“Democrats shouldn’t be playing politics with border security. It’s time to work together to secure the border, reopen the government and protect the American people.”

Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the Senate floor about the need for increased border security and a stronger physical barrier along our southern border.

Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:

“Following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the National Institutes of Health – the nation’s medical research agency in Bethesda, Maryland – needed to secure its campus.

“The NIH grounds were always open to the public before that; anybody could walk or drive through the 300-acre campus freely. But facing heightened threats, officials planned to restrict public access and to build a wall.

“Completed in 2005, the wall, black metal ‘perimeter fence’ with guarded checkpoints became the centerpiece of NIH’s new ‘perimeter security system.’ Signs were posted that said: ‘NO TRESPASSING.’

“On its website NIH states the purpose of its border barrier: ‘to ensure the safety of our patients, our employees, our guests and our facilities.’

“NIH was not alone in building a barrier after the attacks in 2001. Across the street, the National Naval Medical Center, now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, also walled off its campus –243 acres.

“The walls have worked. Both NIH and Walter Reed remain safe and secure.

“Now we need to deal with the security crisis at our southern border. President Trump has requested $5.7 billion – that’s 1/1,000th of the federal spending.

“The president wants to build more physical barriers, a proven border security solution – 30 percent of the border already has a security border.

“Congressional leaders from both parties have supported a border wall in the past.

“In 2006, Senate Democrats including then Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Joe Biden and Senator Chuck Schumer voted to construct a physical barrier on our southern border.

“But Democrat leaders now refuse to back the president’s border security effort, prolonging the partial government shutdown that is going on today.

“Meanwhile, Democrats and media ‘fact-checkers’ are out in force to attack President Trump. They insist that there is no border crisis.

“The facts are in this January 10 Investor’s Business Daily editorial, ‘Yes, There Is A Crisis At The Border – The Numbers Show It’:

“Number one: In terms of how the numbers show it, is illegal crossings are climbing.

“Last year Border Patrol stopped more than half a million people trying to enter illegally – more than 100,000 in October and November alone of this past year, a huge increase from the same two months in 2017.

“Second, apprehensions don’t account for all illegal crossers.

“The Homeland Security Department estimates about 20 percent of crossers enter, which means about 104,000 illegal immigrants entered in 2018 alone.

“Third, the U.S. illegal immigrant population right now is massive. Currently over 12 million illegal immigrants reside here, comparable to the entire population of countries like Chile, the Netherlands and Syria.

“Number four: Illegal crime levels are higher-than-expected. The Center for Immigration Studies have found that noncitizens accounted for more than 20 percent of federal convictions, though they represent only 8.4 percent of the population.

“Number five: Presidents Reagan to Obama have acknowledged the crisis. In 2005 then-Senator Barack Obama said, ‘We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked.’

“In 2014 President Obama described the border situation as a crisis but he failed to fix it.

“Even President Obama’s last Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan supports President Trump, he was actually on television just today. Trump did not keep him in the job. But Morgan says building the wall is key to solving the security crisis, and the president should ‘stay the course.’

“Still, Democrats refuse to negotiate with this president, so we can’t reopen those federal agencies closed for more than three weeks.

“Here is the Homeland Security Department’s latest assessment of the southern border situation:

“Each month 60,000 illegal immigrants reach the border.

“Drug smuggling spiked in 2018, with a 38 percent increase in methamphetamine, a 22 percent increase in heroin and a 73 percent increase in fentanyl.

“We also saw a huge surge in arrests of dangerous criminals, including 17,000 adults with criminal records and 6,000 MS-13 and other gang members.

“In 2018, 60,000 unaccompanied children and 161,000 families reached the border – a dramatic increase from 2017. Many were victimized on the journey.

“Border Patrol areas that have enhanced or expanded physical barriers have actually seen a dramatic decrease in illegal traffic. That is why the president has requested additional funds to construct more barriers.

“The facts are the facts: We have a national security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border. The problem is the rise in illegal entries. We need to solve it. Walls work.

“The question is: Do U.S. citizens living in at-risk border communities deserve the same protection as NIH patients and the staff in Bethesda, Maryland?

“All Americans want a healthy immigration system that enforces the law, that keeps families together.

“Democrats shouldn’t be playing politics with border security.

“It’s time to work together to secure the border, reopen the government and protect the American people.”

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