[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H1214-H1215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Roy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to follow my friend from Virginia 
(Mr. Cline).
  Mr. Speaker, last night when we heard the President of the United 
States address this Nation and this body in this Chamber as well as our 
colleagues on the other side of the Capitol in the Senate, you would 
think there was some sort of magic moment that the virus has suddenly 
left the Earth and now all of a sudden we are free here on the floor of 
the House of Representatives to be without masks.
  It was just coincidentally timed--just coincidentally timed--when the 
State of the Union is upon us. A number of States have lifted their 
mandates--all suddenly coincidentally timed--around the State of the 
Union. And I was interested in watching the Speaker of the House 
suddenly saying: Well, it is a new moment in COVID.
  I listened to my colleagues from Texas just a moment ago on the other 
side of the aisle talking about how we have had this great victory 
through the action of the genius of our Federal Government to free us 
from the perils of this virus.
  Mr. Speaker, tell that to the children who have been sitting in the 
corners of classrooms wearing masks. Tell that to the members of our 
military and the members of our Border Patrol who are the so-called 
heroes. I say so-called because my Democratic colleagues a year ago 
were calling healthcare workers heroes, and now they are forcing them 
still to lose their job if they don't take a jab because of the wisdom 
of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that they know best. 
They know best.
  The President stood there arrogantly in that posture preaching to the 
United States public and to this body yesterday and talked about how we 
are going to beat this virus and oh, by the way, suddenly magically we 
need to fund the police. Go back and look at every statement that has 
been made by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle over the last 
2 years talking about defunding the police. We know who is defunding 
the police across the country, and it sure as heck isn't Republicans. 
It is Democrats across this country.

[[Page H1215]]

  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle know it. The President 
knows it, and the President is reading polls. The President knows that 
the approach to the virus has been devastating to the American people. 
Lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine mandates are being rejected by 
the American people. The polls show it, so the magic moment has then 
arrived.
  The President of the United States knows full well when he says the 
border should be secured that it is a lie. I just want to be very 
clear: when the President said last night that the border should be 
secure, it is a lie. He is lying to the American people.
  I was in Del Rio just last week. One thousand people a day are coming 
across that river, and nobody gives a whit. And they don't give a whit 
about the 26 migrants who have died in the Rio Grande since October 1, 
since the cameras have left the Haitians sitting on the Rio Grande. 
They don't care that there are 26 dead migrants. They don't care about 
the 119 bodies in Brooks County where the sheriff has to bring a body 
trailer to Brooks County.
  They don't care about the fences getting cut and the livestock 
getting out. The ranchers I met with last week in south Texas are in 
tears about their property. No. No. The President gets up, gives a 
speech, and declares the border secure and all is well.
  Then he gets up and talks about the solidarity of the Ukrainian 
people, yet he refuses to unleash American oil and gas and refuses to 
unleash natural gas, liquified natural gas, that would change the 
world. He refuses to stop importing 600,000 barrels of Russian oil 
every single day because we won't unleash American oil and gas.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, we are going to keep telling the truth about the 
border. We are going to keep telling the truth about vaccine mandates. 
We are going to keep telling the truth about the need for American 
energy. We are not going to bow down to the climate hysterics and the 
false lies about border security that are endangering the American 
people.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

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