[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 26 (Monday, February 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H1509-H1512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ISSUES OF THE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend our deepest 
sympathies, prayers, and certainly our thoughts to the family of John 
Dingell and Walter Jones.
  I did not know Mr. Dingell and only came after and served with his 
lovely wife, Debbie Dingell, but certainly wish all of their family our 
extended prayers.
  And the same goes for one of our North Carolina delegation members, 
Walter Jones, and his family, Joe Anne and Ashley, who served 
faithfully for North Carolinians for a quarter of a century.
  Certainly, we will remember those, as we already have tonight, in our 
Prayer Caucus in praying for both families.
  I don't really have any speeches written out tonight but do want to 
talk about a couple of areas that I believe are continuing to impact 
our country, maybe two of the foremost areas: border security, and then 
I want to talk a little bit about where our country stands in the pro-
life movement.
  Let me start with border security. This seems to be happening in real 
time. In fact, just last night, Mr. Speaker, I received a phone call 
from a local sheriff who is part of the 3,000 sheriff representatives 
in the National Sheriffs' Association. You see, they are becoming more 
and more concerned as we get less and less, as a body, concerned about 
border security.
  They reached out to me last night and said: Fifty of us would like to 
deliver a letter to the Capitol to Members of Congress, specifically 
Chairwoman Nita Lowey and Ranking Member Kay Granger. Our plans weren't 
to arrive until this afternoon, but we quickly made arrangements to be 
here this morning.
  If these 50 sheriffs were going to travel all over the country, 
States from Massachusetts to Arizona to Washington to Texas, the least 
we could do would be to be here and to greet them, which we did.

  On a very cold, rainy morning this morning, we met these 50 sheriffs 
on the Capitol steps, at which time they handed to me this letter, and 
I would like to read it this evening. It says:

       Dear Chairwoman Nita Lowey and Ranking Member Kay Granger:
       On behalf of more than 3,000 sheriffs represented by both 
     the National Sheriffs' Association and the Major County 
     Sheriffs of America, we write in opposition to Congress' most 
     recent deliberation to place an artificial cap on Immigration 
     and Customs Enforcement's detention capacity.

  Now, I am going to explain this in just a little bit and get into 
detail.

       Capping the number of detention beds utilized by ICE not 
     only jeopardizes the integrity of the immigration system, but 
     would cripple ICE's ability to detain criminal aliens and 
     other aliens who pose a risk to public safety or are a flight 
     risk.

  They continue:

       Any legislation that reduces ICE's detention capacity would 
     hinder its ability to perform its national security and 
     public safety missions but, also, impact local law 
     enforcement's ability to protect the communities they serve.

  You know, we have heard a lot from some of our Democratic colleagues 
who say the people who should be making these decisions or the people 
who should be informing us of these decisions are the people with the 
most experience. Well, here is our National Sheriffs' Association, 
3,000-strong, sitting representatives here.
  They go on to say:

       In order to meet the cap being tentatively proposed by 
     Congress, ICE would be compelled to release thousands of 
     aliens from custody.

  Now, listen to this data point:

       To achieve the 16,500 adult average detainee population--
     ADP--caps for the remaining 7 months of the fiscal year, a 
     net reduction of 9,264 adults by the end of this fiscal year 
     would be required.

  Now, what does that mean? It means, if you are not meeting the caps, 
these folks, these criminal aliens, are going to get released.
  You say, well, are these criminal aliens? Here is the number:

       Approximately 72 percent of ICE's current detention 
     population is subject to mandatory detention due to the alien 
     having certain convictions or having committed certain acts.

  So, of that number, 72 percent we know of, we are just going to say, 
or the Democrats want us to say, Mr. Speaker, that we just need to 
release these because we want to put a cap, just pick a number out of 
the air because we don't think we should have

[[Page H1510]]

more than that, no matter what kind of crimes they committed.
  This is ludicrous.
  They conclude by saying:

       Placing a cap on ICE detention beds would undermine the 
     efficacy of the immigration system and reduce the number of 
     aliens who are removed from the United States.

  They use these words:

       This dangerous congressional proposal not only jeopardizes 
     the risk of our national security, but hinders our law 
     enforcement officers from effectively enforcing and upholding 
     the law and protecting their communities.

