[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 151 (Thursday, September 19, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7828-H7832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CURRENT STATE OF IMMIGRATION LAW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the Chair recognizes the

[[Page H7829]]

gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, prior to discussing the current state of 
immigration law, I would like to yield some time to my good friend and 
colleague, Congressman Duffy, who I think is going to address some 
important issues of Congress tonight.
  I hope everybody pays attention because I think, other than perhaps 
lecturing us on logging and fishing and hunting, this will be his last 
official speech as a Congressman for a few years.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy), 
my colleague.


                       Final Address to Congress

  Mr. DUFFY. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Wisconsin for 
yielding tonight.
  Madam Speaker, I have got to tell you, it is a pretty unique and cool 
feeling to stand in this well and hold onto this podium for the last 
time. What an honor it is to serve in this House and stand in this 
Chamber.
  I want to take a moment, as I give my last address to the House, to 
thank my constituents who have put so much faith in me that they would 
give me the opportunity--a guy from small town Wisconsin, from Hayward, 
Wisconsin, who had a big family and grew up doing lumberjack sports--to 
come here and represent them. And they have done that five times, five 
times over.
  I would just note that they have been so kind to me, whether they 
agreed with me or not. Whether I was at a townhall or a Lincoln Day 
dinner or a dairy breakfast or a parade or affair, the kindness that 
has come from my constituents as I have done my best to serve their 
interests could not fill my heart with greater pride and joy to 
represent the good people of Wisconsin's Seventh Congressional 
District, which is the central, northern, and western part of our great 
State.
  But, as many of us will tell you, I don't think our Founders ever 
envisioned that to come to this Chamber should be a lifetime sentence. 
We are supposed to come, be citizen legislators, serve our time, and 
then step aside and let someone else step forward and do the good work.
  And, in news reports, as I have announced that I was going to step 
aside, people will say, ``Sean Duffy's seat.'' Well, I think we should 
correct that. It is not my seat. It was not my predecessor's seat. It 
is the people's seat, and they get to choose every 2 years--well, now, 
this is going to be 8 months in--a new Congressman to represent them. 
It is the people's seat. It is not mine. It is theirs. So, I thank the 
Seventh District.
  I want to say thanks to my fellow colleagues and Members of Congress 
on both sides of the aisle. We get a bad rap in this Chamber where 
people will tell us: You guys are so dysfunctional. You guys can't get 
along. You guys can't get anything done.
  There is some truth to that. There is a lot of bickering; there is a 
lot of fighting; and, yes, sometimes we don't get a lot done. But I 
will just tell you this, that people get along a lot better across the 
aisle than might meet the eye on some of the major news networks.
  Though it might not be on tax reform or immigration reform, there is 
a lot of legislation that we work on together, on which we try to find 
bipartisan compromise that can not just pass our committees, but can 
pass the House and can get our dysfunctional friends in the Senate to 
actually pick up and pass so we can get it to the President's desk. It 
happens a lot.
  The Chamber, I think, though it is going through some difficult 
times, we are actually working, and I am proud of that.
  I am proud to serve with my ranking member, Patrick McHenry, who has 
been so kind and generous to me. I have actually enjoyed serving with 
Maxine Waters.
  Some of the subcommittee chairs and ranking members like Al Green and 
Lacy Clay and Emanuel Cleaver have become good friends of mine, and I 
honor their friendship and am grateful for it. But sometimes, 
oftentimes, we work better than we are given credit for.
  I want to take a second, because I think this is such an important 
part of the debate that we are having today, and talk about American 
capitalism. I mean, American capitalism is the American model. It has 
been our American way that has brought us more opportunity, more 
prosperity, more upward mobility, more innovation, more creativity, 
more generosity than any other country that has existed on the face of 
the Earth.
  Part of that American capitalist system is an idea not that we have 
no government, but that we have limited government, and not that we 
have no taxes, but we have limited taxes. What you saw over 2 years of 
a Republican-led majority in the House and the Senate with a Republican 
President is we did those things. And the net end result was what we 
thought it would be: We put people back to work.
  When I ran the first time 9 years ago, we had people who couldn't 
find jobs, families who were suffering. I heard, all the time, families 
say: I wish we had a better economy, because I want my kids to be able 
to stay in our hometown and get a job in our hometown and raise their 
family in our hometown so we can have an extended family, but they have 
to leave. They have to go to Milwaukee or Minneapolis or Chicago or 
Wausau or somewhere else to get a job, but they can't stay here.

