[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 59 (Monday, April 8, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2637-S2642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Mayorkas Impeachment
Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening because we
have some serious business ahead of us soon.
For Laken Riley, Ruby Garcia, and the countless Americans who have
died from fentanyl, the Senate must hold a full impeachment trial for
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Secretary Mayorkas is breaking the law
every day he releases illegal immigrants into the United States. The
Department of Homeland Security is required under law to detain these
immigrants. Biden and Mayorkas's catch-and-release policy releases
illegal aliens into the United States without even issuing a notice to
appear for immigration proceedings.
Secretary Mayorkas is the most important player in President Biden's
open border agenda, but we must first remember it is the President who
is calling the shots. President Biden took the actions that opened our
border. On day one, he personally stopped construction of the wall. He
alone signed
[[Page S2638]]
the Executive order to allow illegals to be counted in the census to
decide how large congressional districts are. This is a direct attack
on our most important democratic institution. It was President Biden
who ended the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, leading to millions released
into our communities.
It was a criminal coward who killed Laken Riley, but it was President
Biden and Secretary Mayorkas who welcomed him into the country. It was
sanctuary city policies that kept him here. Laken Riley's death was a
complete failure of our government to protect our own citizens. Yet not
one person has lost a job due to it.
It is no wonder President Biden's allies want to sweep this
impeachment under the rug and break the rules of the Senate by failing
to hold an impeachment trial.
Every Senator must stand up for the American people and vote down the
motion to kill the impeachment trial. The American people deserve to
hear the truth of how President Joe Biden opened their country's
borders to the world and the American lives lost because of it.
I will be voting to hold a full impeachment trial of Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas. If a full trial does not happen, he has clearly
lost the faith of the American people to protect our borders and he
should resign immediately and President Biden should be held
accountable by the American public this November.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise to bring attention to the matter
of grave importance to the Senate. My friend and colleague from Indiana
just spoke about this just a few minutes ago. We are going to be
delivered Articles of Impeachment to this Chamber, which is a very
important role that the Senate plays in our constitutional structure,
our constitutional order. All of us are sworn in as jurors. This is a
solemn act. We swear when we take our oath that we will abide by the
Constitution, we will protect the Constitution. This is something we
are supposed to do.
Politically speaking, Secretary Mayorkas has been a disaster. If you
could have a Mount Rushmore of worst Cabinet members in the history of
the United States of America, he would be on that Mount Rushmore.
Legally speaking, he has undermined the laws of the United States.
But before we get there, we actually have to have a trial. In no
instance in the history of this great Republic--in 240-plus years--has
this body, the world's greatest deliberative body ever, in the history
of our country, dismissed or tabled Articles of Impeachment for someone
who is still serving in office or alive. Let me repeat that: It has
never happened.
To quote my colleague from New York who often says this: History is
watching. Chuck Schumer, history is watching, because 200 years from
now, God willing, in this Republic, people will be in our chairs. We
don't know their names. They will be referring back to the precedent
that is set in this Chamber to go down a road we have never gone down.
Vote how you want to vote based on the evidence, your point of view.
Vote how you want to vote. But the idea that we would be setting this
very dangerous precedent because Chuck Schumer doesn't want it in the
news cycle for a couple of days is ridiculous. For my friends on both
sides of the aisle that care about this place, this is, perhaps, the
most dangerous act you could inflict upon us, short of blowing up the
filibuster, to say that we are not going to hear the evidence; that we
are not going to vote as Senators because we are afraid of a news
cycle, which, by the way, would highlight the total and utter disaster
that happens at our border.
Mr. President, 9 million people have come across illegally. I rise to
point out just one aspect of that that is incredibly dangerous for this
country--the number of Chinese nationals that are coming here. There
have been 22,233 encounters of Chinese nationals crossing illegally at
the northern and southern borders so far in fiscal year 2024. There
were 24,125 encounters last year. To put that scale in perspective,
there were just 342 apprehensions of Chinese nationals in 1987 and
fiscal year 2022. That is a dramatic increase.
They are our greatest adversary. The 21st century will be defined by
who wins this great power struggle. And if you don't think--there have
been documented cases--that some of these folks are coming here to spy
on us, including military installations, I have some oceanfront
property in Missouri I would like to sell you.
