参议院共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔周一表示，他对参议员和白宫代表正在进行的边界谈判感到“鼓舞”，但在达成协议之前，仍有“大量”问题需要解决乔·拜登总统的一揽子援助计划代表乌克兰和以色列。
麦康奈尔周一下午在参议院发言时说:“解决国内边境危机是立法的一个基本部分，这将有助于美国应对我们在世界各地面临的最突出的国家安全挑战——我们的同事仍在努力解决一些重大问题。”。
随着参议院假期休会的推迟，麦康奈尔明确表示，他的会议不会仓促考虑一项比他们希望的时间表更快的法案。上周，多数党领袖查克·舒默说参议院将留在华盛顿，在本周的某个时候对国家安全援助计划进行投票。
许多共和党人正试图将对补充援助方案的考虑推迟到新的一年，预计该方案将包括对乌克兰、以色列、台湾和边境政策条款的援助。
麦康奈尔说:“多年来边境执法失败的影响是复杂的:边境安全政策是复杂的，我们在谈判桌上的同事们清楚地知道，达成这项协议和制定立法文本将需要一些时间。”。“参议院共和党人不会放弃我们在投票前仔细谈判和审查任何协议的责任，以此来弥补其他人的迟到。”
PHOTO: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to the senate chamber inside the Capitol to deliver remarks, Dec. 18, 2023, in Washington, DC.
参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)于2023年12月18日在DC华盛顿州国会大厦内的参议院会议厅发表讲话。
赢得麦克纳米/盖蒂图片社目前，谈判者还没有就边境政策达成原则上的一致。即使他们本周这样做了，它能够转化为文本并有足够的时间让共和党人有时间考虑的可能性也非常低。
周一下午，舒默在自己的发言中表示，边境谈判代表在达成协议方面取得了进展，但承认谈判尚未完成。
“过去一周，民主党人和共和党人在国家安全补充协议上取得了重要进展。虽然工作尚未完成，但我相信我们正朝着正确的方向前进，”舒默说。
舒默说，他对“重大进展”感到鼓舞，但承认围绕边境立法是“我们近年来所做的最困难的事情之一。”
他还说，他知道谈判可能需要时间。
“每个人都知道应该做些什么来修复我们破碎的移民系统，但我们不能通过牺牲我们的价值观来做到这一点。找到中间立场异常困难，双方都必须接受他们将不得不做出让步。这需要更多的时间来完成，”舒默说。
拜登政府的说辞引起了国会拉美裔党团的愤怒随着越来越多的人担心白宫将允许主要的边境让步以推动援助协议的通过。
该小组的几名成员上周发表声明，敦促拜登拒绝“正在围绕补充援助计划进行的谈判中考虑的特朗普时代的移民政策。”
“这是不合情理的，总统会考虑违背自己的诺言，制定一项相当于禁止庇护的禁令，”国会拉美裔党团主席众议员纳内特·巴兰冈和参议员亚历克斯·帕迪拉(Alex Padilla)写道，他们都是加利福尼亚州的民主党人在一份联合声明中。
众议员迪莉娅·拉米雷斯。她说，她对国会拉美裔党团成员没有参与谈判感到“失望”，尽管他们是“最了解移民政策的人”周末在CNN上说。
“这是我一生都在为之奋斗的，”拉米雷斯谈到移民政策时说。“事实上，一些参议员之间的对话——他们中没有人理解或经历过或经历过。我刚刚随委员会代表团从危地马拉来到洪都拉斯，与移民们交谈。我们不在房间里，但将对我们的社区产生严重影响的决策却是在我们不在房间里的情况下讨论的。”
尚不清楚舒默是否会试图在本周就尚未起草的法案举行程序性投票。但共和党人表示，如果没有法案文本，他们将阻止任何向前推进的努力。
麦康奈尔说:“我对我们的同事承诺在未来一周及以后的谈判中继续取得稳步进展感到鼓舞。”。
尽管如此，事情的走向还没有一个明确的时间表。
Senate leaders 'encouraged' by border negotiations as aid discussions grind on
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that he's "encouraged" by ongoing border negotiations among senators and White House representatives, but that there remains a "significant number" of issues that still need to be worked through before brokering a deal on President Joe Biden's aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
"Addressing the border crisis at home is a fundamental part of legislation that will help America meet each of the most glaring national security challenges we face around the world -- and there are a number of significant issues our colleagues are still working to resolve," McConnell said on the Senate floor Monday afternoon.
With the Senate's holiday recess delayed, McConnell made clear that his conference will not be rushed into considering a bill on a more expedited timetable than they'd like. Last week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate would stay in Washington and vote on the national security aid package some time this week.
Many Republicans are trying to push consideration of the supplemental aid package, which is expected to include aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and border policy provisions, into the new year.
"The effects of years of failed border enforcement are compounded: border security policy is complex, and our colleagues at the negotiating table are clear-eyed about the fact that getting this agreement right and producing legislative text is going to require some time," McConnell said. "Senate Republicans will not make up for others showing up late to the table by waiving our responsibility to carefully negotiate and review any agreement before voting on it."
As it currently stands, negotiators have not yet reached an agreement in principle on border policies. Even if they do so this week, the likelihood that it could be turned into text with enough time to allow Republicans the time to consider it is extremely low.
In is own floor remarks Monday afternoon, Schumer said border negotiators made progress toward a deal, but conceded that negotiations are not yet complete.
"Over the past week, Democrats and Republicans have made important progress towards an agreement on the national security supplemental. While the job is not finished I am confident we're headed in the right direction," Schumer said.
Schumer said he was encouraged by "significant progress," but acknowledged that legislating around the border is "among the most difficult things we've done in recent memory."
He also said that he knows negotiations may continue to take time.
"Everyone knows that something should be done to fix our broken immigration system, but we can't do so by compromising our values. Finding the middle ground is exceptionally hard, and both sides must accept that they will have to make concessions. And it's going to take some more time to get it done," Schumer said.
The Biden administration's pitch is drawing the ire of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as concerns grow that the White House will allow major border concessions in a push to get the aid deal through.
Several members of the caucus issued a statement last week urging Biden to reject "Trump-era immigration policies being considered in the ongoing negotiations around the supplemental aid package."
"It is unconscionable that the President would consider going back on his word to enact what amounts to a ban on asylum," Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Nanette Barragan and Sen. Alex Padilla -- both California Democrats -- wrote in a joint statement.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., said she is "disappointed" members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have not been part of the negotiations even though they are "the ones that understand immigration policy the best," she said on CNN over the weekend.
"This is what I've worked on for my entire life," Ramirez said of immigration policy. "And for the fact that there are conversations between some senators -- none of them that understand or have lived or experienced that. I just came from Guatemala on a committee delegation trip -- and Honduras -- talking to migrants. And we have not been in the room, yet decisions that are going to impact our community severely are being negotiated without us being in the room."
It is not yet clear whether Schumer will attempt to hold a procedural vote on the yet-to-be drafted bill this week. But Republicans have said they'd block any effort to move forward without bill text.
"I'm encouraged by our colleagues commitment to keep making steady progress in their negotiations over the coming week and beyond," McConnell said.
Still, there is no clear timeline for where things are headed.
