(18 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
POOL
Washington DC – 18 April 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Gary Peters, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee:
"Unfortunately, I have many colleagues who like to talk about solving a problem but would much rather just throw rocks. It’s just so much easier to throw rocks than actually solve the problem. So unfortunately, even though the bill had the potential to make substantial changes in our immigration system and would have also provided critical resources for our frontline operators, partisan politics got in the way. The rock throwers got their way as opposed to the problem solvers."
++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Rand Paul, Ranking Member, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee:
"You presided over just a disastrous border. And it isn’t a matter of policy. It isn’t just a matter of you like open borders and we like, you know, a more secure border. There’s a law. We have a law. You’re supposed to enforce that law. And yesterday was a sad day because the majority went ahead and set the precedent that having lied to Congress, there wasn’t going to be an examination of whether you lied to Congress. They were just going to simply say lying to Congress didn’t rise high enough to be high crimes and misdemeanors."
++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security:
"The Senate negotiated bipartisan legislation would have been transformative. It would have been transformative in two primary regards. One is the provision of resources to the Department of Homeland Security and the other departments and agencies in the federal government that administer immigration law."
++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security:
"It would have changed the system, the broken system, dramatically. One of the greatest infirmities of our current system is that it takes multiple years between the time of encounter and a final, final adjudication of an asylum case. The, the Senate negotiated bipartisan legislation would have taken that multi-year process that draws people to the United States and would it would have shrunk it to sometimes less than 90 days in duration. And that changes dramatically the risk calculation of intending migrants. It would have empowered us to use expedited removal, a speedier yet fair process for individuals not just in immigration detention, but for those outside of it as well. A transformative piece of legislation that was extremely tough."
++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Mitt Romney, (R) Utah:
"My question is the use of the border was secure? What did you mean when you said the border was secure? Is that not a lie?"
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security:
"Senator, I have, you’ve asked me now if that is a lie. And I have assured you that I have honored the oath of office.
(Sen. Romney: In what way was it not a lie, then?) Senator, With the resources and authorities that we have, it is as secure as it can be."
STORYLINE:
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is on Capitol Hill a day after the Senate rejected Articles of Impeachment against him.
Mayorkas appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to answer questions about his departments budget request.
But he was met with a lot of questions about his handling of the Southern Border, mainly by Republican members.
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