Secretary Mayorkas, in his own memo, advocated for ignoring U.S. law.
This is a big deal. Again, regardless of how you feel about how you are
going to vote on this, my point of view is: There is a lot of evidence
that could be presented and will be presented to show that he has
purposefully undermined the sovereignty of the United States of
America. That is a serious charge. The House of Representatives has
voted to send that here. Let's hear it out. Let's do our constitutional
duty. Let's not be afraid to do our jobs.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, make no mistake about it, a vote to
block the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas is a vote to keep our
borders open. It is a vote to continue the deadly track of lawlessness.
It is a vote that tells Laken Riley's family and all those who have
been victims of violent and gruesome crimes at the hands of illegal
aliens, as well as the over 250,000 people who have died from fentanyl
poisoning--what it says is the Democrats don't care.
Ask any American and they will tell you that every State is now a
border State. We don't feel safe in our own communities. From inner
cities to suburbs and throughout rural America, we are living in the
consequences of this wide-open southern border. So it should come as no
surprise to my colleagues across the aisle that Americans are demanding
accountability. They want to know why the cartel has more control of
our border than the DHS does.
Disgracefully, this week, we will witness a complete political
charade that undermines this Chamber's responsibility and the oath we
swore to protect this great Nation. Skirting justice, accountability in
the very fabric of our democracy, the Senate Democratic leader has
taken a historical measure to heighten the deadly border crisis his
party has created and embraced.
And why, you might ask, would they do this? They are so afraid that
if Americans witnessed an open trial of Secretary Mayorkas and his
record was exposed, it would seal the deal on the Democratic Party
losing the White House and the majority of the Senate. They are very
clearly worried about the next election and not the national security
threat our wide-open borders pose to the sovereignty of our Nation.
My hope here today is that America is watching. They will see the
Senate Democrats line up to block the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas
and prevent his record from ever enduring a public trial.
But make no mistake about this. Come November, the good people from
Montana and Ohio, from Michigan and Wisconsin, from Pennsylvania and
Nevada will make their voices heard and hold their Senators
accountable. These Democrats had the opportunity this week to address
the border crisis and send a clear message to the White House to
address our most immediate national security threat and close the
border now. Unfortunately, they won't stand up. They will not allow the
American people to see the true lawlessness that has been the direct
result of the abject failures of Secretary Mayorkas. Their silence will
send a clear message to the thousands of families that have been torn
apart by the consequences of our wide-open border. They simply don't
care.
My colleagues across the aisle don't want answers. They want to
shield Secretary Mayorkas and the White House from any accountability
and spare their party from the backlash in the press when Senate
Republicans outline how dire the situation at our Nation's border is.
In orchestrating this cover-up, they are willing to undermine our
Constitution and disrespect the honor and integrity of the impeachment
process that has been observed and held fast by this body for over 200
years.
In our Nation's history, the Senate has never tabled an impeachment
trial. That alone should tell every American
[[Page S2639]]
how scared Senate Democrats are to share the true realities of the
lawlessness happening right now at our borders across the United
States. Secretary Mayorkas has failed his duty to protect our borders
and uphold our laws.
We have 11 million reasons to hold him accountable and impeach him.
That is the 11 million encounters, including nearly 2 million ``got-
aways'' who have shown up here on our soil under Mayorkas's watch. He
is not just derelict in his duties, he is complicit in endangering the
safety of every American.
Yes, we understand the Democratic majority has the votes to table
this hearing. But know this: History will not be so forgiving of this
decision. The American people will not forget the betrayal of this
Chamber and their family's safety. Come November, we the people will
speak loudly. The people, the citizens of this great Republic, they are
the true judges and the final jury.
So, please, to my colleagues across the aisle, there is still time to
do the right thing: to vote in support of holding Secretary Mayorkas
accountable. The American people will be watching. We must impeach
Secretary Mayorkas for his failure to uphold his oath. If this Chamber
skirts its responsibility, we shall hold every one of the Senators who
block this impeachment trial accountable at the ballot box.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from North Carolina.
