[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 9, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2154-H2155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1930
                      AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION STORY

  (Ms. CROCKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CROCKETT. Mr. Speaker, as a Texan, I rise today to speak on the 
expiration of title 42, but our immigration story neither begins nor 
ends there.
  As a child, I was taught songs like ``America the Beautiful,'' but 
today I can honestly say that beauty must really be in the eye of the 
beholder because the inhumanity that is playing out around migrants is 
far from beautiful.
  Congress needs to pass humane, substantive, and sustainable, 
bipartisan immigration reform that provides for an orderly, 
transparent, and efficient process for asylum seekers, clears out the 
decades-long backlog, and keeps our communities safe.
  For years, House and Senate Democrats have worked to pass immigration 
reform with little to no support from our Republican colleagues.
  I am left asking: Is this what America the beautiful looks like?
  Republicans are constantly fanning the flames of hate instead of 
offering help to a country that is craving more leadership and less 
lies. Republicans have essentially decided that immigrants make for 
great political pawns. The problem is, we aren't playing chess. This is 
real life, with radical rhetoric that has real-world consequences and 
getting people killed.
  Just this weekend a man in Brownsville, Texas, used his truck to plow 
through and kill eight people sitting at a bus stop. We have got to do 
better. America really needs to be beautiful.
  I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks.
  As a Texan, I rise today to speak on the expiration of Title 42. But 
our immigration story neither begins nor ends there.
  As a child, I was taught songs like ``America the Beautiful'', but 
today I can honestly say that beauty must be in the eye of the 
beholder, because the inhumanity that is playing out around migrants is 
far from beautiful.
  Congress needs to pass humane, substantive, & sustainable bipartisan 
immigration reform that provides for an orderly, transparent, and 
efficient process for asylum seekers, clears out the decades-long 
backlog, and keeps our communities safe.
  For years, House and Senate Democrats have worked to pass immigration 
reform, with little to no support from our Republican colleagues.
  I'm left asking, is this what America the Beautiful looks like?
  Republicans are constantly fanning the flames hate instead of 
offering Help to a country that is craving more leadership and less 
lies. Republicans have essentially decided that immigrants make for 
great political pawns. The problem is, we aren't playing chess, this is 
real life, with radical rhetoric that has real-world consequences--
getting people killed.
  Just this weekend a man in Brownsville TX used his truck to plow 
through and kill 8 people sitting at a bus stop next to a shelter for 
migrants. And four years ago, a man radicalized by republican rhetoric 
walked into a Walmart in El Paso and murdered 23 people he believed 
were invading the border as part of the so-called ``great 
replacement''.
  America, the beautiful? Not so much, but we can be. We used to be. 
And so with that maybe we need a little history. This country

[[Page H2155]]

was founded by and is made up of immigrants. It is within the very 
fabric of who we are to do what the greatest speaker for this house 
always reminds us to do--recognize that our diversity is our strength 
and our unity is our power.
  So let's ask ourselves, is America's continued inhumane treatment of 
immigrants beautiful? Does it live up to our values.
  I yield back.

                          ____________________