[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H8058-H8061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     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 Texas (Mr. 
Roy) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for his 
service to this country. We should all be down here engaging with our 
colleagues more often to learn more about them. I did not know that 
about your father. God bless you. Godspeed. Thank you for serving in 
this Chamber.
  Madam Speaker, much has been made in the last week over the actions 
of two Governors; in particular Governor Greg Abbott of the State in 
which I live and where I am a Congressman--Texas--as well as the 
Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.
  Much is being made of the fact that these Governors transported 
certain individuals who had come to this country and were released into 
this country by this administration--I believe contrary to law, I 
believe in direct violation of both the text and the spirit of the 
law--that they were released into this country by the thousands.
  Governor Abbott of Texas and Governor DeSantis of Florida transported 
some of these individuals to particular locations. Now, it was very 
clear that they did so in significant part to make a point. That point 
is that our States are bearing the brunt of an administration's 
policies that are purposefully allowing our border to be operationally 
controlled by cartels to the detriment of the American people. That is 
what is happening.
  So kudos to Governor DeSantis, kudos to Governor Abbott for bringing 
to light a problem which is being ignored by the leftist press that 
refuses to bring the truth to the American people.
  So 50 people get transported to Martha's Vineyard, and the entire 
wine-and-cheese circuit loses their collective mind. Oh, no, what have 
you done? Oh, the cries of politicization of using human beings as 
pawns. But who is it that is using these individuals as pawns? Could it 
be my colleagues on the other side of the aisle or the people in this 
administration that are leaving our border wide open, such that 53 
human beings died in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, which I 
represent?
  So which is it? Which is worse? Fifty people being sent to Martha's 
Vineyard to bring attention to a problem so that all of these Americans 
on Martha's Vineyard could put their glass of wine down and put their 
cheese plate down and suddenly recognize that there are literally 
thousands of people being distributed into our country every single day 
by this government and by nongovernmental organizations. Every single 
day.
  My colleagues do nothing about it. Fifty-three human beings died in 
an oven that was a tractor-trailer, and my Democratic colleagues don't 
say a dadgum word. Nothing.
  But they sure say something when suddenly 50 show up to Martha's 
Vineyard. Then everybody gathers around for a photo op and brings 
sandwiches and pats themselves on the back for their grand compassion 
because, oh, we are enlightened leftists in Martha's Vineyard. We love 
everybody. So we are going to bring sandwiches, then we are going to 
call the National Guard and say haul them out of here.
  That is the truth.
  But why isn't anybody talking about the 53 human beings that died in 
that tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas? One example of the 
thousands.
  There is a cemetery that has been created in south Texas with PVC 
crosses for bodies of migrants pouring across the Rio Grande in south 
Texas. That is what is happening to these people, getting sold into the 
sex trafficking trade, being abused by cartels, bodies littering 
ranches, dying in the Rio Grande River, dying in trucks.
  All while here in Washington, D.C., the Mayor of D.C. complains 
about, oh, we are now a border city; or the city councilwoman who said, 
well, we don't have the infrastructure for this. Well, welcome to the 
party.