                              {time}  1945

  But today, after we have implemented these reforms, it is profound 
what is happening. People are going back to work. In Wisconsin, our 
wages are up, and unemployment is down. We have more jobs in Wisconsin 
than we have people to fill those jobs. That is a success story of 
American capitalism. I am proud of that.
  Though everybody may not agree that it has been those policies that 
have created it--some of those are on the left--when they dig deep in 
their heart, they can't deny that what we have done has made their 
lives better.
  And so often we have, in my district, it has been the forgotten men 
and women, men and women who feel like people come to this Chamber, to 
this town, and they engage in debates that are irrelevant; debates that 
don't make their lives better; debates that don't improve their 
economy. Maybe it is a debate that might improve the coasts or global 
corporations, but it is a debate that doesn't help their rural, small-
town community.
  They have seen, over the last few years, that their voices have been 
heard; their pain has been heard, and it has been addressed. And for 
that, they are incredibly grateful.
  When you shop at Walmart and you have a hard time figuring out where 
you are going to get the dollars to pay your mortgage, or how you are 
going to send your kids to school, and if you lose your job, then it 
all collapses; and in today's market, they look and go, This is really 
great. This has improved so much. We couldn't be more grateful for the 
economy and the system that has offered this prosperity that we now 
feel.
  I am troubled that, even though we have had the success of a free 
enterprise system, an American capitalist system, we now have a debate 
in this Chamber where people want to go a different model, right?
  We have a debate saying we want to go to socialism. Socialism should 
be the model of America's future; and that the promise of socialism, 
where we can all be equal, and we can all get free stuff, if we can 
just tax the rich a little bit more and give a little bit more to you, 
it is going to be a beautiful economy.
  Those promises have been made throughout human history, and those 
promises always fail. Whether you want to go to the old Soviet Union, 
whether you want to go to Venezuela, or Cuba, it never works.
  This country actually fought socialism in Europe. We fought socialism 
in our universities. Now we are fighting socialism in the halls of 
Congress?
  We can't lose this fight, because if we lose this fight, we lose our 
future. And if you lose the future, you don't leave enough to your 
kids.
  So I hope that this Chamber will recalibrate and think through what 
the best economic model is to continue with that prosperity, continue 
with that opportunity for our kids and for our next generation.
  But as we talk about maybe equality and opportunity, I do think there 
is a really important point: As the socialist talks about the equality 
of the outcome, I think our model has been the equality of opportunity.

[[Page H7830]]

