[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 109 (Thursday, June 22, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H3077-H3087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RELATING TO THE CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 503, IMPEACHING JOSEPH R. 
    BIDEN, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, FOR HIGH CRIMES AND 
                              MISDEMEANORS

  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call 
up House Resolution 529 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 529

       Resolved, That House Resolution 503 is hereby re-referred 
     to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the 
     Committee on the Judiciary.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 1 
hour.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the 
purpose of debate only.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, last night, the Rules Committee reported a rule 
to refer H. Res. 503 to the Committees on Homeland Security and the 
Judiciary. H. Res. 503 lays out articles of impeachment against 
President Joe Biden for his failure to secure the southern border of 
the United States.
  We do a lot of things in this body, and we say a lot of things--I 
certainly do--about our beliefs and about what we think is happening to 
our country. What we are talking about here is, indeed, solemn. We are, 
in fact, talking about the mechanism provided by the Founders in the 
Constitution of the United States to check and hold the executive 
branch responsible.
  The border crisis that we are experiencing today is extremely 
significant for the people in my home State of Texas. It is significant 
not just for Texas, of course, but for the entire country--but, in 
particular, for the people in my home State of Texas.
  Since President Biden took office, there have been well over 5 
million illegal migrant encounters along the southwest border. More 
than 204,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the border in May 
alone. Those numbers are changing post-relaxing enforcement of title 
42.
  Mr. Speaker, 2 million aliens have been released into the interior of 
the United States, and 1.5 million, probably 1.7 million, maybe 2 
million now, got-aways have successfully evaded border agents, by 
relatively conservative accounting.

[[Page H3078]]

  Most concerning right now is the data we have shows that 125 
individuals from the terrorist watch list have been encountered this 
fiscal year alone, and that compares to about 98 in all of last fiscal 
year and about 10 in the last year of the Trump administration.
  The fact is, the people I represent are sick and tired of a Federal 
Government that is abdicating its fundamental duty to defend the border 
of the United States. That is what is happening.
  The Federal Government exists primarily, borderline entirely, but 
certainly primarily, to defend the United States. That is why it 
exists. It is failing to do so not through maladministration, not 
through incompetence, but through dereliction of duty and a refusal to 
actually follow the laws of the United States.
  The laws of the United States are there, expressly and specifically 
laid out, to ensure that our border will be protected, that our Nation 
will be secure. That is the fundamental question before us. When the 
executive branch fails to follow the law, when the executive branch 
fails to adhere to its duty to defend the Constitution and the laws of 
the United States, then what is it that the Congress, the people's 
House, is supposed to do in response?
  The Founders gave us a mechanism. Here today, we are talking about 
putting forward and referring these articles to the Homeland Security 
Committee for determination of the extent to which the homeland is, in 
fact, not secure as a direct consequence of the refusal of the 
administration, well beyond maladministration but very specifically the 
refusal to follow the laws of the United States that is resulting in 
the direct consequence of the death and damage to the American people.
  That is the truth. That is what we are experiencing. That is what we 
are experiencing in real time in Texas. My colleagues in Arizona, my 
colleagues throughout this entire country, are experiencing that in 
real time.
  Just a few weeks ago, a Federal judge in the Northern District of 
Texas, Judge Reed O'Connor, issued an opinion, an order, and in it, he 
lays out: ``Defendants, illegal aliens, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to 
transport and harbor illegal aliens. The sentencing information shows 
that on behalf of the Juarez cartel, defendants participated in an 
alien smuggling conspiracy. . . . The smuggling organization charged 
$10,000 to smuggle an adult illegal alien into the United States and 
between $12,000 to $14,000 to smuggle a child illegal alien.''
  It goes on to lay out how they discovered that there was an illegal 
alien in Baltimore who was being held for ransom so that his family 
wouldn't be abused by the Juarez cartel in a stash house in Fort Worth.
  The members told the husband that they would do things to his 
daughter he would not like if he did not make this payment of $23,000, 
which he had not bargained for.
  This is the state of affairs in our country. This is the consequence 
to those migrants who are seeking to come here, when my colleagues in 
the false name of compassion state that open borders are somehow good 
for them. This is causing crime to extend into our communities. This is 
causing us to experience the dangerous hand of cartels.
  Just this morning, we had more news about cartels and their reach 
into Texas, into the United States. It is an everyday occurrence: 
bailouts, damage to ranches, harm to Texans, death to Texans, fentanyl. 
How many more fentanyl moms, how many more angel moms, how many more 
Americans need suffer because this President refuses to follow the laws 
of the United States that he raised his hand and swore an oath to 
defend?
  That is why we are here, and that is why I support the resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for 
yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Oh my God, Mr. Speaker. Let's get real here. Nothing about this is 
serious, not the process, not the intentions of the resolution's 
sponsor, not the impeachment case, not a single damn thing.
  Yesterday, Republicans dishonored this House and dishonored 
themselves by bringing to the floor a ridiculous censure resolution 
against Adam Schiff because Donald Trump told them to.
  Today, they are dishonoring this House and dishonoring themselves by 
bringing to the floor a ridiculous impeachment referral resolution 
against Joe Biden because Donald Trump told them to.
  This body has become a place where extreme, outlandish, and nutty 
issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all.
  In short, Mr. Speaker, the Republican Party is a joke. They talk 
about law and order when their frontrunner for President has been 
indicted on Federal charges.
  They talk about respecting law enforcement. Then, they come in here 
and downplay the rioters who came in here on January 6 and beat up cops 
with fire extinguishers. I don't even know how they look the Capitol 
Police officers in the eye when they walk into this place.
  They talk about how important it is that we follow a good process. 
Yet, the Rules Committee was called in late last night, literally at a 
moment's notice, where they deployed emergency procedures so we could 
refer this measure to a committee--what a spectacular emergency, truly 
something that needed to be done immediately.
  We all know the truth. The real emergency here was that the Georgia 
wing and the Colorado wing of the MAGA caucus got into a fight right 
over there on the House floor about who gets to impeach the President 
first.
  The truth is that Speaker McCarthy has lost control of this House, 
and it is being run by the MAGA fringe. This is nuts.
  Kids get shot in their classrooms. Nothing.
  Environmental disasters destroy entire communities. Nothing.
  Our air is clogged with smoke because half the Northern Hemisphere is 
on fire due to climate change. Nothing.
  But when the MAGA wing nuts say to jump, Speaker McCarthy says: How 
high?
  According to news reports, it sounds like this resolution's sponsor 
is dictating to the Speaker which committees bills should be referred 
to, when he should put legislation on the floor, and how he should run 
this House.
  That is who is in charge here, the MAGA extremists.
  Frankly, they can try to impeach Joe Biden all they want, but all 
they are doing is impeaching themselves and making a mockery of this 
place while they are at it.
  I get it. They don't like that their cult leader, Donald Trump, will 
go down in history as one of the worst Presidents we have ever had. 
They don't like that he was impeached twice and had a bipartisan 
conviction vote in the Senate. They don't like that Democrats tried to 
hold him accountable for trying to extort President Zelenskyy, who is 
now trying to defend himself from Putin.