                              {time}  1845

  Well, welcome to the party, because that city councilwoman declared 
D.C. a sanctuary city, and that city councilwoman called for the 
abolition of ICE. And prior to the individuals being delivered to D.C. 
by Governor Abbott to the steps of the Vice President's home--who 
supposedly is in charge of securing the border but can't find her way 
to the border if you gave her a map and a plane ticket to get there--73 
human beings were found in the Nation's Capital in a stash house right 
here within a couple of miles of this building, 12 of whom were kids.
  Where are my Democratic colleagues?
  They are burying their heads in the sand because it is not 
politically expedient to acknowledge that open borders results in dead 
migrants, dead Americans, empowerment of cartels, empowerment of China, 
and a danger to the American people and our national security, while 
almost 100 individuals associated with terrorist countries or terrorist 
organizations have now been apprehended coming across our border not 
even dealing with the million people who were got-aways.
  I have given this speech so many times, but I keep having to update 
it. I keep having to come down to the floor and talk about what is 
happening in Texas and what is happening to our people.
  Now let's talk about what is happening to Americans. These are the 
faces of the individuals and the lost voices of people who have died 
from fentanyl. I showed these to the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
and he scoffed. There are 72,000 lost voices and 72,000 dead Americans 
in 1 year. That is more than we lost in the entirety of the Vietnam war 
right here.
  Where are my colleagues on the other side of the aisle?
  Where is the President of the United States?
  These individuals are dead. Their mamas found them in their house 
dying and tried to resuscitate them. They left their home in a body bag 
because they took a pill that was laced with fentanyl that was cooked 
up in the backyard of a cartel. Fentanyl is coming in from China, and 
they are dead. That is what is happening, and my Democratic colleagues 
are nowhere to be found. They are nowhere to be found.
  At the same time that we have got wide-open borders and our country 
is getting destroyed, we have vaccine mandates in place that are 
absolutely decimating our ability to maintain, control, and to hold our 
servicemembers in the military. It is an absolute abomination. We are 
losing hundreds and thousands of servicemembers at a time when our 
recruiting levels are at historic lows. The Army is having trouble 
recruiting. They are at 50 percent of their goals.
  I have met with members of the United States Marines, the Navy, the 
Air Force, and the Army, and they are all coming in under their 
recruiting levels.
  Meanwhile, we are firing people. They are losing their jobs. It is 
happening as we speak right now; members of the United States military 
are getting fired and having to leave service.
  Why?
  Because of a vaccine mandate, a vaccine mandate being carried out by 
the administration with complete and total disregard for the fact that 
that vaccine does nothing for transmission and which the CDC wholly 
recognizes is totally useless for the individuals in question.
  In fact, now the President of the United States says the pandemic is 
over.
  The pandemic is over, so why are we firing our men and women in 
uniform?
  I will take a moment to recognize my good friend from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Perry), who is a veteran himself who served his country, to see if 
he has any thoughts on this matter.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Perry).
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for the 
time and for bringing up what we know is wrong, what we clearly know is 
wrong.
  Our finest and the absolute healthiest population, by the way, in the

[[Page H8059]]

