the content is age-appropriate or not. ness no first amendment for an 11-year-old to be on line. by the companies' own admission, social media was never meant to be used by young kids, yet any parent or anyone who knows a parent knows that young kidses are on these platforms anyway and the only way that it'll stop is if the federal law finally may not mandates that companies keep young kids off of their services. over the past year my team and i have worked sentence swivel a broad range of advocates and stakeholders as well as the senate commerce committee leadership to update my bill to protect kids on social media. our updated bill called the

healthy kids act would do two simple things -- it would prevent kids under 13 from being on social media at all. and it would ban algorithm mick targeting on these -- algorithmic targeting on these platforms. delaying social media sues a straightforward and commonsense way to protect our kids from the very worst of the internet's ills. so let them have a northboundal childhood in the real world. play a sport, learn an instrument, read a book, go to the park, walk around with friends. and once kids are on social media at 13 or 14 or whenever they need protection, particularly from the algorithmic targeting. just last year alone, social media companies made $11 billion from ads targeted at kids under 18 in the united states. so it's no wonder that they have no appetite to change their

business model without a federal law. it's working great for them, not just for the millions of young kids who are sad and lonely and angry because of it. kids need help and they need protection, and because the companies have shown time and time again that they will not step up, congress must. i'm glad that we're seeing renewed momentum and urgency right now with a number of different proposals on this issue in the united states senate. all of them -- my bill included -- share the same goal of keeping our kids healthy. but at the heart of this effort is an essential question of when our kids ought to be allowed to be an social media. at what age is it appropriate to use if we're going to protect these kids online and act as a counterweight to the rich and powerful tech companies, answering that question and establishing an age minimum is essential e . and that is what the healthy kids act does. it is our job here in the senate

to consider any number of difficult challenges facing the country in the world and to debate what to do about them. but what is more fundamental to the role of the federal government than to protect the most vulnerable americans, especially our children? if you think what's happening to kids online is unclear, look at the data. the percentage of high school students surveyed who experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year from 36% to 57% for females, 21% to 29% in ten years. in ten years. it might be the phones, it might be the phones. you can consult the data, you can ask the surgeon general of the united states, you can ask all the people who have studied this and they know it is early use of social media where, look, we all use social media and our

adult brains are not powerful enough to overcome the negative impacts. you're 13, you're nine, you're seven -- you are going to be overpowered by these algorithms. we have to protect these kids, and if you don't believe the data, talk to any parent. democrat, republican, parent of after 2-year-old, parent of a 12-year-old, everybody wants this tool in their toolkit and the idea that we should pass a federal law mandating that all -- that the social media companies have to do is have a little thing in settings where you can turn the dials on all the different aspects of your social media account is ignorant. it is ignorant. the idea that all we really need to do is precipitate a conversation between a parent and a child about social media use. no. what parents need is to be able to say, i'm sorry. that's illegal.

i'm sorry. you may not use these social media platforms. and i think it gets really tricky and really complicated once a kid is 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. i understand that. and we've narrowed the bill to be more precise because there is no first amendment right, there is no public policy up side for a the r.9-year-old to be an dick -- to be on tiktok. nobody can make that argument with a straight face. as we consider our options going forward on the one hand tech policy but specific -- on tech policy but specifically protecting children on line, the question is at what age is it appropriate for a child to use social media? if i had my druthers, i would have set it at 16, honestly. but certainly we can all agree that there is no advantage to a child's life, a prepubescent child's life being on social

media. i am confident we will get this done. i'm confident that if this ever received a senate floor vote that it would be a resounding bipartisan majority, and i am confident that the american people support us in this. thank you very much. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

the sergeant and arms will make a proclamation. >> here he here he here he all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment

while the house of representatives is exhibiting to the senate of the united states articles of impeachment against mae arcus secretary of homeland security. >> the managers on the part of the house will proceed. >> mr. president, the managers on the florida house of representatives are present and ready to present the articles of impeachment which have been preferred by the house of representatives against mae orca secretary of the department of homeland security. the house adopted the following ecresolution with permission of the senate, i will read house resolution 995. resolved that mr. greene of tennessee, mr. mccall, mr. biggs , mr. klein, mr.

s impeachment. now in 2019, right before the democrats started in on president trump and an impeachment trial for president trump, leader schumer stood right here in this chamber, and he said we have a responsibility to let all the facts come out. we have to remember our constitutional duty to act as judges and jurors in a potential trial. now those are his comments at that point in time. he was all for an impeachment trial. and it is our constitutional

duty. you can look at article 1, sections 2 and section 3. section 2 lays out the responsibility of the house in impeachment. section 3 pertains to the senate and how we are to proceed with the trial of impeachment. but as i said, leader schumer has decided that he wants to change his tune, and all of a sudden he is not wanting this, even though we actually have a public officeholder who deserves to stand for impeachment trial. and that is secretary mayorkas. and now that it is, the shoe is on the other foot, if you will, and now that it is a democrat,

leader schumer wants to change the rules and say, no. he's even willing to take unprecedented actions that this chamber has never taken when it comes to the issue of impeachment. and i believe this should incense every single american. i know it incenses the people of tennessee. because what we have learned in the last three years about secretary mayorkas, even though his title is the secretary of homeland security, he does not believe in securing the homeland, and he has refused to fulfill his duty of securing the homeland. now, i know that secretary mayorkas is doing the bidding of joe biden and the biden administration. he's just doing what they tell him he's got to do.

that in and of itself tells you a lot about what this administration thinks about the security and sovereignty of this country. and here is why. on the biden-mayorkas watch, you have more than 9.4 million illegal aliens coming in to this country. that is in less than three years. 9.4 million. now we know that there's between 1.7 million and 2.5 million got-aways. some of those got-aways are included in that 9.4 million number. others are not, because they didn't see them as they were coming through and couldn't get to them, mr. president, they found things they left on the roadside or in the woods in the

brush later on. out of this 10 million or so that have illegally come into the country -- and, by the way, just to help everyone have the right context, that number of 10 million, that is greater than the population of 38 of our states. 38. that's how many people are coming in who are illegally entering the country. now, out of this number, you've got thousands that are from countries of interest. that would be places like pakistan, uzbekistan, iraq, iran. and look at china. look at what is happening there. you also have 300 known terrorists. as we heard in the impeachment

articles today. under president trump, you had no more than a dozen total over four years that were coming in the country. what do you have under joe biden? you've got over 300 suspected terrorists. even last week we had an issue where doj and dhs and fbi and the other agencies were admitting they had lost track of a terrorist from afghanistan, and he was free roaming the country for a year. now in addition to the terrorists and the people from countries of interest, fentanyl is coming across our borders. it is being smuggled in by the cartels. fentanyl is the leading cause of death of americans ages 18 to 45. fentanyl, a drug that china has

the precursor chemicals, and they are manufacturing this in labs that they have set up with, oh, by the way, the cartels in mexico. and the cartels are the distribution hub for fentanyl. i talk to parents regularly who have a child who has lost a life or become addicted because of fentanyl. and in addition to all the fentanyl, then you have the human trafficking. what is really so sad to me, when you look at human trafficking, and for the cartels, human trafficking is a business, and it has grown from a business that was $500 million a year in this country in 2018, and today it is a $13

billion-a-year business. and if you don't think the cartels are big business, if you don't think they're global entities, look at this. globally human trafficking is a $150 billion-a-year business. where do these people want to come? right here. they want to come into our country. now on top of this, there are more than 400,000 migrant children, many of them who have been recycled and abused by the cartels. and, yes indeed, the cartels are so into this human trafficking now that they've devised a scheme. it is child abuse. they take a little child, they write their name and the phone number to contact on that child's back, they put that child with a cartel member

they're trying to get into the country. they pose as a family for the purpose of claiming asylum. and then once the cartel member is across the border, what does he do? he lets the child go. lets the child go, and the child is sent back to mexico. so we add to all of these issues with the terrorists, with the people from countries of interest, with the drugs, with the human traffic, with the sex trafficking. you look at what is happening to these children and tens of thousands of these 400,000 children have been forced into really horrific exploitative situations, including child labor and sex trafficking. and across the country you have

dangerous illegal alien criminals. they're called criminal aliens who should never have been able to come into this country in the first place. they have harmed, they have murdered innocent americans. so all of these reasons add to why we should move forward with this impeachment. and on top of it you add that secretary mayorkas has repeatedly lied to congress about our border being secure, and he has, he likes to say he's done everything to prevent this, but we know he's done everything to allow it and to allow the flow to continue. last year dhs, his agency, deported less than 5% of all migrant encounters at the border. and in 2022, only 10% of all

criminal illegal aliens in the u.s. were arrested. while a border wall would do so much to help end the border crisis, secretary mayorkas stated from day one, this administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer. his words. from day one they've made clear that a wall is not the answer. well, let me tell you something, walls work. walls work. throughout history, walls have worked. the evidence is overwhelming. secretary mayorkas has refused to uphold his constitutional duty of securing the homeland, and the american people are suffering the consequences. five years ago leader schumer was all too happy to lead a partisan, baseless impeachment trial against president trump. yet today, when faced with a secretary who is unfit for

office, leader schumer is trying to prevent a senate trial and dismiss the house's articles of impeachment. never before has the senate dismissed impeachment charges without holding a trial. when i talk to tennesseans, they talk about their frustration with washington, d.c. and their frustration with two tiers of justice. it seems there's a tier for the democrats and the elites and illegals and another for republicans and president trump and people who are conservative. it's important that secretary mayorkas be held to account. for three years he hasn't done president biden's bidding by opening the border to millions of illegal aliens. and if this chamber upholds its constitutional duty to hold a

trial, i will vote to convict secretary mayorkas and remove him from office. now while the biden administration is working to make illegal immigration legal, border states such as texas are stepping up to do what this administration will not do, and that is to secure the border. over recess i spent time in el paso, texas, to see firsthand how governor abbott and authorities in the lone star state are working to keep communities safe. now it is a part of the efforts in texas to deter illegal immigration. and texas is taking this seriously to make certain that they secure property there along

the rio grande. what they have done is to place buoys in the river, shipper containers on the embankment and razor wire behind that and fences behind that. they've done this along the rio grande there at el paso to prevent illegal aliens from coming in through el paso. texas has bolstered its barriers. and what you're seeing now is that the illegal aliens are traveling farther to the west. they're going to new mexico. they're going to arizona. they're going to california. why? because they're looking for somewhere easier that they can get into the country illegally. bear in mind the coyotes, they're working hard for all of these groups and for the

cartels. and nobody enters without paying a coyote. now, when look at what tiktok is -- what texas is doing, you have the state, local counties. they're spending billions at the state level and millions in these counties, and as a result, illegal immigration in texas dropped by 54% between december and january, and in the dell reon sector which includes eagle pass, illegal entries failed by 76%. mr. president, this shows you border walls work. the border patrol has been telling us for decades we need a barrier, we need better technology where we cannot have a barrier, and we need more officers and agents. so while the biden administration pretends

otherwise, knowing that walls work should not be a surprise. border walls from ancient athens to the great wall of china, they protected cities. they protected nations for thousands of years. border barriers are used on nearly every continent on earth to protect countries from illegal entry from drug smuggling and from terrorism. but instead of supporting texas and its successful efforts to deter illegal immigration, this administration and this secretary of homeland security, they think it's a good thing to go sue texas and try to make them remove their border barriers while texas has accomplished a lot in securing their border, protecting families, and saving american lives. president biden's attack on our border security has placed a

tremendous burden on our border states and communities and indeed every town has turned into a border town. every state a border state all across this country because of what is happening in the drug trafficking, with human trafficking, with sex trafficking, with crime in communities. while i was in eagle pass, i sat down with some ranchers and farmers who have had their property destroyed, stolen, broken into by illegal aliens crossing into our country from mexico. in one instance, two my grants broke into a rancher's home while his 16-year-old daughter was studying at home alone. texas law enforcement also warned about the waste cartels are -- ways cartels are using new technology to aid their smuggling operations, including

by using chinese-owned tiktok to recruit americans into their human trafficking rings. at the same time cartels are flying drones into the u.s. to scope out the location of border agents and redirect their smuggling routes. more than anything else, authorities in texas told me that they need more border wall construction, better technology, and more agents. so if secretary mayorkas and president biden refuse to help them, congress has to step in. that's why i introduced legislation called the container act which would empower border states such as texas to place temporary barriers on term land to protect -- federal land to protect their communities. no state or locality should face lawsuits from the federal government for trying to secure our border and to protect the

sovereignty of the united states of america. i also introduced the clear act which would reaffirm the authority of state and local governments to enforce federal immigration laws by apprehending, detaining, and then transferring illegal aliens to federal custody. among its important measures, this legislation would require the department of homeland security to provide grants to state and local governments to help them enforce immigration law and construct detention facilities. it would also require dhs to take illegal aliens into custody within 48 hours after receiving a request from a state or locality and provide the justice department with essential information about illegal aliens who have overstayed their period of stay in this country.

