[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H909-H912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SECURING THE SOUTHERN BORDER
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Perry) for 30 minutes.
General Leave
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
submit extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
{time} 1915
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday, the House
Freedom Caucus held an offsite unsanctioned hearing on our
circumstances at the border.
Now, we did that because we can't have a hearing right here in the
Capitol. It is not allowed. The majority won't allow us to talk about
it, doesn't want to talk about it themselves.
We are expecting the State of the Union Address from the President in
about a month, and I suspect he won't talk about it then either. But
the American people want to talk about it. They want to know about it,
and they deserve to know about it. It is happening in their country.
Madam Speaker, Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says that
the President shall faithfully execute the laws. We have laws on the
books, passed in the House, sent to the Senate, and ratified with a
signature by the President of the United States that are being
violated. They are being violated--not just disregarded--but actively
violated by the President of the United States.
Actively violated. What does that mean? What is that? What would you
call it when the Chief Executive Officer, the President of the United
States, who takes an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and the
law of the land, not only disregards them but actively works to subvert
them? What do you call that? I will let you decide that.
We learned a lot of things at the hearing. It was a great time. One
of the things that you might not know as the Speaker's designee, as
citizens, is that there is an organization, the International
Organization for Migration within the United Nations, the United
Nations that your tax dollars pay for. We don't know how much it spends
on IOM, but the IOM is counseling people to come across our border
illegally, counseling them so they can subvert the laws that your duly-
elected legislature has passed, have been signed by the President and
should be enforced by the executive branch.
And you are paying. Your tax dollars are going to pay for people to
break the law to come into your country illegally, up to 2 million--
probably over 2 million--that the border has touched in the last year.
Who knows how many there are that they haven't even interacted with?
And that is just 1 year.
[[Page H910]]
Madam Speaker, how long? How long will this go on?
Today is Groundhog Day. I am from Pennsylvania. We had the chief
prognosticator, Punxsutawney Phil, who is predicting another 6 weeks of
winter. Right? This is Groundhog Day in America for every citizen
because every day when they wake up, it is not another 6 weeks, it is
not another 6 minutes, it is not another 6 months. We hope, the good
Lord, it is not going to be another 6 years. But this keeps happening.
This keeps happening every single day. It is unacceptable.
There was a movie made about it, which was a comedy, but this isn't a
comedy. This is a tragedy. This is horrific for our country. It is
undermining the very things that we stand for, and we ask, we beseech
our President to make it end.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs.
Boebert).
Mrs. BOEBERT. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania
and the chairman of the Freedom Caucus. I thank him for leading on this
issue and thank him for putting together a hearing yesterday so we
could hear from people who are on the ground at the southern border.
It was so difficult to look these Border Patrol agents in the eye and
hear their frustration, to hear their hearts cry, to say that they feel
useless in their capacity, in their jobs. They said that they used to
work all day and go home feeling like they had accomplished something.
But since Biden took office, that is no longer the case. Since January
20, when the so-called President of the United States canceled
construction of the border wall, since then these men and women have
felt like they are not providing a service to the American people.
When I was talking with these agents, one thing that they said was,
This isn't a resource issue. We aren't here to ask for more money. We
aren't here to ask for more personnel or more infrastructure. We just
need policy. Policy solves this. Returning to the Trump-era policies
solves this. Canceling construction of a border wall and still
continuing to pay out Federal contracts, $5 million each day, is not
solving this problem.
Nearly 2 million illegal aliens coming into our country, and that is
not even counting the hundreds of thousands of got-aways that are not
included in that number.
Madam Speaker, I understand that this is a Special Order, but I think
it would do you and your party a service if you would lift your head
and pay attention to what is being said on the House floor of the
United States of Representatives. Maybe that is too much trouble to ask
of you, Madam Speaker, but we are here talking about real issues that
are impacting America and you still continue to sit and ignore what I
am saying.
I think that is very reflective of my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle who have ignored what is going on at the southern border, who
have ignored the children who are being trafficked by cartels, who have
enriched the cartels, who have smuggled enough fentanyl to kill every
American at least seven times over.
