The White House on Wednesday focused on fentanyl trafficking at the U.S. southern border as it urged Republicans to pass a bipartisan border security bill when it comes before the Senate this week.
In a memo titled “While President Biden stands with U.S. Border Patrol, Congressional Republicans stand with fentanyl traffickers,” Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates urged Republican lawmakers to prioritize lives over politics. He called on people to choose to save their lives.
The memo came ahead of a Senate vote on bipartisan border security legislation that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York plans for Thursday, three months after Republicans first blocked the bill.
“So Congressional Republicans have a choice to make: Will they once again decide that politics is more important than stopping fentanyl traffickers and saving the lives of innocent voters?” Bates said Wednesday. Ta. “Joe Biden knows where he stands.”
Senate Republicans have vowed to block the bill, but no Republican senators have announced their intention to vote for it. The bill was approved by the National Border Patrol Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
In his memo, Bates criticized Republicans for failing to pass a bipartisan border bill despite former President Trump’s urging to oppose it because the border would be a key issue on Election Day.
He explained that the bill would fund machines to detect fentanyl in vehicles crossing the border and would also provide funding to hire new law enforcement officers at the border.
“Rather than working across the aisle to stop fentanyl trafficking, most Republican lawmakers blocked legislation that would save American lives from fentanyl,” Bates said in the memo. “Worse, those Republicans conceded that a bipartisan agreement would work. And they admitted that they were opposed to it for purely political reasons, and that Donald Trump was trying to make it work for him. He pressured me to vote against it.”
Biden met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday to urge passage of the bill.
The bill is likely to fail, but it would allow Democrats to reverse their campaign messaging and blame Republicans on the border. Meanwhile, Republicans will continue to blame Biden and Democrats over the influx of migrants heading into November.
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