  There you have it. They are saying the reduction of these detention 
beds, which is just a backhanded way of defunding Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement, would hinder them from doing their job.
  So tonight I am reminding my Democratic colleagues that, by pushing 
for the reduction of detention beds, these sheriffs, who serve for 
little pay and serve in dangerous situations in many places, in many 
remote areas, they are telling my colleagues: Don't do this. This puts 
us in a dangerous situation. This puts our communities in a more 
dangerous situation when we allow thousands of criminal aliens to be 
put back in the different communities on the streets.
  This is preposterous.
  The National Sheriffs' Association and the Major County Sheriffs of 
America oppose the current budget proposal and urge Congress to 
consider the dangerous ramifications that passing this depreciated 
budget could have on the citizens of America.
  Mr. Speaker, these aren't my words. Mr. Speaker, these aren't the 
words of our minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, or our whip, Steve 
Scalise, or our chair, Liz Cheney. These are the words of our local 
county sheriffs, urging and pleading: Do not continue to push for this.
  It is a real shame that these sheriffs have to come to Washington, 
D.C.--33 degrees outside, in the rain--to plead with a Member of 
Congress to try and stop such a preposterous suggestion.
  As they stood today--and I brought them inside the Capitol, gave them 
a quick tour, even took them over into the Rayburn Room, and we talked 
a little bit. We talked about how structures work, how steel slats 
work. We talked about the places of San Diego and El Paso, where there 
has been a drastic reduction in crime.
  You see, these sheriffs get it. These sheriffs are elected officials 
themselves and have a duty to uphold the law, much like the same oath 
that Members of Congress take to protect and serve the American people.
  Structures work.
  Now the Democrats, at the last minute, are trying another ploy by 
trying to come up with some crazy suggestion that we should reduce the 
amount of detention beds, putting a cap on it, automatically releasing 
criminal aliens. It is time for my Democratic colleagues to put up or 
shut up when it comes to being genuine about border security.
  One of the things that we have seen recently is not only a 
lackadaisical approach about border security, but we have also seen it 
in the protection and the sanctity of human life.

                              {time}  1945

  Many Members are very passionate and should be so. You see, this 
isn't about an argument over how much funding a certain project should 
receive. This isn't about a preference on a particular issue that comes 
out of committee. The reason this has brought so much passion over the 
last 50 years is because this has to do with human life.
  I can tell you, as a former pastor and being in the hospital room 
when a loved one breathed their last breath, I have seen how families 
had yearned for just another hour, another day. It is a very sad and 
tragic situation. They would have given everything they had for another 
few precious minutes with that loved one: a son, a daughter, a dad, a 
brother, a sister, a mom.
  Yet we have cheapened life to the place, in these Hallowed Halls, 
that it has simply become a political pawn, a bargaining chip. How did 
we get to this place?
  The other night, the night before the National Prayer Breakfast, I 
was speaking with a wonderful representative, a lady from the country 
of Latvia, who was appalled at our abortion laws, who are so much 
further than anything we see in Europe.
  When we have to begin to talk about only six other countries that 
have such extreme abortion laws as ours, is that not a wake-up call?
  When the Governor of New York, Mr. Speaker, continues to advocate 
with such lack of respect for human life, is that not a wake-up call?
  When Governor Ralph Northam begins to talk about infanticide, is that 
not a wake-up call?
  What does it take for everyday Americans to say enough is enough when 
it comes to human life?
  Right now, we are trying to bring to the floor a Born-Alive Abortion 
Protection Act. What does it say? Well, it is not overwhelming too 
much. It basically says, if a baby survives a botched abortion, then 
the providers would be required by law to sustain its life. Yet we 
can't get it to the floor.
  The reason why is because, when it was introduced last time, last 
cycle, we had several brave, strong Democrats who had the courage to 
step forward and vote for a piece of legislation that would require 
providers to sustain life during these times.
  I remember I was so moved by that kind of courage nearly a year or so 
ago that I went back to my office and wrote thank-you cards to those 
Democrats who were willing to stand up for the sanctity of human life.
  What is it worth to us? Not only is the Born-Alive Protection Act 
something that is important; I would even add another bill that was 
passed out of the House, not taken up before the Senate, the Pain-
Capable Child Protection Act, that would limit abortions after 20 weeks 
to only specific circumstances.
  What is it going to take for our country to put the kind of concern 
and the favor that God's creation deserves?
  Speaking of God's creation, Mr. Speaker, our Speaker of the House, 
just 3 days ago, sent this tweet out that I will read. She said: ``We 
have a moral responsibility to protect God's creation for generations 
to come.'' That is why, today, she was naming a select committee not on 
the sanctity of human life, but on climate control.
  We need to take a look at all the issues, but we need to stand as 
Members of Congress for those who cannot stand for themselves. We need 
to be a voice for those who have no voice.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to continue to remind us that God's 
creation isn't just what we see in nature. God's creations are also 
these unborn babies. May we come to the place that we protect.
  So tonight, as I talk about border security and pro-life issues, I 
yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), a large animal 
veterinarian from the Gainesville, Florida, area, to share his thoughts 
on what we need to do secure our border.
  Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding and 
putting this together. It is such an important issue.
  I just left another meeting, and we were talking about border 
security. There shouldn't even be a fight, because what we are talking 
about is what we are charged with in Congress, Republicans and 
Democrats, and the President. We have all taken that oath, and that 
oath talks about protecting our country and upholding our Constitution 
from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
  When you look at border security, that should not be a partisan issue 
if you focus on border security and take politics out of it--not Donald 
Trump's fence, not a party's fence; this is security for the American 
people.
  Just last week, there was a bust of drugs coming in from Mexico in a 
load of bell peppers that had over 1,000 pounds of methamphetamines. It 
was valued at $1.2 billion, coming from our southern border. That came 
through a legal border checkpoint. That is border security that we are 
not doing that we should do that erodes the very social fabric of this 
Nation.
  Two weeks before that, there was a bust of a legal truck coming in 
carrying cucumbers from the southern border through Mexico that had 
over 200 pounds of fentanyl. In fact, it had enough fentanyl to kill an 
estimated 55 million Americans--55 million Americans. Again, it came 
through a legal checkpoint.
  So when we talk about border security, take the narrative and the 
argument off of Donald Trump's border wall