                              {time}  1100

  They don't like that Congress tried to hold him accountable again, 
this time for trying to overthrow the government on January 6.
  They don't like that he had nuclear secrets in his bathroom and in 
his desk, and God knows where else, and waved them around like it was 
nothing.
  You know what? They don't like themselves for having to stand by him 
time after time and defend his lies. I know many of my Republican 
colleagues say in private what they are not willing to say here in 
public, which is that they think this is an embarrassment.
  Still, they are here on the floor defending a three-time loser, 
sexual abuser, ex-President that has been indicted more times than he 
has been elected. It is pathetic.
  Instead of dealing with their own issues, Republicans are going after 
Joe Biden to try to distract and deflect.
  H. Res. 503 claims President Biden is intentionally facilitating a 
complete and total invasion of the southern border. This resolution 
claims that foreign cartels have complete control of our border. 
Seriously? It is insulting to the

[[Page H3079]]

Border Patrol agents that they claim to support, the ones that put 
their lives on the line every single day.
  By the way, just to talk facts for a second--which I know my 
Republican friends hate to do--since the end of title 42 on May 11, 
unlawful entries along the southern border have plummeted.
  As of June 6, Customs and Border Protection has reported over 70 
percent fewer encounters between points of entry or unscheduled 
encounters per day.
  Fentanyl seizures have increased under the Biden Presidency. To make 
that clearer for my friends across the aisle, that means that more 
fentanyl is getting picked up at the border before it makes it onto our 
streets. They are attacking Joe Biden for stopping more fentanyl. It 
makes no sense.
  No, they would rather talk about building a stupid wall along our 
southern border that they know won't work or about the nonbinding 
resolution they put on the floor this week that demonizes migrants but 
does nothing to fix our immigration system.
  They have a policy disagreement with President Biden and their first 
impulse isn't to pass an immigration bill. Their first impulse is to 
impeach him. Our Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves.
  They are doing this all so they can distract from the fact that 
Donald Trump stole top-secret information and stored it in his bathroom 
and showed highly classified Iran attack plans to people and bragged 
about stealing classified government documents on live TV.
  Trump is the legitimate national security risk. Don't come to us with 
this phony BS about how President Biden is the reason we have a crisis 
at our southern border.
  Republicans can yell and scream all they want. They can rant and rave 
so that they get on FOX News tonight. It doesn't make them right. It is 
doing untold damage to this institution. They have no respect for the 
traditions of this House. It is grotesque. It is embarrassing. It is 
shameful.
  We aren't debating matters that help or uplift people, rather we are 
debating garbage to make Trump happy. It is cowardly, and it is 
sickening.
  What we have here is a joke, just like this Republican majority--
which is clearly going to be a temporary majority.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I just note that this morning Texas DPS 
troopers arrested a Gulf cartel operative in the Rio Grande Valley 
smuggling people across the river. After having been paid thousands of 
dollars, they were moving five illegal immigrants into the United 
States.
  This is somebody that had been affiliated with a dangerous cartel. It 
is happening every day in the State of Texas because this 
administration refuses to do its job.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. 
Boebert).
  Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my impeachment 
bill that will hold Joe Biden accountable for the dereliction of one of 
his most basic duties and allowing an invasion to take place across our 
southern border that has compromised the safety and security of the 
American people.
  With the passage of House Resolution 529 today, the House is taking 
historic action. For the first time in 24 years, a House Republican-led 
majority is moving forward with impeachment proceedings against a 
current President.
  This bill allows impeachment proceedings to proceed through the 
traditional institutional channels by building a body of evidence at 
the committee level through the Committees on Homeland Security and the 
Judiciary. They will report out impeachment based on the evidence, and 
then the House adopting a resolution, so that when a trial occurs in 
the Senate there is an existing evidentiary record to rely upon when 
holding President Joe Biden accountable.
  Since his first day in office, President Biden has trampled on the 
Constitution through his dereliction of duty under Article II to take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed.
  Instead of enforcing our immigration laws, he has lawlessly ignored 
them and released more than 2 million illegal aliens into the interior 
of the United States without any enforcement mechanism to ensure that 
they appear in immigration court.
  His actions and open borders agenda demonstrate that he has no 
intention of enforcing our current immigration and border security 
statutes on the books. Rather, he is deliberately making a mockery of 
the rule of law. By ignoring congressionally enacted statutes, Joe 
Biden is threatening our constitutional Republic's sacred separation of 
powers.
  The National Border Patrol Union even noted that the leadership of 
the Biden administration are ``straight up liars.'' They even said, 
``We'd say they should be ashamed, but that implies they have a 
conscience.'' This is the most corrupt administration in U.S. history.

  Joe Biden's lawless disregard for our Federal laws have incentivized 
more than 5.5 million illegal aliens to attempt to cross the border, 
overwhelming Border Patrol, and allowing an invasion to take place that 
is causing real harm to the American people.
  The Biden border crisis and massive wave of illegal immigration has 
fueled a record-breaking fentanyl crisis. Since President Biden has 
taken office, over 100,000 Americans have died from fentanyl, including 
1,800 Coloradans.
  Under his failed leadership, Border Patrol agents have encountered 
over 42,000 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border. That is just 
what they have encountered. In addition to smuggling fentanyl, the 
National Border Patrol Union has noted that ``the billions of dollars 
that Biden's policies make for them'' support a criminal enterprise of 
``rape, murder, torture, child sex trafficking, and kidnapping.''
  That is enough fentanyl to kill every American 28 times over. 
Innocent children are dying from fentanyl overdoses, and the 
devastation this deadly drug is causing to families and communities 
cannot be overstated.
  President Biden's decision to cede operational control of the 
southern border to criminal cartels has endangered our national 
security. In just the first few months of fiscal year 2023, Border 
Patrol has already caught 125 people on the terrorist watch list trying 
to sneak into our country.
  President Biden's lawlessness is threatening the very fabric of our 
constitutional system. Under the Founder's carefully crafted plan, 
Congress has the legislative power to pass the laws, and the President 
has the executive power to enforce the laws. The President does not 
have the power to arbitrarily overturn laws or to refuse to enforce the 
ones he philosophically opposes.
  Rather, he is under a strict duty to take care that the laws of the 
United States are enforced. If a law is to be modified or overturned, 
only Congress has such power, not a rogue President taking 
unconstitutional, unilateral action.
  By nullifying our immigration and border security laws through a 
systematic lack of enforcement, President Biden has not only threatened 
the lives of countless Americans with his fentanyl crisis and increased 
crime, he has threatened the very foundation of our separation of 
powers.
  When a President tramples on the Constitution and ignores the laws on 
the books, it is Congress' solemn duty to restore our constitutional 
balance through articles of impeachment. Congress' power of impeachment 
was meant as the ultimate check and balance on the President.
  The Founders hardwired this important accountability mechanism into 
our Constitution for such a time as this. To stand with the forgotten 
men and women across America who are suffering from Biden's record-
breaking fentanyl crisis, to take action to secure the border, and to 
protect our constitutional separation of powers every Member should 
vote to hold President Joe Biden accountable.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, that was an awful lot. I don't have enough time to 
respond to all the inaccuracies that were just stated.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert in the Record an 
article from Newsweek titled ``Fentanyl Surge

[[Page H3080]]

Started and Peaked Under Trump Despite GOP Blaming Biden.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.

