[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 70 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2100-H2101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE CRISIS AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
C. Scott Franklin) for 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in order to revise 
and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I yield to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, this has been a confusing 
time period I think for most of America, and why the confusion is 
becoming so cluttered among us all is because we are using definitions 
that sometimes don't seem to make sense for the situation that we are 
in.
  So I was thinking back, and not too long ago we were told that we 
don't have to worry about our borders because we really don't have a 
crisis there, what we have is a challenge.
  As we seem to constantly redefine or put different labels on what we 
know to be true, I think it is time for a moment of clarity. I went to 
Oxford Languages to find out just what a crisis is.
  So this is not my definition. This is what Oxford Languages has said: 
A crisis is a time of intense difficulty or trouble or danger; a time 
when a difficult or important decision must be made.
  So what is it I am talking about?
  I am talking about our crisis at our borders.
  So why would a guy who lives in western Pennsylvania worry about what 
is happening on the borders in Texas and Arizona? That is almost 2,000 
miles away from where I live. That is almost 2,000 miles away from the 
people I represent. How could it possibly impact them?
  So I would tell my friends that if you don't think this is going to 
have an impact in the community you live in, this is coming to a town 
real close to you real soon.
  In Erie, Pennsylvania, we are now housing about 150 young girls who 
have come from the border. Now, I don't know where their starting point 
was. I know where their entry came, and I know now that these 
unaccompanied young ladies--they are 7 to 12 years old--have now been 
shuttled to Erie, Pennsylvania, into housing which is much better than 
what they were experiencing at the border. They are living there now, 
and I am not sure that they know what the consequences of this 
relocation means to them.
  I have been told that of those people who have come in, those little 
girls who have come in, approximately 30 of them have COVID.
  We sit in this House--the people's House--and we debate issues that 
are sometimes very confusing and very conflicting and separate us as a 
people. This is not an issue that should separate us. If we truly 
believe that there is a humanitarian crisis, then we should fix it in a 
humanitarian way.
  I have often been told that you can't beat something with nothing. 
The previous administration under President Trump had a very clear 
policy about how we were supposed to handle the surge at our borders, a 
very clear process, very clear what was to take place. That all 
changed. As the Biden administration came in, they said, no, this 
policy from the previous administration is untenable, it is not humane, 
and it is no longer going to be in existence.
  Again, Madam Speaker, you can't replace something with nothing. My 
question to the administration through several letters and through 
several requests for the HHS and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 
was answered with no answer at all. So if you have no policy you have 
no answer.

  If you continue to say that we really don't have a crisis at our 
border, then you are either unaware or just choose not to say what you 
really have in mind, and you can only do that if you don't really have 
anything in mind.
  Madam Speaker, I think that in the people's House--and we are always 
defined as who is in the majority and who is in the minority and who 
represents whom and whose best interests are being upheld, and I would 
just suggest that this is the people's House. It is not called the 
Republic House or the Democrat House. It is called the people's House, 
and the people--the American people--need to have an answer to what is 
our policy on the border?
  What is our policy going forward?
  How are we going to relocate these children?
  They are children. My wife and I being the mother and father of four 
children and grandparents of 10 children, I cannot imagine in my life 
handing over my grandchildren or my children to somebody I don't know 
and saying: Would you please get them to America where I know they will 
be safe, sound, and well-treated?
  This is truly a crisis. More importantly, this is a dereliction of 
duty by

[[Page H2101]]