[[Page H1511]]

and put it on Americans' border security. If we as Republicans and 
Democrats come together as Americans, we will have border security.
  It is not racist. It is not trying to keep anybody out who wants to 
come here legally, which there are ample places for people to come 
legally. This is about securing the people in our country, the men and 
women who get exposed to these drugs.
  In addition to that--and I don't understand why the Mexican 
Government hasn't done more about this. They are growing over 22 
hectares of poppy fields. Poppy is used for heroin production. There is 
not a medicinal use in that quantity that needs to come into this 
country. The only way that is coming in is illegally, through either 
illegal checkpoints or no checkpoints, or it is coming through legal 
checkpoints where we are not emphasizing border security with the new 
technologies we have.

  So it pains me to think of this country going through another 
shutdown that it doesn't need to because people want to play party 
politics.
  You think of the young men and women in DHS, with border security, 
our TSA employees, our Coast Guard, Customs and Border Patrol, and ICE 
agents. They show up for work, and we here in this body can't come to 
an agreement about America's border security. It is shameful for us. It 
is embarrassing.
  But when you try to tell the people who are in those situations--I 
know people very well who are in the Coast Guard, and when you say, 
``Well, you just don't understand. They are holding up. They don't want 
Trump to have a wall,'' they say, ``I don't care whose problem it is. 
Fix the problem.'' In fact, one of them said, ``You know where you need 
to build a wall around first is around Washington, D.C. so you guys 
can't leave until you solve this problem.''
  It is just a shame that we, together, as Republicans and Democrats, 
can't solve this problem. But, unfortunately, politics gets put into 
this.
  If I may talk about the other issue the gentleman was talking about, 
being a veterinarian, I have come to believe, and my Christian values 
say, that life begins at conception. There is no doubt in my mind. The 
good Lord put it there, and I am blessed that I have had the 
experiences I have had.
  In fact, I have been able to do embryo transfers in the equine, in 
the horse world, and I can withdraw an embryo from a female horse 
between 5 and 7 days of pregnancy. Even at that size--when you look at 
it under a microscope, it looks like a golf ball--it is a baby horse 
developing.
  I think it is ironic and it is sad that in this country we have laws 
on the books that will protect the unborn turtle in an egg or the eagle 
within an egg, in a nest, and we have laws that say that it is a 
Federal offense and you will go to prison for it, that we will protect 
species, but yet when it comes to our own kind, the human species--that 
if you believe like you and I do and the majority of Americans that we 
are created in the image of God--I have seen an erosion of our society, 
and it pains me.
  I know, every 100 years they say there is a breakdown of our society; 
but I can only think that this time around, when you are saying it is 
okay to kill a baby, full term, that is a breathing, living, creature 
of God, it is okay, that something is wrong in our society.
  I think of that verse in the Bible--the gentleman will know the 
number and all that--that says:

       If my people will turn away from their wicked ways and 
     humble themselves and get down on their knees, I will forgive 
     them.

  And He says:

       If they do that, then I will continue to bless them.