                     [From Newsweek, Feb. 11, 2022]

Fentanyl Surge Started and Peaked Under Trump Despite GOP Blaming Biden

                         (By Alex J. Rouhandeh)

       A major jump in fentanyl seizures at the border between 
     fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021 has placed President 
     Joe Biden at the center of GOP criticism. However, the 
     problem appeared to be mounting months before he took office.
       The first time monthly fentanyl seizures saw a sizable 
     spike over the last four years was in June of 2020 under 
     former President Donald Trump when Customs and Border 
     Protection (CBP) seized 713 pounds of the drug, an almost 200 
     percent increase from the month before.
       Only once before then, over fiscal years 2020 and 2019, did 
     the pounds of fentanyl seized in a month crack 400 pounds. 
     However, following the June 2020 seizure, the pounds of 
     fentanyl taken by CBP has surpassed the 700-pound mark each 
     month all but twice. The two greatest monthly seizures of 
     1,212 pounds and 1,193 pounds both took place in October and 
     December of 2020, just before Trump's turnover to Biden.
       Nonetheless, certain Republican politicians have looked to 
     place sole blame for the issue on Biden.
       ``The Biden administration's weak stance on border security 
     and drug enforcement has enabled drug traffickers to send 
     enormous amounts of fentanyl into our country,'' Republican 
     Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina said in a 
     February 10 statement. ``The carnage and destruction caused 
     by these weak and incompetent policies must end now.
       ``This has everything to do with the open borders policies 
     President Biden imposed on day one of his term that has 
     allowed an unprecedented supply of this drug to enter the 
     homeland and devastate families and communities,'' Republican 
     Congressman Darrell Issa said in a February 8 statement.
       So far, 117 Republicans joined together in signing a letter 
     demanding the president take ``immediate action'' to address 
     the crisis by supporting the classification of fentanyl as a 
     schedule 1 drug (with accepted medical use) instead of a 
     schedule 2 drug (substances with ``high potential for 
     abuse'').
       Although fentanyl is used to treat pain in cancer patients, 
     according to Med Line, Republicans argue that the drug should 
     be reclassified to ensure law enforcement ``has the tools 
     they need to combat this threat.''
       Funding for CBP drug enforcement activities through the 
     National Drug Control Program has looked consistent over the 
     past several years. Under Trump, almost $3.8 billion went to 
     CBP for drug enforcement in 2020, and over $3.1 billion was 
     allocated to the agency in 2019. Under Biden, over $3.4 
     billion went to CBP through the Drug Program in 2021.
       Following the Trump peaks in October and December of 2020, 
     the fentanyl seized each month has generally hovered between 
     800 and 1,000 pounds. However, in December of 2021, CBP 
     seized 549 pounds of fentanyl, the lowest amount seized since 
     the June of 2020 uptick. The data for January and February of 
     this year has not come out yet.

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about this accusation about 
open borders. I don't know how many times we need to say it, but the 
United States does not have open borders. We didn't have open borders 
under Trump, and we don't have open borders under Biden.
  Even the conservative CATO Institute knows that. Please stop 
incorrectly saying that our country has open borders. We do not.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert into the Record an 
article published by the CATO Institute titled ``Biden's Border Policy 
is Not `Open Borders'.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.

               [From the CATO Institute, Sept. 23, 2021]

             Biden's Border Policy Is Not ``Open Borders''

                           (By David J. Bier)

       Practically since his first week in office, President Joe 
     Biden has faced repeated criticisms from Republicans and some 
     Democrats that his border policy amounts to ``open borders.'' 
     This criticism is not simply inaccurate: it is unhinged from 
     reality in a way that distinguishes itself from normal 
     political hyperbole. Indeed, U.S. immigration policy is 
     effectively closed borders, and Biden's immigration policies 
     and goals are largely the same as those of President Donald 
     Trump.
       Under U.S. immigration law, it is illegal for anyone in the 
     world to travel or immigrate to the United States unless they 
     fall into very narrow exceptions. Like Alcohol Prohibition--
     which had exemptions for religious, medicinal, or industrial 
     purposes--America's immigration prohibition's small 
     exceptions are irrelevant for the vast majority of potential 
     immigrants. Effectively, if they don't qualify as a select 
     few high skilled workers or family members of U.S. citizens, 
     they can't come legally.
       President Biden has not suddenly ended America's 
     immigration prohibition and opened up U.S. borders to almost 
     anyone who wants to come (as was largely America's 
     immigration policy from 1776 to 1924). Instead, he has far 
     more vigorously enforced immigration prohibition than the law 
     requires, narrowing the few exceptions to the universal ban 
     on legal immigration.
       For example, one exception is for those facing persecution 
     in their home countries. Biden has undisputed authority under 
     the law to admit as many refugees from abroad as he wants. 
     The president sets the limit and picks whoever he considers 
     ``of concern'' to the United States. Yet Biden is on pace to 
     admit the fewest refugees in the history of the U.S. refugee 
     program, fewer than 10,000.
       He won't let refugees in from abroad. But the law 
     explicitly allows refugees to ask for asylum at U.S. borders 
     even if they don't have permission: anyone ``who arrives in 
     the United States (whether or not at a designated port of 
     arrival . . .), irrespective of [their legal] status, may 
     apply for asylum.'' In 1996, Congress clarified that agents 
     ``shall refer [any asylum seeker] for an interview by an 
     asylum officer.''
       Yet Biden won't follow that either. He has continued a 
     Trump ban on ``nonessential travel'' at U.S. land ports of 
     entry and requesting asylum isn't essential. So because they 
     can't come in legally, they cross illegally, and since the 
     law says they can apply ``whether or not at a designated port 
     of entry, irrespective of their legal status,'' they should 
     still have the right to request asylum.
       But Biden is using another Trump policy known as ``Title 42 
     expulsion'' to immediately deport as many asylum seekers and 
     border crossers as possible without hearing their asylum 
     claims. He's mostly dumping them in Mexico, just as Trump did 
     with ``Remain in Mexico,'' just with a different name and on 
     a much larger scale. Biden's still using the pandemic as a 
     reason for this policy, despite the easy availability of 
     effective vaccines for Americans who want them. But whatever 
     the excuse, his goal is the same as Trump: immediately deport 
     as many as he possibly can.
       So what explains the reports of some immigrants being 
     released into the United States? Is this ``open borders''? 
     Not at all. The numbers of arrivals so far exceed the 
     government's capacity to turn them away that it has resorted 
     to releasing a few of them as a last resort, but they are not 
     ``free.'' They are arrested, detained, and charged as 
     removable. They are illegal immigrants subject to re-arrest 
     at any time.
       The Biden administration has smashed all records for 
     immediate expulsions without due process, increasing the rate 
     from 62,000 per month under Trump to about 100,000, but 
     Mexico will only take back its own citizens, Guatemalans, 
     Hondurans, and Salvadorans, and even for the Central 
     Americans, it will not take back young kids with their 
     parents if it has no place for them to stay (how logical!).
       So everyone else must be put on planes and flown back, but 
     this takes far more time and resources than the government 
     has. Immigrants must be detained, checked over much more 
     thoroughly, and shipped to airports. There aren't enough 
     detention facilities, agents, and airplanes to get this job 
     done in enough time to avoid having to release some 
     immigrants. The Biden administration has repeatedly said as 
     much.
       Don't believe them? Well, the Trump administration faced 
     the exact same constraints, and they too released many 
     thousands of immigrants from the border. But Biden has a much 
     greater challenge now to keep up his closed border policies. 
     The number of immigrants arriving from outside Mexico and 
     Central America has exploded in the last few months, 
     increasing from about 10,000 to more than 62,000 per month, 
     requiring farther flights and more resources. Yet despite the 
     releases, the number of removals or those sent to immigration 
     jail far outnumber the number of releases about 3 to 1.
       The illegal immigration problem would disappear if 
     President Biden would simply let immigrants enter the country 
     legally at ports of entry to request asylum, grant them work 
     visas at consulates, or admit them from abroad under the 
     refugee program or through ``humanitarian parole''--a 
     discretionary legal immigration authority that he has chosen 
     only to deploy sparingly, mainly for Afghans. Yet Biden is 
     keeping consulates closed and wasting more than 42,000 H-2B 
     seasonal work visas that Congress authorized him to issue.
       Ultimately, Biden has made a policy choice to let in as few 
     immigrants as possible. He's not simply ``enforcing the 
     law.'' He's finding every way possible to keep out 
     immigrants. Yet despite this fact, he's still facing the same 
     tired claims that he's for ``open borders.'' If he's going to 
     get that claim regardless, he should just own it. Open 
     America's doors, and let immigrants come legally.