Mr. BUDD. Madam President, in order to be a strong Nation, we have to
have strong borders. Right now, we don't have that. We haven't had that
for 3 years. I talk with sheriffs from all over all of North Carolina--
100 counties--and many of them tell me the same things over and over:
Every single county is now a border county because of Joe Biden's
policies. And those policies have been implemented by his Secretary of
Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. From the very beginning of his
tenure at DHS, Secretary Mayorkas has intentionally undermined security
at the southern border again and again and again.
I have a list right here. Now, I know I have limited time, but let's
try and run through some of the worst examples. On February 1, 2021,
DHS implemented a policy requiring ``alternatives to removal including,
but not limited to, staying or reopening cases, alternative forms of
detention, custodial detention, whether to grant temporary deferred
action, or other appropriate action.'' This telegraphed the
Department's complete unwillingness to enforce the law and to detain
illegal aliens.
On March 20, 2021, the Mayorkas DHS began issuing illegal border
crossers a Notice to Report to U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, as opposed to the standard notice to appear. The notice to
report policy allows illegal aliens to simply be released into the
United States, and it relies on them to self-report to ICE at a later
date. Now, this, ladies and gentlemen, marked the return of catch-and-
release.
On July of 2021, the Mayorkas DHS released at least 50,000 aliens
without giving them a notice to appear at all. They were advised to
self-report to ICE on their own. To the shock of no one, 87 percent of
them didn't even report.
On August 17, 2021, the Mayorkas DHS announced an expansion of
alternatives to detention. It announced the expansion of taxpayer-
funded services to illegal aliens in removal proceedings. This further
supercharged the policy of catch-and-release.
On August 31, 2021, the Biden administration disclosed that they
released over 100,000 aliens into the United States without giving them
a notice to appear.
Again, they were asked to self-report to ICE on their own. Nearly
half of them didn't check in with ICE within the 60-day deadline. On
September 30, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas issued a memo stating that ``the
fact an individual is a removable [alien] should [not be the sole]
basis of an enforcement action.''
This is willful misuse of prosecutorial discretion, and it
effectively gave deportable aliens a path to stay in the United States.
On October 8, 2021, the Mayorkas DHS canceled another large group of
border wall contracts related to the Laredo and Rio Grande Valley
border sectors.
On October 27, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas issued another memo
prohibiting enforcement of immigration laws in the following areas--now
listen to these: schools, healthcare facilities, recreational areas,
social service facilities, ceremonial locations, as well as at
demonstrations and at political rallies.
On October 29, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas formally terminated the
``Remain in Mexico'' policy, inviting illegal aliens to America's
doorstep.
I could go on, but the bottom line is that this is nothing short of a
dereliction of duty on the part of Secretary Mayorkas. He must be held
accountable, and that is why he was the second Cabinet Secretary in
American history ever to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
The U.S. Senate has a constitutional duty to take these charges
seriously and to conduct a full trial on the merits. To do anything
less would be an insult to the victims of these open-border policies.
We can't wait. Too many people are suffering. Too many people are
dying. We must say enough.
This administration must face accountability for causing the worst
border crisis in American history. Now is the time to act.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, a lot of history has unfolded in this
room. The U.S. Senate has been home to some of the most formative
debates in our Nation's tenure. These are fierce arguments among
passionate, intelligent people. It is not all that different from the
debates today.
The Senate has always welcomed these sometimes intense disagreements
by respecting the rules and the traditions of the institution. It is
how a Senator like me, who is a Member of the minority party, can stand
here and speak freely about the issues that matter to the American
people and to the people of Louisiana.
Now, my Democratic colleagues in the Senate, today, may be about to
make some new history in this room. Apparently, they think it is a
brave new world, and they want to set a dangerous new precedent. For
the very first time, Senate Democrats are seeking to table--maybe even
dismiss--an impeachment of a sitting Cabinet official without even
holding a trial. They are summoning spirits they won't be able to
control.
Please, my colleagues, don't do it.
I fear though that Senate Democrats are going to try to take the
Articles of Impeachment that our colleagues in the U.S. House of
Representatives thoughtfully crafted and passed with a majority vote
and toss them into the trash without hearing from either side.
