Senate Border Bill Fails
Slim chance remains for the FEND Off Fentanyl Act co-sponsored by both Montana senators
By Denise Rivette
An appropriations bill including border issues; funding for Israel, innocent civilian Gazans and the Ukraine; and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act (cosponsored by U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester) did not make it through cloture this afternoon.
Yesterday, Tester issued the following statement after Senate negotiators released the text of a bipartisan border security deal:
“What’s happening at the southern border is unacceptable, plain and simple. Montanans from every corner of our state tell me they want a secure border and a solution to the fentanyl crisis, and law enforcement have made it clear to me that they need resources and policy changes to get the job done—something only Congress has the power to do. So it’s time for my colleagues in Congress to stop kicking the can down the road and quit using the border as a political football. Let’s put this bipartisan proposal on the floor so we can debate it before the American people and pass a bill to secure our border now.”
U.S. Senator Steve Daines issued the following statement yesterday opposing the Senate’s emergency supplemental funding bill:
“President Biden could have secured the border on Day One of his presidency and chose not to and the disastrous results speak for themselves. Reversing the effective policies of President Trump turned the southern border into one of the biggest national security risks in our country’s history with illegals streaming across who are on the FBI’s terror watch list as well as from countries that are designated as state sponsors of terror.
“Fixing this crisis demands more than the ‘border never closes’ policy that was negotiated. This bill also provides no guarantee that the president will enforce existing law, let alone new ones.
“Finally, with House Republicans united in opposition to this bill it makes no sense to even bring it up in the Senate. For all of these reasons I will vote no when the bill is brought to the Senate floor this week.”
Today Tester’s office issued the following as facts regarding the bill:
“ENDORSED BY THE NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL (NBPC) – the organization that represents approximately 18,000 Border Patrol agents and personnel charged with enforcing our country’s border security policies.
NBPC Endorsement: “The Border Act of 2024 will codify into law authorities that U.S. Border Patrol agents never had in the past. This will allow us to remove single adults expeditiously and without a lengthy judicial review, which historically has required the release of these individuals into the interior of the U.S.”
The men and women in law enforcement tasked with securing our border have made it clear that they need the resources and policy changes in this bipartisan bill to keep our country safe.
This bipartisan bill supports law enforcement, provides funds to hire more border agents, gives agents new authority to turn away migrants, and ensures law enforcement has the technology and tools they need to secure the border.
MOST SIGNIFICANT BORDER SECURITY POLICY CHANGES IN DECADES – tackling our broken system with commonsense fixes.
Raises the standard for asylum screenings and streamlines the asylum process, allowing authorities to focus resources on those with legitimate asylum claims and more quickly remove those who do not qualify.
Ends “catch and release” and ensures DHS is detaining or tracking asylum seekers while their claims are pending.
Stops cartels from taking advantage of the current asylum system and makes it harder for criminals to enter the country.
Customs and Border Protection Director Troy Miller has endorsed the bill, stating in a memo: “This proposed legislation would provide the strongest set of tools we have had in decades to effectively manage migration and enhance our nation’s border security.”
MORE THAN $20 BILLION FOR MANPOWER AND TECHNOLOGY TO SECURE THE BORDER – resources law enforcement have said they need to get the job done.
This bipartisan bill would increase funding for border agents and boost manpower at the border.
Funding would deploy technology to better secure the border and combat drug trafficking to crack down on the deadly flow of fentanyl into our country.
REQUIRES THE PRESIDENT SHUT DOWN THE BORDER WHEN OVERWHELMED – an authority that he currently does not have.
The bill empowers and requires the President to close the border when the system becomes overwhelmed – a power the executive currently does not have.
CLAIMS THAT 5,000 MIGRANTS WOULD BE ALLOWED EVERY DAY ARE PATENTLY FALSE – and are part of a disinformation campaign from folks who have not even read the bill.
The bill does not permit 5,000 migrants into the US every day, full stop.
The border would shut down when an average of 5,000 individuals are encountered at the border over a 7-day period, allowing agents to quickly expel migrants and maintain control of the southern border.
This bill speeds up the processing of those migrants with valid asylum claims, and allows those who do not qualify to be removed faster.
Conservative Senator James Lankford (R-OK) who helped negotiate the proposal stated that the bill would have stopped 800,000 entries in the past four months if it had already been signed into law.
ONLY CONGRESS CAN PROVIDE FUNDING AND CHANGE OUR BROKEN ASYLUM LAWS - those arguing congressional action isn’t needed are dishonest.
Many of these politicians are the same ones who campaigned on and passed H.R. 2 in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 2 is a bill that Republicans in the House passed to address border security. It is hypocritical for these same politicians to now argue that legislation is not needed.
Congress controls the power of the purse – it is up to Republicans and Democrats in Congress to provide the funding that men and women in law enforcement have been asking for. And it is up to Congress to change our broken laws that simply aren’t working. These are important actions that only Congress has the power to take.
The irony is these politicians who are now blindly opposing a bipartisan solution are the same ones who have said loudly for years that we need policy changes to secure the border. They are revealing in plain sight that they care more about using the border as a political issue.”
They concluded, “These are commonsense provisions that would give Border Patrol and law enforcement agents the tools they need to get the job done at our southern border. Montana sheriffs, mayors, businesses and families have made clear they want Montana’s elected officials to secure the border. This bill would do that.”
Prior to the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed a backup plan if the bill fails that will strip out the border security issues and move forward with the bill with only the parts addressing Israel, the Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific remaining. Schumer stated, “It has everything that we had in the original supplemental negotiations but without border, although we do have the fentanyl issue in. That’s not a border issue but that is very, very important,” Schumer said, referring to the FEND Off Fentanyl Act co-sponsored by our Montana senators.
After the full bill failed to make it to the floor for debate, Tester said, “Montanans sent me to the Senate to solve problems, which is why I voted today to secure our southern border and tackle the fentanyl crisis. This bipartisan proposal would have given our men and women in law enforcement the resources and policy changes they have told me they need to get the job done – that’s why it received the strong endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council and the head of Customs and Border Protection. It is shameful that politicians in Washington have once again chosen to play politics with our border and put our national security at risk. Montanans are fed up with these political games and want to see our southern border secured now – and so do I. I won’t stop fighting until it gets done.”
Daines’ stands by his statements, “Well, go back and read the details of the text of that bill. First of all, President Biden is not going to enforce anything that we put in place. There’s a provision in there, a paragraph that says he can create an emergency order and not enforce some of these provisions that are in that bill. This is the problem. President Biden and the Senate Democrats do not want to really solve the problem. They want to solve their political problem. It’s a huge liability for them politically. But if they want to solve the problem, President Biden can do that. Senate Democrats can tell President Biden use some of the same exact tools that President Trump used, and we can secure the border again. It’s that simple. President Biden does not want to actually see an outcome. He wants a political outcome, not a secure border.”
When asked for Daines’ view on a stripped down version of the bill including the FEND Off Fentanyl Act as well as aid for the Ukraine, Israel, innocent civilian Gazans and the Indo-Pacific, Daines’ office stated, “The Senator doesn’t support funding for Ukraine without effective border security measures for our own country.”