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me read an excerpt from the article--
this is from CATO.
  ``Practically since his first week in office, President Joe Biden has 
faced repeated criticisms from Republicans and some Democrats that his 
border policy amounts to `open borders.' This

[[Page H3081]]

criticism is not simply inaccurate: it is unhinged from reality in a 
way that distinguishes itself from normal political hyperbole. Indeed, 
U.S. immigration policy is effectively closed borders, and Biden's 
immigration policies and goals are largely the same as those of 
President Donald Trump.
  ``President Biden has not suddenly ended America's immigration 
prohibition and opened up U.S. borders to almost anyone who wants to 
come (as was largely America's immigration policy from 1776 to 1924). 
Instead, he has far more vigorously enforced immigration prohibition 
than the law requires, narrowing the few exceptions to the universal 
ban on legal immigration.''
  Mr. Speaker, I point this out because this is crazy what is being 
talked about here on the House floor. This is not about a policy 
disagreement; if it was, maybe my friends would actually pass a bill 
that had an alternative policy.
  The bill that they brought up on immigration this week was a bill 
that was a nonbinding resolution. It did nothing. It was just their 
opinion that expresses the sense of Congress. It was a 
``nothingburger''. If they wanted to, they would legislate in a way 
that would change a policy, but that is not what they want to do.
  This is about protecting Donald Trump. Donald Trump says to them, you 
know: Jump. And they ask: How high? That is what this is about. This is 
about covering up for the former President. It is about deflecting from 
the former President's criminality, the 37 felony counts that he has 
been indicted on, and they don't like it. Unfortunately, that is who he 
is.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania 
(Ms. Scanlon), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.
  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I cannot overstate the solemnness and 
sadness that I feel right now.
  To see the House so debased by the invocation of our most grave 
constitutional duty--impeachment of a President--should disturb every 
patriotic American.
  Just 49 years ago, Barbara Jordan, the great gentlewoman from Texas, 
invoked the solemnity with which any serious Member of Congress must 
approach our duties, and particularly the circumstances under which we 
should consider impeachment.

                              {time}  1115

  That solemnity has guided the majority in this House in recent years 
as we have tried to navigate an extraordinarily tumultuous time in 
service to our Nation and our constituents--a time in which we have 
seen a rogue former President run roughshod over the guardrails of 
democracy and decency, compromising our national security and 
disparaging the courts, the free press, law enforcement, Congress, and 
anyone who would try to hold him accountable.
  During that time, we impeached former President Trump twice, but we 
did so based upon a careful and close study of law, history, our 
Constitution, and rigorous factfinding, as well as consideration of the 
impact upon our country. We prayed. We prayed for guidance to discharge 
our duties to our country, our constituents, and our Constitution with 
fidelity.
  Today, as we confront this deeply unserious effort to impeach a 
President to serve partisan political posturing and political 
profiteering, I have to return to the words of Barbara Jordan.
  She cautioned: ``Common sense would be revolted if we engaged upon 
this process for petty reasons. Congress has a lot to do: 
appropriations, tax reform, health insurance, campaign finance reform, 
housing, environmental protection, energy sufficiency, and mass 
transportation. Pettiness cannot be allowed to stand in the face of 
such overwhelming problems.''
  Jordan's words could not ring more true today. Common sense is 
revolted by the political grandstanding and petty stunts allowed by the 
House majority. Days on end are wasted catering to the whims of an 
extremist minority.
  We are marking 6 months of one of the least productive Congresses in 
history. Under the control of this MAGA majority, we have made no 
progress in addressing the most pressing issues facing America, whether 
gun violence, hunger, opioid abuse, housing, immigration, health costs, 
tax reform, or the environment.
  So I must oppose both this rule and the resolution, because in the 
words of Congresswoman Jordan: ``My faith in the Constitution is whole; 
it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an 
idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of 
the Constitution.''
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I am moved by the references to solemnity after 
the chanting on the floor of the House yesterday for 5 minutes 
disrupting the Speaker of the House from carrying out his duties. I 
find it extremely moving.
  I am also moved by the references to how we have not passed 
legislation, despite the fact that we passed H.R. 2, the most impactful 
border security legislation that has been moved off the floor of the 
House, without a single Democrat vote because they are ignoring what 
the administration is doing to the State of Texas, to migrants, and to 
the security of our country.
  I am moved by the concerns for climate change which I am sure will 
assuage the angel moms and the fentanyl moms who have lost loved ones 
and the 72,000 Americans dead from fentanyl because my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle and the President of the United States 
refuse to secure the border.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Crane).
  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today in support of the 
rule to consider Representative Boebert's Articles of Impeachment 
against the President of the United States before the House Homeland 
Security Committee.
  Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution--the document 
Joe Biden swore an oath to defend--the President of the United States 
is charged with serving as the Commander in Chief, defending the Nation 
against threats, and ensuring the safety and security of all American 
citizens.
  Joe Biden has utterly failed to fulfill his responsibility to we the 
people.
  Our southern border faces a daily barrage of illegal aliens, human 
trafficking, and deadly fentanyl. It is an outright invasion, and Joe 
Biden is not only letting it happen, he is encouraging it.
  Back in 2019, Joe Biden during his Presidential campaign said this:
  ``We are a nation that says: `If you want to flee, and you are 
fleeing oppression, you should come.' ''
  He invited this invasion by sending up a flare signaling that anyone 
from anywhere could come exploit and abuse the American homeland.
  Now, 2\1/2\ years into the Biden regime, we are seeing the effects of 
his complete dereliction of duty. Since he took office, more than 1.5 
million illegal aliens have evaded apprehension. In fiscal year 2022 
alone, 150,000 unaccompanied children crossed by themselves. This 
fiscal year nearly 100 members of the terrorist watch list have been 
incentivized to cross so far, and I remind the people in this House 
that it only took 19 individuals to commit the attacks on 9/11.
  Tons of fentanyl have poured across the border with more than 17,000 
pounds coming across since just October 2022.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the 
gentleman from Arizona.
  Mr. CRANE. Joe Biden is the patriarch of a perverted and corrupt 
political dynasty who is more interested in profiting off his position 
than protecting our Nation. His time in the Oval Office has been a 
disgrace, and he deserves to be impeached, which is why I support the 
passage of this rule.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an 
article from Politifact titled: ``Are Biden's border policies to blame 
for fentanyl deaths? Experts say no.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.


[[Page H3082]]


  


                    [From Politifact, Feb. 10, 2023]

 Are Biden's Border Policies To Blame For Fentanyl Deaths? Experts Say 
                                   No

                        (By Maria Ramirez Uribe)