  So, I appreciate the gentleman doing this. I have got some more facts 
and figures if he has time.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Yoho. I appreciate his wisdom 
and his experience in this area.
  As we continue to talk about these two issues tonight, I think back 
to the border security issue and how this has become more of a campaign 
against the President of the United States, when just a few short years 
ago, the majority of Senators, who were Democrats at the time, voted 
for a structure at that time, voted for a wall. It wasn't politically 
incorrect at that point to call it a wall. But we see how quickly in 
Washington, D.C., things do become politically correct.
  Why? It is because we see the numbers. We see the work of our border 
agents. We see the work of ICE, which, in 2017, was able to ascertain 
over 800,000 pounds of drugs. Think about that, 800,000 pounds of 
drugs. Enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman, and child not just in 
our country, but in all of North America was ascertained.
  A week ago tomorrow night, sitting right up to my left in the second 
row there, was my sister-in-law. Her brother was an Army veteran, 
wonderful young man, played basketball in college with my youngest 
brother. Scott Aaron was his name.
  One day, he injured his knee, and he had to have an operation. From 
that operation, he was given painkillers. Painkillers went to opioids; 
opioids obviously included heroin, to the place where he became a full-
fledged addict.
  He tried multiple times to overcome that addiction to heroin but, in 
the end, failed and realized that, in his mind, he did not have hope, 
which brought him to the place of committing suicide.
  Now, Scott is not by himself, to the tune of 300 families per week 
that are having the funeral of a loved one due to some kind of tragic 
overdose, mostly heroin. Now heroin is laced with fentanyl, and we are 
seeing more and more epidemic proportions.
  We are doing everything we can in Congress to provide the funding to 
combat the heroin crisis, but why wouldn't it make sense that we also 
put up some structures, specifically in hot spots along the border, to 
help reduce and maybe even, in some cases, eliminate?
  On this floor, I have talked with more than a dozen of my Democratic 
friends and colleagues who have told me time after time after time: We 
have no doubt that a structure works.
  So why not move forward? Why not come to an agreement--a compromise, 
if you will--to be able to begin to lay out the places where a 
structure, a fence, a wall could work?
  How many lives would need to be saved to make it worth it?
  How many families could be reunited without an empty chair this 
Thanksgiving or this Christmas?
  How many would it take for it to be worth it? How many would it take 
for us to get past the political jargon of being able to use this as 
some kind of pawn to argue back and forth?
  I would say just one. The case could be made for thousands.

                              {time}  2000

  Border security: It is time we come together. We don't even need to 
be talking about another shutdown or CR. We need to be able to resolve 
this. This is a commonsense solution to be able to resolve this.
  Republicans aren't talking about a border from San Diego to McAllen, 
Texas. We understand there are places where drones, where technology, 
where surveillance may be the better way.
  We don't believe in eminent domain and blocking people's views of the 
Rio Grande River with a wall, but there are things that we can do 
immediately. Yet I believe it has come to the place where we put 
personalities and politics over the people themselves.
  Border security: It is time we do something.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield again to my friend, Dr. Yoho, to have a few more 
data points on border security. Then I will close out in just a few 
minutes.
  Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, as I was talking earlier about the drugs coming in, the 
methamphetamine and the fentanyl that is coming in, these aren't coming 
in by the honest farmer or ranch hand or farmworker in Mexico. These 
are orchestrated by drug cartels.
  Keep in mind, the methamphetamine and the fentanyl coming into this 
country primarily comes via China, so you have nation-states that are 
sending products into this country. China is trying to re-create the 
Opium Wars of the 1800s with our youth in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Walker brought up the deaths, and I feel really bad 
for his family to have his brother-in-law go through that. I can't 
imagine the pain and the horror.

[[Page H1512]]