They don't want to let the House impeachment managers make their
case. They don't want to let Secretary Mayorkas make his case. They
just want to ignore the House's evidence, summarily sweep it under the
rug, and move on. And that is wrong.
The Senate has never in its history tabled an impeachment--never. In
the more than 200 years that this body has existed, the House of
Representatives has impeached an official 21 times, and we have never
once tabled the impeachment--not once.
Now, Senator Schumer may also try to dismiss these charges instead of
tabling them, but that has never been done before, either. If the
Senate dismisses these charges without a trial, it will be the first
time in the Senate's long history that it has dismissed impeachment
charges against an official it has jurisdiction over without that
official first resigning. And that is a fact.
I want you to consider this: The U.S. House of Representatives has
voted to impeach an official 21 times--only 21 times--in our long
history. The U.S. Senate has only dismissed 3 of those cases--3 out of
21.
Now, why did they dismiss them? In two of those cases, the impeached
official chose to resign instead of facing a trial. As a result, the
Senate dismissed the charges. In this case, Secretary Mayorkas has not
resigned. In one of those dismissed cases, the impeached official was a
U.S. Senator, and the Senate concluded that the Constitution did not
give it jurisdiction to remove a
[[Page S2640]]
U.S. Senator through the impeachment process.
Here, everyone agrees that the Constitution gives Congress the power
to impeach and remove a sitting Cabinet Secretary.
Now, listen to me carefully on this. The U.S. Senate has the right
and the responsibility to hold this trial. Yet Senate Democrats want to
ignore our Chamber's history and forfeit our constitutional authority
by tabling or dismissing these charges without even considering the
evidence--without even considering the evidence.
Americans need to hear what I am about to say, even if my Democratic
colleagues won't listen. Let me say it again: A majority of the duly
elected Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, who represent all
of the communities across America, spent months investigating the
allegations against Secretary Mayorkas. They spent months drafting the
Articles of Impeachment, and a majority of the House then voted yes to
bring two very serious charges.
The Senate Democrats are now treating those charges--those Articles
of Impeachment--like spam that landed in their inbox.
Americans, however, are not nearly so sanguine about the border
crisis that has brought death, drugs, violence, chaos, criminals, and
mayhem into their neighborhoods. The Biden administration's border
crisis is as unprecedented as the majority leader's move to bury the
evidence of who could be to blame here.
I, for one, want to hear the House's evidence, and so do the American
people. The majority leader's move is unprecedented. It is
undemocratic. And I am confident that my Democratic colleagues, if they
do this--please, don't--but if they do it, will regret this new
precedent when they find themselves in the minority, just as they
regretted breaking the Senate precedent for confirming judicial
nominees.
You see, Republicans do not like to break precedent when we are in
the majority. We respect the traditions of this Chamber because we
respect the voters who sent all 100 of us here.
If my Democratic colleagues set a new precedent that tramples the
rights of the minority party and silences the voices of the Americans
who elected them--if they do that--Senate Democrats will have to own
that decision and bear its consequences.
Now, I have listened to the loon wing of the Democratic Party spend
the better part of the past decade making passionate speeches about how
important it is to protect democracy, to uphold the rule of law, and
they are right. President Biden even ran his campaign on the idea of
``restoring our norms,'' as he called it, and ``defending democracy.''
Apparently though, the rules of the loon wing were of the ``for thee
and not for me'' variety. Whenever protecting democracy and upholding
the rule of law becomes politically challenging, the loon wing has been
happy to ignore the rule of law and the will of the people. Isn't that
special?
Their political expedience is in full view today, but it is not the
first time that their cynicism has reared its ugly Democratic head.
I am sure, Madam President, you will remember. I will give you just
two examples. The loon wing spent several years promoting a conspiracy
that the Trump campaign was an arm of the Kremlin, despite no objective
evidence to tie President Trump to Russia. Democrats and several
members of the national security community rushed to dismiss any
information found on Mr. Hunter Biden's laptop as ``Russian
misinformation,'' despite not having any objective evidence, as we now
know, to make that claim. And those are just two of many examples that
I could give.
Secretary Mayorkas' impeachment may be the best example of this
hypocrisy to date. The same Senate Democrats who have shouted for years
about defending democracy and upholding the rule of law seem ready to
disregard serious impeachment charges without so much as a second
glance. These Senators, if they do that, won't just be silencing the
House of Representatives. They will be silencing the American people--
the American people who want their border's security back.
