John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions, which are at the desk: S. Res. 764 and S. Res. 765.

Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 10; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Powell nomination; further, that the cloture motions filed during Monday's session of the Senate ripen at 11:30 a.m., and if cloture is invoked on the Powell nomination, the Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination at 2:15 p.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Wednesday's session of the Senate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all Members of the Republican conference be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions today, June 9.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, sometimes, I have to wonder if Democrats remember the last election and how 4 years of recordbreaking illegal immigration on President Biden's watch helped hand the House, the Senate, and the White House to Republicans, because to watch the Democrat Party right now, you would think that 2024 never happened. Democrats not only haven't rejected the open borders philosophy of the Biden administration; they have doubled down. At least we had the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Biden. Now, every Senate Democrat is on record as wanting to shut down those Agencies. That is right. Democrats voted to defund--to defund--the agents who stand guard on our Nation's borders and help prevent dangerous individuals from entering our country. They voted to defund the agents who remove criminal illegal immigrants who do make their way into the United States. And when I say ``defund,'' I mean defund. Democrats opposed giving these Agencies a single dollar. And I hope--I really hope--that my Democrat colleagues are not going to attempt to defend themselves by claiming that they simply wanted reforms of these Agencies and that Republicans wouldn't give them to them, because as the record amply, amply reflects, Democrats were offered reforms again and again. The White House not only made reforms on its own; it repeatedly offered Democrats a robust legislative package. But Democrats weren't interested, presumably because they somehow thought that ``defund law enforcement'' and ``abolish border security'' would play well for them in November. Of course, I am pretty sure most Americans don't think we should eliminate security at our Nation's borders or open the floodgates for unchecked illegal immigration. But that hasn't stopped Democrats from embracing ``defund the police 2.0.'' I am happy to report that, as of Friday, Democrats' crusade to defund border security and law enforcement is well on its way to failure--for now--for now, at any rate. Senate Republicans passed legislation to fund Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the next 3 years to ensure that Democrats can't try defunding these Agencies again this fall. But it is deeply disturbing that we are in this position, that we are having to use the reconciliation process just to get normal appropriations passed for border security and immigration enforcement. The damage that Democrats caused in the 2026 fiscal year has been immense: two recordbreaking government shutdowns, critical workers at DHS left for months without pay, government workers lined up at food banks, TSA agents quitting in droves. And that is not to even mention what could be irreparable harm to the appropriations process here in the Senate. And then there is our subject today, ``defund the police 2.0''--the Democrats' resolute refusal to spend a single dollar protecting our Nation's borders or deporting criminals here in our country illegally. It is absurd that Republicans are having to act unilaterally to fund basic national security responsibilities. What is the Democratic Party going to propose defunding next? The DEA? The FBI? Our Nation's military? Where exactly does this insanity end? The Democrat leader has repeatedly attempted to cloud the issue, going so far as to make the insane suggestion that Congress somehow has to choose between our national security responsibilities and addressing the challenges facing hard-working Americans--to which I say not only can we walk and chew gum at the same time, but we have an obligation to do so. It is our responsibility as Members of Congress to work to alleviate not only the economic challenges facing Americans but to protect our Nation's security, and that includes securing our borders and attempting to ensure that criminals, drug traffickers, terrorists, and other dangerous individuals do not make their way into our country and that, if they do make their way in, they are identified and deported. As long as Republicans are in charge, we will be focused on both the economic challenges facing our country and on securing peace and safety for hard-working Americans. On our watch, there will be agents at our borders to prevent terrorists, traffickers, and other dangerous individuals from making their way into our country, and there will be agents to take criminal illegal immigrants off of America's streets. I only wish I could say the same of our Democrat colleagues. I yield the floor.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the postcloture time with respect to Executive Calendar No. 744 be expired and the Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow; finally, that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 745.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 765.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have four requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 308, S. 1157.

Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 645 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. tomorrow for the weekly conference meetings; and that the Senate proceed to executive session to execute the order on the Mattivi nomination at 2:15 p.m.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions, which are at the desk: S. Res. 757 and S. Res. 758.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I expect there will be a lot of amendments today on a lot of topics. So I want to take just a minute to focus in on the essence of the bill that we are on that we will be considering and voting on today. It is a simple bill. It will do nothing more than fund Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the next 3 years. And why are we doing this bill? Why are we doing appropriations for these Department of Homeland Security Agencies separately and for 3 years instead of the usual 1? Because Democrats have refused to fund border security or immigration law enforcement. That is it. We are here today only--only--because Democrats refuse to appropriate a single dollar for our border and immigration law enforcement. They originally agreed to fund them, of course. Back in January, Democrats in both Houses, House and Senate, signed off on an appropriations bill that included multiple reforms. But shortly before passage, after the events in Minneapolis, Democrats reneged. They wanted more reforms, they claimed. And Republicans agreed to reopen negotiations. The White House implemented a number of reforms on its own. And then the White House repeatedly--repeatedly--offered Democrats a robust package of legislative reforms. The Democrats would not agree to anything. And eventually they walked away altogether, presumably, because they thought that it would serve them better to have an issue for November, although I would say it remains to be seen how well ``defund law enforcement'' and ``eliminate border security officers'' play for Democrats this fall because, let's be very clear, that is what Democrats have opted for: no--zero--no officers at our Nation's borders and no officers to remove dangerous criminal illegal immigrants from our country. If it weren't for Republicans, our Nation's borders might currently be thrown wide open to drug traffickers, cartel members, terrorists, criminals, human smugglers, and other dangerous individuals. And dangerous criminal illegal aliens could be living freely in our country. That is what no funding for border security and immigration enforcement means, and I can't emphasize that enough. If Democrats had their way, our Nation's borders would be completely--completely--unprotected and criminal illegal immigrants would be allowed to remain in our country and endanger Americans. Democrats' position is not just breathtakingly irresponsible, it is a betrayal of their obligations as members of our government. This is a national security issue, and Democrats have completely abdicated their national security responsibility. As I said, I expect there will be a lot of amendments today. Many will be intended to distract from Democrats' ``defund law enforcement'' position. Some may even echo the reforms the White House offered to Democrats-- that Democrats rejected, but which they will now attempt to use to score political points. When all of the political statements have been made, we will pass the underlying bill and be one step closer to funding border security and immigration law enforcement for the next 3 years. For the next 3 years--this is what Democrats have forced us to do. I am grateful for the law enforcement officers who have helped secure our Nation's border over the past 16 months and take criminal illegal immigrants off of our streets. And I am grateful to Secretary Mullin and border czar Tom Homan for their leadership and their work to refocus things at DHS and ensure that both Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are fully focused on their core mission of protecting our country. And Republicans are going to continue to ensure that these Agencies have the funding that they need to fulfill their national security responsibilities. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.