[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 58 (Thursday, March 30, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1688-H1689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           U.S. BORDER CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Roy) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Wisconsin for holding 
the floor down here with--I am quite confident--riveting expositions on 
any number of great things because my friend from Wisconsin is a great 
American, and I do appreciate the gentleman.
  It is important that we recognize the situation that this country 
currently faces with respect to our border crisis.
  It is so beyond understanding that the so-called greatest country in 
the history of the world could allow an environment in which, as we 
speak here on the floor, a little girl is getting sold into the sex 
trafficking trade in Houston or San Antonio in a stash house; or as 
happened last summer, 53 migrants died in a tractor trailer, cooked in 
the Texas summer heat; or 40 migrants who burned up just this past 
week. All, almost a direct consequence of the chosen policies of this 
administration. That is the simple truth.
  We have free will as the greatest country in the history of the 
world, the strongest country in the history of the world. We have to 
use that free will and make choices. Are we going to be a sovereign 
Nation that secures its borders and ensures safe passage and avenues 
for people around the world to come to this country, or are we going to 
allow cartels to maintain operational control of our border?
  Are we going to allow cartels to use human beings as profit centers, 
no matter what it means for them and their well-being? Are we going 
allow China to exploit our borders and run fentanyl into our 
communities and kill Americans, or are we going to do our job and 
secure the border of the United States?
  Those are the questions before us as Members of the House of 
Representatives. My message to my colleagues on

[[Page H1689]]

this side of the aisle is: When you campaign on securing the border and 
you are given control of the House of Representatives, you have an 
obligation to actually secure the border.
  To my colleagues who run around using rhetoric about what is or is 
not Christian-like. I will say it is inherently un-Christian to allow 
migrants to die and call that compassion. It is inherently un-Christian 
to allow Americans to die from fentanyl poisoning and say that it is 
un-Christian to say that we should secure the border.
  It is inherently un-Christian for us to turn our backs on the 
responsibility of being a sovereign Nation that defends the rule of law 
to be the beacon of hope for people around the world to come here in 
the first place.
  This country has done more for more people around the world than any 
other Nation in history. Yes, our history is about opening our arms and 
allowing millions from around the globe to seek freedom and opportunity 
here, and we must continue to be. That must be built on the rule of 
law.
  If we do not maintain the rule of law, then we forsake the very thing 
that attracts people from around the world. People come here from 
Venezuela, they come here from Cuba because of the rule of law. The 
rule of law is supposed to matter.
  For people to hide behind asylum claims and hide behind exploitations 
of our law, to flood our border, such that we no longer have control of 
it, such that then the law becomes meaningless, turns the rule of law 
on its head and means we will not be able to be the place of refuge for 
the people around the world who need it.
  More than that, we should be exporting the rule of law. We should be 
improving conditions in the Western Hemisphere and around the world 
rather than importing lawlessness and importing fentanyl and killing 
our own people and undermining the lives of migrants.
  On March 13 a human smuggler transporting 11 illegal aliens in Ozona, 
Texas, was being chased by law enforcement, and during the chase the 
smuggler crashed into another vehicle killing the other occupants, 
including a 7-year old girl and her grandmother. The victims' names are 
Maria Alvarez and her granddaughter Emilia Tambunga. Two migrants 
perished from the crash. That is one example of hundreds I can give.

                              {time}  1330

  I run into the ranchers who find dead migrants on their south Texas 
ranches. Madam Speaker, 1,000 migrants have died along the southwest 
border last year.
  The fact is we are seeing, as we speak, thousands rush our border 
from El Paso down along the Texas border because of the failed policies 
of this administration.
  We have an obligation as a body, but while our Democrat colleagues 
bury their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge the crisis at 
the border, Republicans have an obligation to do exactly what they said 
they would do and what they campaigned to do, and that is to secure the 
border of the United States.
  Let me be very clear. Securing the border of the United States does 
not mean more money. It does not mean more technology. It does not mean 
more Border Patrol agents. It does not mean throwing money at the 
problem. It means actually doing the job of enforcing the laws of the 
United States and embracing policies that will stop the abuse of our 
law, as this administration is doing to undermine it, to allow people 
to flood our zone, and to allow cartels to exploit it, which harms 
Americans and migrants.
  We absolutely can and will ensure that people who have a credible 
claim to asylum will be able to have that claim heard while making sure 
that it is not exploited by cartels to rush our border with thousands 
of people and make it such that it is bad for them and us while 
fentanyl pours in killing Americans and undermining our security. That 
is actually our job.
  I submit, Madam Speaker, that we should honor the promises that we 
made that gave us the majority because I can promise you if we try to 
pass border security that doesn't actually stop the problem, then we 
will no longer be in the majority.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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