WATCH: Kelly Urges Colleagues to Take Up Bipartisan Border Agreement on Senate Floor Speech

Last night, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly spoke on the Senate floor about the real-life consequences for Arizona border communities of Republicans walking away from the border deal both parties worked on and agreed to over three months ago. Additionally, Kelly urged his colleagues to take the opportunity to finally break through the gridlock and do something meaningful on the border.   

“We could have been on our way to hiring more than 1,000 additional border patrol agents and paying them better,” said Kelly on the floor about the impact on Arizonans. “We could have new technology to detect fentanyl and more personnel to seize those drugs, keeping them from getting into our communities and killing people. We could have new authorities to prevent the border from being overwhelmed, authorities that the President committed to using. That includes an updated asylum system with more officers to quickly screen claims. All of these things are things that my Republican colleagues have wanted for years. Arizona, today, has none of it.” 

Kelly continued, “We had an opportunity to defy the low expectations that the American people have for Congress and actually do something in a bipartisan way to start fixing the border. But that’s not what happened. Senate Republicans walked away. Well, actually, they ran away from this agreement. Because too many politicians would just prefer to keep talking about a problem than actually solve it. This failure isn’t theoretical in my state.”  

“Let’s pass this bipartisan border agreement… let’s defy those low expectations that the American people have for us. That’s what they deserve from us,” Kelly finished. 

Click here to watch Sen. Kelly’s remarks. See below for a complete transcript:  

Madame President, 

As my colleague from Connecticut said, it’s been nearly 100 days since my Republican colleagues walked away from a bipartisan border security agreement.  

That’s nearly 100 days that my state of Arizona and other border states have had to live with the consequences of that failure.  

We could have been on our way to hiring more than 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents and paying them better. 

We could have new technology to detect fentanyl and more personnel to seize those drugs, keeping them from getting into our communities and killing people.  

We could have new authorities to prevent the border from being overwhelmed—authorities that the president committed to using.  

That includes an updated asylum system with more officers to quickly screen claims.  

All of these things are things that my Republican colleagues have wanted for years. 

Arizona, today, has none of it.  

And, Madame President, I think you know why.  

The federal government has failed Arizona on the border for decades.  

Sadly, it’s almost expected at this point.  

But no past failure is as baffling and as cynical as this one.  

Because for once, we all agreed that the business-as-usual approach, it wasn’t working.

That our immigration process and infrastructure can’t handle the new realities at the border.

Because, for once, there was a real plan worked on and agreed to by Republicans and Democrats, ready to be signed into law by the President.  

We had an opportunity to defy the low expectations that the American people have for Congress and actually do something in a bipartisan way to start fixing the border.  

But that’s not what happened. Senate Republicans walked away.  

Well, actually, they ran away from this agreement.  

Because too many politicians would just prefer to keep talking about a problem than actually solve it. This failure isn’t theoretical in my state.  

Over the past three months, the Tucson sector has remained the busiest for illegal crossings in the country. 

Our communities and nonprofits have been stretched to the breaking point to prevent mass releases of migrants onto the streets.  

Border Patrol and local law enforcement, they’re strained.  

So are ports of entry, where long wait times impact families and businesses. 

 Did I mention that we could have had 1,000 more Border Patrol agents?  

A thousand.  

It’s a difficult situation that would be more manageable if the Senate had done its job three months ago.  

That’s not just me saying this.  

That’s what you’ll hear from anyone who lives or works on the border, including the Border Patrol union.  

It’s what, I assume, that my colleagues are hearing from mayors and law enforcement when they do their “fact-finding missions,” tours, and field hearings on the border. 

So, why don’t we just listen to the folks that are most affected by the crisis at the border and actually do something about it? 

Let’s pass this bipartisan border agreement.  

The only thing that’s changed from three months ago is that we’ve wasted more time.  

The problem still exists.  

The solutions are the same ones that we negotiated together.  

And if you aren’t convinced by every piece of it, let’s debate it.  

And if you think it needs something added or taken away, let’s vote on amendments.  

We just need some of our Republican colleagues to join us, and we can open up the debate on this legislation.
 
Think about it.  

We can be the Senate that finally breaks through the gridlock and does something meaningful on the border.  

Madame President, let’s defy those low expectations that the American people have for us.  

That’s what they deserve from us. 

Thank you, and I yield the floor.