On the recordSeptember 10, 2024
Mr. President, I don't think it is any secret that the United States is facing a myriad of security threats both here domestically and abroad. I have said--and I truly believe--this is the most dangerous time our country has experienced since World War II due to the axis of autocracies, as they are sometimes called, ranging from Iran to Russia, to China, to North Korea. But right here at home, we have a huge, gaping national security threat called the southern border. We know it is being exploited by drug traffickers, human smugglers, and, yes, perhaps, even by terrorists. Out of the, roughly, 10 million or so people we estimate who have crossed the border during the Biden-Harris administration, about 2 million of them are what the Border Patrol calls ``got-aways.'' In other words, they are people evading law enforcement and, perhaps, for a good reason: either they are carrying drugs; they have criminal records; or, heaven forbid, they want to do us harm through some sort of terrorist attack. But, as we look around the world, we see countries like Israel, our close ally in the Middle East, defending its right to exist following a brutal and unprovoked attack by the terrorist group Hamas, which is a proxy of Iran. Iran and its proxies are even more emboldened than ever as they continue to wreak havoc across the region. Oh, by the way, they are also enriching uranium in pursuit, perhaps, of a nuclear weapon.…