after my visit to eagle pass, i know these pieces of legislation would do so much to support our border security along these border states, and i am hopeful that this president and his department of homeland security will have a change of heart and will move forward with securing our southern border just as this chamber should move forward with an impeachment trial on secretary alejandro mayorkas. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: president, i rise in strong opposition to this fisa

bill. and to begin, there is a central question before the united states senate, and that is who should be forced to help their government spy? the legislation coming from the other body gives the government unchecked authority to order americans to spy on behalf of their government. this was slipped in, mr. president, in the last minutes in the house of representatives bill, and this is the first time this language has ever been considered here in the united states senate. under current law, section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act, the government can order the phone companies and e-mail and internet service providers to hand over

communications. this bill expands that existing power dramatically. it says, and i quote, the government can force cooperation from, quote, any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or that -- that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications. now, the language i just read to the senate means that if you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy. that means anybody with access to a server, a wire, a cable box, a wi-fi router, a phone or a computer. so think for a moment about the millions of americans who work in buildings and offices in which communications are stored or passed through. after all, every office building in america has data cables

running through it. the people are not just the engineers who install, maintain, and repair our communications infrastructure. there are countless others who could be forced to help the government spy, including those who clean offices and guard buildings. if this provision is enacted, the government can deputize any of these people against their will and force them in effect to become what amounts to an agent for big brother. for example, by forcing an employee to insert a usb thumb drive into a server they clean or guard at night. this can all happen without any oversight whatsoever. the fisa court won't know about it. the congress won't know about it. americans who are handed these directives will be forbidden from talking about it. unless they can afford

high-priced lawyers with security clearances who 2340e their -- know their way around the fisa court, they will have no recourse at all. importantly, mr. president, and you and i have talked about this, is supporters of this provision will say that this doesn't change the fact that section 702 only targets foreigners overseas. but if the government thinks that those targets are combhun indicating with people -- communicating with people in the united states, they can go right to the source. the wi-fi, the phone lines, the transmitters that store those communications. if the government has an interest in those foreign targets, well, the americans whose communications get collected are just plain out of luck. supporters of this provision will also say this was necessary because of a fisa court opinion. i disagree. that opinion didn't gut section 702. this provision is not necessary,

and there's certainly no justification for this vast expansion of surveillance authorities. supporters also claim the provision has a narrow purpose and that the government doesn't intend to start tapping into everybody's phone line or wi-fi. but, mr. president, that's not how this provision is written. it's not reflected in the actual legislation. and i would say respectfully that anybody who votes to give the government vast powers under the premise that intelligence agencies won't actually use it is being pretty darn naive. supporters also point to a handful of exception that are tacked on to this provision like excluding things like coffee shops. anybody who reads these provisions will see they're not designed to work. even the coffee shop exception is meaningless because it couldn't cover a company that

maintains the coffee shop's wi-fi. and the fact that there are a couple of random exceptions further proves my point. this provision is going to force a huge range of companies and individuals to spy for their government. supporters have even argued that the bill had to be broadly written because what the government actually wants to do is secret. that is some alice in wonderland lo logic. first, the american people deserve to know when the government can spy on them and when it can't. if you clearly can't explain to american voters why you need new powers, then you shouldn't have them. the distinguished president of the senate from vermont, he's asked questions about this as well. second, it doesn't matter what the government might be secretly intending to do with these authorities at the moment. there's a statutory authority that will be in place for years during which time the government may very well decide to

dramatically expand its surveillance activities. now, some of my colleagues say they aren't worried about president biden abusing these authorities. well, last time i looked, the law applies to presidents regardless of their political power -- regardless of their position. in that case, how about president trump? imagine these authorities in his hands. if you're worried about having a president who lives to target vulnerable americans, to pit americans against each other, to find every conceivable way to punish perceived enemies, you ought to find this bill terrifying. the bill expands 702 authorities in other ways. for example, it includes the dramatic increase in the use of 702 in vetting travelers to the united states. it requires that the attorney general enable searches on all travelers, tens of millions of people who come to the united states annually.

this is a dragnet search, mr. president, of every work, colleague, neighbor, and classmate who is here on a visa, every grandparent visiting for a wedding or a funeral. so what i've done in the last ten or 12 minutes is point out these are just some of the ways in which this bill expands warrantless surveillance authorities. on top of all that, it fails to reform section 702 in any meaningful way. i'll start with the warrantless searches of americans' communications swept up in section 702 collection. these searches have gone after american protesters, political campaign donors, even people who simply reported crimes to the fbi. the abuses have been extensive and well documented. now, supporters of this bill are going to argue, well, the fbi has taken care of things. they've cleaned up their act. but even after the fbi made changes to its internal policies, abuses continued

including searches for a u.s. senator, state senator. a state judge would complain to the fbi about police abuses. but the broader concern is that without checks and balances, there is nothing preventing a rapid increase of abuses after reauthorization. supporters of this bill will say that it codifies the fbi's internal changes. but what i would say is without real checks and balances that are written into the law, what good are these changes? reformers have put forward extremely modest common senns solutions -- commonsense solutions. warrants would not be required for all u.s. searches. proposals would allow the government to see whether a american was communicating with foreign agents. a warrant is required only when the government wants to read the content of these communications, a situation that arises less than 2% of the time. our provision also allows for emergency searches and has exceptions for imminent threats

of death or injury, preexisting law enforcement or fisa warrants, consent, and access to malware and cyberattacks. this modest reform should be debated on and voted on in the senate. there are other common sense reforms to section 702 that also apparatuses in this bill. it doesn't protect americans against reverse targeting, doesn't collect the collecting of domestic communications. abusive government subpoenas targeted at the most vulnerable groups in society including women, religious and racial groups. 15 states have now banned abortion with more on the way. when states enforce bans on reproductive health access, they'll use everything from location data generated by connected cars and the cell phone in the patient's pocket to the google search the patient used to find the reproductive

health service. all of that can be obtained without a court order. americans need to safeguard -- congress needs to safeguard american peoples' privacy, not give the president new surveillance powers. congress has the time to draft comprehensive privacy and cybersecurity legislation, including a 702 reauthorization. my own view, both bills have support across the aisle, across the capitol and are ready for consideration. mr. president, i'm going to close with this -- this chamber has the time to do the right thing. senators do not need to rubber stamp a as does truss surveillance -- disastrous surveillance bill because the senate is considering it at the last possible moment. you can set your clock by it. the senate considers fisa at the

last possibility moment. the fisa court recently renewed the 702ssertions which authorized surveillance until april 2025. let me repeat that, mr. president. the fisa court recently renewed the court's annual 702 certifications which authorize surveillance until april 2025. that means there is no need for the congress to offer up a rush job. but under no circumstances should the united states senate be cowed by those who say senators have no choice except to sign off on whatever piece of paper the executive branch requests. reformers on both sides of the aisle here in the senate have been ready and willing since last fall to have this debate, and yet the status quo crowd wouldn't pick up the phone until the last possible minute to ensure that this body wouldn't have time for anything but a

last-second vote on what i believe is a dangerous bill. the only way this body will have a real debate is by rejecting the house bill and standing up for the senate's independence and americans' constitutional rights. and as i have said on this floor before, mr. president, and i think i'll do it throughout my time in public service, ben franklin got it right. americans don't have to sacrifice liberty for security. the reality is, mr. president, security and liberty aren't to be mutually exclusive. we can have both many. the congress has a duty to deliver a fisa law that does both, and i urge my colleagues to pursue exactly that. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come here today to commemorate the retirement of

one of my longest-serving staff in my time? the senate, deborah jarrett. she has been my administrative director for the last nine years, has worked in the senate for 239 years can. -- for 29 years. to i have go you an idea of how long ago 29 years was, that was the year that ladies were getting rachel haircuts because friends was one of the most popular shows. jenn jennifer aniston was rocking the rachel haircut. it was a long time ago. and deborah really quickly demonstrated that this was probably the right place for her to start her career and today we're looking at her turn at another chapter. i'm being loosely advised by a set of comments.

. i'm sure it's bittersweet for deb brachlt i think it is a violation of the rules to point back here where deborah is sitting, so i'm note going to do that. but if it wasn't a violation, i would point that. that's deborah sitting here behind me on my wing, which she's been several times before. when you come to the senate, the amazing thing about coming to the united states senate, i came in 20145 -- 2015 67b8g9s they give you an allocation of money to run your operations. north carolina has got about 11 million people. that dictates how much money you have to set up a state operation and a d.c. operation. but that's it. of your personnel practices, who you hire, how you provision computers, basically the whole running of the business operation, there's not some special department there, that's something you have to do. so one thing you learn very quickly is to find a highly

competent person to do that, and i was blessed to have the opportunity to bring debra in. she's been in my office for nine years, but in the senate for 29 years. should i start by saying she was born and raised in st. joe, indiana, a population of 460. then she started to work for dan coats, the senator from indiana, as his legislative aide back in 1994. -- 1995ification then in 1999, she joined senator judd as a special assistant. she was promoted to office administrator a year later and she worked for senator judd for 12 years. then when senator judd retired, new hampshire adopted her and kelly allot, also a -- ayotte, also a senator from new hampshire, brought her in. then she did finally came for me. debra is somebody -- as a u.s.