You can pick any poll--any one you want--and you will find President
Biden's approval rating on the issue of immigration and border security
is on a journey to the center of the Earth. A recent Associated Press
poll, for example, found that more than two-thirds of Americans--69
percent of Americans--disapprove of how the Biden administration is
handling border security.
I can't imagine that these same Americans would approve of Democrats'
refusal to even hear the evidence that Americans see play out in their
communities every day.
This poll is only surprising if you peaked in high school. Under
President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas, the southern border has become
an open, bleeding wound. It has become a cesspool of misery. Drug
trafficking, human trafficking, sexual abuse of women, sexual abuse of
children, drowning, dehydration, widespread illnesses, death--all have
become commonplace.
In total, the Border Patrol has encountered illegal immigrants at the
southern border more than 9 million times since President Biden took
office. That is four Nebraskas. The Biden administration has failed to
remove 99 percent of foreign nationals that it has released into this
country.
The backlog of immigrant court cases has doubled under the Biden
administration's watch. These foreign nationals have overwhelmed
American cities. Instead of investing in American citizens, cities
throughout the country are raising taxes. They are cutting programs to
fund prepaid debit cards for migrants.
America's children have to stay home from school because Democratic
officials turned their classrooms into housing units. Democratic
leaders in New York City, Chicago, Denver, Houston, and Los Angeles
have begged the Biden administration to do something to curb the flow
of unvetted people into their cities.
Of course, it is not just people flowing illegally over that border;
cartels have flooded the United States with poisonous fentanyl over
that border, too. Customs and Border Protection seized nearly 53,000
pounds of fentanyl from 2021 to 2023--not 53,000 grams, 53,000 pounds.
That is enough to kill the entire population of our planet. This poison
actually did kill more than 70,000 Americans in 2022. It is now the
leading cause of death among Americans 18 to 40.
The Biden administration's border policies bring Americans nothing
but suffering. If you hate America, however, the Biden border strategy
has been a blessing. Cartels' smuggling operations saw revenues
increase from $500 million in 2012 to $12 billion--that is ``b'' as in
``billion''--in 2022.
The policies that President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have
implemented are directly responsible for this disaster at our southern
border. At every turn, the Biden administration has ignored the laws of
this land and this Congress and the will of the American people to
facilitate their own broken border security policies.
The House has detailed several examples in their Articles of
Impeachment, and we ought to hear their evidence.
To start, the law requires that all foreign nationals who are not
clearly admissible must be ``retained for a removal proceeding.''
Instead, Secretary Mayorkas established a catch-and-release--catch,
release, repeat--a catch-and-release scheme that incentivized illegal
immigrants to flood our country.
The law also requires that law enforcement take an illegal immigrant
who commits a crime or has ties to terrorism or both into Federal
custody. That is the law. Yet Secretary Mayorkas told his Department
not to follow that law regarding the ``mandatory arrest and detention''
of criminal aliens.
Our law also says that law enforcement must detain illegal
immigrants. Instead, Secretary Mayorkas has paroled them wholesale by
the thousands into our country, where they could catch a bus or a plane
to any unsuspecting community they desire. Not only that, Secretary
Mayorkas even gave them the money to do it.
Secretary Mayorkas killed the ``Remain in Mexico'' program. He
quashed contracts to build a border wall. He ended the safe third
country agreements that allowed America to work with other countries to
find protection for migrants in need.
By tabling or dismissing the Articles of Impeachment without so much
as a
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trial, my Senate Democratic colleagues will be endorsing the Biden
administration's lawless approach to the southern border. They will be
setting a precedent that the next administration can ignore the laws of
Congress and the will of the American people too.
Impeachment matters. It is an important check we have on the
executive branch, and we have an obligation to take it seriously. We
have an obligation to give any charges brought the full trial they
deserve.
I am going to have a resolution, if I am allowed to present it, that
will give the procedures we need to conduct this trial fairly and
efficiently. I will be bringing that at the appropriate time. It will
be efficient. It will be fair. It will be honest. It won't uproot the
longstanding precedent we have given to Articles of Impeachment in the
past.
