Sinema highlighted both parties’ constant focus on playing political games instead of solving real problems
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema delivered remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate today ahead of the vote on the border security bill she crafted,highlighting how the partisan exercise does nothing to secure the border.
Click HERE or above to watch Sinema’s floor speech
Earlier this year, Sinema was one of the three lead negotiators of the bipartisan border security bill that reasserts control and addresses the unmitigated security and humanitarian crisis at Arizona’s border.
Unfortunately, partisans in Washington chose not to secure the border and rejected Sinema’s bill. In her floor speech today, Sinema highlighted how both parties aremore interested in messaging for the next election than solving problems.
Below is Sinema’s speech as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President,
I stand here today — yet again — as the border crisis continues to devastate my state.
On February 7, I stood here, angry that rank partisanship tanked the single most important piece of border security and immigration legislation produced in decades.
As we all remember, last October I joined with Senators James Lankford of Oklahoma and Chris Murphy of Connecticut to craft this legislation.
We worked every single day for over four months navigating difficult policy decisions, working carefully to get it right.
After months of tireless negotiations, we delivered a strong product. We produced a bill many thought impossible.
We ended catch and release.
We added more detention beds.
We increased deportation flights.
We quickly decided asylum claims.
And we put Border Patrol back in the field, where they belong, securing the border – not stuck inside processing paperwork.
Yet less than twenty-four hours after we released the bill, my Republican colleagues blocked it, despite the fact that this is the most restrictive migrant legislation in decades.
My Democratic colleagues blamed Republican political theater for blocking action.
So did I. They were right.
I spoke here on the Senate floor twice in defense of our legislation.
It turns out, my Republican colleagues were all talk and no action.
Today, though, my Democratic colleagues have chosen more political theater instead of real efforts to solve this crisis.
All talk and no action goes both ways.
Today, the Senate will hold a show vote whose sole purpose is to point the finger back at the other party — yet another cynical political game.
These games demonstrate exactly why Americans have lost faith in their elected leaders — a Congress, bickering and fighting for power instead of solving problems and making progress, any kind of progress, for regular people.
Today’s vote is not an attempt to solve the problem or provide relief to Arizona border communities. Today’s vote is to send a message.
Arizona doesn’t need your message.
Arizona needs your help.
Arizona needs action.
These games of tit for tat, caving to the political messaging game, force both parties further to the fringes — and further away from real solutions.
Today, the Senate is proving what many Americans already think about Congress: that Senators come here for political games, not to deliver results.
Today’s vote won’t deliver lasting results for Americans.
But the impact of today’s vote is actually worse than simply being a useless message.
This vote does send an important message – but it’s a message to us, as lawmakers.
I’ve often asked my colleagues, in the interest of our nation, to step out of partisan boxes and work with me to find real solutions to real problems.
We’ve done it time and time again.
This time it didn’t work.
Nearly four months later, I’m still deeply disappointed that we didn’t solve the border crisis for my state and for our country.
But to use this failure as a political punching bag only punishes those who were courageous enough to do the hard work of finding compromise in the first place.
So, who will be courageous next time?
Who will stand up and do the hard work?
Who will take the risks?
Who will say: “Yes. I’ll help solve this big challenge our country faces.”
Why would anyone?
We don’t leave today with a political victory.
No one wins.
No one gets the higher ground.
Instead, we’re saying to each other:
Don’t step out.
Don’t try to solve big problems.
Stay in your partisan corner.
Yell some more.
Blame the other side.
Today — yet again — the Senate has chosen politics.
My state is still suffering – and as I said on the Floor back on February 7th:
If you want to spin the border crisis for your own political agendas, go right ahead.
If you want to continue to use the southern border as a backdrop for your political campaign, that’s fine — good luck to you.
But I have a very clear message for anyone using the southern border for staged political events:
Don’t come to Arizona for your political theater.
Do not bring it to my state.
In Arizona, we’re serious.
We don’t have time for your political games.
There are big challenges facing the Senate and our country. Evidently, this is not a Senate interested in solving those challenges.
Americans deserve better.
I yield the floor.
For a broadcast-quality HD clip, click HERE.
For an MP3 soundbite, click HERE.