senator there are some people who scare me and debra is one of them because she is so on-point. for everything we do, whether the, if of our office, our fiscal conservative policy, we spend just enough and return some of our office proceeds to the treasury every year. we don't spend all the money we're allocated. but debra oversees all of that. everybody this my state operation, about half my staff, about 30 of the 60 staff that i have worked full-time, are down in north carolina. they're as likely to haven't endearing comment to make about debra as the people who see her up here in washington, d.c. it could be telling staff, including my chief of staff, to understand our retirement system and how you can get the federal match, getting these young people to think about their future at such a young age,

making sure they go through open enrollment and get their health plan options renewed. all the sorts of running of the office, she is on top of all of that. but i think what makes it even more interesting is how she is on any given day likely to come up to me or my chief of staff, my legislative director and say, a you need to check in on [fill the blanks]. this person is coming in. she is watching every single aspect of this office. and the health and hygiene of all the staff. she has decided to retire after being vested for almost two years now? you're not supposed to talk to me, but thank you for that. almost three years now. so -- i got her to break a rule on the senate floor, which is probably the coolest thing i

could have done. but she's been working with us having the option to leave. she is he's just continued to work. and thank goodness because we've gotten so much more out of her for the last three years. i have staff up in the gallery. i don't think i'm supposed to recognize them either, but they're here as a testament to how special and how important she is to our senate office. now, debra is going to retire, but she's young. and i expect that she is sea going to go off and do other things. one thing i hope she does, if she decides to go back to indiana, is to make sure she is still part of the tillis family. and i thank you for your service. thank you, mr. president.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: mr. president, on february 2, 2021, dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas took an oath that haul of us in the chamber have taken, an oath that many of us have taken that have served in the military, an oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. yet here we are three years later in the worst border crisis our nation has ever seen. i rise today because we find ourselves at a critical moment in our nation's history, a moment when the integrity of this very chamber and its leadership is being tested, a time when we will see if our colleagues across the aisle are willing to do the right thing and hold alejandro mayorkas accountable for his dereliction of duty that has left our

country a shell of what she once was. now, with over 11 million border crossings, including 2 million unvetted got-aways now living here on united states soil, and monthing those are on un -- and the amongst those areal unknown number of terrorists, violent gang members and drug cartels, mayorkas has broken his oath resulting in this dangerous and deadly invasion of our country. all you have to do is read your hometown news. you're going to find a person in your community that is -- that has decide from fentanyl or been murdered by one of these illegal aliens. from the moment secretary mayorkas took office, he has skirted the constitution and broken the law as outlined in the secure fence act of 2006, which clearly states he must maintain operational control and, to quote that same law,

prevent unlawful entries into the united states. in the past three years alone, we've had nearly 2 million known got-aways successfully evade capture and enter our country, a number that includes numbers of violent gang members and terrorists. the scale of this issue today, over 800 got-aways will illegally cross in this this country. yesterday over 800 unvetted illegal aliens crossed in our country. maybe that's why law enforcement officers recently told me back home that we cannot arrest ourselves out of this crisis. that they are so overwhelmed by crime now related to these illegal crossings, we cannot arrest ourselves out of this predicament. now, secretary mayorkas has given free rein to drug cartels to smuggle in illegal aliens and

deadly drugs like fentanyl resulting in the dense of 300 americans every day. ment with a total of over 250,000 fentanyl-related poisoning murders, deaths occurring under his watch, that's three times more than the number of brave soldiers we lost in the vietnam war. three times more. the secretary has turn add blind eye to the exploitation of our borders like terrorists and other high-risk individuals causing the largest influx of terrorist border crossings in our nation's history. let us not forget the abuse and weaponization of parole and asylum. secretary mayorkas has illegally admitted nearly 800,000 aliens per year, 800,000 per year under this parole. compared to just 5,000 per year under president obama or president trump. 800,000 versus 5,000 a year. there's no question that the situation at our borders is dire and that the responsibility of

this historic crisis lies squarely at the feet of those who have failed to address it. instead of fulfilling its obstacles to the american people, secretary mayorkas has unravelled our national security, unleashed our border into chaos and launched an unmitt debated disaster and culture of lawlessness that has left many vulnerable to exploitation. his actions or lack thereof have endangered the safety of every american and there must be consequences. congress must step in and do their job that president biden refuses to do and fire secretary mayorkas. enough is enough. americans deserve better. we're here today because we take our oath seriously. with the house managers deliver the articles of impeachment to the senate chamber today, i hope our colleagues across the aisle, who also took an oath to protect and defend our great nation,

will do the right thing. let's bring this to a trial. let's debate his record. and for the sake of america's safety and security, let's impeach alejandro mayorkas. taking this decisive action will send a clear message to this administration they'll be held accountable for orchestrating this deadly invasion. thank you, mr. president. i yield back. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. mr. johnson: mr. president, earlier today we heard a very convincing case laid out by the

house managers of why the senate should fulfill its constitutional duty and proceed to a trial on the impeachment of secretary mayorkas. if we were to hold that trial, we should do so, this chart that i've been developing since i became chairman of homeland security in 2015 would basically be the irrefutable dna evidence of the crime. what i've tried to lay out in this chart is the cause and effect of an ongoing set of illegal immigration crises faced by the last three administrations. so what i'd like to do briefly here on the senate floor is go through that history dating back to 2012 and show the impact of certain actions, certain court decisions, certainly the lack of faith to execute the law in this administration has now resulted

in invasion in our country. let's go back to 2012. that's where this chart begins. even before that i had developed a chart just showing on an annual basis the number of unaccompanied children coming to this country average for many years, somewhere between 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 a year. and then in june of 2012, president obama issued his what i would consider lawless, unlawful deferred action on childhood arrivals. this is what has sparked all the succeeding immigration, illegal immigration crises, is that unlawful order which, by the way, was a complete misuse of prosecutorial discretion which is supposed to be meted out or administered on a case-by-case basis. for the first time, president obama and his administration granted prosecutorial discretion to hundreds of thousands of

people, and the world took note. what happened over the intervening years, as people realize, america's law has changed. we had reports, when people would come to this country illegally, they would get their notice to appear before an immigration court. that was used by human traffickers down in central america. they call that the permisso, the permission slip to come to this country. a couple years after that that unlawful order, deferred action on childhood arrivals, president obama faced his border crisis. he actually called it a humanitarian crisis when in may and june of 2014, they averaged about 2,200 encounters per day. 2,200. that seems like the good old days. that's that little bump in comparison to president biden's

crisis at the border. so president obama actually took action. he started detaining family units with children when they came across the border, and it worked. he brought down the number of people crossing this, into our country illegally, because there was a consequence to it. unfortunately, in february of 2015 proimmigration groups, proillegal immigration groups took the obama administration to court under the flores settlement which is basically in the 1990's there is a case of a young innocent girl called flores. the result of that settlement said dhs cannot hold an unaccompanied twield for more than 20 days. the obama administration said we can hold a child when detained with their family.

pro-illegal immigration groups took the obama administration to court and took secretary jeh johnson to court and reinterpreted the flores settlement and said, no, you can't detain a child even if they're accompanied by their parents. so the obama administration faced a real decision. should we detain the parents and release the child into hhs custody. they chose not to do that except in some situations where they felt that was a real family unit and those parents may be a danger to that child. you can see that the result of that basically, catch and release is what that resulted in. you can see the numbers started increasing prior it to president trump taking office. if you remember, president trump during his election made the open border, that catch and release a huge issue in the campaign. and so when he got elected, again, the world noticed.

they felt there was going to be a real crackdown on illegal immigration, and they stopped coming. there was a huge reduction from the end of the obama administration to when president trump first took office. but unfortunately, the law didn't change. that flores reinterpretation stood. so president trump was faced with trying to figure out how can he utilize what laws exist and what authority he had, with no help from congress, to address this situation. he wasn't able to address it immediately. and as a result, you can see the increase of not only single adults, but family units exploiting that provision, and unaccompanied children, to the point where in may of 2019, he hit his high point, almost 5,000 people per day. but you'll notice president trump did something about it. he enacted migrant protection

program. he instituted safe third country agreements with countries in central america. he had to threaten the president of mexico with tariffs so the president of mexico would cooperate with us in securing our border. and over the next 12 months, president trump by and large secured the border. to hit a low point in april of 2020, with a little more than 500 people per day were trying to come into this country illegally. now, what president trump also had starting in march of 2020 during the pandemic -- remember, all of this reduction in illegal immigration occurred before the pandemic. but once the pandemic was in full swing in march and april of 2020, president trump used his authority under title 42 and used that health emergency to start deporting people coming

into this country illegal lichlt you can see the very small, the purple bar are the people expelled using title 42 authority. even though the number of single adults was rising -- by the way, the reason they were riding was during the -- were rising was during the presidential debate of 2020, every presidential candidate said they were going to end deportations and offer free health care. the world listens to what elected officials or potentially elected officials say and they believe them. they also believe their eyes that once people start coming in here, they're either detained and expelled or they're not detained. but anyway, people started coming into this country again, assuming that president biden was going to win the election and the border would be opened up. of course that's exactly what happened, because once president biden took office, he used the exact same executive authority that president trump used. let me just quick cover that.

even after the flores reinterpretation, the supreme court in a ruling in 2018 said that existing law, even though it was weakened by that reinterpreted flores decision, or settlement, that the current law exudes deference to the executive branch. president trump used that deference. president trump used that executive authority and pretty well closed the border. president biden came into office, and with literally hundreds of executive actions completely reversed president trump's successful border security measures using that exact same presidential auth authority. all that deference. the point that's important to understand is president biden wanted an open border. he caused this crisis. he could end it if he wanted to. he still has the authority. republicans in the senate would be happy to strengthen that

authority to overturn this flores reinterpretation, which, by the way, secretary jeh johnson opposed that reinterpretation. he didn't like that court decision. so we would have been happy to strengthen president biden's authority, but he doesn't really need us to to secure the border. that's the point. and again, here's the dna, the irrefutable dna evidence of the crime. this didn't have to happen. president biden didn't have to reverse president trump's successful border security executive orders. but he reversed them and he opened up the border. and the result now is probably more than 6 million people have come into this country illegally and stayed. that's a number greater than the population of 31 states. that's the order of magnitude of the problem. the impact of this open border policy is devastating.

it is a catastrophe. not only does this open border policy facilitate the million billion-dollar business model of some of the most evil people on the planet -- the human traffickers, sex traffickers, the drug traffickers. how many hundreds of thousands of americans have died of fentanyl overdoses? president biden and secretary mayorkas said that they're reversing all of trump's border security provisions because they said it was inhumane. there's nothing humane about facilitating human and sex and drug trafficking. and of course the migrants coming into this country, it is true venezuela is emptying their jails, their mental institutions. there are some bad people, there are some criminals coming into this country. and of course we be see evidence with these migrant crimes, horrific crimes. people who no longer are alive

because of president biden's open border policies, because of secretary mayorkas executing president biden's open border policies. now i'm not a lawyer, i'm not a prosecutor, but i believe it's a crime to aid and abet other crimes. so from my standpoint, i think the house managers ought to be allowed to make their case. again, they laid out a very compelling, a very compelling articles of impeachment today. it's a pretty simple case. it probably won't take that long of time for them to make their case, to present it for the senate. why won't, why won't majority leader schumer allow the house managers to make their case? why won't he allow the senate to fulfill its constitutional duty to try impeachments? impeachments are not that

regular. the least we can do is fulfill that constitutional duty and listen to the evidence, allow the house managers to make their case. i think their case is overwhelmingly convincing. the repercussions of president biden and secretary mayorkas's open border policy will be felt by americans for years, if not decades to come. about the only thing congress can do when a president or a member of the executive branch is not faithfully executing the law, when they're completely derelict in their duty, when their dereliction of duty or the lack of faithfully executing the laws is resulting in the deaths of americans. again, the open border policy is resulting in the deaths of american citizens. it's resulting in young women

being forced into sex trafficking trade. it's resulting in higher levels of fentanyl overdoses. that evidence needs to be heard. that case needs to be made. the senate should hold a trial. with that,law. -- with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. scott: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: mr. president, i will get to the issue of secretary mayorkas's impeachment in a moment. i would like to speak to iran's attack on israel this weekend. we saw what happened on saturday evening. israel is once again under attack, this time under direct