       President Joe Biden may have been seeking a bipartisan 
     solution to America's staggering fentanyl crisis when he 
     raised the issue at his State of the Union address Feb. 8. 
     But some lawmakers in the audience immediately tried to lay 
     blame at his feet.
       ``Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year,'' 
     the president said after introducing a father who lost his 
     20-year-old daughter to the drug.
       There was an immediate uproar from Republican lawmakers, 
     with some shouting ``border'' at Biden. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-
     Tenn., yelled, ``It's your fault!''
       It was a sentiment echoed by many Republican politicians 
     and others on social media in the aftermath of Biden's 
     address.
       Kayleigh McEnany, a former press secretary for Donald Trump 
     and now a Fox News contributor, wrote in a Feb. 7 Facebook 
     post, ``Joe Biden: `Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 
     Americans a year.' Why? Because of Joe Biden's wide open 
     southern border he has done nothing to fix!''
       The post was flagged as part of Facebook's efforts to 
     combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read 
     more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and 
     Instagram.
       Although U.S. deaths from fentanyl, a powerful synthetic 
     opioid, have risen sharply since Biden took office, data 
     shows they've been increasing for the past decade, including 
     during the Trump administration. Immigration encounters at 
     the southern border have escalated under Biden, but the 
     southern border is not open. Experts say the vast majority of 
     fentanyl being smuggled in comes through ports of entry, not 
     people trying to sneak into the country.
       Sanho Tree, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, a 
     progressive Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said 
     conflating migrants and drugs is an ``old script'' pushed for 
     political advantage by Republicans.
       Fentanyl ``is not carried on the backs of migrants. Drug 
     traffickers deal with professionals, not amateurs, and they 
     prefer U.S. citizens,'' he said.
       Alexandra Coscia, a Fox News spokesperson for McEnany, 
     pointed us to several articles, including one from 
     PolitiFact, that show the scope of the fentanyl crisis, as 
     well as data showing yearly increases in the amount of the 
     drug seized at the border. In 2021, according to a Washington 
     Post article Coscia sent us, more than 100,000 people died 
     from drug overdoses in the U.S.--two-thirds were from 
     fentanyl--and the number of people killed by the drug has 
     climbed 94% since 2019.
       But that article, an overview of a multiple-part 
     investigation by the Post, also blamed ``successive 
     administrations'' for failing to detect the growing problem. 
     It links to another Post article that said, ``Presidents from 
     both parties failed to take effective action in the face of 
     one of the most urgent threats to the nation's security.''
       There were 71,238 U.S. deaths from synthetic drugs, mostly 
     fentanyl, in 2021, according to the most recent data 
     available from the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention. That is a 23% increase from 2020, Trump's final 
     year in office, when there were 57,834 deaths. Overdose 
     deaths from fentanyl and other drugs have been rising since 
     2014, according to CDC data. Why is fentanyl so deadly? Adam 
     Isacson, defense oversight director at the Washington Office 
     on Latin America, a research and human rights advocacy group, 
     said the U.S. seems to be in what he called ``the third wave 
     of the 21st century opioid crisis.''
       After prescription opioids, ``pill mills'' and heroin, he 
     said, ``traffickers have found fentanyl even easier to 
     produce--no need to plant poppy fields,'' he said.
       ``Each wave of opioid is even more concentrated than the 
     last, requiring smaller and smaller amounts to get high--or 
     to overdose. It's just too easy and cheap now to accidentally 
     administer a fatal dose,'' Isacson said.
       Drug users often don't know exactly what they're taking, he 
     said. ``It's not like there's a label'' showing the contents.
       Most illegally sourced fentanyl in the U.S. comes from 
     Mexico through the southern border. Fentanyl seizures at the 
     border have been rising since fiscal year 2015. Most 
     recently, fentanyl seizures climbed from 11,200 in fiscal 
     year 2021 to 14,700 in 2022, U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection data shows.
       So far in fiscal year 2023, which started in October, 
     border officials have seized more than 9,400 pounds of 
     fentanyl. In November alone, 4,500 pounds were seized, nearly 
     as much as was seized in all of fiscal year 2020.
       Most fentanyl is smuggled at ports of entry by U.S. 
     citizens, not by immigrants crossing the border illegally. 
     About 9,100 pounds of the 9,400 seized so far this fiscal 
     year were seized there. ``The drug cartels have no need to 
     send the drugs with people who are crossing the border 
     without authorization,'' said Michelle Mittelstadt, 
     communications and public affairs director at the Migration 
     Policy Institute. ``They are able to reach the U.S. market 
     with ever-rising quantities of fentanyl by going through 
     official crossings.''
       Immigrants who seek asylum and tum themselves in to 
     authorities at the border are ``not suitable contraband 
     carriers,'' said Josiah Heyman, director of the Center for 
     Inter-American and Border Studies at the University of Texas 
     at El Paso. Neither are people who sneak into the country 
     between ports of entries. Those immigrants are often 
     arrested, and some get lost or die in the desert, he said.
       ``Drug smuggling operations don't want that sort of loss,'' 
     said Heyman, adding that they prefer to smuggle the drugs in 
     vehicles through ports of entry.
       Although a lot of fentanyl is seized at ports of entry, 
     some obviously gets through. Even a limited rate of smuggling 
     success ``is easily enough to supply U.S. demand,'' Heyman 
     said. Isacson said although ``we can't know what's not 
     getting caught,'' it's likely that seizure data at the border 
     ``points to trends by showing a small share of total 
     traffic.''
       There have been 4.5 million encounters with migrants at the 
     southern border between February 2021, Biden's first full 
     month in office, and December 2022. But McEnany is wrong to 
     suggest that's because the border has been ``wide open'' 
     since he took office, a claim we've tackled several times.
       The Biden administration continues to enforce immigration 
     laws and policies at the border, including Title 42, a public 
     health policy that has so far quickly expelled more than 2.1 
     million immigrants. There are also fences, drones and 
     surveillance technology, as well as about 20,000 U.S. Border 
     Patrol agents who help limit who and what comes into the 
     United States.
       Border security funding under Biden is comparable to 
     funding under Trump's administration. An omnibus spending 
     bill passed in December will provide $16. 7 billion for 
     Customs and Border Protection in fiscal year 2023. That 
     includes $88 million to increase personnel between ports of 
     entry and $60 million to hire hundreds of border patrol 
     officers and other staff.
       McEnany didn't say what specific border policies Biden 
     should change. Ogles, who shouted that the fentanyl deaths 
     were Biden's fault, later told The Hill that Biden could 
     ``close that border with a stroke of a pen.''
       Mittelstadt said closing the southern border as Ogles 
     suggests would require shutting down all entries and 
     crossings along nearly 2,000 miles, including to legal 
     traffic. She said the ``policy conversation would have a 
     better chance of succeeding'' if it focused on better 
     detection at ports of entry, better intelligence collection, 
     disruption of drug cartel activities and more anticorruption 
     efforts.
       The Biden administration is touting investments to scan 
     more vehicles at ports of entry and enlisting help from 
     Mexico and other countries to disrupt suppliers.
       ``It will require a highly sustained and well-resourced set 
     of operations to make a dent in fentanyl trafficking,'' 
     Mittelstadt said. ``There clearly is an incentive for 
     Congress and the administration to work cooperatively 
     together to provide adequate resources to respond 
     effectively.''

  Mr. McGOVERN. Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. were rising before Biden 
took office, and, in fact, he is intercepting more fentanyl than the 
previous administration did. I think we need the Republicans to get 
their facts straight.
  The other thing I want to point out to my friends--and maybe they 
need to read their history books or read the Constitution--impeachment 
is about high crimes and misdemeanors. It is not about policy 
disagreements.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Republicans would rather the American 
public pay attention to anything--literally anything--other than the 
latest charges that their leader has been slapped with.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an 
article from The Washington Post titled: ``Here are the 37 charges 
against Trump and what they mean.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.

                [From the Washington Post, June 9, 2023]

        Here Are the 37 Charges Against Trump and What They Mean

                           (By Rachel Weiner)

       A court on Friday unsealed the federal indictment against 
     Donald Trump and an aide over classified documents found at 
     his Mar-a-Lago home and the men's alleged efforts to keep the 
     government from finding the materials. Here's what we know 
     about the charges against the former president, brought by 
     special counsel Jack Smith.


                   How many charges does Trump face?

       Trump is accused of violating seven federal laws but faces 
     37 separate charges. That is because each classified document 
     he is accused of holding on to illegally is charged in a 
     separate count, and his alleged efforts to hide classified 
     information from federal investigators is charged in several 
     ways. His longtime aide Walt Nauta faces six charges, five of 
     which are also lodged against Trump.


                  What are the charges against Trump?

