[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H4058-H4060]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ADDRESSING THE IMMIGRATION CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address what I think is 
the most pressing issue in America right now. But prior to addressing 
it, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).


   Congratulating Samaritan's Purse on New Ministry Center in North 
                       Wilkesboro, North Carolina

  Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate 
Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization 
headquartered in Boone, North Carolina, on its expansion in North 
Wilkesboro.
  This inspiring organization has been providing spiritual and physical 
aid to impoverished victims of war, disease, famine, and natural 
disaster since 1970.
  The new North Wilkesboro Ministry Center will serve as a lifeline to 
remote missions in developing countries. It will house inventory from 
World Medical Mission, including lifesaving medical supplies and an 
emergency field hospital.
  This expansion and the wide-reaching vision of Samaritan's Purse 
would not be possible without the hardworking and dedicated staff 
behind it. These great humanitarians are an honor to represent, and I 
know that they are wonderful ambassadors of North Carolina's Fifth 
District around the world.


     Congratulating North Wilkes and West Wilkes Middle Schools on 
                        Lighthouse Certification

  Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize North 
Wilkes Middle School and West Wilkes Middle School in North Carolina's 
Fifth District on their recent achievement of Lighthouse certification 
for implementing the Leader in Me program. Lighthouse certification is 
the highest recognition awarded by the FranklinCovey institute, and 
these are the first schools to receive this distinction in our State.
  I commend the schools' administration, staff, and students for 
embracing new paradigms of leadership and undertaking the comprehensive 
school improvement model put forth by the Leadership in Me program. The 
program aims to provide a holistic education that encompasses 
leadership, a culture of student empowerment, and academic achievement.
  Congratulations to North Wilkes Middle School and West Wilkes Middle 
School for their demonstrated success. The high-achieving students are 
evidence of how effectively local leaders in Wilkes County foster 
positive results with innovation in education.
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, prior to addressing the immigration 
crisis, which is the biggest problem, I think, facing America today, 
after hearing a rather lengthy speech before mine, I was analyzing the 
well here and noticing the flag of the United States of America behind 
me. As I am looking at that flag, I couldn't help but think about the 
Pledge of Allegiance.
  The Pledge of Allegiance begins: ``I pledge allegiance to the Flag of 
the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it 
stands.''

[[Page H4059]]

  I pondered why that Pledge of Allegiance refers to this country as a 
republic instead of a democracy of which it stands. I think it would be 
a good thing for the other Congressmen up here to think about that as 
well.
  There have been several versions of the Pledge of Allegiance. In each 
one of the versions, while there are changes made, it refers to our 
country as a republic instead of a democracy. We should wonder why that 
is, and I think every Congressman should read up on the difference.
  Now, the reason I am here today is to discuss what I think is the 
biggest problem in the United States of America, the one thing we have 
to deal with in the immediate future and something that I believe does 
not grab the attention of Congress the way it should, and that is the 
immigration crisis.
  One more time, another month will go by, and another 100,000 people 
will enter this country not at the designated points of entry. We 
believe another 10,000 people will enter at the points of entry and 
claim asylum, whether they actually need asylum or not.
  No country can afford to have over 100,000 people pour into that 
country month after month after month without being appropriately 
vetted, stepping in line ahead of the people who are doing what is 
appropriate to become a citizen of the United States or appropriate to 
get a work visa in the United States.
  Ultimately, this will destroy our country, and it is something that 
this Congress should be dealing with immediately.
  I think it is a little embarrassing, hearing all the other speeches 
up here and no speeches about the immigration crisis.
  I want to point out, neither I nor President Trump wants to reduce 
the 700,000 people who are sworn in as citizens in this country every 
year, neither do we want to deal with the 4 million work permits that 
people in this country already have. Neither are they overly concerned 
that we, right now, have the highest number of foreign-born people in 
this country as a percentage of our total population since World War I.
  Now, what are we going to do about this crisis? Because, obviously, 
be it culturally, be it fiscally, we cannot allow this to go on any 
further.
  The first thing I think President Trump should do is end birthright 
citizenship. To say that if you come here, and particularly given that 
we allow entire families to stay once somebody is a citizen, to 
continue to allow the situation to happen in which, if you come here, 
whether you come in not at a designated point of entry, whether you 
come here flying in on a jet plane, in the United States of America, a 
newly born child becomes a citizen.
  We and Canada are the only two countries of the 40 wealthiest 
countries in the world per capita that allow this birthright 
citizenship to continue.
  I know President Trump understands this problem very well. He 
understands very well, as some Members of Congress do not, that the 
amendment to the Constitution that talks about people being born in 
this country becoming citizens was meant to deal with slavery, not 
meant to deal with anybody who comes here.
  I strongly urge President Trump to step up and do something that he 
talked about doing during his campaign, and that is ending birthright 
citizenship.
  In addition to the fact that it is wrong on its face, as long as you 
have birthright citizenship, it encourages people to come here, even 
illegally, knowing that if they have a child here, it will create a 
situation in which there is a good chance the rest of the family will 
follow.
  The next thing I think we can do is put immigration judges on the 
border. Right now, people are showing up, and they are asking for 
asylum. They are given a court date 5 years down the line.
  Well, who knows whether they will be around in 5 years. They probably 
will not show up for the court date at that time.
  I strongly encourage President Trump to put judges on the border so 
we can immediately judge whether these people are entitled to asylum or 
not.
  The next thing, along the same lines, I strongly encourage the Border 
Patrol to be trained to judge credible fear. Again, we believe that 
there are people coming from other countries who claim they have a 
credible fear who do not meet that standard as far as coming to the 
United States. We know that people are being coached as to what to say 
to come into this country. By training our Border Patrol to deal with 
these issues, we will not have so many people coming into the country 
illegally.