Madam Speaker, this should concern you. As a mother of four boys,
this certainly concerns me, and all we need to do is implement policy
to secure the southern border, allow our Border Patrol agents to do
their jobs, have someone in the White House who will faithfully execute
the law and uphold it. We are here to hold people accountable who are
not doing those things.
Madam Speaker, let the Record show that you still have not glanced up
one time to acknowledge this humanitarian crisis that is taking place
in our country.
Chairman Perry, I thank you so much for yielding on this issue.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany),
a great member of our effort here.
Mr. TIFFANY. Madam Speaker, I am assuming this mike is live. Is that
correct? It is, okay. Thank you very much and thank you for sitting in
the Chair tonight. We appreciate you being here during this period of
time.
I think the person that just appeared before us said he does not know
what Republicans stand for. Republicans stand for secure borders. We
stand for a strong national security. We stand for an America that we
represent Americans first, and that is what we stand for here tonight.
Madam Speaker, the Biden administration has turned the United States
Government, our government, whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or
any other affiliation, into the largest human trafficking operation in
the history of the world. And it is so sad to see that happen. It
doesn't have to be that way.
Let's go back to the January 20, just a little over a year ago. What
happened?
Remain in Mexico was ended. Border wall construction was ended.
Catch-and-release was initiated. And that is exactly what we have seen
in our country now over the last year.
I am going to share my story, if I may, tonight. I have been here
less than 2 years. The first trip that I took was down to the Arizona
border in June of 2020. I saw the successes down there. I saw local
units of government working with State and Federal Government to secure
our borders, to make sure that those that chose to come into our
country legally, they would get in line, and they would go through the
process. It was under control. I saw that border wall construction down
in Arizona.
Fast forward to just a little less than a year ago, April of 2021. I
go down to the Rio Grande, out of control. And from what I understand,
it is even worse now than April of 2021.
From there, I went down to Panama at the behest of the Border Patrol
saying, You should see that this is not just about Mexico, this is not
just about the Northern Triangle. There are people coming from all over
the world.
So I went down to the Darien Gap in Panama at the end of May 2021,
and what I saw was breathtaking. People coming out of the jungle,
having to be wheelbarrowed to the medical tent. Hearing stories of the
estimates that 10 percent of the people that tried to get through that
jungle--some of the most dense jungle you will find on all of the face
of the Earth--10 percent of the people were dying as a result of the
actions that a President took on January 20, 2021.
The border is open. That was the message to those people. And it has
wreaked havoc on people's lives that thought, If I can just make it to
America. Many of them have not done that.
And as the chairman said, we have got an organization that is getting
fully funded by the United Nations. What?
We put 25 percent of the money into the United Nations?
Mr. PERRY. Right.
Mr. TIFFANY. The International Organization for Migration, IOM, or
sometimes it goes by OIM, I saw them at the Rio Grande. I saw them at
the Darien Gap. I saw them at Fort McCoy when the Afghan evacuees came
to our country. IOM, every step of the way, giving people remittances,
giving them debit cards, being funded by you and me, the American
public.
We are funding those people coming here to the United States of
America at the behest of an organization that believes in open borders
and does not believe in the sovereignty not just of the United States,
but of any country on the face of this Earth.
It is time for our Committee on the Judiciary, Chairman Nadler, to
have hearings about what this organization is all about. Now, I am not
going to hold my breath expecting that to happen, but that is what
should happen. And if the American people want to know the truth, you
are going to have to take action in this election year of 2022, if you
want this to change. Because it is evident by the Secretary, as
designated by President Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, he is going to do
nothing about it.
We heard it in the video that we saw recently, when the Border Patrol
agents proudly stood up and they said, You are the reason, Secretary
Mayorkas, for this problem, and you could stop it now.
So here is what we stand for--to the gentleman that was here
earlier--here is what we stand for:
We stand for legal immigration. I think about members of my family,
my extended family, that came into this country recently, legally. Did
it the right way; paid the money. And they didn't pay the money to a
cartel. They paid it to the United States Government to do it the right
way. That is
[[Page H911]]
what we stand for as legal immigration.
