Catherine Cortez Masto Pushes For Border Security Bill Support: ‘They Need Help'

7 months ago

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto delivered remarks on the increased pressure on the Southern border.

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Transcript

00:00 I too want to thank both Debbie Stabenow and Jean Shaheen and all of my colleagues for being here.

00:05 Let me just put a fine point on this. I don't want to repeat everything that you've heard

00:11 because I absolutely agree with it. But here's the reality. Fentanyl is in every community,

00:16 unfortunately. For eight years, I worked with my law enforcement in my state to address the

00:21 illicit drugs that were coming across the border. And unfortunately, it is still happening with

00:28 fentanyl. For that reason, I went down to the border. And if you've never been to the Tucson

00:34 sector, both Lukeville and New Gallis, you should. And I ask my colleagues to go down there to

00:41 understand because if you go down to the border and you talk to the customs agents and the border

00:46 patrol, right now they are overwhelmed and understaffed. And they are not able to do what

00:54 they want to do is address some of the drug trafficking that is coming across that border

00:58 into our communities. So it's not just law enforcement in our communities that are doing

01:02 everything to protect our families. They need help. And that means that we have to strengthen

01:09 the southern border where we know those drugs are coming from. That's why this border legislation

01:14 that we put up, this bipartisan legislation, included this crucial funding to address the

01:22 fentanyl coming across the border. $2.74 billion to hire over 2,000 customs and border protection

01:27 officers and to bring in cutting edge inspection technology to detect smuggled fentanyl. More than

01:34 $23.2 million for the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on the cartels

01:39 trafficking fentanyl across the border. You talk to any law enforcement on the border or in your

01:43 communities, you know what's coming across the border from the cartels. $25 million for programs

01:48 to combat the flow of fentanyl into our country. That's in this legislation.

01:52 So to my colleagues who are concerned about the drugs coming across the border and want to address

02:02 it and strengthen the border, then they should be supporting this legislation. That's what it

02:06 is about today. Unfortunately, unfortunately, there is one man who wants to take credit for

02:12 killing this legislation, and that's Donald Trump, because he'd rather play politics with people's

02:18 lives to benefit him. And that's not what this is about for all of us. This is about ensuring we're

02:26 protecting our families. This is about ensuring we're giving the support to the law enforcement

02:30 across this country to do the job that they want to do to protect our communities and make them

02:35 safer. It is about addressing the drug trafficking. It is about addressing the human trafficking

02:40 across the border, the drug weapons trafficking, the money laundering that is happening across

02:45 our southern border. I know it. I've worked on those issues for eight years as the attorney

02:49 general of the state of Nevada. It is unfortunately still happening. But I'll tell you what, unless we

02:56 stand up here as Congress and show them that we support the work they're doing, they are going to

03:01 get frustrated and we're going to lose out on incredible law enforcement men and women who want

03:06 to serve because they are overwhelmed and understaffed. And our American communities and

03:13 our families deserve better. I'm going to say one more final thing. I've got to put on everybody's

03:18 radar. It's not just the fentanyl that's coming across the border. It is the drugs that are being

03:23 cut into the fentanyl. Right now, xylosine is a problem. There's illicit xylosine that is being

03:29 cut with fentanyl that is having devastating impacts on our community. And we have to do

03:34 something about that as well. I've introduced legislation to address the xylosine issue,

03:40 and I hope my colleagues join me there as well. But at the end of the day, listen, if you're

03:46 standing in the well of the Senate and you're advocating to strengthen our borders, then you

03:52 better be talking to those men and women in law enforcement, particularly at the border. And you

03:56 shouldn't be afraid to tell them why you're not supporting this legislation. But I can guarantee

04:01 you not one of my colleagues who voted against this is willing to do that.

04:05 Thank you so much, Senator Carson.

Catherine Cortez Masto Pushes For Border Security Bill Support: ‘They Need Help'

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