attack from iran, and the united states must clearly and strongly stand with a great ally and fully support its right and obligation to defend itself by any means necessary. i was just in israel a few weeks ago to meet with prime minister netanyahu and see the devastation that iran-backed hamas terrorists released. more than 1200 were murdered and hundreds are still held hostage by hamas just for being jewish. americans are among the hostages and those murderedthat day. the horrors of that attack are difficult to describe and can never ever happen again. today i continue to pray for the safety of the israeli people and call on every republican and every democrat to stand unequivocally with israel as it fights for its very existence

against evil terrorism. mr. president, again and again democrats have blocked a passage of aid for israel. democrats have blocked israel aid four times in the u.s. senate. the house has passed a good bill that is ready for senate passage right now. i urge majority leader chuck schumer to put the israel aid bill on the floor and stop at attacking -- nothing is more important and i will do everything in my power to make sure that vote happens as soon as possible. let's all remember who the enemy is here and has always been, the evil and terror-supporting regime in iran. its first days, the biden administration has emboldened iran for impiecement --

impiecement by turning its back on israel. israel is the only democracy in the middle east and one of america's strongest allies, but it took president biden months to meet or speak with prime minister netanyahu after he took office, and the world took notice. since october 7, president biden and democrats in washington have continued to undermine against iran hamas-backed terrorists. here's where what is happening ties into the impeachment of secretary mayorkas that we are dealing with at home this week, america and the freedom-loving nations of the world are less safe and secure because of president biden's weakness and appeasement of evil regimes. that is a fact that the fbi director confirmed when i pushed

him in whomland security -- homeland security last week. secretary mayorkas has shown that he will do absolutely nothing to stop evil people from invading our country through our southern border and launching attacks on the u.s. homeland. this isn't some hypothetical nightmare. the possibility of an attack by terrorists on u.s. soil is something that fbi and u.s. intelligence community are terrified about. the threats are all up. we know terrorists are coming into america because of the wide open southern border. that is a fact. america is a more dangerous place because mayorkas and biden have allowed criminals, drugs, terrorists, and other dangerous people into our communities. in are real consequences to this failure to secure the border and each victim has a name.

real americans with families are being killed, real american families are being torn apart by vicious crimes and deadly drugs because we have a wide-open border. innocent americans like laken riley are paying the price. ten million people have illegally crossed and six million have been allowed to stay and had the red carpet rolled out for them courtesy of the american taxpayer. there have been sexual assaults and murders committed by illegal aliens across the country, and even in my country who -- because of that he's failures the republican majority in the house has voted to impeach mayorkas for violating his oath of office. they took the time, got the evidence, made the decision to impeach. whether anyone in this chamber here believes that was right or

wrong, that happened, we ought to hold a trial to let mayorkas make his case. that is our constitutional duty. unlike in 2019 when democrats aloaned voted to impeach the president and republicans controlled the senate, majority leader chuck schumer is going to deny secretary mayorkas to defend himself in a trial. it seems to me that the majority leader doesn't want to let mayorkas to defend himself in a trial for one of two reasons. the majority leader is either acting out of pure political interest to protect his incumbent and doesn't want to talk about mayorkas's record and the wide open border and the illegal immigration it's allowing or the majority leader is just tired of a trial exposing mayorkas's failure that an acquittal would be painful for the democrats to explain to the american people. here's what i don't understand.

democrats voted against a bill to stop illegal aliens from getting on a commercial flight with no verifiable i.d. you have to, they don't. democrats voted against deporting illegal aliens who hurt police and democrats voted against the laken riley act which would have illegal aliens taken into custody before they strike. democrats have no -- but when it comes to secretary mayorkas, they shut everything down and don't let him speak. secretary mayorkas is a former prosecutor, surely he knows how to handle himself appeared defend his actions, he has a case to present to the american people on why he should not be found guilty, but he's not going to get that chance.

democrats are setting a dangerous precedent by keeping mayorkas silent. i have one question. has mayorkas been silenced because democrats are terrified of his record and unable to defend him or because they don't trust him? whatever the answer might be, i urge my democratic colleagues to get over the discomfort this is causing them and do whatever is right for the american families. the events this weekend show that the world is a much more dangerous place under president biden's failure leadership. if democrats put politics over the security of our nation's families, i fear the consequences will be devastating beyond our worst fears. i want sh to -- i and want everybody to stop for one moment and think about their families. think about their mom or their dad or their sister or brother, their wife, think about their children or grandchildren or

nieces or nephews. since biden took office, people like that, just like your family that you love and cherish, people like that, here's what happened to them. some have died of drug overdoses, some have been raped, some have been murdered, some have been sold into, you know, to slavery, basically. it's devastating. i don't know how anybody could sit there and not care about people just like the mom -- their mom, their dad, their brother, their sister, their spouse, their children or their grandchildren or their nieces or nephews, but that is exactly -- that's exactly what's going on here when we do not have the opportunity to hold mayorkas accountable. thank you, mr. president.

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: thank you, mr. president. the house managers have officially delivered the letters of impeachment for department of homeland security secretary mayorkas. now is the time for every senator to go on record. do you think that mayorkas has done a good job at the border? has mayorkas fulfilled the oath he swore before this body to protect and defend against our country -- against all threats foreign and domestic? is our border secure? the answer is simple. mayorkas has intentionally failed to do his job. now, senator schumer and the democrats have an opportunity to conduct a full and a fair trial before the entire senate and the

public. unfortunately, that's not how this is going to play out. democrats are going to try to table the articles of impeachment, which has never been done in the history of the senate. they're going to attempt to sweep the border crisis that president biden has created under the rug. every single house democrat voted to save mayorkas's job, they endorsed our wide-open borders that allowed terrorists, drug traffickers and murders into our country, democrats are aligning themselves and risking the lives of every american. senator schumer and the democrats can't say they want to fix our borders while voting to save mayorkas's job. mayorkas has been derelict in his duty to secure the border. our border is the least secure it has ever been.

in fact, it's almost nonexistent. our border patrol agents are so overwhelmed and receive such little support from the biden administration to enforce our laws that they have been forced to release millions of illegal imgrants into the united states, and those who are released on parole, they're even given work permits. the biden administration is more concerned with taking care of illegal aliens than they are about protecting american citizens. we might as well start mailing every criminal, drug trafficker and terrorist an open invitation to cross our borders. i have spoken numerous times on this floor to highlight stories of americans who have died at the hands of illegal aliens. their tragic deaths are a direct result of secretary mayorkas's inaction. mayorkas and joe biden have blood on their hands.

the most important responsibility of any sovereign nation is the safety of its citizens. yet, what did the democrat and homeland security announce last week? they plan on sending another $300 million to communities receiving illegal aliens from this border crisis. the top priority of this administration is to let as many people in as quickly as possible regardless of how many american lives are lost in the process. the number of people crossing into the u.s. are on the terrorist watch list, and that's unprecedented. just last week it was reported that an afghan on the fbi terror watch list has been in the u.s. for almost a year. he is a member of a u.s. designated terrorist group responsible for the deaths of at

least nine americans, and they're american soldiers, by the way, and civilians in afghanistan. ice arrested him in san antonio, unfortunately this known terrorist has been released on bond. he's now roaming our neighborhoods. you know, it isn't just terrorists we have to worry about. fentanyl is flowing freely cras our borders and it is killing hundreds of thousands. law enforcement officers in my home state of alabama tell me time and again how their officers must wear heavy equipment and carry narcan spray, and most will tell you they never heard of fentanyl until this administration came into power. despite the critical need to

secure our boards, mayorkas has been traveling the world, yes, this mayorkas, traveling the world lecturing other countries about their national security while his refusal to enforce u.s. laws has exposed his own country to an invasion. it's embarrassing. in february, he traveled to austria to speak to chinese officials about counternasrcoti efforts, he needed to discuss the chinese coming through the southwest border, 22,000 chinese nationals have been arrested at the border since october of last year and released into our country. most are single adult male military age. yet the media tries to act like all these people crossing the

borderer are innocent women and children. some of them are but most are not. this invasion is more than a border crisis. it is a national crisis. and yet i seriously doubt mayorkas even brought up the point in his meeting with these chinese officials. in february he was in germany for the munich security conference. the munich security conference is the largest international security meeting in the world. mayorkas was there giving speeches on strengthening global security and partnerships. meanwhile, the border he is responsible for is wide open and thousands of people are dying. give me a break. our allies must be laughing at us, absolutely laughing. the secretary's priorities should be here in our country securing our borders, protecting our citizens. president biden has made the u.s. a joke around the world. this administration -- under

this administration nearly ten million people have invaded our country. every state is now a border state, every state. this is not a gray area. secretary mayorkas has intentionally failed to do his job. he has personally lied to me to my face three times in the last three years. a united states senator. just tell me the truth. he can't say the truth. he can't tell you the truth. to my democratic colleagues, have you read the heartbreaking stories of innocent americans who have been murdered by illegal aliens? are you concerned? are you concerned about the safety of your spouses, your kids, your nieces, never fews? did -- nephews? does it worry that hundreds of terrorists are flooding our country? does that bother you at all? do you know somebody who has died of fentanyl which was trafficked, by the way by cartels of other countries? this isn't about politics, folks. our national security and our country's further is at stake. americans deserve to know the

truth about how secretary mayorkas has intentionally failed to secure the border. i will be voting to hold mayorkas accountable. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. lee: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, we have a job to do. that job is not optional. it's assigned to us by the united states constitution, a document to which we've all sworn an oath under article 1, section 3, clause 6. the senate has the power, and i would at here -- adhere the duty to try all impeachments, not just some impeachments, not just those impeachments with which the majority party feels really happy about looking into but all impeachments. it's the way it's always been in united states history. when the house sends over

articles of impeachment if we have jurisdiction, which we plainly do here, it is our job to conduct a trial. what do i mean by that? well, it's really a simple concept. in articles of impeachment, an accusation is made. our job is to just decide whether that accusation is remember toerious or not -- meritorious or not, whether the thing that has been accused is legitimate, whether the person who has been accused did the thing that was wrong, committed the high crime or misdemeanor spoken of in the constitution. we have a job to do, and it's a job thats senate has always done -- job that the senate has always done when we have jurisdiction, following the articles of impeachment. let's remember, this is a historic day. this doesn't happen very often. this is only the 22nd time in american history in which articles of impeachment have been adopted by the house.