We stand for stopping the flow of drugs that are killing Americans in
record numbers.
We stand for respecting our borders. We stand with our Border Patrol
and all those people that are in security that just want to make sure
that people come into our country legally.
I stand for an America that is great. I stand with America first.
And if the people of the United States of America want to bring this
under control, this scourge that has hit our country as a result of the
actions of a President on January 20, 2021, you need to stand with us
in November of 2022.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and so well said.
Look, we all want to help. All of us want to help. We earned this
position to speak on behalf of our constituents in our home districts.
We all want to help; America is the most generous country on the
planet. And we know that there are people that are wanting, that are
hurting, that are seeking a better opportunity.
We have a process here. If you ask the American people to obey the
law, why is it too hard to ask people that aren't American citizens to
obey the law? Yet, that is exactly what is happening. That is exactly
what's happening. It is unacceptable.
{time} 1930
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia
(Mrs. Greene).
Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, maybe Mr. Perry and I can
discuss together and maybe he can help me with some things. I am new to
Congress. I am a freshman Member of Congress. I have been pretty
shocked.
I thought Congress' role was to create a budget for the United States
for our government, and we are about to run out of money in just a few
weeks. The 117th Congress hasn't produced a budget to keep the
government open. It is appalling to me as a business owner that we are
even in this situation.
Private businesses go out of business when we are not able to produce
a budget that makes a profit to be able to pay our employees, to be
able to buy our materials and continue. That is something I am
struggling with.
Something I am also struggling with, Mr. Perry, is that I heard the
Democrats present a bill today that they are very much wanting to pass,
what is called the America COMPETES Act, having to do with our American
jobs and economy in relation to China.
But here is the real trouble for me, and this is where I struggle,
American jobs are so important, but yet our border is wide open and
being invaded every single day. I just can't comprehend why Congress
doesn't pass legislation and write into law that illegal aliens should
be deported because illegal aliens are competing with American jobs. I
find that to be a major problem, especially being in the construction
industry where we have to employ legal Americans to do these jobs.
That doesn't seem to be the case, and maybe you can help me out here.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I don't know if I can help her with that. I
was also in business, we had a mechanical contracting business. It is
hard, heavy work, and we too hired American citizens. We had to have
documentation for the folks that we hired.
Wouldn't it be great though, since you brought it up, the COMPETES
Act, we all want to compete better with China. We know that they are
our adversary. They consider us the enemy. First of all, the COMPETES
Act doesn't do that, it doesn't do anything to secure America from an
aggressive bellicose China.
Shouldn't the COMPETES Act be about a competitive America? What about
the competition that American citizens are in in their own country for
their own jobs with people that are here illegally. Shouldn't the
COMPETES Act be about making sure people don't come here illegally?
Let's face it, some folks already talked about the policy that is--
the Border Patrol said, we need the policy. Policy is in place. Laws
are in place. Article II, section 3 says the President will faithful
execute. But if the President doesn't faithfully execute the laws that
are in place, whether we call the COMPETES Act something against China
or whether the COMPETES Act is about American citizens who have to
compete in their own country against foreigners, if no one is going to
faithfully execute it, it is not going to matter.
Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, absolutely. Then we learned
yesterday that Border Patrol agents are completely demoralized; that
they are not even capable of doing the job that they were hired to do,
that our United States Government hired them to do because their
authorities are not allowing them to do it.
They are not able to deport illegal aliens so that our American
people can have jobs. No. Our American people are having to compete
with them. But even worse what we learned is about fentanyl. Fentanyl
coming from China. That is what bothered me when I was listening today
when the Democrats debated this bill with us. Only in this COMPETES Act
bill it mentioned fentanyl only 10 times.
Yet, it is Chinese fentanyl coming from Communist China that is
killing young people. It is the number one cause of death with
Americans age 18 to 45. That is a tragedy, but yet we have been
controlled by COVID-19. Children in schools are forced to wear masks;
people are told they have to take vaccines. It is totally out of
control, but yet it is fentanyl from China.