If the majority leader and my Democratic colleagues table or dismiss
these charges and destroy Senate precedent--precedent that we have
established to conduct full and fair impeachment trials--they will
regret it. They will regret it. Senate Democrats, if they do that, will
show the world that their proclamations about rule of law and
protecting democracy are just tools of their own political experience
and arrogance. Senate Democrats will let the American people know that
they endorse the lawlessness and the misery the Biden administration's
broken border has brought to this country.
I don't think Americans' future should be beholden to the politics of
the moment, and that is why I want the Senate to do its job and hear
this evidence.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I want to make one thing clear
to my Democrat colleagues: Your attempt to brush Secretary Mayorkas's
impeachment trial under the rug is disgusting and unacceptable. It is
truly unprecedented, violates Senate rules, and is possibly
unconstitutional.
The House of Representatives adopted two Articles of Impeachment
against Secretary Mayorkas. Let me quote for you:
Throughout his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security,
Alejandro N. Mayorkas has repeatedly violated laws enacted by
Congress regarding immigration and border security. In large
part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have
illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with
many unlawfully remaining in the United States.
Alejandro N. Mayorkas has knowingly made false statements,
and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department
of Homeland Security, principally to obfuscate the result of
his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.
Now, it is the constitutional duty of the U.S. Senate to conduct an
impeachment trial to determine if Secretary Mayorkas should be removed
from office based on those Articles of Impeachment.
I want to stress this again: Never in the history of the U.S. Senate
has such a procedural move been attempted to completely avoid an
impeachment trial.
Senate Democrats' efforts to avoid fulfilling their constitutional
duty to conduct this trial are just the latest attack by the left
against our democratic process and institution. Senate Democrats want
to eliminate the filibuster. They want to radically change the U.S.
Supreme Court. Now they want to trash the impeachment process. This is
a disturbing series of direct attacks on our democratic institutions.
My colleagues and I have called on Senate leadership to conduct a
trial. I have also personally called on Vice President Kamala Harris,
urging her to fulfill her constitutional duty to serve as the presiding
officer of Secretary Mayorkas's trial. Her appointment as President
Biden's border czar only makes her role in the Mayorkas impeachment
trial more critical.
President Biden and his administration have created a crisis at our
southern border. Secretary Mayorkas--a complete puppet for this lawless
administration--has the audacity to come falsely testify before Senate
and House committees that the border is secure. Not just once but
multiple times Mayorkas has lied under oath in committee that our
border is secure. He is lying to the American public. He is not taking
the action needed to defend the homeland by securing the border or
upholding the law. That is his job, and he is simply not doing it.
Our Nation is reeling from the consequences of Mayorkas's failures.
Our Nation is a more dangerous place because of Secretary Mayorkas's
failures. He is allowing criminals, drugs, terrorists, and others into
our communities. These are real consequences, and each victim has a
name. Real Americans here to live their dream are being killed. Real
American families are being torn apart by vicious crimes and deadly
drugs because we have a wide-open border. Biden and Mayorkas refuse to
enforce Federal law to secure the border, and innocent Americans like
Laken Riley are paying the ultimate price for his failures.
Ten million people--ten million people--have illegally crossed, and 6
million have been let into our country. There have been sexual assaults
and murders committed by illegal aliens all across the country--even
Florida, where a young man was recently killed. The man charged for his
death is an illegal alien.
I don't get it. I do not understand why my Democrat colleagues don't
care. They don't care about 70,000 people dying of fentanyl overdose.
They don't care about vicious crimes. They don't care about terrorists
being let go in our country. Senate Democrats are saying they simply do
not care.
They are using every power they have to ignore this crisis, while
innocent Americans die, and keep Congress from holding Mayorkas
accountable. The proof is not just in this disgraceful effort to
dismiss the impeachment trial. Let's remember what Democrats voted
against. Democrats voted against a bill to stop illegal aliens from
getting on a commercial flight with no verifiable ID. Think about that.
You have to have an ID; they don't. Democrats voted against deporting
illegal aliens who hurt police, the people who are here to take care of
us. Democrats voted against the Laken Riley Act, which simply
requires--it is a simple act--simply requires ICE to take illegal
aliens who commit crimes into custody before tragedy strikes.