in this circumstance where we clearly, plainly have jurisdiction, there's no valid basis for us to do anything other than to decide whether the accusations are legitimate. we have to do that. we don't have the luxury of simply standing back and saying we don't want to handle it. i know, i know, the senate has found ways of shirking its responsibility over and over again in all the operations of the senate's work. sometimes, most of the time we sit as a legislative body where we consider legislation. we pass law or decline to do so. other times we sit in an executive capacity where we review presidential nominatios to consider them on whether we should confirm them and also consider treaties. that's in an executive capacity. we also sometimes sit as a court of impeachment. now, in other areas the senate's

found ways of shirking its responsibilities. we've handed off a whole lot of law making power to una elected bureaucrats in the executive branch. in our executive capacity, we have wilthsed down -- widdled down the number of connominees even if the volume of those individuals has increased. and now it seems we're determined yet again to whittle down our responsibilities in the one area where we have an affirmative duty, an affirmative obligation, and an affirmative command within the constitution requiring us to make a decision. in the immortal words of rush and one of may favorite rush songs of all time called free will, if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. and yet that is what senate democrats are planning to ask us to do within 24 hours, to ask us to not decide, ask us to take

these accusations and these articles of impeachment duly passed by a majority of the house of representatives, the body in the congress that has the sole power to impeach. it's not just 218-plus random people who decided to make the accusation against secretary alejandro mayorkas who heads the u.s. department of homeland security. no, it's those particular 218-plus people in the house of representatives who have that power. you see, there's a reason why the impeachment power belongs exclusively to the house of representatives. the house of representatives is within the legislative branch, the branch of the federal government most accountable to the people at the most regular intervals. and within the congress, condition the legislative branch, they are the body most accountable to the people at the most regular intervals. that's why they call it the people's house. they are the only ones entrusted

with this power. and a majority of them, of that 435-member body, has concluded that alejandro mayorkas must be impeached. now, they didn't do it for light and transient reasons. they didn't do it because of a policy disagreement. no. a majority of the house of representatives has chosen to impeach secretary mayorkas for the reason that he has firmively defied' firmively -- affirmatively defied the laws he's charged with administering. they've dentsz identified seven or eight provisions including sections 235, b-2a and 235 b-1 and b-2 and 236a, just to

mention a few of them. these articles of impeachment outline myriad insanctions in which secretary mayorkas has -- instances in which secretary mayorkas has been -- to detain illegal immigrants pending one action or another, pending -- either for immigration parole or asylum or something else, he's required to detain them and he didn't detain them. just a few examples of the many things that he's done in direct contravention to a direct command by the law. it's not just that he didn't do the things that he was commanded to do. it's that he did the exact opposite of those things. he was commanded, for example, not to exercise his immigration parole authority. under 212-d-5a.

he's not allowed to do that categorically. he's allowed to do that only for discrete individualized, particularized circumstances in which there is a profound, pronounced humanitarian or public need. and yet he issued all these categorical parole orders creating category al immigration parole programs, allowing for literally hundreds of thousands of people a year to be brought into this country lawless ly, without documentation, without just cause to be brought into the united states. he made illegal immigrants legal by violating the affirmative command of the law. it's not yet clear exactly what form the arguments presented by the democrats tomorrow will take. but we do know this. whether they call it a motion to dismiss or a motion to table, they want to not decide

something that has to be decided by order of the constitution by the senate. these accusations are real, mr. president. they make a difference. they make a difference to the american people. these crimes or i should say high crimes and misdemeanors of which secretary mayorkas has been accused, they're not victimless crimes. far from it, mr. president. these are offenses that have resulted in millions. on the low end it's maybe seven or eight million. on the high end it's more like 12 million, 13 million, 14 million. people who have come into this country unlawfully since january 20, 2021, when the administration of joe biden has willfully, intentionally brought people into this country who aren't supposed to be here, who aren't allowed to be here. and it's not just the addition of those sheer numbers of

people. it's the fact that among those people are many thousands of military-aged chinese males, many millions of military-aged males if other countries, including hundreds of suspected terrorists, including thousands who come from countries that we pay close attention to because we know those countries are full of a lot of people who are bent on acts of lawlessness, violence, and terrorism against the united states of america. and this of course is just the beginning. this says nothing about the countless neighborhoods and schools and communities and jobs and lives that have been lost or violated or rendered unsafe or all of the above as a result of those who have been brought in, not just with the acquiescence of but at the invitation of and

with the assistance of the secretary of homeland security, the very man whose job it is to protect us from those very things and who has very specific orders that he follows orders that have been put into law by the congress of the united states. now, he's breaking the law over and over and over again, specifically to allow for illegal immigration. so the democrats are expected to come along tomorrow and say we don't want to have to decide this. we don't want to have to decide it because, well, it's an election year. president biden is on the ballot. this is already an area where he's not doing well, and we've got other members of this body, including, you know, certain senator from montana, for example, or maybe a certain senator from ohio, for example, or a senator from pennsylvania, among others who are going to be up for reelection. sure, they would rather not have

to address this. i understand why they'd rather be doing something else, anything else other than this. they would rather reorganize their sock drawer. some would probably much rather have a root canal or another painful procedure without anesthesia than they would have to focus on this. but alas the constitution is agnostic as to your sock reorganization days. the constitution doesn't care how often you go to the dentist or whether you get a root canal with or without anesthesia, but the constitution does care about one thing. in particular very relevant here today, and that is that the senate is to try all impeachments. this is an impeachment. we have to try it, particularly in the absence of the case being rendered moot by a vacancy in office or a death or otherwise, circumstances that are noticeably absent here. we have itself duty to -- the

duty to do this and what happens when we don't? what happens if they get their way and they choose either to table or to dismiss or use some other fancy word to try to avoid doing their job? what happens? well, more deaths occur. deaths like the tragic passing of laken riley who was taken from us just a few weeks ago as a result of secretary mayorkas' lawless conduct along the border. but for his lawless conduct and his cavalier treatment of the law, in fact his defiant refusal to abide by the law, and in fact his dogged determination to break the law, laken riley would still have been alive. countless others who have undergone horrific events within their families, murders, rapes, sexual assaults, robberies, drunk driving, all kinds of horrific trauma that the american people have endured.

now, some of that is going to happen from people who live here already. we shouldn't add to that by bringing in others who shouldn't be here to begin with. this is exactly the kind of thing that our immigration laws are designeded to protect against. as one who spent two years living and working along our southern border, living and working along and with among the poorest of the poor, recent immigrants in many cases, i can tell you there's no group of people who has more cause to fear uncontrolled waves of illegal immigration than recent immigrants themselves, including and especially the poor who live on or near a border. it is their jobs, it is their families, it is their schools, it is their neighborhoods, it is their homes that are most directly put in jeopardy every single time we fail -- or in the case of secretary mayorkas, we adamantly refuse to obey and

enforce 9 law, and we do everything we can to undermine it, as he has done. there is no set of arguments i can imagine -- i look forward to hearing what arguments might be had tomorrow, might be presented tomorrow. that could be presented with a straight face saying we need not consider the merits h perhaps this is an argument amendmenting to mere maladministration, he didn't do a good job. that's not at all what we have here. even if that is what we had here, that still wouldn't mean they didn't have to try the case and come up with an answer as to whether or not he did what they said he did. look, the impeachment power goes back some two and a half centuries to the dawn of the republic, nearly two and a half centuries ago when we became a country. we relied levelly on -- heavily

on the legal systems, the tradition, in some cases a the terminology, used in england, and during the early years of the republic we had individuals who were familiar with our constitution who were also familiar, having practiced in the law at the time of the revolution, in some cases before then, they knew the meaning of these wordses. supreme court justice joseph storey is one of those individuals who lived, practiced, and wrote at and after the time of the american revolution, during the early decades of our young republic, and he explained that, among other things, an impeachment could be found, a high crime or misdemeanor could be committed where a lord admiral who was found to have neglect the the safeguard of the sea. that's perhaps the most directly

analogous comparison he makes to the secretary of homeland security. that would be, you know, best described perhaps as a dereliction of duality, a failure -- a dereliction of duty, a failure to do one's job. if that, a lord admiral neglecting the safeguard of the sea, was a mis-demeanering, it is even more certain that the secretary of homeland security, having defied more than a half dozen direct commands of federal law and done the exact opposite of those things has also committed a high crime or misdemeanor. now, maybe some in this body disagree he disagree, maybe some in this body believe that the facts are different than they have been alleged here. well, that, mr. president, that's what a trial is for. that's why we don't just take

the word of the house of representatives for it. we do our job over here. we have to review the accusation and we have to review it against the backdrop of what arguments and evidence they present to us. we're going to be sworn in tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. to be finders of fact and to be judges of law relevant to the impeachment accusation. if we decide not to decide, we still have made a choice. we shouldn't do that hear. doing that here would be a did he recall -- would be a dereliction of duty. doing that here would be profoundly disrespectful to the hundreds of millions of americans who elected us and especially to the families of those, like the family of laken riley and countless others whose lives have been permanently and tragically disrupted by the lawlessness exhibited by

secretary mayorkas. we must do our job. we must hold a trial. that trial must culminate in a finding of guilt or innocence. the constitution and our commitment to it requires nothing less. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. brown: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i rise early this evening to

recognize dee taylor, a fierce labor advocate, a friend who retired from his role as president here earlier this month. everything dee has done over the course of his career comes back to the dignity of work. the idea that hard work should pay off for everyone, whether you punch a clock, swipe a badge, whether you 0, in a -- h.j. you work in an office u6r7b8g9sdz the digit of work is what has guided dee through his whole career as he has fought to unionize industries that have long been overlooked the past few years dean served here. its members work in airports and food service, in hotels. they make textiles, serve on amtrak trains, they cross the nation. it is not a coincidence that we

have seen so much momentum in the labor movement while he has been at the helm of unite here. so often be where we've seen unprecedented union growth, he and his members have been on the front lines calling for change. this generation, this youngest generation now is quantifiableably, certainly the most pro-labor generation of our lifetimes. under d., unite here has come one of the fastest-growing trade nations in the country, despite a pandemic that devastated workers in hospitality, he has actually expanded unite here. workers traditionally haven't had a seat at the table. during husband time as president, he oversaw the reorganizing of 140,000 service and hospitality workers in over

a thousand workplace paz across the country many. because of d. and unite here, these workers have a union card. it means higher pay, better benefits, safer workplaces, and it means something that many don't think about. it means more control over your schedule. i remember being in nevirapine at the culinary workers' union which d. built into a powerhouse. that union is an inspiration for workers everywhere. they have a massive banner on the wall that said, a one job should be enough, that workers should not have to have two and three jobs to support their families. one job should be enough. i remember -- this wasn't directly about d., but i'll never forget this discussion i had in cincinnati. i was at an afl-cio dinner and there were a number of people -- there were probably 300 people there. . there were was one him table where there was an empty seat.

i said, tell me your story. they said, we just organized custodial workers. would he had our first contract. 1200 custodial workers negotiating with the down-talk about business -- downtown business owners. i said what does mean to to you? it is the first time i have a paid week vacation. workers that are generally low-paid, workers sometimes without health care, workers often without vacations, workers that have no say over their schedule and those are the people. . he sauls said one job short sale enough. that's what he'll fought for. he first got involved. he is a college student while working in a local restaurant. eliminate joined the union and became the shop steward. after graduation he moved to nevada. he quietly moved up the ranks

eventually leading the union in the famous seven-year frontier casino strike, one of its -- one of the longest successful strikes in labor history. d. became a key player in negotiations with some of the largest casinos on the strip. he became an institution to unite here. he built a coalition of service workers. he showed the country there issing he'll no reason a service job can't be a good job where you're respected, you make good wages and build a career. much as gaming industriesing director, he led casino workers across the country to victory, organizing new members, leading new strikes. he went on to be the general vice president of unite here before being elected as union president. all along the way, he became known for that constant refrain, one job should be enough. one job should be enough. for everybody in this institution, that's kind of way it is. for far too many low-paid workers, they've had to work a second job or third job to pay the rent, to support their kids,

to just get along every day. he's fought to make that reality -- that rabble laying cry a reality by transforming standards for work in hospitality. its meant fighting for contracts with affordable, quality health care that workers have access to and can navigate their way triumphant it's men's stand upping to lay-offs, it's meant helping tens of thousands of workers get their jobs. because they earn better jobs and better pay and better benefit. i've had the pleasure of working with d. on many issues, including fighting for the senate's dining workers. the people who served us in this institution were making very suboptimal wages, some barely enough. one man i met when i was involved in this lived -- actually lived and worked here all day and lived in a homeless shelter at night. think of that. they served during a violent insurrection. every day they fed senators and

staff and tourists from ohio and maine and all over the country. yet fewer than one in five at that time could afford the health insurance plan offered to them. together we if a tout make sure the new contract honors the dignity of work and the respect that senate dining workers deserve and have earned, that all workers deserve and have earned. it wouldn't have happened without d., without the senate dining workers who used their voicings and their collective power to secure a better contract. just one example. every opportunity d. has fought to turn jobs that traditionally have scom with low pay into careers where people can build a life and see a future. simply the dignity of work. the for that we're grateful for d.'s tenacity, for his advocacy, for his leadership we're grateful. in retirement, d., of course, we'll keep fighting for workersment. as chair of unite here health, he'll support the union and the gaming industry. he will never fully retire.

i look forward to working with his successor, gwen mills, the first of ever woman president in this union's history, to be elected. the first-ever woman in this union's history to be elected the international union president, in a union that has a huge number of women, as you know. if you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. that's exactly what d. has done his whole life. it's what unite here has done. it's what i'll continue to work with my colleagues to do in this body.

