Chuck Schumer Urges GOP To Vote For Bipartisan Border Bill: 'Leader McConnell Was Also Supportive'

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At a Senate Democratic press briefing on Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about border security legislation.

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00:00Knicks did not do too well

00:02And then wait till next year like we used to say for the Brooklyn Dodgers

00:07Okay, oops

00:10But how about the New York Yankees last night that was seven in a row

00:20Seven in a row they have the best record in baseball except for who?

00:25The Philadelphia Phillies, where's what's his name PK?

00:32Okay

00:34All right. Thank you for coming. Senators Murphy and Cortez Masto. Our great senators have joined us

00:39So this week we are again attempting to fix something our Republican colleagues have long called an emergency and a crisis

00:47our southern border

00:49for years

00:50Republicans have insisted

00:52That the only long-term solution to fixing the southern border was for Congress to pass legislation

00:59We Democrats agree with

01:01That's why this morning. I filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the Bipartisan Border Act

01:06The very same by port bipartisan bill negotiated months ago by Senators Murphy cinema and Langford

01:14It's the same bipartisan bill that was supported by the National Border Patrol Council

01:19Very conservative group that usually means Trump

01:23the same bipartisan bill endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and

01:27even by the very conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page

01:32The same partisan bill that Donald Trump killed

01:36Saying please blame it on me, please

01:40So blame it on him. Make sure you do

01:43He said so you're just following his way. I know you don't have to follow his wishes. That's okay

01:48So we will try to do something

01:51Again, our Republican colleagues have long claimed to have desperately wanted securing our southern border this Thursday

01:58The Senate will vote on the bipartisan border bill

02:01All those who say we need to act on the border will get a chance to act show this week that they're serious

02:07about fixing the problem

02:09They'll get a chance to show whether they're just talking points to them or whether they want to improve the status quo

02:16Unlike HR 2 this is a huge and vital distinction

02:20The border bill was written explicitly to win support from both parties with input from both sides

02:26When HR 2 came up in this house in this Senate for first time

02:30I got no votes at all

02:31And there was no Democratic input unlike our bill which had tons of Republican and Democratic input not only from the three

02:39negotiators but from many others and

02:42Let's not forget when this bill was being negotiated leader McConnell was also supportive of the effort

02:48He insisted this has to happen as part of the supplemental right before we released our bill

02:53He said I think this is the ideal time to do it

02:57This is a unique opportunity where divided government has given us an opportunity to get an outcome

03:04As I said HR 2 was not a serious bill, but what we're voting on this week is

03:10It's the same bipartisan bill both sides negotiated for months this winter

03:14Senator Murphy's here and received bipartisan endorsements across the country by any objective measure. It's strong

03:22tough and realistic

03:24This is the same bipartisan bit border bill Republicans pushed for then backed away when they got orders from President Trump

03:32made an about-face

03:33Turn and then voted no

03:36If our bipartisan border bill was good enough to win support of the Union that represents Border Patrol agents

03:42Why isn't it good enough?

03:43for Senate Republicans

03:46Our Senate Republicans say they know better than our agents patrolling the border

03:51The question is do Republicans want to improve the situation on the border or not?

03:58Maybe they're happy with the way things are they're happy with chaos

04:01They're happy with trafficking and smuggling

04:04They're happy with fentanyl and the deadly flow of drugs coming through our ports. They're happy with the misery. I

04:11Hope not. I

04:13Sincerely hope our colleagues are ready to join us

04:16Of course, we don't expect every Democrat or every Republican to come out in favor of this bill. It's bipartisan by definition. It's a compromise

04:24That's why the only way to pass this bill is by broad by is with broad bipartisan support

04:31If you go by what Republicans said over the last few months you'd think they'd leap at an opportunity

04:37Like we have right now in the words of one of my colleagues from, Texas

04:41It makes no sense to me for us to do nothing when we might be able to do things better

04:46And the words from a colleague from South Carolina

04:50To those who think that if President Trump wins we can get a better border deal

04:54You won't and he added this moment will pass do not let it pass

04:59I

05:00Wholeheartedly agree. Let's not let the moment pass

05:03Border legislation is just about the hardest thing Congress ever wrestles with

05:09Bipartisan border bills are rare in the Congress. That's precisely what we have in front of us this week

05:15I urge everyone not to let politics get in the way and Sarah Masto has to go to another event

05:21So I'm going to call on her next

Chuck Schumer Urges GOP To Vote For Bipartisan Border Bill: 'Leader McConnell Was Also Supportive'

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