John Cornyn: “We are saying, in essence, on border security: We are from the government. Trust us. We have an aspirational goal to…”

“We are saying, in essence, on border security: We are from the government. Trust us. We have an aspirational goal to actually secure the border, but you have no guarantee that it will be done. That is why my amendment is so important, because what it does is not create any sort of punitive effect, but it realigns all of the incentives for people across the political spectrum--Republicans and Democrats alike--to make sure the executive branch and the bureaucracy keep their commitments when it comes to border security. Then I believe the American people, demonstrating their typical generosity and compassion, will say: Yes, we need to find a humane way to deal with the 11 million people who are here. Mr. President, I have a sheet in front of me entitled ``What They Are Saying About Border Security Metrics.'' This sheet has excerpts from a number of experts in the border security area who talk about the importance not just of measuring inputs--how many Border Patrol agents, how many drones, how many radar; I call those inputs--what they say is that we actually need outputs, we need results, and we need metrics or measuring sticks to be able to show we are making progress toward the intended goal. I ask unanimous consent that this document citing these experts be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks. I hope my colleagues will vote to take up my amendment. I understand the majority leader will likely move to table it in short order.…”