Does Biden hope that millions of immigrants will vote for him? Many
in his party want to allow illegal immigrants to vote. They even voted
to allow the census to keep counting illegal aliens. It is because they
want sanctuary cities and States to have more electoral votes and
representation in Congress--not from Americans but from illegal aliens.
That is the future the Democrats want.
Biden has intentionally dismantled every ounce of border security
Trump put in place and completely undermined our immigration system,
and Mayorkas has done absolutely nothing to stop it.
Mayorkas has clearly been derelict in his duties. He has neglected to
protect the homeland--his job. He has allowed criminals to come into
our country, into each and all of our communities, drugs to flow into
our country. When I talk to Floridians, they are terrified. They are
concerned about their family's safety because of who and what are
coming across the southern border and into each and all of our
communities.
Mayorkas may simply be a puppet for the administration, but he is
fully responsible for his negligence and failure to do his job.
Mayorkas needs to either resign or needs to have the full and thorough
trial that we are constitutionally obligated to conduct, as the
American people, through their representatives, voted for.
We must have an administration and DHS Secretary who is willing to
secure the border, not ignore failure that is killing our citizens.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
Mr. LEE. Madam President, an invasion is taking place on American
soil. Over 8 million people have crossed our border illegally since
Mayorkas became Secretary, and the numbers just keep rising. They are
not going away. This unprecedented, lawless influx includes gang
members. It includes drug traffickers and dangerous individuals from
every country in the world, including many thousands of military-age
males from China. What could go wrong? In December alone, the
Department of Homeland Security reported 302,000 encounters--in 1
month. This is the highest month ever on record.
[[Page S2642]]
To be clear, Secretary Mayorkas has the tools to stop the invasion
today. He could do it right now if he wanted to. It is almost turnkey.
It is abracadabra. If he decided to do it, we could have a secure
border, and we would. Not only does he have the tools, but he has an
obligation and a responsibility, an affirmative duty under the laws of
the United States--laws that he agreed he would faithfully enforce.
Let me say that again just to be very clear. Just by enforcing the
laws currently on the books, he could bring our state of utter
lawlessness on the border to a state of order.
Secretary Mayorkas could bring a complete stop to the crisis. He
doesn't need legislative action from Congress. This isn't a policy
disagreement. No, it is a blatant defiance of the laws that are already
on the books and have been for years.
So to my colleagues: If you are so confident that the charges against
Secretary Mayorkas are baseless, then why not hold a trial? Why try to
just sweep this under the rug? You realize, don't you, that when you do
that, all that does is just make you look more conscious of what is
going on, of what is being done that is so very, very wrong--especially
where, as here, it is such a departure from nearly two and a half
centuries of this institution operating faithfully as a Court of
Impeachment, nearly two and a half centuries in which we have had 21
Articles of Impeachment destined for the Senate; at least 20 of those
arrived. In 18 of those total of 21 cases during the Senate's
existence, 18 of those 21 culminated in a trial resulting in a verdict
of guilty or not guilty. Those other three involved cases that were
rendered moot in between the time the House of Representatives adopted
the Articles of Impeachment and the time they were presented over here.
They were rendered moot because of the death or departure--a new
vacancy in the office that had been occupied by the impeached official.
So this isn't just an ordinary act of sweeping it under the rug. It
is an act of sweeping it under the rug under the circumstances where
sweeping it under the rug was never an option. It never has been. We
haven't done it.
This isn't just some invisible ``Casper the Friendly Ghost'' coming
in to get rid of it. They are actively doing it, and they are doing it
under the full view of the American people.
The American people should be really upset by this, because Article I
of the Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to
impeach and the Senate the power to try all impeachments.
Remember, the Senate has only three states of being--exactly three
states of being: the legislative calendar, where we do a lot of our
work, where we consider law; Executive Calendar, where we do things
like confirm Presidential nominees and consider treaties for
ratification; and the third state of being for the Senate is as a Court
of Impeachment. We are always in one of those three states of being,
and yet we have never operated in that third state of being unless the
case has been rendered moot where the Senate doesn't hold a trial, as
it is required to do under the Constitution, culminating in a verdict
of guilty or not guilty.
