Political Quotes

“Mr. President, yesterday, I came down to the floor to discuss the importance of military preparedness to our national security. The most basic requirement of national security is a strong military, but it is not the only requirement. Maintaining our Nation's strength and our ability to deter threats and discourage our enemies from tangling with us also involves things like a strong economy, energy security, and border security. And, today, I want to spend a few minutes talking about border security. Border security is an essential part of keeping our Nation secure. Porous borders are an invitation to criminals, terrorists, and other dangerous individuals. And let us be very clear: There are dangerous individuals out there right now who would like to enter and harm our country. Porous borders are an invitation to those types of individuals. Since the beginning of the month, four Iranians considered to be ``special interest aliens''--individuals, that is, who may pose a threat to the United States--have been apprehended at the southern border in Texas. Now, all told, thousands of special interest aliens--a number of them from Middle Eastern countries--have been apprehended at our southern border in the past 2 years. During fiscal year 2023, 151 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist were apprehended attempting to illegally cross our southern border-- 151. As a recent news story noted, ``that figure is more than the total of the previous six . . .…”