the current administration. I am requesting that the Biden 
administration answer not just me from western Pennsylvania, the 16th 
Congressional District, but the people of America who deserve to know 
what this policy is, how it is going to be administered, and what do 
these contracts look like when we are transporting these children from 
one location to another, and, ultimately, where are they supposed to 
land?
  Where are they supposed to find refuge?
  Where are they supposed to find a loving family to take care of them?
  I have been told that 90 percent of these unaccompanied children are 
going to end up with family members, and my question is: Where did you 
collect that data?
  I have granddaughters who were 12, and I have granddaughters who were 
7. I think it would be a difficult question to ask them what their 
future looks like whenever they have been shuttled off to someplace far 
away from home by people they don't know and then being told: Don't 
worry, everything is going to be fine, and 90 percent of you are going 
to end up with a family member.
  Really?
  Where is that data?
  I will close with this--and I really appreciate the gentleman 
yielding--it is time for Americans to stand up and demand that we have 
an answer to what our policy is at our border.
  What are we going to do with these children?
  If we are truly calling this a humanitarian crisis, then we need to 
have a humanitarian answer. No answer, no process absolutely is not the 
way America works.
  So I am calling on the administration today to please answer our 
questions. I will be in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday where I will be 
able to physically examine where these children are, and I will come 
back to Congress with what I have seen happen.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I also rise to 
address the self-inflicted disaster occurring at our southern border. 
I, along with nine other Republicans in the House Oversight and Reform 
Committee, visited the border last week to see for ourselves the 
national security and humanitarian disaster that is wreaking havoc on 
our Nation.
  When our Border Patrol agents are pulled from their posts to deal 
with the swarms of children at processing facilities, the remote border 
is left wide-open for the really bad folks to stroll right in. These 
aren't people whom we see on television wearing Biden T-shirts, looking 
for the nearest Border Patrol agent so they can surrender to them. 
These are folks in full camouflage, ski masks, and usually armed, often 
with automatic weapons.
  These intruders who breach the remote parts of the border illegally 
are referred to as get-aways. Because our agents are outnumbered, 
usually all they can do is simply document these groups as they pass on 
by. The notation for the records is simply 20 plus, even though there 
are often 40, 60, or even 80 or more people.
  In January and February alone, there were over 61,000 reported get-
aways. That is a staggering amount, but because the 20-plus 
documentation grossly underestimates the actual figures, agents told us 
the real number for the first 2 months of this year was probably closer 
to 120,000.
  Left unchecked, we are looking at 750,000 get-aways breaking into our 
country this year alone. Again, these are not asylum seekers 
surrendering at the border. They are dangerous criminals, drug 
smugglers, human traffickers, and terrorists who are willing to do 
anything to get into America and not be caught. Once they make it to 
Interstate 10, just a few miles north of the border, they can have easy 
access to any place in the country.
  This isn't a border State problem. It is an unfolding national 
disaster of unprecedented scope that must be addressed for the security 
of our country. Yet the Biden administration and my colleagues across 
the aisle refuse to even acknowledge the problem. So far, neither the 
President nor Vice President have bothered to visit the border.
  We can stop this manufactured crisis.
  First, we need to complete the border wall. We have construction 
materials laying idle in the desert. President Biden used to think the 
border wall was a good idea. It is time he stops cowing to the radical 
elements within his own party and do what he knows is right. The 
materials are there and the contracts to complete the work are in 
place, just sitting there. Just finish the job.
  Second, end the practice of catch and release and re-implement the 
Migrant Protection Protocols that proved so successful in reducing the 
number of border incursions. Officers shared with us that only 10 to 12 
percent of people who come here seeking asylum have legitimate cases. 
The rest are sent back. By requiring them to remain in Mexico while 
their asylum requests are adjudicated, roughly 90 percent who know 
their cases are bogus won't risk the journey, and those who do have 
legitimate causes to seek asylum will have it granted more 
expeditiously. That would be the humane course of action.

  We are, indeed, a nation of immigrants. Many industries in my home 
State of Florida, including agriculture, hospitality, and construction, 
depend on a steady flow of legal immigrants in order to function. But 
for America to remain the world's brightest beacon of hope, we must 
acknowledge that a fundamental part of what makes it so attractive is 
our adherence to the rule of law.
  Honest, law-abiding citizens like the Johnsons, the Coopers, and 
others we met at the border asked us to tell their story. They are not 
confident, though, that we will. They also want our government to know 
that they aren't looking for special consideration. These are tough 
people who simply want the opportunity to live and work their land in 
peace and security without having to live in fear. They want to know 
that we will not forget about them. We promised to share their story. 
We must not let them down.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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