Now, if you trust that Secretary Mayorkas didn't authorize millions
of individuals to enter illegally into our country for swift and
precursory release, then let's hold a trial.
If you are certain that Secretary Mayorkas hasn't increased the pull
factors incentivizing parents across the globe to send 430,000
unaccompanied children illegally into the United States, in many cases
to have them end up in the hands of traffickers--drug traffickers and
human sex traffickers and otherwise--then let's hold a trial.
If you are confident that Secretary Mayorkas hasn't created at least
13 illegal immigration parole programs designed to increase the flow of
people into this country by the hundreds of thousands, then let's hold
a trial.
If you are so sure that Secretary Mayorkas--under Secretary Mayorkas'
leadership, Customs and Border Protection hasn't dramatically decreased
its vetting process for allowing Chinese immigrants to cross our
border, including military-aged Chinese males, then let's hold a trial.
If you believe that we haven't seen a dramatic increase in the known
terrorist encounters at our border, then let's hold a trial.
If you are confident that Secretary Mayorkas hasn't allowed enough
fentanyl to flow across the southern border to kill every man, woman,
and child in this country, then let's hold a freaking trial.
These are not victimless crimes.
The tragic case of Laken Riley, a life cut short by an illegal alien,
one of the millions whom Secretary Mayorkas has recklessly,
intentionally, deliberately, and maliciously allowed to enter our
country unchecked, unvetted, is a reminder of the human cost of this
abdication of duty. Laken isn't alone. Her case represents hundreds of
thousands of families across this Nation whose lives have been upended
by the invasion that our leaders allowed to happen.
Think about that for a minute. They allowed it to happen not by
negligence, oversight, carelessness, inattentiveness. No, no, no. They
encouraged it to happen.
Should Secretary Mayorkas be found guilty, these are crimes of the
highest order. This sort of thing doesn't happen very often in this
country--the sort of thing that I hope we will never have to experience
again; the sort of thing that otherwise would result in a Toby Keith
song, may he rest in peace; the sort of thing that unites Americans in
surprising ways. The American people understand something is terribly
wrong, and they expect us to act.
In all previous impeachments sent to the Senate, we held a trial,
save those rare circumstances where the case was rendered moot by death
or vacancy of the office--not facts present here. We held a trial, and
that trial culminated, in each and every instance, in a verdict of
guilty or not guilty.
But the majority leader Chuck Schumer now seems to want to take the
radical step, the unprecedented step, the lawless step, the counter-
and anti-constitutional step of trying to table these Articles of
Impeachment without even letting us examine the evidence.
This begs the question: What would he do--what would he do--if he
were confident, if the majority leader were confident that Secretary
Mayorkas had acted lawfully, honorably, in this office?
What would he do if he were confident the American people wouldn't
turn on his party because of this act of lawlessness, this interminable
succession of absurdities imposed by the myopic logic of their own
border nonenforcement strategy? This is exactly what it looks like when
someone is aware that there is a problem and wants to sweep the problem
under the rug.
There is no rug here. You can't hide this. There is no rug big enough
to accommodate that. And shame on us if we play into that strategy.
To colleagues on my side of the aisle and on the other, I implore
you. I know many of us are institutionalists. Whether you are a
Democrat or a Republican, no matter how far to the leftwing or
rightwing or somewhere in between you are, I appeal to your sense that
we have an obligation to take seriously our oath to the Constitution.
We have an obligation that must be honored to look out for the
institutional interests of the Senate and the role that it plays in the
sacred order created by the U.S. Constitution.
When the Articles of Impeachment arrive, we have a job to do. The
Constitution and our rules and our precedents make that abundantly
clear. To ignore the evidence before us is to betray the trust of those
who sent us here.
There is no doubt, at this point, that the invasion at the southern
border has inflicted indescribable, incalculable, intolerable pain and
suffering on the part of the American people. We are obligated to
figure out who is responsible and hold them accountable, beginning with
Secretary Mayorkas. I urge each of my colleagues to oppose this
shameless effort to sidestep our constitutional duty and, by so doing,
subvert the constitutional order.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
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