NATIONAL SECURITY

On 2026-06-11, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) delivered a floor speech titled "NATIONAL SECURITY" in the Senate.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 99 (Thursday, June 11, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 99 (Thursday, June 11, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S2742] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] NATIONAL SECURITY Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, last week, Senate Republicans passed legislation to fund Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the next 3 years. On Tuesday, House Republicans passed the legislation, and, yesterday, the President signed the bill into law. I am proud that we got this done, of course. Republicans are deeply committed to ensuring a safe country and safe communities, and border security and immigration enforcement are key parts of that. No country--no country--can be secure if bad actors can make their way freely across the borders or criminal illegal immigrants are able to operate freely within our neighborhoods. So, as I said, I am proud that we got this done, but I also have to ask: How did we get here? How did we get to the point where one party has completely abdicated any responsibility for our Nation's security? It is not just this bill. Democrats have been playing fast and loose with our national security all year. Their two recordbreaking shutdowns strained our Nation's critical national security Agencies, particularly Agencies at the Department of Homeland Security, which was shut down for a staggering 119 days, all told, this fiscal year. The TSA, responsible for the security of our Nation's airports, has seen a flood of resignations, thanks to Democrats' decision to make these critical workers go without pay for quite literally months. And then there is border security and immigration enforcement. Democrats absolutely refused to provide so much as a dollar--a dollar-- to fund the agents who provide security at our Nation's borders and remove criminal illegal immigrants from America's streets. I can't make that point enough. If Democrats had their way, there would be zero--zero--physical presence at our Nation's borders and zero agents to remove criminal illegal immigrants who do make their way into our country. It is a breathtaking--breathtaking--level of irresponsibility. I am still not done because I haven't yet talked about FISA. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is our Nation's most critical intelligence-gathering tool. Policymakers across the Federal Government from both parties rely on section 702 information on a near daily basis. And we were well on our way to reauthorizing it, with Democrat and Republican lawmakers here in the Senate working on an agreement. And then, as has happened more than once this year, Democrats backed out. Now, this critical tool is set to go dark on Friday, and what the consequences of that will be we cannot predict. It is striking how weak Democrats' ostensible reasons have been for all of these actions. They are blocking a critical national security tool because they don't like the President's temporary, short-term pick for Acting DNI. They shut down the Federal Government twice and refused to fund border security and immigration enforcement because they couldn't take yes for an answer. Ultimately, Democrats have made it clear this year that, for them, it is always politics over policy. And if our economy suffers, if our national security suffers because of Democrats' decision to shut down the government or refusal to fund border security, well, Democrats are apparently just fine with that. Polls tend to show that Americans trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to crime and national security. I think Democrats are making it very clear why that is. The fact that Republicans had to act alone to fund security at our Nation's borders is all the evidence you need to know to show that Democrats are fundamentally unserious about their national security responsibilities. Republicans, of course, will continue to do everything we can to keep our country and our communities secure. It is too bad the same cannot be said of Senate Democrats. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________