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to conduct proceedings on to have the past concerning the impeachment of alejandro nicholas mayorkas, secretary of homeland security. so that the managers on the part of the house will be received and escorted to the well of the senate.

that the sergeant-at-arms will make the proclamation. seeming to hear ye, hear ye ye, hear all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment while the house of representatives is exhibiting to the senate of the united states articles of impeachment against

alejandro nicholas mayorkas, secretary of homeland security. >> the managers on the part of the house will proceed. >> mr. president, the managers on the part of the house of representatives are present and ready to present the articles of impeachment which have been preferred by the house of representatives against alejandro nicholas mayorkas secretary of the department of homeland security bit house adopted the following resolution which with permission of the senate i will read house resolution 995. resolved, that mr. green of tennessee mr. biggs mr. higgins louisiana mr. cline mr. guest mr. garbarino ms. green of georgia mr. pflueger ms. hageman and ms. lee of florida are pointed managers to conduct the impeachment trial against alejandro nicholas mayorkas.

secretary of homeland security that a message be sent to the senate to inform the senate of these appointments and the managers so appointed me in connection with the preparation and the conduct of the trial exhibit the articles of impeachment to the senate and take all necessary actions which may include thes following a w 7. a w the whole world was shaken as a flood, as they actually called it, an al axa flood, of hamas terrorists came through the wall separating gaza and israel in multiple places, and over the next several hours they murdered 1200 israelis, they took 253 hostages, including 133 that are still hostage still today. six months and a week. last week, now i guess nine days

ago, i was in israel. i spent time with israelis, to meet with multiple leaders and get a chance to talk to different folks in different parts of the country, to see what's going on on the ground. this is a painful moment for the entire world, but definitely a painful moment for israel and for the entire region. we think back just seven months ago, and all the conversation was normalization between saudi arabia and israel. then a group of hamas terrorists stepped in and killed as many people as they possibly could, in an effort to also kill that normalization that's happening around the entire region. to do whatever they could to drive a wedge, and so that peace could not continue to advance in the region. what's happened since then has been painful for the entire world to watch, but it's been really painful for the people of that region more than anyone else. i traveled to the far southern

tip of israel, along the border with egypt, to be able to to meet with folks in that area, to be able to talk about the relationship between israel, egypt, and what's happening day to day. i traveled to the kibbutz literally on the border with gaza, that are now vacant, empty, and devastated. i can't begin to explain to this body, unless you've seen it before, the pain of walking through a large kibbutz where there were hundreds of people that lived just a few months ago, now to see every building shot up, with bullet holes, burned, destroyed, and think at 6:38 that morning, during a jewish holiday on that saturday morning, october 7, many people were still asleep, when a group of hamas terrorists came into their homes and murdered many in that village, and took many hostages from that kibbutz.

we could literally walk by the doors, and the person with us could say that family died, that families is a hostage, that family died, and go door to door as we walk around to be able to see it. the person who was walking us through couldn't even walk us through his own home, which is oblit obliterated, and his son's home right there, who died, and then he could point to gaza and say my other son is over there in gaza right now. at the same time, flowers were blooming and the grounds were beautiful, and you realize the irony of this moment. hostages being held in gaza, families that are struggling every single day trying to make sense of this craziness, and trying to figure out why a peaceful kibbutz, living their li

lives, farming, manufacturing, was overrun by a group of terrorists. right up the road, we stopped by the nova festival site, which is an absolutely beautiful location for an outdoor concert, gatherings, has been for years. trees, the setting, just beautiful. the day we were there, there were echoing noises of artillery fired off literally within hundreds of yards of us, as we were meeting with folks that survived the nova festival. a person in particular we got to chat with, and to be able to pick her brain about what happens next was one ne one of the bomb shelters because there was a launch of missiles, but then those bomb shelters became places where they were sitting ducks for the terrorists with gunfire. we traveled to the north, had the opportunity to visit with some of the mayors right along the border with syria and libbon, where whole -- and

lab -- and lebanon, where towns are evacuated, where people can't survive the onslaught of artillery. we lost track ever the fact about a quarter million israelis are internally displaced, that live along the border with gaza or along the border with lebanon or sir craia -- syria. those folks also had to flee. because while the world in the last several days has talked about 330 drone strikes, missile strikes, ballistics and cruise missiles that have come at israel from iran directly, the world lost track of the fact -- not about the 330 bombs and missiles in the last week, but the 12,000 rockets that have been fired at israel since october 7. 12,000. 9,100 of those rockets have come in from gaza, launching at civilians in israel, 3,100 of

those rockets have been launched from lebanon, from hezbollah into the north of israel, and 35 rockets have been fired from syria at israel. and i asked people how many rockets would be fired at your house before you would respond in a way to be able to make it stop? israel has had 12,000 fired at them since october 7. the united states was neff, ever -- has never, ever put up with that, without responding in a forceful way to say we're going to make it stop. there's been a lot of conversation about rafah. i had a lot of conversations with israeli leadership to be able to talk to them about the plan, what they're going to do. you see, there's hamas bringing ai -- brigades. we think about terrorism as random, but hamas has a

structure with brigades, fighting brigades. most of those have been broken up. the remaining brigades of hamas terrorists are all living underground at rafah. while we need to do everything we can, i had great conversations with israelis about everything they're doing to protect civilians and civilian lives, they had nothing to do with this onslaught of terrorism, they're also keenly aware the people living underground in rafah are making public statements on social media that as soon as this war is over, they're coming again to do another october 7. the israelis are being very, very clear, we're not going to allow that to happen. we're not going to allow our israeli citizens to be slaughtered in their beds early on a saturday morning again. so they're doing everything they can to prepare for that moment, to be able to stop the group of terrorists living underground. it's interesting to me when i think about the hamas terrorist organization, in the united

states our military trains and prepares itself to get between violence and civilians. hamas does the opposite. hamas actually trains and equips to put civilians between its military and violence. they put the civilians on the top layer, while the safe shelters underground are occupied by the terrorist armies. stunning to me just the mental difference between the two and how jarring that that really is. interesting conversations i had with some of the israeli leadership, to say you can't eliminate hamas by trying to attack them over and over again, to be able to eliminate all people that think like hamas and are part of hamas. their response was interesting to me. the response was we fully understand we're not going to obliterate everyone in hamas. we want to stop the threat, but we understand that will be members of hamas in the future

that will still think that way, and their response to me was there are still nazis in the world right now. there are still people that claim to be a nazi or neo-nazi right now. but the difference is, they don't run germany. their first goal was we want to end hamas' rule, a terrorist organization, having the capacity to run the entity right next door to us. we understand there'll still be people that think like that, but we want to show them there is a better way. we still want to be able to have peace with our neighbors. you see, this connection between hezbollah and syria and hamas is iran's plan and has been for a long time, to build what they're calling a ring of fire around israel. it was their way of protecting themselves, for the iranian regime, that if they made it so violent around israel, israel would never actually attack

iran. that was their plan. what's interesting was israel has been working to be able to build a ring of ice around iran. that's the abraham accords. as iran is trying to make the region more violent, israel is trying to make the region more peaceful. it's stark when it's side by side, isn't it? israel is working to build relationships, and has with uae, with bahrain, had a long-standing relationship with jordan and egypt. they're working in their relationship with saudi arabia as they've added morocco into the abraham accords. they're building a ring of ice through the region to bring the temperature down in a violent, hostile area. and for the folks in hamas, they hate the thought of that. because they don't want normalization. they want violence and control. and as they scream from the

river to the sea, they mean the death of every israeli. and quite frankly, every jew worldwide. and they've been clear about that. what do we need to do as americans? i think we need to be attentive on several areas. one is russia has formed an alliance with iran. many of the weapons systems being shot at ukrainians are iranian weapons systems, and we should not ignore that. this alliance between russia and iran grows. in the past several years, russia dramatically increased its number of militarymorocco. bases in syria. they're at 103 bases now in syria that are russian-active bases. we should pay attention to that. for iran, we've seen clearly what they're doing, how they

continue to attack. there's this focus on 330 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles that were fired at israel just this past week. what people may not be tracking is what continues to happen from lebanon with the iranian-backed hezbollah continuing to attack israel. just in the past 24 hours, hezbollah has attacked northern israeli communities and cities six times in the last 24 hours. but of course no media is covering that. but if you're in one of the communities that's now vacant in northern israel and that they fled and they're living in hotels or with relatives or fled to some other location from northern israel, they're keenly aware of what continues to happen there. we've got to deal with the continued threat and awakening from russia, but we've got to also think seriously about

what's happening with the regime in iran. we as a nation have tried to pacify iran. we tried to isolate them diplomatically. i don't call for a military attack on iran. no one wants a violence and war. we're not interested in our sons and daughters being involved in another conflict. but to think that iran is going to suddenly be peaceful when a regime as intent on trying to destroy israel at the time should awaken all of us to the reality of where iran really is. it was also good to be able to see when 330 projectiles were coming at israel this week, the americans stood by their side. they shot down a lot of those. the israelis obviously shot down the majority of them, but the british also were engaged in shooting those down. we had french that were engaged. but also the jordanians were engaged, the saudis were

engaged. the region is pushing back on a violent iran that is intent on making the region worse and more unstable, not better. iran has used the vacuum of what's happened in syria to move in their radicalism across syria, and they continue to make it a more and more toxic place in syria and in iraq. we as the united states should turn up our sanctions even more. we as the united states should isolate iran even more. we as the united states should use every leverage that we have to isolate not only their economy, but to be able to be focused in on that regime, because quite frankly, that regime is oppressing its own people. our problem as a nation is not the iranian people. they're living under the oppression of the iranian regime as well. it is the regime that's there. and while some members of this body have called for a change in leadership in israel, i would call for a change in leadership in iran, because that's really

the problem in the region. and we should find ways to be able to apply as much pressure as we can on that regime and to be able to message to the people of iran as often as we possibly can, we see you in the oppression that you live under every single day. and we wish better for you. for well-educated young men and women who live under the oppressive thumb of that leadership. something else we can do as the united states is stop allowing our soil to be the place where the iranian regime can spew their hatred. this thursday the iranian foreign minister is flying to the united states to be able to speak to a group of people at the u.n., and our administration has given him a visa. i have called on secretary blinken to say literally this is

one of the iranian leaders who is a leading voice in the irgc, who is a leading voice in the attack in the preparation for october 7, who is a leading voice of hatred towards the united states and the west and our ally israel. we should not extend a visa while iran is attacking actively from their soil and from all of their proxies. we should not extend a visa to the iranian foreign minister to come stand on our soil in our country and spew his hatred. if he wants to do that internationally, he can. now, i understand the u.n. is a body and the place where we've allowed voices from all over the world to come speak. but you know what? there was a moment when president obama denied a visa to iranian leaders because of where they were. there was a moment when president trump also denied some

visas to some of the iranian leaders because of what they were actively doing. this is a moment when president biden and secretary blinken should tell the iranian foreign minister not this week, not right now, not at all. when you're attacking our friends, we should not loan them bits of our soil to do it from our territory. we should make it clear that the iranian leadership that oppresses its own people and attacks our allies, and, by the way, uses their proxies to murder americans that are also serving in their region, we should make it very clear we will not allow that on our soil. i made it clear when i was in israel, that the people of the united states see the people of israel.