  When I look at communities in America, and communities in Wisconsin, 
and you can look at a zip code of that community, and you will be able 
to recognize the opportunity and the poverty of the kids that are being 
raised in those communities, by their zip code, because of the school 
system they have in place in those communities in those zip codes.
  That is a travesty. That is not equal opportunity. That has given a 
group of kids the short end of the stick.
  So, as I have been in this Chamber, I have fought for school choice. 
Because if you are a parent and you have a child and you have a failing 
school, you should have the opportunity to get out of your failing 
school and go to a school that is going to give you the skill sets and 
the tools to take advantage of the American economy. You should have 
that right. You should have that option. And that is school choice.
  I would love it if we could make the schools better in these 
communities, and we should fight to do that. But these kids can't wait. 
So I hope the fight for school choice continues.
  I have fought in this Chamber for free trade, but I have also fought 
with our President for fair trade. And when we have people who take 
advantage of this economy, of my constituents, and say it is free 
trade, well, free trade isn't free trade if it is not fair trade. And I 
couldn't support the President more in his fight against China to make 
sure that we have a fair system with their growing economy. And it is 
not easy.
  I look in this Chamber. Oftentimes there is not a lot of political 
courage, but you have a President who, one of the greatest things he 
has going for him is the great economy; and he is willing to jeopardize 
this great economy, to risk the great economy and engage in a trade 
conflict with China, not to help him in the next election, but to help 
American kids in the next 10, 15, 20 years.
  That is what real leaders do. That is what courage is in a leader, 
and that is what our President has done on this trade fight; risking 
the economy for the kids and our future, to make sure we are still the 
number one economy and the number one military.
  One of the great issues I am proud to have fought on is the issue of 
life. I don't think that there is anyone who is more vulnerable, more 
voiceless than the unborn; and to have been in this Chamber, and to 
have been able to lend my voice to those who don't have one has been an 
amazing honor.
  I think that this will be a scourge at this time period in American 
history, and we have had these time periods in our past, that we 
haven't stood up and fought what science tells us, as you look at a 4D 
ultrasound, what that baby is in the womb.
  I am on the right side of history to have fought for the millions of 
little babies who have lost their lives over the course of the last 40-
plus years. And I hope this Chamber one day can see that life does 
begin at conception; that we shouldn't be having a debate about late-
term, partial-birth abortion. We shouldn't be having a debate about how 
we allowed children to die more comfortably after they are born; that 
that is outrageous. It is, frankly disgusting. We should get that 
right.

  As I close my final remarks from this well, I want to thank my team.
  Any Member of Congress, anyone who serves in this institution can't 
do it without great people with them, great people surrounding them, 
fighting--not with them personally, but fighting on the issues with 
them. It doesn't work without them.
  Over the course of the last 8\1/2\ years, I have had the most 
remarkable team to serve with me and work with me. And though they have 
worked for me, they are some of my best friends who have stood with me, 
and I couldn't be more grateful that they have come into my life and 
come into my district and our community; and not just fought so hard 
with me, but fought so hard for the people that I represent to make 
sure their issues are covered, to make sure that their voices were 
heard.
  They helped me amplify my constituents' voices, and I want to thank 
Pete and the D.C. team, specifically, and Jesse and the district team 
for their endless efforts. My constituents were well served by them, so 
thank you.
  Finally, I want to thank my family. When I started, I didn't have as 
many kids. Actually, I had Patrick and Margarita and Mari V and Paloma, 
who didn't know their father at any point other than as a Congressman. 
But some of my older kids were well aware of what we did before.
  My oldest daughter, Evita, we did our first parade together, and I 
was terrified. I was terrified to do a parade, and this little 9-year 
old girl came out with me with the most courage.
  All of them have stood with me and worked with me and campaigned with 
me. It has been a family endeavor.
  Anyone who runs, they know the sacrifice that their families go 
through. My family has been great, going to parades, and going--in 
Wisconsin we do dairy breakfasts--going to dairy breakfasts. And they 
have been there supporting me and working with me, and I couldn't be 
more grateful for them.
  As their dad comes out to Congress 4 days a week, I am not there as 
much, and they have supported me through this whole effort, this whole 
adventure. A dad can't do that unless he has kids who support him. So, 
to all of them, from Lucia, to Evita, to Patrick, and John Paul, and 
Margarita, and Mari V, and Paloma, and Jack, I want to thank you all 
for the support you have given me.
  Finally, I want to thank my wife, I would not be here without her. 
When I ran, everyone said I could never make it to this Chamber. I 
could never win. And she was the one who said, No, I think you can. I 
think you can represent these people, your people well. And we did it 
together.
  When I am here, as every spouse who has someone who comes here, she 
was the one who held up our house. She was a single mom, and we have 8 
kids. She was a single mom with 8 kids. And you have to be incredibly 
dedicated and devoted and passionate about what we do in this Chamber 
if you are going to be a single mom with 8 kids and let your husband go 
off and fight the great fight of the day.
  So I want to tell her how much I love her and how grateful I am that 
she has supported my dream to come here and fight the good fight.
  When I won on my first night, on election night, I said that the 
battle for America's future is a fight against socialism. It is a 
battle to return our Nation to the principles that made America 
different, that made America better, that made America great. I think 
that couldn't be more true today.
  And with me and Rachel, and my team, and my kids, I couldn't be more 
grateful that they have stood with me to help engage in that fight.
  So for the final time, as I step out of this well with a grateful, 
and it might not be obvious, but a happy heart, I want to thank my 
colleagues for their friendship.
  I want to thank the great State of Wisconsin for their trust.
  I want to thank my whole family for their support. I want to thank 
God for his blessings, and for this opportunity and for the wisdom to 
know when my time is up.
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, Congress, last week, got back from their 
time in district in August, and quite a bit happened on the immigration 
front since then; some good news, some bad news, but it is important to 
address what Congress has yet to do.
  I do want to point out the good news. So far this year, we have built 
or rehabbed 66 miles of the wall on the southern border, and we are on 
track to do another 390 miles by the end of 2020. When that is done, we 
will have built 700 miles along the 2,000-mile border. Some more will 
probably have to be done at that time, but we are, at last, doing this.
  The other good news is that it is a tremendous wall. That wall is 
going to be 30 feet high and 6 feet under the ground. I have been down 
there looking at parts of that wall. There are things that we have done 
on top of the wall that will make it still more difficult to get over.
  I am told that, so far, four people have tried to get across the wall 
and all have failed.
  For those people who thought a wall does not work, I suggest that 
they look at that wall that is currently being built.
  I will point out; the USA will not be the first country to have 
success with a wall. Israel along the Egyptian border

