A resolution commending the officers and personnel of Federal, State, and local agencies deployed by air, ground, and marine, and as tactical border security, for their work during the crisis at the Southern border.

III 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 156 Commending the officers and personnel of Federal, State, and local agencies deployed by air, ground, and marine, and as tactical border security, for their work during the crisis at the Southern border. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 14, 2021 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. JOHNSON, and Mr. HAWLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs RESOLUTION Commending the officers and personnel of Federal, State, and local agencies deployed by air, ground, and marine, and as tactical border security, for their work during the crisis at the Southern border. Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Protection (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘CBP’’) is charged with protecting the borders of the United States and facilitating travel and trade; Whereas President Biden promised a humane approach to immigration but the Biden Administration was woefully unprepared for a surge of migrants from Central Amer- ica, including a record number of vulnerable, unaccom- panied children unlawfully crossing the unsecured United VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR156.IS SR156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 156 IS States-Mexico border (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Southern border’’); Whereas the Southern border is experiencing a humanitarian crisis with unprecedented numbers of vulnerable individ- uals attempting to unlawfully enter the United States; Whereas, on March 13, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support a government-wide response effort to address the surge of unlawful crossings at the Southern border; Whereas, in February 2021, 100,441 individuals were appre- hended at the Southern border, which is a 28-percent in- crease from January 2021; Whereas a total of 458,088 individuals were encountered at the Southern border in fiscal year 2020, which is only 61,130 encounters more than the number recorded in the first half of the current fiscal year; Whereas, in all of fiscal year 2020, 33,239 unaccompanied minors were encountered at the Southern border, which is only 3,510 encounters more than the number recorded in the first half of the current fiscal year; Whereas CBP has conducted more than 3,000 daily appre- hensions, while still maintaining a posture to secure the border of the Nation and facilitate international trade and travel; Whereas the immigration policies of President Biden are— (1) luring hundreds of thousands of migrants to un- lawfully cross the Southern border; (2) leading to an alarming increase in human traf- ficking and drug smuggling by cartels and transnational criminal organizations; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR156.IS SR156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 156 IS (3) putting unaccompanied minors at risk of human trafficking, violence, sexual abuse, and separation from the families of the unaccompanied minors; Whereas numerous acts of selfless heroism by CBP agents occur on a daily basis, as the agents face dangerous con- ditions but continue to risk their lives during a global health pandemic to rescue migrants attempting to unlaw- fully enter the United States along the Southern border; Whereas the selfless heroism by CBP agents has been on full display as the crisis at the Southern border grows and thousands of aliens attempt to unlawfully enter the United States each day, including recently reported res- cues— (1) in February 2021, of a migrant woman from Mexico abandoned by human smugglers and left to die in a freezing winter storm as they attempted to unlawfully enter Texas; (2) in March 2021, of a migrant man and a 2-year- old child swept away by a swift current in a canal as they attempted to unlawfully enter Arizona; (3) in March 2021, of a migrant man who was aban- doned by human smugglers unlawfully entering Cali- fornia, remained missing for 8 days, and had to be car- ried out of the mountainous terrain on the shoulders of a CBP agent; and (4) in March 2021, of a migrant man in severe dis- tress in a remote desert location who was abandoned by human smugglers attempting to unlawfully enter New Mexico and who required serious medical attention; Whereas faced with inadequate Federal resources to manage the surge of illegal border crossings, States along the Southern border have installed their own border protec- VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR156.IS SR156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 156 IS tion patrols, such as Arizona Border Strike Force and Operation Lone Star in Texas; and Whereas resources from Federal, State, and local agencies will need to be diverted from other areas to handle the surge of migrants unlawfully entering the United States: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) recognizes that there is an ongoing and 2 growing crisis on our Southern border; and 3 (2) commends the men and women of the U.S. 4 Customs and Border Protection, including Border 5 Patrol personnel, Office of Field Operations per- 6 sonnel, Air and Marine Operations personnel, Office 7 of Trade personnel, the Federal Emergency Manage- 8 ment Agency, and all support personnel and allies of 9 such agencies from State and local governments for 10 the work of such men and women during the crisis 11 at the Southern border. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Apr 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR156.IS SR156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS