On the recordFebruary 6, 2024
on Sunday night of this last weekend, three of our colleagues released the much anticipated text of what has come to be known as a bipartisan border deal. In fact, this was negotiated by three main principal Senators here in the Senate: Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma, Senator Sinema from Arizona, Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut, along with the Biden administration. I want to express my gratitude to Senator Lankford, for our part, for the time and effort he has invested in this process. I know of no one who has worked harder in good faith to try to come up with a solution to our broken border. I know, like all of our colleagues on this side of the aisle, he is outraged by the Biden administration's failure to secure the border, and he is eager to find a way to change the policies which will provide that security. And I think our Democratic colleagues finally realize that the status quo on the border is a huge political liability. Well, what Senator Lankford hoped to deliver through this process, unfortunately, has become increasingly clear that it has not been attainable. Notwithstanding his best efforts, this proposal is not what the country needs, wants, or deserves, and I would be happy to explain why. Given the fact we are operating in divided government, any successful reform requires bipartisan support.…