  The next thing I strongly think that President Trump should do is he 
should have ICE round up the million people who already have orders to 
be deported. This should be a relatively simple matter. By deporting 
some people, it sends the message to people in other countries that the 
United States will take our immigration laws seriously.
  Today, to a certain extent, because far too many politicians are 
encouraging things like sanctuary cities, getting rid of ICE, talking 
about giving public benefits to people who are here illegally, it is 
not surprising that people in other countries are getting the message 
that the United States does not treat its immigration laws seriously.
  The next thing I think we ought to do is I hope President Trump 
expedites the rule in the Department of Homeland Security dealing with 
allowing for removal of people who are taking advantage of public 
assistance.

                              {time}  1900

  Obviously, the United States cannot become the welfare magnet for the 
entire Western Hemisphere. Everybody knows that, while it is frequently 
illegal, many people who are here illegally are taking advantage of 
public assistance, and we should expedite the legal ability to remove 
these people.
  I would like to take a pause here to congratulate Secretary Ben 
Carson for removing illegals from public housing.
  I will point out something a lot of people don't know. Frequently, 
under Section 8 or, even more, under section 42, the housing assistance 
they get from the government gives people housing that is superior to 
what many of the working people get. It is even more ridiculous when 
people who are here illegally get housing superior to what many of the 
native-born people in this country who rent are receiving.
  So I would like to thank Secretary Carson for having the ability to 
step up and begin to take a stand on the idea that, if you come here 
illegally, you should get free or reduced housing.
  The next thing I would like to see this House take up is sanctuary 
cities. I have introduced H.R. 516, which takes away grants from State 
and local units of government that become sanctuary cities.
  There are a variety of problems with sanctuary cities. First of all, 
it encourages people to go to those cities to get some sort of welfare 
benefit.
  Secondly, whenever a mayor or a Governor wants to declare their city 
or State a sanctuary city, it sends the message that the United States 
is not going to enforce its immigration laws. As long as that message 
is out here, people will continue to flow into our country, and it will 
eventually be the end of the United States.
  The next thing I want this body to do is pass H.R. 848, another bill 
of mine. The purpose of that bill is to increase the verification for 
compliance on any welfare benefits which people who are not in this 
country could be receiving. We are also saying that anybody who is not 
a citizen of this country should not receive any public assistance, 
which should be common sense.
  If you are coming here for an opportunity and you are not able to 
find a job, even if you are coming here legally, the answer is not to 
have the American taxpayer who is already $23 trillion in debt pick up 
the tab. The answer is, if you cannot find opportunity in this country, 
return to your country of origin.
  I hope this body, which is spending so much time dealing with less 
important issues, takes up this bill in the near future.
  Finally, I ask President Trump to continue to work towards the wall. 
I ask this Congress, as we move appropriation bills out, to make sure 
that wall is funded.
  I have been down on the border. I did not find any Border Patrol 
agents who were embarrassed to do their job or didn't want to do their 
job. The Border Patrol agents that I talked to on the Arizona-Mexico 
border felt we desperately needed a wall. They realize

[[Page H4060]]

that walls work in other countries, and they realize that in the long- 
or even in the short-term, walls would save us a lot of money.
  Right now, different estimates vary between $50 billion, $100 billion 
a year is lost because of illegal immigration. Given the cost of a wall 
would be under $10 billion, it would be a big cost savings. And for a 
country that is $23 trillion in debt, we need big cost savings.
  In any event, those are suggestions of some of the things we can do 
to deal with this crisis.
  Think about it: 100,000 people coming here every month, people 
unvetted, people who may wind up on welfare, people who may wind up 
having a criminal record, and all coming here skipping ahead in line of 
those people who have sometimes waited 5 or 10 years to come here 
legally, which is incredibly unfair to them.
  In any event, I hope Congress begins to act on these measures. I 
encourage President Trump to make border enforcement his number one 
priority over the next couple months, because we can see it. It is very 
difficult to remove any of these people once they come to this country.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________