       Espionage Act/unauthorized retention of national defense 
     information: Trump is charged with 31 counts of violating a 
     part of the Espionage Act that bars willful retention of 
     national defense information by someone not authorized to 
     have it. Such information is defined as ``any document, 
     writing, code

[[Page H3083]]

     book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, 
     blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note 
     relating to the national defense, or information relating to 
     the national defense which information the possessor has 
     reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United 
     States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.'' 
     Technically, that information does not have to be classified, 
     but in practice the law is almost exclusively used to 
     prosecute retention of classified material. In Trump's case, 
     prosecutors say that all but one of the 31 documents he is 
     charged with illegally retaining were marked as classified at 
     the ``secret'' or ``top secret'' level. The unmarked document 
     concerned ``military contingency planning,'' according to the 
     indictment.
       A conviction does not require any evidence of a desire to 
     disseminate the classified information; having it in an 
     unauthorized location is enough. But the crime requires a 
     ``willful'' mishandling of material ``the possessor has 
     reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United 
     States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.'' Charges 
     are generally not brought without some aggravating factor 
     making clear the retention was not accidental--such as 
     evidence of intent to share the information, signs of 
     disloyalty to the U.S. government, or simply the volume of 
     documents taken.
       Unlike other government employees, the president does not 
     go through a security clearance process that includes a 
     pledge to follow classification rules. But Trump received 
     requests from the National Archives and Records 
     Administration (NARA) and subpoenas from the Justice 
     Department indicating that the documents in question were 
     classified and needed to be returned to the U.S. government. 
     Prosecutors say he instead sought to hide them from federal 
     investigators. And while the president can declassify most 
     information, there is a process for doing so. According to 
     the indictment, Trump twice showed classified information to 
     others, once while saying that the document was still 
     classified and lamenting that he no longer had the power to 
     declassify it.
       Conspiracy to obstruct justice: Trump is charged with one 
     count of conspiring with Nauta to hide classified material 
     from federal investigators, by lying to the FBI about what 
     was found at the Mar-a-Lago and moving boxes of documents out 
     of a storage room before agents searched the home. Trump 
     specifically is accused of suggesting that one of his 
     attorneys lie to the FBI and help hide or destroy documents.
       Tampering with grand jury evidence: Trump and Nauta face 
     two--counts of trying to keep evidence out of grand jurors' 
     hands: one count of withholding the classified documents and 
     one of corruptly concealing them. As part of those charges, 
     Trump is accused of trying to persuade one of his attorneys 
     to help conceal the documents, while Nauta is accused of 
     hiding the evidence by moving the boxes of classified 
     documents.
       Concealing evidence in a federal investigation: For the 
     same alleged conduct of hiding the classified information at 
     Mar-a-Lago, Trump and Nauta separately face one count of 
     concealing evidence with the intent to obstruct an FBI 
     investigation.
       False statements: Both Trump and Nauta together face one 
     count of scheming to making false statements for allegedly 
     hiding from the FBI and the grand jury that the former 
     president still had classified documents in his possession. 
     Trump faces a separate count for causing his attorney to 
     falsely claim in June 2022 that all classified documents in 
     the former president's possession had been handed over in 
     response to a subpoena, according to the indictment. Nauta 
     alone accused of lying to the FBI by falsely claiming that he 
     had nothing to do with moving any boxes.


                What possible penalties does Trump face?

       The maximum punishment for each count of unlawful retention 
     of national defense information is 10 years in prison. 
     Conspiracy to obstruct justice, tampering with grand jury 
     evidence, and concealing evidence in a federal investigation 
     all carry punishments of up to 20 years. Each false statement 
     charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.
       If Trump was convicted on all charges, the sentences could 
     run consecutively, amounting to hundreds of years in prison. 
     But federal defendants are rarely given the maximum possible 
     punishment. He does not face any mandatory minimum sentences.
       Sentences in unlawful retention cases vary widely, 
     depending in part on how sensitive the material is, how much 
     of it there is, how long the person held on to it and his or 
     her cooperation with investigators. A Defense Department 
     employee in Manila who took home a small amount of secret-
     level information to work on a classified thesis project 
     served only three months behind bars. Kenneth Wayne Ford Jr., 
     who was found guilty at trial of bringing home national 
     defense information after leaving the National Security 
     Agency and lying about the case, received a six-year 
     sentence. A former NSA contractor who over two decades 
     amassed a huge trove of highly sensitive material, including 
     hacking tools and details of overseas operations, was 
     sentenced to nine years in prison. A Navy sailor who took 
     pictures of classified areas of a nuclear-powered submarine 
     and then destroyed the evidence was sentenced to a year in 
     prison for retention and obstruction; Trump later pardoned 
     him.
       Retired Gen. David H. Petraeus was given probation after 
     pleading guilty to sharing classified information with his 
     biographer. At the time, the crime of mishandling classified 
     information--as opposed to national defense information--was 
     a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of a year behind 
     bars. It became a felony during Trump's presidency.


              What other criminal charges does Trump face?

       Trump is charged in New York State Court with unrelated 
     crimes for conduct that predates his presidency. He is 
     accused of falsifying business records to hide payments 
     during the 2016 campaign made to an adult-film star to keep 
     her from saying publicly that she had an affair with Trump.
       Trump is also under investigation by a state prosecutor in 
     Georgia, who is looking at his efforts to overturn President 
     Biden's 2020 victory in that state. Smith is also 
     investigating Trump's attempts to stay in office after losing 
     the presidential election, including his pressure on 
     officials in battleground states and fundraising off false 
     claims of election fraud.


                  Has Trump responded to the charges?

       The former president described himself as ``an innocent 
     man'' being treated unfairly in comparison with Biden. 
     Classified documents from the Obama administration were 
     discovered in Biden's Delaware home late last year by lawyers 
     cleaning out his home office. Biden's attorneys turned those 
     documents over to NARA, and the president gave the Justice 
     Department permission to search the home, as well as his 
     beach house and think tank office. The White House has said 
     that only ``a small number'' of documents from Biden's vice-
     presidential tenure were found. A special counsel has been 
     appointed to oversee that investigation.

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would love to insert in the Record the 
entirety of the charges, but, apparently, I am told it is too long to 
be able to be put into the Congressional Record.
  Let me say a couple of things. Trump is charged with 31 counts of 
violating a part of the Espionage Act that bars willful retention of 
national defense information by someone not authorized to have it.
  He is basically charged with, among other things, conspiracy to 
obstruct justice, tampering with grand jury evidence, concealing 
evidence in a Federal investigation, and false statements.
  Mr. Speaker, I get it. If I were they, I would want to talk about 
anything other than that, but those are the facts. No matter how you 
want to distract and deflect, Mr. Speaker, the American people are not 
going to ignore what I believe will ultimately prove to be criminality 
of the former President.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
Thompson).
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman 
from Massachusetts giving me time.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution is simply the latest attempt by extreme 
MAGA Republicans to distract from the legal peril facing their twice-
impeached, twice-indicted party leader.
  This cynical resolution has nothing to do with border security, it 
does nothing to stop fentanyl deaths, and it has nothing to do with 
constitutional law.
  Extreme MAGA Republicans hoped for chaos at the Southwest border when 
title 42 pandemic restrictions ended, but migrant encounters last month 
actually decreased 15 percent according to Customs and Border 
Protection.
  Now, since MAGA Republicans have no policy solutions, they are 
attempting a backdoor maneuver to advance a baseless impeachment of 
President Biden--something they openly admit they wanted to do from day 
one.
  Under this rule, my committee will have to put aside its homeland 
security oversight and authorization activities to deal with the 
Boebert resolution, which is predicated on phony policy differences 
rather than any allegation that the President committed a crime.
  Let that sink in, Mr. Speaker. The House Homeland Security Committee 
is going to become a venue for a political Presidential impeachment.
  I have proudly served on the committee from its creation, and I guess 
if you are around long enough, Mr. Speaker, you will see everything.
  Is this distraction for a disgraced ex-President the best way for the 
Homeland Security Committee to spend its time?
  No, it is not. We know the answer, and it doesn't have to be that 
one.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the rule.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Donalds).
  Mr. DONALDS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 
529.