Here is something else. Maybe Mr. Perry can help me out with this
since I am new here. Why doesn't the Joe Biden administration--why
don't the Democrats care about doing something about fentanyl, a
horrible poison coming in from China, but yet they care more about
coral reefs?
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I think that is a great question. There are
over 100,000 dead from overdose due to fentanyl coming through our
southern border from Communist China, and yet we are locked down in
many places. In the United States in our capital city, people from
across the country can't come here and get a meal. You can't even come
into the Capitol.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde),
maybe he can answer his colleague's question because I sure can't.
Mr. CLYDE. Madam Speaker, I just think that the Democrats just don't
know how to govern this city. That is just a huge issue. We can see
that with what is happening on the southern border.
President Biden's raging border crisis and the harm it inflicts on
our great country, the dangerous catastrophes that I simply cannot
ignore. We are talking about over 2 million illegal crossings in a
single year, thousands of pounds of fentanyl seized, as we just talked
about, and an unknown number of illegal migrants, some with criminal
records, some on the terrorist watch list, released into hundreds of
communities across the Nation.
Yet, out of cowardice or complacency, or both, the Democrats remain
silent on record high levels of illegal migrant crossings and drug
seizures at our southern border.
My Republican colleagues and I have responded to the left's inaction
with letters demanding answers, with legislation, and with continuous
coverage of what is really happening under Biden's watch.
Furthermore, my House Freedom Caucus colleagues, led by my good
friend, Chairman Perry, held a hearing on the Biden administration's
open border policies and inadequate border security just yesterday.
During this hearing we heard numerous witnesses describe the fire of
chaos at the border and the policies that have fueled the flames.
Many Americans know about the ongoing border crisis and its root
causes--Joe Biden and his crisis-ridden, failed administration, with a
33 percent approval rating. Yet, I don't believe the American people
are aware of the United Nations' involvement that aids migrants on
their expedition to our southern border.
According to one of the witnesses that participated in our hearing
yesterday, Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies, UN
agencies such as the International Office of Migration and the United
Nations Commissioner for Refugees and their counterparts are providing
assistance, including financial assistance to help migrants on their
journey, where they
[[Page H912]]
will eventually attempt to illegally cross the United States border.
This witness further explained that the United Nations' cash-based
intervention program supplies reusable plastic cash cards worth
hundreds of dollars each, and cash-filled envelopes, among additional
resources to individuals on the migrant trail from South America to
Texas. This is unbelievable, illogical, criminal, and just plain wrong.
The United Nations is actively subverting the security of our
southern border. Just think about that statement for a moment. Just
think about it. But guess again who is funding the bill. It is the
American taxpayer.
The United States contributes billions of dollars to the United
Nations every year, meaning our citizens are paying for fraudulent UN
programs that contribute to the very border crisis that is threatening
their lives and livelihoods.
It is also absolutely ludicrous that our country is funding programs
and then the UN simultaneously derails our national security,
sovereignty, and freedoms.
As our national debt just hit $30 trillion, this senseless spending
isn't just fiscally irresponsible, it is also morally bankrupt, as it
enables illegal migrants, human traffickers, drug smugglers, dangerous
criminals, and terrorists to take advantage of the Biden
administration's open border policies.
Well, enough is enough. We must defund all these UN programs, not
defund the police, but defund the UN programs that encourage foreigners
to violate our laws, breach our border, jeopardize our Nation, and put
Americans last.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I inquire with the Chair the time
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Pennsylvania has 5
minutes remaining.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Roy), who has been on the front lines of this issue.
Madam Speaker, I don't want to take from his time, but I just want to
add this. People often say to me: What would you cut? What would you
cut? Well, you know what I would cut from the State and foreign ops
budget, money going to the UN to pay for people to come to our country
and cross our border illegally. How about cutting that, sir.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I would agree with my friend from
Pennsylvania. I appreciate him having this time on the floor, and I
appreciate my colleagues for coming down.