[[Page H7831]]

has a wall. India along the Bangladesh border has a wall; a wall, quite 
frankly, a lot--a border a lot longer than the America/Mexican border; 
and Hungary has a considerable border wall with Serbia.

                              {time}  2000

  All those other walls are effective. I am glad the United States is 
finally getting going on the wall.
  The next thing I will count as good news on the immigration front is 
that I was able to attend a ceremony in which legal immigrants were 
being sworn in, in Milwaukee. Every month in a city as small as 
Milwaukee, about 400 new citizens are being sworn in. Neither Donald 
Trump nor virtually any Republican who I am aware of wants to stop 
those 400 new citizens coming here each month.
  It is very exhilarating to talk to them. So many of them have already 
founded their own businesses. Obviously, the rest already have jobs and 
have spent a considerable amount of time working in this country and 
are very proud to renounce the citizenship of their native land and 
become American citizens.
  Overall, we swear in 700,000 new citizens a year and have 4 million 
people on work visas. But there is other news that probably can be 
considered not quite as good. We had 64,000 people cross the border in 
August. That is down from 144,000 in May, but it is still 20,000 more 
than it was last year.
  When we talk about 64,000 people being processed into this country or 
processed at the border, we don't include other people who haven't even 
been caught, and those are the most dangerous people of all.
  Many of the people being processed on the border feel that they will 
be able to come to this country through an asylum process legally. When 
people are not checking themselves in at the border, it means they feel 
they have to sneak through the border and probably have something to 
hide.
  While the Border Patrol doesn't know exactly how many people they are 
not processing, they are guessing it is over 10,000 people a month. 
That is certainly something that has to be addressed.
  The next thing to talk about, as far as people coming across the 
border, is why it is higher than it was a year ago, and why is that 
still higher than it was 20 or 30 years ago?
  Some people think the reason so many people try to come across our 
border is that things are worse in other countries. That is not so. 
There were times in the relatively recent past in which we had outright 
civil wars in Central America. People did not come to the United States 
even though there were civil wars in their home country because they 
felt they couldn't. They felt the United States would enforce its 
current immigration laws.
  The reason we had so many more people try to get in here in the past 
year is because the word was out in other countries. The word was out 
among the cartels that escort so many people to this country that the 
United States was not enforcing its immigration laws.
  I was at the border again at the end of July, and it was interesting 
to hear from the Border Patrol that at the time Donald Trump was first 
elected, they were almost bored at the border. There was nobody trying 
to come in here. Why was that? Because Donald Trump ran on immigration 
reform and immigration stability, and they felt they wouldn't have a 
chance to come to the United States.
  The reason we had 64,000 people checked in at the border, plus who 
knows how many sneaking across, in August is the word is still out in 
other countries that the United States is not enforcing its laws.
  The question is, what can we do to stop the floodgates of 60,000 
people still coming here?
  First of all, we need more personnel. As we have had a flood of more 
people coming on the border, the Border Patrol has to spend their time 
on paperwork, and the Border Patrol has to spend its time babysitting 
children, not guarding the border. These new employees are less costly 
than the Border Patrol.
  I respect the Border Patrol so much after being down there three 
times. Can you imagine, in the middle of the night, maybe finding 50 
people and having to, in essence, arrest them yourself and escort them 
back to the border?
  We could use some personnel to do--I don't know what I can refer to 
it as--the babysitting part of the job, the paperwork part of the job, 
to free up the Border Patrol so they can enforce the border.
  Secondly, this Congress that is so quick to spend money on anything 
can give us more technology at the points of entry, and I would also 
add more dogs at the point of entry, which do such a great job of 
identifying people trying to sneak across.
  Another thing that Congress should do is get rid of birthright 
citizenship. When I was at the El Paso sector and saw people waiting to 
come in, it was obvious there were a disproportionate number of 
pregnant women coming into this country, which is what we have heard. 
People 6, 7 months pregnant, whether they fly in from Asia or cross the 
southern border, they come here because the United States is one of 
only two of the, I believe, the 40th wealthiest countries in the world 
to have birthright citizenship.
  Donald Trump had promised to get rid of that when he first ran for 
election, and I hope that is something he follows up on.
  Another problem we have is that, right now, families are still 
allowed in the United States under the Flores settlement after they are 
here for maybe 20 days. If they were here for 60 days, they wouldn't be 
able to sneak in this country and disappear into kind of the ether, but 
they would be able to stay here until they have their court hearing. It 
is so important for this Congress to pass a law saying that you can 
keep these families at the border or not let them in the United States 
for at least 60 days pending their court hearing.
  While I talk about families at the border, I want to make some other 
observations that the Border Patrol gave me. First of all, it 
frustrates them that people coming here get such better healthcare than 
people who are already here in America. The vast majority of us have 
some sort of large deductible. They have copays. People coming from 
other countries when they come to the border are given whatever they 
want for anything wrong. I can understand that we don't want anything 
bad to happen to people, but it is an inducement for more people to 
sneak in here as long as we give away free medical care.