[[Page H3084]]

  Let's be very clear. The issue that is happening at our southern 
border--not the name-calling or talking about former President Trump--
what is happening at our southern border today and for the last 2 years 
under President Biden has been a dereliction of duty with respect to 
immigration law in the United States.
  If the other side wants to speak to the actual issues at hand, it is 
the fact that the asylum provisions under Joe Biden are a 
bastardization of asylum procedure as set forth in Federal law by 
Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress never anticipated that you would have 6 
million-plus people come through the asylum process in 2 years. 
Congress never contemplated that you would have an asylum procedure 
where you would have people on a 7- to 10-year waitlist to actually go 
through an asylum procedure.
  The President knows this is the case, and it is being done on 
purpose.
  That is a congressional purview, and it actually is a dereliction of 
his duty to faithfully execute the laws of the United States.
  So if the minority party wants to ask about why we are here, it is 
that. It is my belief and the belief of many Members on our side of the 
aisle that this resolution should go to the Homeland Security Committee 
so they can fully debate and go through the depths of which Joe Biden 
has been derelict in his duty to execute the laws with respect to 
immigration in the United States which has major impacts on the 
American people.
  There are 100,000 Americans who have died from fentanyl overdoses 
because of his dereliction of duty. We have the drug cartels on our 
southern border who have operational control of the southern border 
because of his dereliction of duty.
  If the President and congressional Democrats actually took the time 
to investigate this--like going to the southern border--then they would 
know this, too.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution, and Members should be in 
support of it, as well.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, let me say to the gentleman who just spoke that I know 
exactly why he is here. I don't think this is--and the American people 
know--this is not a serious effort. I know my friends don't want to 
talk about Trump. They want to talk about Biden. So let's talk about 
Joe Biden.
  I want to make something clear: Not only is any talk of impeaching 
President Biden completely absurd--as many House Republicans know--but 
President Biden has been a historic success over the first 2\1/2\ years 
in office.
  He took office in the throes of the pandemic and in the midst of the 
chaos caused by his predecessor trying to illegally hold on to power, 
but that hasn't stopped Democrats from making huge strides to improve 
the lives of every American.

  Democrats jumped into action by enacting the American Rescue Plan in 
the President's first months in office. That law changed the course of 
the pandemic and set the course of our economic recovery to be the envy 
of the rest of the world. It lifted more than 5 million children out of 
poverty, it safely reopened our schools, and it put money back in the 
pockets of middle-class Americans.
  Every Republican voted against those things.
  President Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure law which makes 
historic investments in our roads, our bridges, and our transportation 
networks while improving public safety and creating jobs all across the 
country.
  We passed into law the biggest piece of gun safety legislation in 
decades, and we enacted the Inflation Reduction Act less than a year 
ago.
  President Biden is now busy implementing that law which will cut 
prescription drug costs for our senior citizens, lower the cost of 
healthcare for millions of Americans, make historic investments in 
clean energy, and make American-made solutions to our climate crisis.
  It will do all of that while lowering our deficit, unlike so many of 
the bills this Republican majority has brought to the floor which would 
do the opposite.
  This isn't just me saying how great all of this is. During the 
Financial Services Committee hearing yesterday, Fed Chairman Jerome 
Powell was asked about inflation.
  He said: ``Everybody has very high inflation, the E.U., the United 
Kingdom, and many countries within Europe.''
  He made one more important point: ``Our recovery is by far the 
strongest of any country.''
  Just look at the results more broadly. More Americans have jobs right 
now than at any point in American history. Over the past 2 years, more 
small businesses have been created than at any other period on record. 
More Americans have health insurance right now than ever before in our 
history.

                              {time}  1130

  I could go on and on, but let me be clear. No one is saying things 
are perfect. There is a lot that we need to do.
  We need to do more to keep our children fed. We need to do more to 
ensure every child gets the education they deserve. We need to do more 
to make sure the richest Americans pay their fair share. We need to do 
more to get guns off the streets.
  I would love to see this Republican majority do anything at all to 
reach those goals or do anything that means anything to anybody.
  Instead, we are here today debating this latest attempt by the 
Speaker to keep the most radical members of his party behind him. Quite 
frankly, it is embarrassing, and it is pathetic.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Good), my good friend.
  Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, it is refreshing to hear my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to be so sober about the 
issue of impeachment coming after being in the majority for 2 years 
when, for the first time in the history of the country, there were two 
impeachment charges brought in this very House.
  Impeachment should not be political. It should not be cavalier. It 
should not be flippant. That would be bringing impeachment charges 
based on a phone call, where there was questionable content to a phone 
call, something that this current President is actually being 
investigated for by the House Oversight Committee as we speak.
  It would be a cavalier, flippant impeachment investigation with just 
1 week left in someone's term just to tarnish or attack their personal 
legacy with no opportunity for that to move forward other than just the 
charges.
  It would be cavalier to announce right after an election that: We are 
going to impeach the MFer.
  That is what happened with our friends on the other side of the 
aisle.
  There does need to be more consideration about whether or not 
impeachment is justified for depleting our Strategic Petroleum Reserve 
on the eve of an election for political reasons.
  There should be more consideration as to whether or not a President 
should be impeached for taking authority that he says he doesn't 
constitutionally have the power to do, such as the eviction moratorium 
or the student loan transfer scheme.
  More consideration might be warranted for the very things that are 
being investigated by the current Committee on Oversight relative to 
bribery allegations and influence peddling allegations.
  What more investigation is needed for the border invasion? What more 
investigation is needed for the violation of Article IV, Section 4, 
responsibility to protect the States from invasion?
  How long will we let this border invasion continue? Are we to let it 
go on for another year and a half? How many is too many after 7 million 
illegals have invaded this country?
  There are 1.5 million got-aways. Of those criminal got-aways, if only 
1 percent are dangerous individuals, that is 15,000 reckless, dangerous 
individuals intending harm on this country. Would anyone take those 
odds that only 1 percent of those 1.5 million got-aways are, indeed, 
bad actors?
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H3085]]

  Mr. Speaker, I will say to the gentleman that we are well aware that 
the previous President was impeached twice and justifiably so.
  The first impeachment dealt with his effort to try to extort 
Zelenskyy into getting dirt on Joe Biden in exchange for assistance so 
that they could defend themselves against Putin. I guess no one should 
be surprised because the President seems to have this--the former 
President seems to have this obsession with Putin.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record a 2020 
Roll Call article titled: ``Senate report outlines `grave' Russian 
threat in 2016 election interference probe.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.