The State of Texas is on the front lines under siege, the communities
that I represent, dealing with the scourge of open borders, the dangers
that are provided by cartels, and the illegal elements that come across
the border on a daily basis--and this body does nothing about it.
This week we are going to entertain legislation that will do nothing
to combat China. Nothing to stop China from continuing to run rampant
around the world, violating human rights, undermining our national
security. We are going to put together a nonsense bill that is a Green
New Deal agenda, a pacify and appease China bill. We should be saying
what the woman from Texas said to the coach of the Miracle on Ice
hockey team: Beat those Commie bastards.
That is what we ought to be saying. That is what we ought to be
doing. But no, no, no, here we sit doing nothing. But you know what we
are doing, we are sleeping while our border is wide open. But worse
than that, the Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas are taking
purposeful steps to open our border, disregard the law, and to fail to
faithfully execute the laws of the United States. Our country is in
danger and Americans are dying.
Americans are dying specifically because of the actions of the
Secretary of Homeland Security. That is what is actually occurring. We
have fence rusting in fields in Texas. We have contracts that aren't
being paid. In fact, we are paying people not to work--not to build the
fences.
We are not using migrant protection protocols. We are not using Title
42. We are releasing people into the United States against Federal law.
We are not doing anything to actually secure the border and, therefore,
the Secretary of Homeland Security should be impeached for it.
I will make one final point. Jen Psaki, the White House press
secretary, stood at a podium and laughed about our commentary about the
borders being open and our streets being unsafe. She lied. She lied
about Border Patrol agents whipping migrants. It was purposeful and it
was done to divide our Nation by race, the same kind of division that
has the President of the United States choosing the race and the sex of
the Supreme Court justice. This is the same man who blocked Janice
Rogers Brown, blocked a Black woman Supreme Court justice. He blocked
an Hispanic Miguel Estrada because he was Hispanic and because he is
not the right kind of Hispanic.
That is the truth. That is the truth of a President and an
administration that wants to divide our county by race, they want to
lie about our Border Patrol agents, and they don't want to do a dang
thing about it.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, if Mr. Roy would join me in a colloquy in
the remaining 2 minutes. Mr. Roy sent a letter asking for the report on
these Border Patrol agents that had been suspended for allegedly
whipping these Haitian illegal crossers. Of course it never happened.
Even the photographer that took the pictures said that it never
happened.
The only thing that was abused or whipped was the truth and the
reputation of our fine Border Patrol agents. Where does that stand
right now?
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I am glad the gentleman from Pennsylvania
asked the question. It stands nowhere. They are not giving us any
report. They said it would be a couple weeks away. I can tell you why.
Because the report will demonstrate there was no whipping. It was a
lie.
They owe an apology to those Border Patrol agents who are being
abused on the front lines, having guns fired at them, dealing with
COVID. No apology.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, no apology. What about for lying to the
American people and creating this division. Didn't our Chief Executive
run and say that he was going to unite the country? Didn't he say that?
He was going to unite the country. Isn't this an opportunity. Release
the report--look, none of us are perfect, we all fall short. I think
that is one thing we can agree on.
Mr. ROY. Amen. Amen.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, when you fall short, is there something
wrong with apologizing for your failures?
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, no. And the President should apologize for
that and the President should apologize to every parent of a dead
American kid who takes Xanax and dies with it laced with fentanyl
because we have open borders--and the Secretary knows it.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, the Secretary knows it and the Secretary
just went to the border and talked to Border Patrol. What did they tell
him?
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, the Border Patrol was saying: What are we
doing? We are doing nothing. That is what the Border Patrol is saying.
But my colleagues on the other side of the aisle wouldn't know that
because they never have hearings inviting the people on the front lines
to talk, and actually hold the Secretary accountable.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues from the Freedom
Caucus for coming and talking about what is happening on the border. I
know that the left and the majority party in this House refuse to do
it, certainly the President refuses to do it, but we don't refuse to do
it. We are going to do it because our country is in peril; our families
are in peril; our communities are in peril, and somebody has got to say
something and do something about it.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President. Members are also
reminded to direct their remarks to the Chair and not to a perceived
viewing audience.
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