[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
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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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