  The next thing that we need is the ability to return children to 
their parents. Under current law, we can return unaccompanied children 
to their parents in Canada and Mexico. We cannot do that to Central 
American countries. The Central American countries are frustrated that 
we are taking their youth and bringing them to the United States.
  These bills are available to be brought to the floor. It is time that 
Congress act and say we are not going to tear apart families. If we 
catch a 15-year-old coming into this country from Honduras, we should 
be able to return them to their parents in Honduras. We shouldn't, as 
under current law, be required to keep them in this country. It is kind 
of the ugly America at its worst that we tear apart families and take 
young children who have fled their parents.
  The next thing that we have to do is we have to raise the standard of 
credible fear. We cannot continue to have people come into this country 
sometimes without the strongest evidence that they are genuinely in 
fear of what is going on in their country, particularly because, right 
now, immigration attorneys assist people in allowing them to come into 
our country.
  We need more money for ICE to remove illegal immigrants, particularly 
illegal immigrants who are criminals. Donald Trump must be allowed to 
continue on his plan of not letting people in this country if they are 
probably going to wind up on public assistance or welfare. That would 
be a disaster for their country.
  If we do these things, I think we can finally secure our border.
  Again, Donald Trump has done a lot on his own. He has reassigned 
money that was originally going to the Department of Defense. He has 
tried to change the way we deal with asylum. Congress has to step up 
with President Trump and do something: hire more personnel at the 
border; get more technology at the border; get rid of the

[[Page H7832]]

birthright citizenship; change the law so we can keep people at the 
border for 60 days; return children, particularly unaccompanied 
children, to their parents when they try to sneak in here; change the 
standard of credible fear. Then we will go the rest of the way toward 
having a good immigration system.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________