I will probably get in trouble with somebody for saying this, but the question of when life begins, the deeper question of what defines life, which biological entities are alive or possess independent existence versus which biological…

We provide a lot of technical assistance on how countries can connect to other energy systems, but we have always been, I think, far too reluctant to put hard dollars on the table in Russia's neighborhood.

I would urge opposition to this motion. This motion asks the Senate to endorse President Trump's Iran policy--a policy that, if you didn't notice, was a complete, total failure. The motion calls for a provision in the underlying bill to…

the provision in the underlying bill that Senator Cruz's motion argues for is a good one in that we should care about cooperation between China and Iran, but I would encourage my colleagues to oppose this MTI because of another extraneous…

I don't want our government to stand down given those threats.

So let me give you an example. If you have recidivism rates in a particular sector, like Rio Grande, that are 45 to 48 percent, that means that in that sector, if you had 8,000 encounters on a particular week, roughly 3,800, almost half of…

if we get rid of title 42 authority, return to sort of the foundational immigration law, there are both civil and potentially criminal consequence

Therefore, when a person arrives and DHS exercises Title 42 authority against an asylum seeker, are there any consequences if they come again to the border or are they just turned back around under Title 42 authority a second time?

Let me try to level set a bit on what the consequences have been at the border while we've had the Title 42 authority in place.

Mexico has one single gun store and it's on a military base. So it's not surprising that almost none of the guns that are used to commit crimes in Mexico come from Mexican gun stores.

I think as you dramatically reduced the amount of time that it takes to process a claim, I can't help but think that that won't have a deterrent effect.

when you see these elevated numbers on the border, much of this is frankly a result of Title 42 authority

There is this vicious cycle of violence that exists whereby guns and firearms from the United States illegally trafficked into Mexico and Central America are used to commit an epidemic level of violent crime which then creates the…

It's just a fact that the data suggests that in fact there is no greater threat.

I just want to put that acknowledgment on the record as I turn it over to you, Mr. Secretary, for opening remarks.

First, Title 42 is a public health authority, not an immigration authority, correct?

Many of my Republican colleagues... simply see the issue of immigration as a political cudgel.

This committee did the right thing by coming together and providing some supplemental appropriations to USCIS to deal with the backlog.

I am constantly demoralized by the tone of our debate about security and in particular the tone of our debate about our border.

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.

Let me assure my colleagues non-citizens arriving at our southwest border don't care who the President of the United States is.

I strongly criticized the Trump administration's decision to utilize Title 42 of the Public Health Safety Act to rapidly expel large numbers of migrants in direct contravention of existing laws protecting the right to apply for asylum.

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Again, let me pass along my thanks to your team which is just doing extraordinary work every day to protect this nation.

Immigrants to this country commit violent crimes at a rate much lower than that of individuals born in America.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.