Senator Reverend Warnock chastised Senate Republicans after a vote to open debate on bipartisan border security legislation failed 50-43

Senator Reverend Warnock voted to open debate, but a majority of Senate Republicans opposed debating the bipartisan border bill

Senator Reverend Warnock: “The onus is clearly on Washington Republicans to explain to the American people why it is that they won’t even agree to move forward to debate…they have said that there is a crisis at the border, and now that it is time for the Congress to address it in a bipartisan way, we see that they walked away”

Senator Reverend Warnock: “I won’t turn away one moment from working on behalf of the people of Georgia who have said, by the way that, that they need comprehensive immigration reform. If you talk to business owners, business leaders, they know it—that we need to provide a pathway to Dreamers”

Watch video of Senator Warnock’s full news conference remarks HERE

Washington, D.C. – Today, shortly after Senate Republicans provided the majority of votes to block debate on bipartisan border security legislation, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) blasted Washington Republicans for opposing efforts to open debate to address the humanitarian crisis on the U.S. southern border during a news conference with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).

“They have said that there is a crisis at the border, and now that it is time for the Congress to address it in a bipartisan way, we see that they walked away. And I’ve heard a lot of words today, but I haven’t heard an explanation for why they have walked away from that debate. And the reason is—we all know the reason. It is because they have received their directives from a defendant in a courtroom in New York.” Senator Warnock said during the news conference. 

The Senator continued: “There’s a lot that we need to have in this conversation, but today was an opportunity to move forward on securing the American border, which is fundamental to our job, and unfortunately, our colleagues have walked away. The question is, who will stand up for the American people? Who will fight for common sense immigration reform? Who will secure the border? Who will give Dreamers a path? And who will actually have the courage to have a conversation? To be serious about something that really is serious.”

Since coming to the Senate, Senator Warnock has been vocal proponent of fixing the nation’s immigration system through comprehensive immigration reform, and a strong supporter of Georgia’s vibrant immigrant communities. To that end, Senator Warnock has advocated for legislation to provide a legal pathway to citizen for Dreamers, and recently, has supported measures to strengthen funding for border security and fentanyl screening and urged President Biden to streamline pathways to lawful status for undocumented immigrants with deep ties to the United States to help address the crisis at the southern border.

Read below a transcript of Senator Reverend Warnock’s full remarks:

“Today is about the humanitarian crisis at the border and its implications for our national security. But it’s also about something else.

“It’s about a question, it seems to me, that every legislator has to ask himself or herself every day we walk out the door.

“Who do you work for? Do you work for the people who elected you, or do you work for somebody else?

“Do you work for the people of our country, the people of your state, or do you work for somebody who is running for president?

“The onus is clearly on Washington Republicans to explain to the American people why it is that they won’t even agree to move forward to debate a bill that is endorsed and supported by the union of border control agents whose names they invoke continuously, supported by our Chambers of Commerce; it’s a bipartisan bill.

“They have said that there is a crisis at the border, and now that it is time for the Congress to address it in a bipartisan way, we see that they walked away. 

“And I’ve heard a lot of words today, but I haven’t heard an explanation for why they have walked away from that debate. And the reason is—we all know the reason. It is because they have received their directives from a defendant in a courtroom in New York.

“Well, I work for the people of Georgia, and I have heard their call for me to come to this place, to engage with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. We won’t agree on everything, we won’t agree on many things.

“There are things in this bill, be clear, that I don’t like; I wouldn’t write it exactly the same way. But if we could have moved forward on debate, we could have had amendments, we could have had conversation.

“And yet Washington Republicans have decided not even to have a conversation about something they say is a crisis. What could be more cynical? What could be more craven?

“Quite frankly, it is the kind of thing that turns people away from politics, because today is an example of when politics becomes about the politicians rather than the people. Folk who’ve decided that they’d rather have the issue than actually try to resolve the issue.

“And so, I won’t turn away one moment from working on behalf of the people of Georgia who have said, by the way that, that they need comprehensive immigration reform. If you talk to business owners, business leaders, they know it—that we need to provide a pathway to Dreamers.

“There’s a lot that we need to have in this conversation, but today was an opportunity to move forward on securing the American border, which is fundamental to our job, and unfortunately, our colleagues have walked away.

“The question is, who will stand up for the American people? Who will fight for common sense immigration reform? Who will secure the border? Who will give Dreamers a path? And who will actually have the courage to have a conversation? To be serious about something that really is serious.”

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