{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=56813046-F3F5-4F73-B40E-B4E186E23772", "Thune: Border Security is National Security", "2023-10-19", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today called on President Biden and congressional Democrats to join Republicans in prioritizing border security and national security. Thune noted that porous borders are an invitation to criminals, terrorists, and other dangerous individuals, and in order to keep our country secure, the situation at the southern border must be addressed.\n\nThune also discussed the critical need for border security today with Stuart Varney on Fox Business.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, yesterday I came down to the floor to discuss the importance of military preparedness to our national security.\n\n\u201cThe most basic requirement of national security is a strong military.\n\n\u201cBut it is not the only requirement.\n\n\u201cMaintaining our nation\u2019s strength \u2013 and our ability to deter threats and discourage our enemies from tangling with us \u2013 also involves things like a strong economy, energy security, and border security.\n\n\u201cAnd today I want to spend a few minutes talking about border security.\n\n\u201cMr. President, border security is an essential part of keeping our nation secure.\n\n\u201cPorous borders are an invitation to criminals, terrorists, and other dangerous individuals.\n\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s be very clear \u2013 there are dangerous individuals out there right now who would like to enter and harm our country.\n\n\u201cSince the beginning of this month, four Iranians considered to be \u2018special interest aliens\u2019 \u2013 individuals who may pose a threat to the United States \u2013 have been apprehended at the border in Texas.\n\n\u201cAll told, thousands of special interest aliens, a number of them from Middle Eastern countries, have been apprehended at our southern border over the past two years.\n\n\u201cDuring fiscal year 2023, 151 individuals on the terrorist watchlist were apprehended attempting to illegally cross our southern border.\n\n\u201c151.\n\n\u201cAs a recent news story noted, and I quote, \u2018That figure is more than the total of the previous six fiscal years combined.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat same story also notes, and I quote, \u2018In the first two weeks of this fiscal year, the CBP sources told Fox News that agents have apprehended more than 30 Iranians, nearly 60 Syrians, 35 Pakistanis, more than 100 Russians, 285 Afghans and nearly 2,000 Chinese migrants at the southern border.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018\u2026 more than 30 Iranians, nearly 60 Syrians, 35 Pakistanis, more than 100 Russians, 285 Afghans and nearly 2,000 Chinese migrants at the southern border.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow, Mr. President, it\u2019s likely that many of those individuals were simply in search of the promise the United States offers of a better life.\n\n\u201cBut it is also entirely possible that some of those individuals \u2013 some of them from intensely hostile countries like Iran \u2013 had more malign intentions.\n\n\u201cAnd, Mr. President, while Customs and Border Protection apprehended the individuals I\u2019ve mentioned so far, it is not only possible but likely that similarly concerning individuals have entered our country undetected.\n\n\u201cSince President Biden took office, there have been more than 1.5 million known gotaways at the southern border \u2013 individuals the Border Patrol saw but was unable to apprehend.\n\n\u201cAnd we can only imagine the number of unknown gotaways who have sneaked into the country.\n\n\u201cHow many of those are individuals from hostile countries or the terrorist watchlist?\n\n\u201cOr members of cartels that target every state in the union and are fueling the fentanyl epidemic?\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s a good bet that among those gotaways were dangerous individuals who should not be entering our country.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I don\u2019t need to tell anyone that the situation at our southern border right now is disastrous.\n\n\u201cAll signs point to fiscal year 2023 being a third record-breaking year of attempted illegal crossings at the southern border under the Biden administration\u2019s watch.\n\n\u201cThe number of attempted illegal crossings at the southern border last month alone has been estimated to be somewhere in the region of 270,000 \u2013 which would make it the highest monthly number ever recorded.\n\n\u201cCustoms and Border Protection is overstretched \u2013 to put it mildly \u2013 and has been for pretty much the entirety of the Biden administration.\n\n\u201cWe could scarcely be sending a more welcoming signal to criminals, terrorists, and other dangerous individuals if we put out a welcome mat.\n\n\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t dangerous individuals like this take advantage of the chaos at the border to slip in undetected?\n\n\u201cThe director of the FBI recently warned of copycat attacks in the U.S. after Hamas\u2019 deadly attack on Israel.\n\n\u201cAnd a September threat assessment from the Department of Homeland Security noted, and I quote, \u2018Terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow [of migration] and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.\u2019\n\n\u201cIf we want to keep our country secure, we are going to have to get the situation at our southern border under control.\n\n\u201cNow.\n\n\u201cI am glad that President Biden has finally conceded that a border wall is part of the solution.\n\n\u201cBut it must be backed up with a willingness to fully enforce our laws.\n\n\u201cMr. President, in the coming weeks, I expect that we will take up a supplemental spending bill to address support for our allies and provide any additional funding our military may need.\n\n\u201cI hope \u2013 and will work to ensure \u2013 that that legislation also includes measures to help secure our southern border.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve said it before, and I\u2019ll say it again: If we don\u2019t get national security right, the rest is just conversation.\n\n\u201cAnd securing our border is an indispensable part of national security.\n\n\u201cThe terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 should be all the reminder we need of the importance of being constantly on guard against those who would seek to enter our nation and do us harm.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that in the wake of this attack, President Biden and congressional Democrats will join Republicans to make both strengthening our military and securing our border a priority.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=56813046-F3F5-4F73-B40E-B4E186E23772"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5543201006948948, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": 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