United States of America is in the military. We are down to less than 
half a percent of Americans who even serve in uniform. And recruiters, 
even before the pandemic, were telling us they were concerned about 
what they were looking forward to because the population really just 
couldn't meet the recruiting goals because people were either 
criminals, overweight, or what have you.
  So we already have a problem, and then you get this vaccine mandate. 
It is experimental, and they force the best of the best to leave the 
service. Meanwhile, we can't defend ourselves. China is on the rise, 
Madam Speaker, you have got Russia threatening nuclear war, and the 
President declares the pandemic over while we are kicking our finest 
people, people who said: Put me on the front line, I will sign the 
blank check and give everything, including my life, in defense of our 
country.
  And we say, no, thank you. Unless you get this jab and bend the 
knee--and bend the knee--your service here is not wanted.
  Mr. ROY. As the gentleman probably knows, and I am sure he has talked 
to his own constituents, I have had people coming into my office 
saying, I don't know what to do. I have served my whole life wearing 
the uniform, but I don't think it is in my best interest, I don't think 
it is helping the military, I am not going to do it, and I am getting 
fired.
  They have discharged 5,000 Active Duty servicemembers for refusing to 
take the COVID-19 vaccine while the Army's recruiting levels, as I have 
said, are at 52 percent of the 2022 recruiting goal. Forty percent of 
men 18 to 24 are unvaccinated, the prime recruiting demographic. 
Service academy applications are down 10 to 30 percent depending on the 
service academy, and now DOD comes in and says, hey, we need more money 
for recruiting.
  Well, how about you stop screwing up?
  How about you not tuck tail and run from Afghanistan and leave $85 
billion behind?
  How about you stop pumping out woke garbage into the men and women in 
uniform? And how about you not fire them because they dare to say that 
they don't want a vaccine?
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Perry).
  Mr. PERRY. How about this: anybody who has served, anybody who has 
worn the uniform knows that as important as recruiting is, to replace 
those who are retiring after spending the best years, their most 
productive years, and their most healthy years of their lives in 
uniform, the most important thing is retention. It is how you treat the 
people who are going into battle. We are not interested in retaining 
anybody, apparently, unless they bend the knee.
  So we are going to kick someone out after the American taxpayer has 
spent a boatload of money training someone.
  Madam Speaker, do you know what the cost of training an F-18 pilot is 
or an AH-64 pilot or the ultimate weapon, the American infantryman? Do 
you know what the cost of that is, Madam Speaker?
  After 18 years of service, the best years of their life, right before 
they are ready to retire because they won't take the jab, we say that 
we are not interested in retaining you, even knowing that we can't meet 
our recruiting goals.
  This is a complete dereliction of duty, and it is inviting to the 
enemies of the United States. This weakness is provocative, and you are 
seeing it all around the globe. This is all done by the Biden 
administration and leftwing Democrats who somehow think that the 
control that comes from the emergency pandemic order is better than 
securing our Nation. And even under the circumstance where the 
President himself said the pandemic is over, yet as my good friend from 
Texas just said, while we stand here at this very moment, while the 
pandemic is over, we are processing people out of the military at this 
moment.
  Mr. ROY. It makes absolutely no sense.
  One might question why would this Congress and why would this body 
give more money to the Department of Defense and this administration to 
continue to fire men and women in uniform?
  Madam Speaker, why would we not attach to a continuing resolution 
refunding bill in 9 days a requirement that our men and women in 
uniform not be fired for not taking a vaccine for a pandemic the 
President says is over?
  Madam Speaker, $6 billion, by the way, goes to Fauci's NIAID, and $9 
billion goes to the CDC.
  Why are we funding this?
  Why are we funding an open border?
  Why are we funding $60 billion to the Department of Homeland Security 
which is causing Americans to die from fentanyl and causing migrants to 
die on people's ranches, endangering the American people and allowing 
people known to be associated with terrorists in our country, and at 
the same time we are funding vaccine mandates to fire men and women in 
uniform when our recruiting levels are at an all-time low?
  It begs the question.
  But that is not the only problem. That is not the only thing we are 
dealing with. We are dealing with an energy crisis. We are dealing with 
a reality that energy prices are up.
  Why would that be?
  A tsunami of shutoffs the headlines say, 20 million U.S. homes are 
behind on energy bills, Federal oil leases slow to a trickle under 
Biden. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that gas prices could 
spike again this winter.
  We are decimating the ability of the American people to be able to 
fund their lives, heat their homes, and drive their cars to work all in 
the name of choosing to pursue unicorn energy policies which are 
destroying our country.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle and this administration 
are purposely driving up the cost of gas, purposely driving up the cost 
of electricity, and purposely making our grid less reliable all so they 
can pat themselves on the back for pursuing a ``green'' agenda that is 
doing nothing but empowering China, making our country worse, and not 
doing a dang thing for CO2, by the way, nothing.
  While China has 1,100 coal-fired plants and is building one new coal-
fired plant a week, we have 250, and we are building zero. We are 
adding no new gas plants. We are adding no new nuclear plants to speak 
of.
  We are adding wind and solar, making our grid less reliable. We are 
reducing our ability to produce liquified natural gas to the world. And 
we are decimating our strategic advantage and undermining the health 
and well-being of the American people so my Democratic colleagues can 
pursue a leftist, radical agenda to appease their leftist base.
  The American people have had it.
  Here is another point.
  Why would we fund it?
  Why would we continue to fund a government that is doing that to the 
American people?
  I know my colleague here cares a lot about energy policies from his 
home State of Pennsylvania.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Perry).
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, in Pennsylvania, of course, we stand on top 
of hundreds and hundreds of years of our natural resources that are 
abundant and readily available. They are cleaner than any other place 
on the planet, and we have got an administration that says: Keep it in 
the ground, don't use it.
  Madam Speaker, half of Pennsylvania if you had gone back 20 years ago 
looked like the 1950s, maybe not half of Pennsylvania, but a good 
portion of the north central portion of Pennsylvania because there were 
no jobs. The leftist policies, of course, in Pennsylvania chased all 
the opportunity away, and families were struggling to hold on to their 
farms. Then horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing came into 
favor, and these farms and these communities were saved and brought 
into the 21st century.

  The Obama administration and this administration has come in and 
said, oh, no. Back to poverty for you. You are not going to be able to 
afford to heat your home.
  And if you are, guess what?
  You are going to be making a choice between heating your home this 
winter and feeding your family, all by design, all on purpose, and all 
intentional by this administration.
  It is unacceptable, and as my good friend from Texas said, we are 
being

[[Page H8060]]

