Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff today released the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked even a debate on the bipartisan border security measure.
“The threat of terrorism associated with unlawful entry at the southern border is real and pressing.
“Every day Congress fails to pass a border security measure, the risk increases.
“Yet today Senate Republicans blocked the Senate even from debating and considering amendments to the bipartisan Border Act, which would have rushed enforcement resources to the border, tightened asylum standards, expedited the removal of those who abuse the asylum system to enter the country unlawfully, and hired more Border Patrol officers.
“Senate Republicans bent to pressure from former President Trump to keep the border in chaos so he can wield it as an election issue. As Republican Sen. James Lankford, a coauthor of the Border Act, recently said on FOX News, ‘President Trump said don’t fix anything during the presidential election.’”
“Today Trump’s allies in Congress failed the American people and left our nation at risk. I will continue applying maximum pressure on my Republican colleagues to work across the aisle to pass a bipartisan border security bill, just as I continue to call on the Biden Administration to use its executive authorities to address the crisis.”
Sen. Ossoff has been sounding the alarm on the counterterrorism threat associated with unlawful entry at the southern border, which he warned is “real and it is urgent.”
In a Senate Floor Address this week, Sen. Ossoff urged Republicans to reverse their position and allow a debate on the bill.
In March, during a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Sen. Ossoff raised concerns with FBI Director Christopher Wray over the threat terrorism associated with unlawful entry through the southern border poses to U.S. national security.
In an interview with The Atlanta-Journal Constitution in December, Sen. Ossoff noted the failure to achieve compromise over the last decade, adding, “The disorder and chaos at the border is a real national security issue.”
And in January, after reports that Donald Trump lobbied Republicans to sabotage bipartisan border security efforts because he wants to campaign on the issue in November, Sen. Ossoff urged Republicans to defy Trump’s efforts to sabotage the bipartisan border security bill and again warned of the terrorism threat associated with unlawful entry at the southern border.
He has also worked across the aisle to advance and pass bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing fentanyl trafficking; surging more border agents; and deploying new technology to secure the border.
Last month, the Sen. Ossoff-backed bipartisan Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act became law, which will sanction drug cartels and combat money laundering by the criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking.
In April, Sen. Ossoff helped pass the bipartisan Border Enforcement, Security, and Trade (BEST) Facilitation Act through the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to strengthen border security by providing additional CBP officers to scan cargo for illegal drugs and guns or human smuggling.
In March, Sen. Ossoff introduced the Deploy Fentanyl Scanners Act of 2024 to help deploy scanners at ports of entry to better identify contraband, including fentanyl, being smuggled across the border through personal vehicles.
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