[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 5, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H1354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE IMPACT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON FAMILIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, yet another instance of illegal immigration 
impacting real families has occurred in the western States, Nevada and 
California.
  I thank President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for honoring 
three people from my district tonight as guests for the State of the 
Union Address.
  Sadly, Debra Bissell, Heather Armstrong, and Madison Armstrong will 
be here as guests because of the tragedy that happened in their life. 
They are the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of Gerald 
and Sharon David, who were murdered in their home in Reno, Nevada, just 
this last month.
  The murderer? An illegal immigrant from El Salvador who had been 
living in Carson City for over a year. No motive has been released, 
but, then, does the motive really matter to this family, to yet another 
loss of life due to illegal immigration and the sieve we have of a 
border in this country?
  But Gerald and Sharon were two of four people who this man, whose 
name I will not mention, shot dead in their homes over the course of a 
week. The other two victims were Connie Koontz and Sophia Renken, from 
Reno, Nevada.
  These brutal murders will have a tremendous impact on the families of 
each of these victims, including Debra, Heather, and Madison, whom we 
will meet tonight.
  When we talk about border security, when the President speaks about 
it tonight, these three faces should serve as a reminder of the real-
life consequences of our open border policy that this country seems to 
have.
  This is not just a talking point or political football to be tossed 
around. Real people are being hurt--the ones left behind--lives are 
being ruined, as well as the lives being taken, time after time, 
because the Congress can't get its act together to get a bipartisan 
solution for border security, for a border barrier, and a combination 
of things that it will take to effectively run the border, to patrol 
our border, and to give our personnel down there all the tools they 
need to do it effectively, safely for the American citizens and safely 
for themselves.
  It doesn't matter if you want to call it a wall, a fence, a physical 
barrier, or anything else. It is long past time to do something about 
the crime, violence, drugs, and human trafficking.
  The human trafficking, we don't talk about that enough, what is 
really happening to the people who are being brought across who do want 
to come seek something better in America but are subject to the coyotes 
who take advantage of them, extracting dollars from them and 
unspeakable things from the women whom they bring across the border and 
the kids. It is long past time to do something about all those subjects 
that are currently moving fairly freely in our country.
  For Debra, Heather, and Madison from Redding, California, they 
represent three generations in their family that has been devastated by 
the status quo of our border situation.
  I am grateful that President Trump is shining a bright, unmistakable 
light on this issue and the urgency with which we must address it. 
Every single day we do nothing is another day that another family is 
being potentially harmed in some way by the inaction and inability on 
both sides of the aisle to come together to get something effective 
done.
  I wish it wasn't under these circumstances that Debra, Heather, and 
Madison will have to be here tonight. Their grief must be immense. But 
tonight, their story will be front and center for all America to see. 
It is certainly no consolation, nothing to assuage the pain they must 
feel, but I hope their presence might help spark some positive change 
in this country that is long overdue.

  I thank the President and First Lady, again, for inviting them. I 
thank Debra, Heather, and Madison for their courage in having to share 
this tragedy and go through the pain in order to help advance a cause 
of sovereign borders and safety for other American citizens who will, 
hopefully, not have to go through this.
  I ask the American people to join us in praying for Gerald and Sharon 
David, for their family that will join us here tonight, for other 
victims and family members who have been taken by the senseless 
killing, and to pray that a solution happens so we don't have any more 
of this in this great land.

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