asked in the next few days here, whenever they come up with whatever 
they come up with, to keep funding this and to keep funding that kind 
of policy.
  Why would we provide one vote for it?
  There is not one Republican vote. Quite honestly, not one Democrat 
should vote for it if they love their country, if they love the people 
in their communities, and if they care about the people who are 
suffering and struggling to pay their bills.
  Mr. ROY. Electricity, one in six families are behind on their bills. 
Gas prices are $1.66 higher in this administration. Energy prices are 
six times higher than last year in Germany which just banned fracking 
and phased out nuclear which is a telltale warning for where we are 
heading. They are nationalizing their gas companies. Germans are 
stockpiling wood to heat their homes.
  Madam Speaker, you never met a set of policies that you could 
possibly imagine where you could do more to undermine and damage your 
own country than the policies that this administration and the 
colleagues on the other side of aisle are adopting.
  So the question is: Will my GOP colleagues, will my Republican 
colleagues give $14.1 billion to the Department of the Interior to 
continue to lease fewer Federal acres for oil and gas? Will we do that?
  Will we give $9 billion to an EPA that is imposing a methane fee and 
taxes on the oil and gas industry that will be crippling my friend's 
constituents, my constituents, and every American across the country, 
or the EPA that is targeting the largest U.S. oil field or proposing 
rules to shut down half of Texas' coal-fired plants?
  They want to weaken our grid even further while also giving $10 
billion for Federal wind subsidies that are destroying our grid. That 
is the question.
  How about $5 million for climate czar John Kerry to fly around in his 
private jet talking about how great he is advancing a Green New Deal 
agenda?
  That is the reality.
  So here is the question--and this is really what I want to engage my 
colleague, my friend from Pennsylvania: What do we do?
  What do we do in the face of an administration and colleagues who are 
at war with the American people, who are endangering America with open 
borders while people die of fentanyl, who are at war with the American 
people and their ability to afford energy, have gas in their car, have 
a job, have electricity, and have a strong grid; and at war with the 
members of our military, making them lose their job if they don't take 
a mandatory jab because Dr. Fauci says so?
  What do we do about an administration that is at war with the people, 
targeting them, defining them as domestic terrorists by the FBI, if you 
are challenging the school board, targeting them with 85,000 new IRS 
agents to go audit them to raise revenue?
  Madam Speaker, what do you do in the face of an administration that 
is doing that every single day?
  Madam Speaker, I will tell you what you do if you are a Republican or 
if you are a Democrat who actually believes in Article I of the United 
States Constitution.
  I give you James Madison. I give you the father of the Constitution.
  In Federalist No 58 it says, ``The House of Representatives cannot 
only refuse, but they alone can propose, the supplies requisite for the 
support of government. They, in a word, hold the purse. . . .
  ``This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most 
complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the 
immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of 
every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary 
measure.''
  That, Madam Speaker, is what the Founders gave us to push back on an 
executive branch that is out of control and operating in direct 
detriment to the American people or a Senate that refuses to do its 
job.
  The people's House has this tool, and we should use it. I think my 
friend from Pennsylvania agrees.

                              {time}  1900

  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, this is what we have. We are not the 
executive branch. We don't enforce the laws. But when the executive 
branch governs against the will of the people--and ladies and 
gentlemen, what we hear all day around this place is, oh, they are 
trying to destroy democracy because they have a disagreement, they have 
a political disagreement, they are trying to destroy democracy.
  Ladies and gentlemen, this is a Republic. Madam Speaker, this is a 
Republic. And the power of the purse, the power of taking from the 
people a portion of what they earn and distributing it through the 
Federal Government through its policies resides right here, right here 
in this House of Representatives. It is the only thing we have.
  We can't arrest people. We can't prosecute people. We can say enough 
is enough. You are governing against the will of the American people. 
You are governing against the best interest of your country. We are not 
going to help. We signed up not to help. You are not going to get our 
vote.
  If you want to do it, you can own it. You can go explain to the 
American people why they can't afford their bills; why they can't find 
things on the grocery shelves; and why their police aren't on the 
streets; and why they are worried about when they step out somebody 
from some other country who doesn't belong here is going to kill their 
children or abduct them or rob their store. You can explain it because 
we are not going to because we are not going to vote to continue this 
charade, this assault on the American taxpayer and American citizens.
  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I want to say to my friend from Pennsylvania 
how proud I am to serve with him and how proud I am to serve with him 
in the House Freedom Caucus. People like to malign the Freedom Caucus 
on the other side of the aisle--heck, even a little bit on our side of 
the aisle--for daring to want to stand up for freedom, the belief in 
the individual, the belief in civil society, the belief in Federalism, 
and the belief in free enterprise. The belief that not all answers come 
from this town; it doesn't come from this government.
  In fact, if you empower people, empower States, and empower civil 
society, than human beings prosper, their lives are made better. They 
are able to go carry out the greatest things that you could possibly 
imagine to bring freedom to the rest of the world as this country has 
done for almost 250 years.
  That is why we are here. That is why I am in the Freedom Caucus. That 
is why I am pushing forward, along with my colleague, my friend from 
Pennsylvania, and my other colleagues. Forty-two of us have signed a 
pledge and put out a letter, a letter that says that we are going to 
reject any continuing resolution that expires before the next Congress.
  Then we are going to reject any appropriations package put forward by 
my colleagues on the other side of aisle this year, whether it is 
before or during any lame-duck session, because the American people 
should speak on November 8 about the atrocities that have been carried 
out against them by an administration that cares more about their 
political dynamics than they do about the American people every day. 
The American people should speak, and then we should spend taxpayers' 
money on the priorities that they choose.
  Right now, I can tell you that those priorities are not continuing to 
carry out open borders, endangering them. It is not firing our men and 
women in uniform for daring not to take a vaccine. It is not continuing 
energy policies that are undermining our national security and stable 
grid. It is not hiring IRS agents to go after the American people.
  We are just simply saying we should use the power of the purse. My 
message to my Republican colleagues: Use the power of the purse. Use 
the power of the purse to check the executive branch. Join us. Why are 
there only 42 people who have signed that letter? It should be all 218 
who are saying no. No to an administration. No to my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle who are at war with the American people and 
their well-being.
  Stand up in defense of the people you represent. Don't fund the 
government you campaign against every day. Hold that funding and demand 
change. Hold that funding and demand that you stand up for the people. 
Stand up for America. Stand up for energy freedom. Stand up for the 
ability of our men and women in uniform to serve. Stand up

