Thune: Republicans Fight to Secure America

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership:

Thune's remarks below (as delivered):

"The former vice president said here recently that this is a moment when there are no bad ideas.

"With all due respect to the former vice president, it seems to me, at least, to the Democrats, there's no shortage of bad ideas.

"And chief among those is this idea that they're going to defund the police.

"That is the mantra of the Democrat Party, it's the position of the Democrats here in Washington in the House and the Senate.

"And as a consequence of that, Republicans are going to be forced to take care of the American people.

"Because I think the question … that's before us is, do we want to live in safety and security?

"And obviously the answer to that, for most Americans, I think, is going to be yes.

"And if you look at the record of success that this administration and working with this Congress has had, in the last 12 months, there was not a single illegal immigrant released into this country.

"Last 12 months, not a single one.

"And you go back to just two years ago, under the Biden administration, there were literally thousands being released into the country every single day.

"So, this is about whether or not you want to live in a country that is safe and secure, where you support law enforcement and the important job they do - Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement - or whether you don't.

"And Republicans do.

"Republicans are going to have law enforcement's back.

"And so this week we're going to vote on the Secure America Act, which is a piece of legislation that will fund ICE and CBP, not only for this year but through the entirety of the Trump administration, because the Democrats have adopted a defund-the-police and open-borders policy, which is incredibly detrimental to this country, and we're going to ensure that that doesn't happen.

"So that's what's going to be on the floor here, hopefully later this week.

"I expect again that the Democrats are, we'll see what they want to do in terms of amendments, and but I doubt you'll see many amendments that have to do with Border Patrol or … Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I think most of what you're going to see is a bunch of unrelated amendments, but we're going to stay focused on the job, keep our … foot on the gas … and ensure that the American people are able to live in safety and security in their communities in this country."

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