  There are 300 opioid deaths a week in this country alone, but that is 
just the tip of the iceberg.
  A good friend of mine, he is a heart surgeon in Gainesville, Florida. 
He said: Ted, that is just the tip of it. I have a young lady in, and 
it is her fourth heart valve replacement. At 25 years of age, the 
fourth heart valve replacement, because as they use the drugs, they 
don't use sterile techniques. They get infected. Their immune system 
goes down, and the bacteria will grow on the heart valve. Her fourth 
one.
  I said: Tom, what is the cost of that?
  He said: The average heart valve is close to $100,000.
  $400,000, and if she dies, she doesn't die from a drug overdose. In 
the records, it is from heart failure.
  So the 300 a week who we know are dying from drug overdoses, that is 
just the tip of the iceberg.
  We talk about the cost. You can put a monetary cost on the deaths and 
the EMTs and all the emergency support staff and the ERs that we as 
taxpayers are funding, because, as he said, guess who paid for that? I 
said the hospital. He said: Absolutely. No insurance.
  We can put a price on that, a monetary price, but you can't put a 
price on the disruption and the loss of a family member, as Mr. 
Walker's family went through. The price of that goes on forever.
  If we look at just numbers, from a typical number standpoint, we get 
2,000 inadmissible migrants arriving at our southern border daily. That 
means, since January 2, when the Democrats took over, 41 days 
approximately, that means there were 82,000 inadmissible migrants who 
came into this country or were trying to.
  Of the family units--that is a spouse, a husband and wife, or just a 
mother and father with their children--in the last 41 days, that 
equates to 36,395 family units.
  If you look at the illegal aliens arrested for homicide charges just 
in the last 41 days, it is more than 228 arrests.
  Let's take politics out of this argument, and let's do what is right 
by the American people: fund our government, fund DHS, secure our 
borders with any means from above.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his 
passion about this.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Yoho for his comments tonight. I 
appreciate that.
  Mr. Speaker, just a couple more thoughts on border security as we 
move forward.
  America was built on immigration. Nearly everyone within the sound of 
my voice, even though the halls have emptied out tonight, can go back 
and trace, from some ancestry point, the impact that immigrants had on 
this country, but it is legal immigration.
  Now, somebody might ask, how are we doing in that area? Thank you for 
asking.
  America has the most generous immigration laws in the world. In 2017 
alone, we took over 1.1 million immigrants who raised their right hand, 
who took an oath to pledge allegiance to this great country of America. 
We are doing pretty good there, and the President has even made 
proposals to increase that amount.
  It is the illegal immigration. We don't want our hearts to get lost 
in this, as Republicans, and specifically speaking for myself, having 
worked in refugee camps, having worked internationally to understand 
the plight and the struggle that goes on, to be able to expand America 
as fast as we can, to legally allow people to be part of the greatest 
country in the history of the world.
  Yet, as Members of Congress, when we raise that right hand to do our 
best to protect, we need to take that seriously.
  The crazy calls to abolish our law enforcement, agencies like ICE, 
which in 2017 rescued 904 children who were being exploited, how many 
children would it take for it to be worth it, for Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement? How many of those children would we measure any 
success by this?
  To go as far as calling for abolishment, that is not America. That is 
crazy political speech.
  Speaking of crazy political speech, the recent absurd language that 
has become acceptable to talk about third trimesters and to talk about 
infanticide, what are we coming to in this country?
  Listen, we don't pass judgment on the young woma who is making 
sometimes a life decision. Working with our own Greensboro Pregnancy 
Care Center, sometimes these young ladies don't even realize they have 
another option. We don't pass judgment. Do not believe the lies that 
this is about hating or judging these mere innocent souls.

  The problem that I have tonight is the political leaders who are 
providing the pathway to cheapen the sanctity of our human lives. That 
is where the focus needs to be. It needs to be that colleagues, 
Republicans and Democrats, are willing to stand up for those who simply 
don't have any rights.
  Who advocates for the baby? Who speaks out on behalf of the baby? It 
is all about reproductive rights. It is all about choice. It is all 
about what is now called women's healthcare. Who voices or who stands 
up for the baby?
  As we talked about a little earlier tonight in our bipartisan prayer 
caucus where a dozen or so Members were gathered, I brought up the 
point it wasn't too long ago that I remember sitting in a prestigious 
place with my wife, being the honored guests. To add to that, I think 
back over the last 4 years I have served with the United States 
Congress. I have sat down with Prime Ministers and royalty all across 
this world to have opportunities to talk policy. But I am well aware 
that, in our life, the remembrance of a Congressman lasts about 15 
minutes, maybe 20 minutes, once you are gone from these hallowed halls.
  We are judged, in some ways, by our policy. But ultimately, what we 
do for God, to me, matters the most, when it comes to eternal values. 
One day, when we all stand before God, we will be judged not by just 
whatever button we pushed on the back of these chairs but, ultimately, 
what we did, I believe, with life.
  That is why it is important to me. It is why it is important to 
millions and millions of Americans.
  Let's get back to the place where we are willing to stand up, where 
we are willing to raise our voices for a child who cannot raise its 
own.
  Tonight, let's get back to a place where we have a respect for the 
Almighty, for God, who, as I read in a tweet earlier, is the giver and 
the creator of life.
  I think of David's writing in the Old Testament. I think of Psalm 
139, where David captured quite poetically the words how we are 
``fearfully and wonderfully made,'' how that even when we were formed, 
the beginning of our substance, God knew us. Not only did he know us, 
it is that he had a purpose and a plan for every life born and unborn.
  May we never grow weary, and may we never tire of doing all that we 
can in the United States Congress to protect, stand for, and defend the 
sanctity of human life.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________