Leader John Thune (00:00):
… the deal with a specific issue with respect to the issue of border security and security in our communities. And I commend Senators Katie Britt and Ted Budd for taking a leadership role on this. And frankly, the fact that we got a big vote on it yesterday to get on the bill, I think is a signal that the Democrats perhaps want to play ball.
(00:22)
So, this is an issue that isn't going to become a comprehensive immigration bill. That's not what this is about. This is a targeted bill. It's focused on a specific issue designed to prevent tragedies like what happened to Laken Riley and the incredible heartbreak that has caused her family never to happen again.
(00:39)
So right now, what we're doing is trying to test whether or not the Democrats want to work with us on an amendment process. But the goal here, the objective is to get this bill across the finish line to deal in a very direct way with a specific border issue, which is the issue of immigration enforcement. And have something that we can put on President Trump's desk that he can sign into law early on in his new administration.
(01:07)
So with that, I'm going to yield to Senator Britt and Senator Bud to speak about the bill. And then you'll hear from some of the rest of my colleagues. Senator, Britt.
Senator Katie Britt (01:16):
Thank you, Leader Thune, and thank you all for taking time to be here today. Look, we had a big step last week, but there is certainly more to be done. I am excited that some of our Democratic colleagues have heard the American people. There was no more litigated issue than this over the last four years, and America spoke loud and clear on November 5th. They want secure borders, they want safe streets, and they want us to actually accomplish something. That's exactly what this bill does.
(01:47)
Had this bill been in law, Laken Riley would still be with us today. As many of you know, she should have celebrated her 23rd birthday last Friday. When we're looking at this, it's not only about her life and legacy, it is about preventing other families from having to go through the tragedy and heartbreak that her family has. It's also a first step in making sure that our nation is more secure, that our children from coast to coast are safe, and that we were actually doing for the American people, what we told them we would do.
(02:19)
I am hopeful that my Democratic colleagues don't revert back to last year's sentiment when they blocked this bill, not just once, but twice. I also want to remind you that in the 118th Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee that is responsible for marking up these bills did not mark up one bill that was immigration related. So, I want to thank Leader Thune, this entire team, thank Senator Bud for getting this on the floor early and getting us an opportunity to actually yield results for the people that we serve.
(02:47)
And I hope that my democratic colleagues make the right choice. This week, they have an easy one. It is between the open border policies of the Biden Harris Administration or they can actually protect American citizens. I think that's an easy choice. Let's do this for Laken and let's do this for our country. Thank you.
Senator Ted Budd (03:08):
So, I want to thank Leader Thune, Senator Britt, for working on this, reaching out to our colleagues across the aisle. You could see by the strong vote we've had in these first two procedural votes, their willingness, and I think that's a good day. But we've got more work to do.
(03:22)
When it comes to this bill. I speak as a father of three, and two of those are daughters. And I hate that we even have to address this issue, but there's a lot of heartbreak around this. And in the time I've spent going all 100 counties in North Carolina, I hear sheriffs repeatedly echo the same thing to me over and over. And that is every single county in North Carolina is now a border county because of Joe Biden's policies. Now, while this happened in Georgia, we have the same concerns in all the other 49 states, including in North Carolina. This is about preventing tragedies, something that should have never happened before.
(04:03)
When you think back to November 5th, it was essentially about two main things, and that is things are unaffordable and that they're unsafe, whether you're thinking internationally or whether you're thinking domestically in your own neighborhood. And it certainly was for Laken Riley, and it forever will be for her family. So, this is about preventing tragedies in the future. And any Democrat that doesn't support this, they certainly didn't get the message that America sent loud and clear on November 5th. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Well, I look forward to seeing the Laken Riley Bill enacted into law with the help of our Democrat colleagues. And I congratulate Senators Budd and Senators Britt for their aggressive, but also very sensible and common sense pursuit of this.
(04:53)
I just want to say briefly, after our meeting with President Trump last Wednesday, which was very successful, very substantive. And we delivered the message of unity, I think not only in that room but to the American people when we came out afterwards and subsequently. On Thursday, I'm going to have Lee Zeldin before the Environments and Public Works Committee. He's a former member of Congress from New York. He is a veteran, he is very well studied, not only in the environmental issues of clean water and clean air, but he also knows how bureaucracies work and how Washington works.