we understand what they're living under. and as a nation who's faced terrorism in our nation, we understand the emotion that they have at this point. and we understand their tenacity. we as the united states should be very clear, we have an ally, and it's israel. we're going to walk with her. we're going to help israel in every way that we can because she has been attacked and is in the middle of a war. and when you walk through the streets of tel aviv or jerusalem, you feel it, just like when you're walking through the streets along the border with gaza and lebanon and syria, you feel it. they are ready for peace. and israel is actively building a ring of ice in the region to bring down the temperature of the region, to push back directly on iran's ring of fire. we as a nation should be clear on which one we support.

those that are bringing peace or those that are bringing violence and hatred. we should make that continually clear, and continue to be able to act on it diplomatically, and when we need to to protect our allies in every way we can like we did this week with israel. let's pray for the peace of jerusalem, but let's also stand by her. with that, i yield the floor.

mr. lankford: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

>> without objection. >> thank you, mr. president. you know, we gathered just a couple of hours ago to receive the impeachment earlies -- articles on alejandro mayorkas who is the secretary of homeland security. if how interesting that as we look 59 going through this impeachment, we have senator schumer when's the majority leader who -- who's the majority leader who has decided he wants to change his tune when it comes to dealing with impeachment.

now, in 2019 right before the democrats started in on president trump and an impeachment trial for president trump, leader schumer stood right here in this chamber, and he said we have a responsibility to let all the facts come out. we have to remember our constitutional duty to act as judges and jurors in a potential trial. now, those are his comments at that point in time. it was all for an impeachment trial. and it is our constitutional duty. you can look at article i, sections two and section three. section two lays out the responsibility of thous in

impeachment -- of the house in impeevement -- impeachment. section three pertains to the senate and how we are to proceed with the trial of impeachment. but as i said, leader schumer has decided that he wants to change his tune, and all of a sudden he is not wanting this. even though we actually is have a public office holder who deserves to stand for impeachment trial. and that is secretary mayorkas. and now that it is, the shoe's on the other foot, if you will, and now that it is about a democrat, then leader schumer wants to change the rules and say, no. he's even willing to take unprecedented action that this chamber has never taken when it

comes to the issue of impeachment. and i believe this should incents every single -- incense every single american. i know it incenses the people of tennessee. because what we have learned in the last three years about secretary mayorkas even though the his title is the secretary of homeland security, he does not believe in securing the homeland. and e has refused -- he has refused to fulfill his duty of securing the homeland. now, i know that ec is tear mayorkas -- that secretary mayorkas is doing the bidding of joe biden and the biden administration if. he's just doing what they tell him he's got to do. that in and of itself tells you a lot about what this administration thinks about the security and sovereignty of this

country. and here is why. on the biden-mayorkas watch, you have more than 9.4 million illegal aliens coming into with this cup. into this country. that is in less than three years. 9.4 million. now, we know that there's between 1.7 and 2.5 million gotaways. some of those gotaways are included in that. 4 million -- 9.4 million number, others are not because they didn't see 'em as they were coming through and couldn't get to them, mr. president. they found things a today left on the roadside or in the woods and the brush later on. out of this, 10 million or so that have the illegally come in the country.

and, by the way, just to help everyone have the right context, that number of 10 million, that is greater than the population of 38 of our states. 38. that's how many people are coming in who are illegally entering the country. now, out of this number you've got thousands that are from countries of interest. that would be places like pakistan, uzbekistan, iraq, iran. and look at china. hook at what is happening there -- look at what ises happening there. you also have 300 known terrorists. as we heard in the impeachment articles today, under president trump you had no more than a dozen total over four years that

were coming in the country. what do you have under joe biden? you've got over 300 suspected terrorists. even last week we had an issue where where doj and dhs and fbi and the other agencies were admitting they have lost track of a terrorist -- they had lost track of a terrorist from afghanistan, and he was free roaming the country for a year. now, in addition to the terrorists and the people from countries of interest, fentanyl is coming across our borders. it is being smuggled in by the cartels. fentanyl is the leading cause of death of americans ages 18 to 45. fentanyl. a drug that china has the precursor chemicals, and they are manufacturing this in labs that they have set up with, oh, by the way, the cartels in

mexico. and the cartels are the distribution hub for fentanyl. i talk to parents regularly who have a child who has lost a life or become a addicted because of fentanyl. and in addition to the all the a fentanyl -- to all the fentanyl, then the you have the human trafficking. what is really so sad to me when you look at human trafficking -- and for the cartels, human trafficking is a business. and it has grown if from a business that was $ooh 500 million -- $500 million a year in this country in 2018, and today it is a $13 billion a year business. and if you don't think the cartels are big business, if you you don't think they're a global

entity, hook at a this. globally, human trafficking is a $150 billion a year business with. where do these people want to come? right here. they want to come into our country. now, on top of this there are more than 400,000 migrant children, many of them who have been recycled and abused by the cartels. and, yes, indeed, the car tells are so into this human trafficking now that they've devised a scheme. it is child abuse. they take a little child, they write their name and the phone number to contact on that child's back. finish they put that child with a cartel the member. they're trying to get into the country. they pose if as a family for the purpose of claiming asylum.

and then once the cartel member is across the border, what does he do? he lets the child go. lets the child go. and the child is sent back to mexico. so we add the all of these issues with the terrorists, with the people from countries of interest, with the drugs, with the human trafficking, with the sex trafficking. you look at what is happening to these children, and tens of thousands of these 400,000 children have been forced into really horrific, exploitive situations including child labor and sex trafficking. and across the country, you have dangerous illegal alien concern. they're called criminal aliens who should never have been able

to come into this country in the first place. they have harmed, they have murdered innocent americans. so all of these reasons as to why we should move forward with this impeachment. and on top of it, you add that secretary mayorkas has repeatedly lied to congress about our border being secure. and he has,, he likes to say he's done everything to prevent this, but we know he's done everything to allow it. and to allow the flow to continue. last year dhs, his agency, deported less than 5 of -- 5% of all migrant encounters at the border. and in 2022 only 10% of all criminal illegal aliens in the u.s. were arrested. while a border wall would do so much to help end the border

crisis, secretary mayorkas stated from day one this administration has a made clear that a border wall is not the answer. his e words. from day one they've made clear that a wall's not the answer. well, let me tell you something, walls work. walls work. throughout history walls have worked. the evidence is overwhelming. secretary major or cat has -- mayorkas has refused to uphold his constitutional duty of securing the homeland, and the american people are is suffering the consequences. five years ago leader schumer was all too happy to reed a partisan -- lead a partisan, basically impeachment trial against president trump. yet today when faced with a secretary who is unfit for office, leader schumer is trying to prevent a senate trial and dismiss the house's articles of impeachable.

impeachment. never before has the senate dismissed impeachment charges without holding a trial. when i talk to tennesseans, they talk about their frustration with washington, d.c. and their frustration with two tiers of justice. it seems there's a care for the democrats and the elite -- a tier for the democrat, heats and illegals and another for republicans and president trump and people who are conservative. it's important that secretary mayorkas be held to account. for three years he has done president biden's bidding by opening the border to millions of illegal aliens. and if this chamber upholds its constitutional a duty to hold a trial, i will vote to convict secretary mayorkas and move, remove him from office.

now, while the biden administration is working the make illegal immigration legal, border states such as texas are stepping up to do what this administration will not do. and that is to secure the border. over recess i spent time in el paso, texas, the see firsthand -- to see firsthand how governor abbott and authorities in the lone star state are working to keep communities safe. now, it is a part of the efforts in texas to deter illegal immigration. and texas is taking this seriously. the make certain -- to a make certain that they secure property there along the rio grande. what they have done is to place buoys in the river, shipping containers on the embankment and

razor wire behind that and fences behind that. they've done this along the rio grande there at el paso to prevent illegal aliens from coming in through el paso. texas has bolsteredded its barriers, and what you're seeing now is that the illegal aliens are traveling further to the west. they're going to new mexico, they're going to arizona, they're going to california. why? because they're looking for somewhere easier that they can get into the country illegally. bear in mind the coyotes, they're working hard for all of these, these groups and for the cartels. and nobody enters without paying a coyote. now, when you look at what texas

is doing, taking this into with their own hands, and you've got the state, you've got local counties, they're spending billions at the state level and millions in these counties. and as a result, illegal immigration in texas dropped by 54% between december and january. and in the del rio sector, which includes eagle pass, illegal entries fell by 76%. mr. president, this shows you border walls work. the border patrol has been telling us for decades we need a barrier, we need better technology where we cannot have a barrier, and we need more officers and agents. so while the biden administration if pretends otherwise, knowing that walls work should not be a surprise. border walls from ancient athens to the great wall of china, they

have protected cities. they've protected nations for thousands of years. finish border barriers are used on nearly every continent on earth to protect countries from illegal entry, from drug smuggling and from terrorism. but instead of supporting texas and its successful efforts to deter illegal immigration, this administration and this secretary of homeland security, they think it's a good thing to go sue texas and try to make them remove their border barriers while texas has accomplished a lot in securing their border, protecting families and saving american hives, president biden -- lives, president biden's attack on our border security has placed a tremendous burden on our border states and communities and, indeed, every town has turned

into a border town. every state, a border state all across this country. because of what is happening with drug trafficking, with human trafficking, with sex trafficking, with crime in communities. while i was in eagle pass, i sat down with some ranchers and farmers who have had their property destroyed, stolen, broken into by illegal aliens crossing into our country from mexico. in one instance two migrants broke into a rancher's home while his 16-year-old daughter was studying at home alone. texas law enforcement also warned about the way cartels are using new technology to aid their smuggling operations including by using chinese-owned tiktok to recruit americans into their human trafficking rings.

at the same time, cartels are flying drone sk that the quorum be called off. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. warnock: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions, s. res. 645, s. res. 46 -- 646. is there objection to proceeding en bloc? without objection. mr. warnock: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. warnock: mr. president, i have ten requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders.

the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. warnock: i yield the floor. .