[[Page H8061]]

for a secure border. Stand up for the ability to carry out your 
business without being targeted by armed FBI and IRS bureaucrats and 
agents.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, what my good friend from Texas who joins me 
in the Freedom Caucus is alluding to is we are being asked to fund a 
government for a period of time in which the election will occur. We 
are going to run out of money here in 9 days, and we are being asked to 
fund the government, and all things that my good friend from Texas has 
already outlined, all those atrocities, but not until the rest of the 
year, just until sometime in December after the election when people 
have lost their election and there is no accountability.
  You know what they are going to do then? They are going to waltz 
right in here, and say: Oh, you know what? We are running out of money 
again. We got to do it again. You know what? I don't have to stand for 
election. So if you think this one is bad, if you think all the things 
that Mr. Roy has outlined that are in this one, more money for COVID 
when there is no more pandemic--so says the President of the United 
States--if you think that is bad, just wait until these folks don't 
have to stand for election in December.
  We are saying, if we are going to fund a package, first of all, it 
has to fix these things. First of all, it has to fix these things. 
Second of all, send it into the next term so that the people's voice 
can be heard after November's election. But that is not going to 
happen. That is not going to happen.
  There is no way--as my good friend from Texas says, not one more 
penny. Not one more penny to support these failed policies, these 
policies that go against the people that are governed by this town.

  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I want to credit our leader, Mr. McCarthy, 
for yesterday saying that he also believes that it would be wrong for 
my Republican colleagues to support a continuing resolution that does 
not address the damage being done to this country by open borders. He 
is right to say that. He is correct to say that.
  We should demand that we change how we are dealing with the border 
because it is an absolute abomination; endangering Americans, 
endangering migrants in the false name of compassion. We should change 
that because we can.
  Madam Speaker, I thank our leader, the gentleman from California (Mr. 
McCarthy) for saying that because it is correct. We should not fund a 
government that is continuing to allow open borders to endanger the 
American people. We should fund a government that demands change. That 
is what the power of the purse is and that is what you use it for.
  My friend, Senator Mike Lee from Utah, in the Senate, has circulated 
a similar letter demanding the same thing in the Senate. This is the 
time for the people's House and for the Senate to stand up. We should 
demand change. If we don't get change next week, and we get a 
continuing resolution into December, we should demand change in 
December.
  If we don't get change in December, we should demand change in 
January or February or March, but we should demand change every day. We 
should be down here fighting on the floor of the House, not out at 
steak dinners; not out doing all the business of this town, but here 
doing the business of the American people who sent us here to change 
this place; to stand up for them, to stand up for America, to stand up 
for a better future.
  On July 2, 2026, when we turn 250 years old, we can look proudly at 
our kids and grandkids and pass down a great country to them, instead 
of leaving it bankrupt, which is what this administration is currently 
doing. We can take that back. That is our calling. That is our calling 
today. And that is why I am proud to be in the Freedom Caucus with my 
friend, Mr. Perry, and I will give him the last minute.
  Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank the good gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Roy) for bringing this to light. He is absolutely right. We didn't come 
here, none of us came here on either side of the aisle, because we 
thought Washington was perfect. We came here because we know it is 
broken.
  If you know something is broken, why do you keep doing the exact same 
things that have broken it? Yet, we are being asked, once again, when 
we come here--well, this is what we always do. We are running out of 
money. We have to pass this. I remind everybody, we are, what, $32-, 
$31-, $30-something trillion in debt. They don't even print this money 
anymore; they just digitally create it.
  We don't have the money to do this. Not one more penny to rule 
against the consent of the govern is what I say.
  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman. Not one more 
penny. Not one more penny for a government running at odds with the 
American people. Let's use the power of the purse. Let's stand up for 
America.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________