(05:27)
So, I think we sort of kicked off today with our nominees hearings with [inaudible 00:05:34], and we will be continuing this. And I look forward to hearing from Lee Zeldin and others. I'm going to hear from Sean Duffy tomorrow over in Commerce, but Lee Zeldin, particularly is inside the chair of that committee, talking about how we're going to be committed to putting forward President Trump's promise really to the American people to make your government work for you, not against you. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
Senator Britt and Senator Budd, thank you for your leadership on the Laken Riley Act. This is incredibly important because the American people have said over and over again, they just want basic safety. This is about detaining people who've committed additional crimes in the United States. That's pretty common sense to Americans across the country, and certainly across my great state.
(06:20)
A lot of the conversation we had last week and this week and we're looking forward to one week from today would be President Trump's full first day in office. But the conversation's been about DOGE, it's been about government efficiency. We'll continue to be able to talk about that as we did last week, as we'll continue this week and in the days ahead to try to figure out how to make this government more efficient. I don't meet a single Oklahoman, quite frankly, I don't meet anybody that I run into and says, "The Federal Government is the most efficient entity in all the country." Everybody sees areas of efficiency, so we're looking forward to continue to be able to drive that message and to be able to work towards making our tax dollars actually go to what they should go to.
Leader John Thune (06:59):
Anybody else?
Speaker 6 (07:01):
[inaudible 00:07:00]. You have not said much about what he hadn't said, but now that he's had his hearing, do you have any concerns about these allegations from his past, the sexual assault allegation? And if not, how quickly do you plan to move his nomination to the floor?
Leader John Thune (07:14):
I think he's addressed those allegations. And I didn't see all of it, I saw pieces of it. But every report I've had, the readout from the hearing this morning is that he quoted himself extremely well and made a strong argument for why he ought to be the next Secretary of Defense. If he's reported out of the Committee, we will work quickly to get him across the floor, obviously, because that is a key critical, important national security position that needs to be filled.
Speaker 7 (07:43):
[inaudible 00:07:42]. What do you think of the timing here? Do you expect to confirm a couple of nominees on inauguration night? That's been the custom around here, is some national security nominees, maybe Rubio because he's well-known, maybe Ratcliffe because he's well-known. What do you expect on that night or early Tuesday?
Leader John Thune (07:57):
Well, first, I mean, we hope that we will have some cooperation to get some of them moved quickly. And obviously, Senator Rubio is a colleague widely respected on both sides of the political aisle up here. I would hope at least, that as he gets through his confirmation hearing… Obviously we're not having these conversations in full until they get through the confirmation hearings with the Democrats. But my assumption is at least, that on some of these key national security positions, that we would have a level of cooperation that would enable us to get some of those positions filled quickly.
Speaker 8 (08:30):
[inaudible 00:08:30]. After meeting with the President last week to discuss reconciliation, how do you now envision the reconciliation pathway to move forward given the Laken Riley bill on the floor and the need to fund it? What does that make you think about where security, when that might move? And finally, what is your plan for removing the death limit later this year?
Leader John Thune (08:48):
Obviously, as I've said before, border security is job number one. As has been mentioned, I think it was, if not the, certainly one of the top two issues coming out of the election. And the American people spoke loudly and clearly. They want us to address that issue. So, I'm hopeful that we can move in a reconciliation package on legislation that addresses the border.
(09:15)
And how that happens is still up for discussion, negotiation. But clearly, the Senate is prepared and ready to move. We continue to have conversations with the relevant committees here of jurisdiction to ensure that when the time comes, that we can move quickly. And we'll continue to work through the process for all this one bill, two bills. I don't think you get outside of this city, anybody really cares about that. What they care about is the result. And we're going to be working very, very hard to achieve a result and get an outcome that not only is, in my view, consistent with the campaign commitments that the President and many of our colleagues who were running this last year, made, but the right thing to do for this country at a time when we live in a very dangerous world, starting with our southern border.
Speaker 8 (10:03):
[inaudible 00:10:04].
Leader John Thune (10:04):
Thank you all.
Audience (10:31):
[inaudible 00:10:31].
(10:31)
I'm good, how are you?
(10:31)
I'm going to go over and do that.
(10:35)
Sometimes they stand there [inaudible 00:10:41] 240 [inaudible 00:10:45].
(10:36)
Even the Democrats, even Republicans [inaudible 00:10:59].
(13:00)
Oh, yeah. I was over there only so briefly. Yeah. And it got worse.
(13:04)
Oh, I know it.
(13:05)
It's not chili it's kind of a [inaudible 00:13:08].
(13:07)
I'm a vegetarian so it's like, oh, okay. [inaudible 00:13:30].