mr. sanders: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president, as most everybody knows, iran recently launched several hundred drones and missiles at is israel. fortunately, there were no fatalities. this attack was iran's response to an israeli air strike on their consulate in damascus, syria, on april 1, an attack which killed seven iranian officials. i applaud president biden for doing what he can to make sure

that this conflict does not get out of hand, does not escalate, and does not create what would be a disastrous regional war. but while we pay attention to this developing israeli-iran crisis, i hope very much that we will not lose sight of the unprecedented humanitarian disaster now taking place in gaza. we must not lose sight of that disaster. as i'm sure all americans know, the war in gaza began october 7, when hamas, a terrorist organization, invaded israel, killed some 1200 innocent men, women, and children, and took over 230 people into captivity, many of whom are still being held. it has always been my view that israel had a right to defend

itself, respond to this attack, and to go after hamas. it is also my view that israel does not have the right to go to war against the entire palestinian people, which is exactly what the netanyahu government is doing. mr. president, let us take a deep breath and understand that what is happening right now in gaza is horrendous, it is inhumane, and it is in gross violation of american and international law. it is driven by extreme right wing israeli government officials and a government which is increasingly dominated by religious fundamentalism. that is who is driving this

humanitarian disaster in go-ahead. and mr. president, what should be most troubling to the american people is that we as americans are complicit, because it is u.s. taxpayer dollars that have helped create this unprecedented humanitarian disaster. mr. president, let me briefly describe what is going on in gaza, because it is so easy in a world full of problems, media focuses on this, focuses on that, congress focuses on this and that, it is so easy to turn away from the tragedy in gaza, but we must not do that. mr. president, there are about 2.2 million people living in g gaza, 2.2 million, mostly poor and struggling people, before the war, before the war, gaza

was a very poor and desperate area. let us not forget that important fact, that before the war some 70% of the young people in gaza were unemployed. that was before the war. since this war began, over 33,000 palestinians have been killed and 77,000 wounded. unbelievably, 5% -- 5% of the res tents -- residents of gaza have been either killed or wounded in a six-month period. 5% of their entire population. two-thirds of those who have been killed or wublded -- or wounded are women and children.

mr. president, since the war began, 1.7 million people, over 75% of the population of gaza, have been driven from their homes. let me repeat it. three-quarters of the population have been driven out of their homes. these people poor, many are children, do not know whether they will ever return. pushed out, not knowing where they're going to go, where they're going to sleep. that's rights of the people -- three-quarters of the people of gaza. over 60% of the housing units in gaza have been damaged or destroyed. this housing destruction is unprecedented in the modern history of the world. 60% of the housing units damaged or destroyed. it is not just housing.

israel has systematically destroyed the health care system in gaza. gaza had 36 hospitals before the war. now, just 11 are partially operational, despite the tens of thousands of injuries and hundreds of thousands of ill people. persistent attacks on health care facilities have killed more than 400 workers. i have spoken with several american doctors who have returned from missions to gaza. they tell of operating for hours on end, in crowded hospitals, with little electricity or clean water or medical supplies. they have had to perform surge ris -- surgeries, including on children with no anesthesia. they have tried -- have to try

to sterilize and reuse medical gauze. thousands of women have had to give birth in these inhumane and dangerous conditions, and health care workers report a major increase in miscarriages. it is a health care nightmare. but it is not just housing and the health care system that is being destroyed by the netanyahu government. it is the physical civilian infrastructure in gaza as well. mr. president, more than half of the water and sanitation systems have been put out of commission. only one of three water pipelines is operating. clean drinking water is severely limited. and sewage, raw sewage, is running through the streets of gaza, spreading disease. mr. president, as we speak

ton tonight, there is virtually no electricity in gaza, but it is not just housing and health care and infrastructure that are being destroyed. mr. president, there are 12 universities in gaza, 12 universities. unbelievably, each and every one of them has been either damaged or destroyed, universities. in addition, primary and secondary schools have also been completely disrupted, over 600,000 children have no access to education. and mr. president, as horrible as all of this is, there is something happening now that is even worse, and that's what these photographs speak to.

hundreds of thousands of palestinian children face starvation. the people of gaza struggle, are struggling to survive from day to day, foraging for leaves, eating animal feed, or splitting the occasional aid packages amongst their family. even in rafah, where aid is consistently distributed, people are desperately short of basic supplies, including food and water. in the north, the situation is far more desperate. at least 28 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration already. 28 children, but the real toll is likely much, much higher. without food and clean water, with sanitation systems destroyed, and with little

health care available, hundreds of thousands of people in gaza are at severe risk of dehydration, infection, and easily preventable diseases. so let me repeat once again, as we speak hundreds of thousands of children are at risk of terrible deaths. mr. president, let us be very clear -- the conditions that the people in gaza are experiencing today are the direct result of israel's arbitrary restrictions on the aid getting into gaza. this is not a matter of debate. it is an obvious reality that numerous, numerous humanitarian organizations have repeatedly conf confirmed. israeli leaders themselves admit it. at the start of this war, the

israeli defense minister declared a total siege, saying, quote, we are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly. there will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. everything is closed. end quote. israeli defense minister. in january, prime minister netanyahu said openly that israel is only allowing in the absolute minimum amount of aid necessary. trag tragically, the israeli government has lived up to those words. for months, thousands of trucks carrying lifesaving supplies have sat just miles away from starving children, prevented from reaching their destination by unreasonable israeli restrictions and a military campaign conducted with little

regard to civilian life. trucks with food a few miles away from children who are sta starving. israel is stopping those trucks. the world saw evidence of that several weeks ago when seven aid workers with world central kitchen were killed in an israeli air strike. but such attacks have been frequent, and israel has killed more than 200 humanitarian aid workers in six months. not just the world central kitchen. 200 humanitarian aid workers since this war began. israel's blockade of humanitarian aid pushed the united states and the international community to extreme measures, including air dropping supplies and the construction of a port in order to get food to starving people.

that was our appropriate response. mr. president, blocking desperately needed u.s. humanitarian aid is obscene and it is unacceptable. it is also a violation of american law. the foreign assistance act is extremely clear. no u.s. assistance may be provided to any country that, quote, prohibits or otherwise rest restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of united states humanitarian assistance. that is precisely what israel is doing, and israel is clearly in violation of the law. mr. president, following a tense, as i understand it, tense call between president biden and

prime minister netanyahu two weeks ago, israel committed to a number of steps to improve humanitarian conditions and aid access. these conditions include increasing the number of trucks cleared for entry into gaza, and reopening some bakeries and a water pipeline to supply north end gaza. two weeks later, where are we? well, there has been a slight improvement in the volume of aid getting in to gaza. since the beginning of april, an average of 181 aid trucks have crossed into gaza to date. this is also marginally higher than was the case over the last several months. but far fewer than the 500 trucks per day that went into gaza before the war and before

the devastation of civilian life there. unbelievably israel continues to block many aid convoys from reaching those areas in gaza that are most desperate. this morning i spoke with the humanitarian aid worker who was in gaza just last week, and he reported to me that humanitarian organizations continue, continue to face arbitrary israeli restrictions. since the u.n. warned, since the u.n. warned of imminent famine in early february, more than 40% of all food missions have been denied. children are starving. more than 40% of food missions have been denied. last week, again, u.n. reported that 40% of aid conveys to north gaza were denied access. mr. president, israel's

violations of international law are not limited to gaza. they are also breaking the law in the west bank. over the weekend, in response to the tragic death of an israeli teenager, large groups of armed israeli settlers rampaged through 17 palestinian villages over three days. these vigilantes shot dozens of people, killing four and burned numerous homes. videos taken by human rights groups show israeli soldiers watching attacks unfold, doing nothing to stop them. to the best of my knowledge, no arrests have been announced as a result of these attacks. while this was a particularly violent weekend, this is a daily

occurrence for palestinians in the occupied west bank. israeli soldiers and settlers have now killed more than 460 palestinians in the west bank since october 7, including more than 100 children. that's the west bank. mr. president, what israel is doing today in gaza and the west bank is a defining moment for americans because we are deeply complicit in everything that is happening. this is not some far-off situation that we have nothing to do with. we are directly complicit. now the u.s. military is not dropping 2,000-pound bombs on civilian apartment buildings. that's not what the u.s. military is doing. but we are supplying those bombs

to the israeli air force. the united states is not blocking the border and preventing food, water, and medical supplies from getting to desperate people. that's not what we are doing. but we have supplied billions of dollars for the netanyahu government, which is doing just that. the united states is not annexing occupied palestinian land, but it is providing political protection for the israeli government as it does so. despite the massive financial and military support, the united states has provided to israel for many years, the right-wing extremist government of netanyahu has ignored increasingly urgent calls from the united states to end the humanitarian disaster in gaza, to stop settlement expansion in

the west bank, and to lay out initial steps toward a two-state solution. mr. president, members of congress may not know it. we live in a somewhat different world, but the american people have had enough. the american people are increasingly fed up with netanyahu's war against palestinians, and they do not want to see their taxpayers, taxpayer dollars spent to support the slaughter of innocent civilians and the starvation of children. that's not bernie sanders speaking. that's what the american people are saying. a recent gallup poll showed that just 36% of americans approve of israel's military action, with 55% disapproving.

quinnipiac poll -- an early poll showed 52% of americans said that the united states should halt weapons shipments to israel until it stops its attacks in gaza. that is what the american people are saying, and maybe, just maybe the congress might want to listen to the american people rather than powerful special interests. mr. president, "the new york times" is what i would describe is a pillar of the establishment. this is not a fringe organization. this is the establishment. and "the new york times" just this sunday had an editorial entitled military aid to israel

cannot be unconditional. i'd like to read a few perhaps and then ask unanimous consent that the whole editorial be submitted to the record. this is what the "new york times" said. quote, the administration, biden administration tried pressure and admonition, including public statements, reported expressions of frustration and u.n. security resolutions. none of them so far have proved effective with mr. netanyahu. military aid is the one lever mr. biden has been reluctant to use, but it is a significant one he has at his disposal. perhaps the last one, to persuade israel to open the way for urgent assistance to gaza. pausing the flow of weapons to israel would not be an easy step for mr. biden to take because

devotion and commitment to the jewish state go back decades. but the war in gaza has taken an enormous toll in human lives with a cease-fire still out of reach and many hostages still held captive. though eroding international support for its military campaign has made israel more insecure, confronted with that suffering, the united states cannot remain beholden to an israeli leader fix ated on his own survival and the approval of the zealots he harbors. end quote, "new york times" last sunday. mr. president, the united states has offered israel unconditional financial support for a very, very long time. in recent years that has amounted to $3.8 billion a year, with numerous additional forms of support.

right now against my vote congress is considering another $14 billion in military aid for israel, $10 billion of which is completely unrestricted military funding. that unconditional support for the israeli military must end. instead of begging netanyahu's extremist government to protect innocent lives and obey international law, our new position must be simple and straightforward. not another nickel for the netanyahu government if their present policies continue. the united states must use all of its leverage to secure an immediate cease-fire in gaza and across the region and demand that the massive amount of humanitarian assistance that is needed to prevent famine and

widespread humanitarian suffering is able to flow into gaza. mr. president, history will judge what we do right now. history will judge whether would he stand with starving children, whether we uphold america's professed values, or whether we continue to blindly finance the yawar machine. -- finance the yawar machine. and with that, i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned until 11:00 a.m. on wednesday, april 17, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leader be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to calendar number 365, h.r. 78888. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president, for the information of the senate, senators will be sworn in as jurors in the court of impeachment at 1:00 p.m. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i move that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion.

all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. >> today the upper chamber received articles of impeachment against homeland security watch live coverage of the senate when lawmakers return here on c-span2. >> c-span is your unfelterred view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more including cox. ♪ >> hi. >> friends don't have to be rare. >> this is joe. >> when you're connected, you're not