    Senate Report Outlines `Grave' Russian Threat in 2016 Election 
                           Interference Probe

                           (By Gopal Ratnam)

       The report details ties between the Trump campaign and 
     Russia but doesn't find evidence of coordinated scheme.
       The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released the 
     final report on its investigation into Russian interference 
     in the 2016 election, finding numerous contacts between the 
     Trump campaign and Moscow posed a ``grave'' 
     counterintelligence threat.
       ``We found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,'' Sen. 
     Marco Rubio, R-Fla., acting chairman of the Senate 
     Intelligence Committee, said in a statement, directly 
     refuting President Donald Trump's repeated assertions that 
     Russian interference was a ``hoax'' perpetrated by Democrats.
       The committee, however, did not find any evidence of a 
     coordinated scheme between the Trump campaign and Moscow, 
     Rubio said.
       The nearly 1,000-page report outlines the ``breathtaking 
     level of contacts between Trump officials and Russian 
     government operatives that is a very real counterintelligence 
     threat to our elections,'' Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the 
     committee's top Democrat, said in a statement.
       The bipartisan congressional report closes the panel's 
     three-year probe into the Kremlin-led operation to influence 
     and interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The fifth 
     and final report involved interviewing 200 witnesses and 
     examining more than 1 million documents, the committee said.
       Previous volumes examined Russian attempts to break into 
     U.S. election infrastructure, the Kremlin's use of social 
     media to divide American public opinion, the Obama 
     administration's failures to counter Moscow's push, and a 
     review of the U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment.
       The extensive final report nevertheless hides important new 
     findings that have been ``needlessly classified,'' Sen. Ron 
     Wyden, D-Ore., said in a separate section of the report.
       ``That is unfortunate, not only because the 
     counterintelligence concerns that surround Donald Trump 
     constitute an ongoing threat to national security, but 
     because this report includes redacted information that is 
     directly relevant to Russia's interference in the 2020 
     election,'' Wyden said.
       In a recent warning, William Evanina, director of the 
     National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said Russia 
     is actively interfering in the 2020 election, and ``some 
     Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President 
     Trump's candidacy on social media and Russian television.'' 
     China and Iran are also attempting to shape the election, he 
     added.
       Top Democratic lawmakers, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi 
     and Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House 
     Intelligence Committee, have asked Evanina to release more 
     information.
       The Senate Intelligence Committee report found that Trump 
     campaign chairman Paul Manafort's presence ``created 
     opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert 
     influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the 
     Trump Campaign.''
       Manafort worked for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and 
     other Kremlin-affiliated Russians to mount influence 
     campaigns in Ukraine, and in the process also hired and 
     worked with Konstantin Kilimnik, a former Russian 
     intelligence officer, the report said.
       ``The Committee obtained some information suggesting 
     Kilimnik may have been connected to the GRU's hack and leak 
     operation targeting the 2016 U.S. election,'' the report 
     said, referring to the Russian military intelligence service 
     by its initials.
       U.S. intelligence agencies have said hackers working for 
     GRU were directly involved in breaking into the Democratic 
     National Committee's servers as well as breaching the email 
     account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager.
       Manafort shared Trump campaign's internal polling data with 
     Kilimnik prior to the 2016 election. And in the months after 
     November 2016, Manafort continued to work with Kilimnik and 
     other Russians ``to undermine evidence that Russia interfered 
     in the 2016 U.S. election,'' the report said.
       ``Manafort's high level access and willingness to share 
     information with individuals closely affiliated with the 
     Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik and 
     associates of Oleg Deripaska, represented a grave 
     counterintelligence threat,'' the report said.
       The hack and breaching of the DNC and Podesta email account 
     were ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the 
     committee report said.
       The stolen information was then exposed on WikiLeaks, and 
     Trump campaign senior officials worked with Trump confidant 
     Roger Stone to ``obtain advance information about WikiLeaks's 
     planned releases,'' the report said. Stone was later found 
     guilty of lying to Congress, but Trump commuted his prison 
     sentence.
       The report said the committee uncovered previously unknown 
     links between the Kremlin and the Russian lawyer Natalia 
     Veselnitskaya, who arranged a meeting with Trump associates 
     at Trump Tower in June 2016. After initially saying that the 
     meeting was about Americans adopting Russian kids, Trump and 
     his associates admitted the Russians offered to help the 
     Trump campaign.
       Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin, who was present at the 
     meeting ``have significant connections to the Russian 
     government, including the Russian intelligence services,'' 
     the report said. ``The connections the Committee uncovered, 
     particularly regarding Veselnitskaya, were far more extensive 
     and concerning than what had been publicly known, and neither 
     Veselnitskaya nor Akhmetshin were forthcoming with the 
     Committee regarding those connections.''
       The report also faulted the FBI for botching its 
     investigation into the Russian influence and hacking 
     operations, as well as the DNC for its response.
       ``The FBI could have, and should have, escalated its 
     communications to the DNC much sooner than it did, but also 
     that the DNC interlocutors did not assign appropriate weight 
     to the FBI's warnings,'' the report said. ``Communication on 
     both sides was inadequate, further confusing an already 
     complex situation.''
       The agency also placed ``unjustified credence'' on a 
     dossier by Christopher Steele, a former British spy, and used 
     that information to obtain a surveillance warrant on a Trump 
     campaign aide, the committee said. The agency did not budge 
     from its position even as contrary information emerged later, 
     the report found.
       ``During both of these matters, the FBI did not quickly 
     identify the problem and adjust course when it became clear 
     its actions were ineffective,'' the report said.

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, despite the former President's repeated 
claims that Russian interference in our 2016 election was a Democratic 
hoax, a bipartisan Senate investigation and report released in 2020 
made clear that there were extensive communications between senior 
Trump officials and people with strong ties to the Kremlin.
  Senator Marco Rubio--the last time I checked, he was still a 
Republican--said: ``We found irrefutable evidence of Russian 
meddling.''
  The report is damning. The facts are clear. Russia interfered in an 
election.
  The second impeachment was really in response to what happened here, 
and everybody saw what happened here: A violent mob broke into this 
Capitol.
  Mr. Speaker, 140 Capitol Police officers were injured. The mob 
destroyed sacred property in this building. They tried to overturn a 
legitimate election. They attempted an insurrection.
  I was in the chair, one of the last people off the House floor. I saw 
some of my Republican colleagues here, hiding, cowering behind Capitol 
Police because they were afraid of what was going on that day.
  Now, they come to the floor and say nothing happened, that it was a 
perfectly wonderful day, a typical day of tourism at the Capitol. It is 
disgusting, the revisionism that we see here.
  So you are damn right that he got impeached a second time. He 
deserved to be impeached. If that is not an impeachable offense, I 
don't know what is.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona 
(Mr. Biggs), my good friend.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I find it fascinating to listen to someone who lives in the 
Northeast, in a nice enclave protected from the border, stand up and 
say nothing about this is serious. Tell that to the victims of this 
border-crossing invasion. Tell that to them. They say: Oh, all the 
fentanyl is being stopped at the border.
  It is just incredible.
  What is going on between the ports of entry? Sure, we catch it at the 
ports of entry. Why? We have massive amounts of resources there. 
Between the ports of entry are wide open spaces.
  The last time I was down there--when was the last time you were 
there? I go down often. I live in Arizona. I get down to the border.

[[Page H3086]]

  The last time I was there, we were driving along and didn't see 
Border Patrol for miles. Do you know what we came upon? We came upon 21 
individuals.
  There is no town. There is no village. We asked them how they got 
here. The coyotes dropped us off and told us keep walking north. In 
that group were two babies under the age of 1 year.
  I am telling you, this is a result of the dereliction of duty that 
has put this country in jeopardy. That is why this needs to go to the 
Committee on Homeland Security, so they can further investigate this. 
That is why it needs to be there.
  Laugh if you will. That is the reality. You don't appreciate the 
seriousness of this, the gravity of it.
  Laugh at it if you will, but you get to go to the angel families and 
explain to them why their kid or a member of their family was killed by 
an illegal alien who came into this country. You get to go to the 
parents.
  You get to go to the parents of individuals who have lost their lives 
due to the fentanyl that you apparently claim is all being interdicted. 
It is dangerous. We have terrorists and criminal gang members coming 
in.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Norman), my good friend.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I find it humorous, for those watching on TV 
and for those in the balcony, that they keep talking about President 
Trump. They won't talk about the current President, Joe Biden.
  I am going to start off with a compliment. He has been able to 
accomplish being the worst President and has replaced Jimmy Carter as 
the worst President this country has ever had of all time, and it is 
because of his policies.
  I support this going to the Committee on Homeland Security because, 
as has been said, the border is wide open. The gates are open.
  How many more deaths do we have to have? How many more of our young 
people have to die? Mr. Speaker, there were 100,000 last year of 
record. As a Border Patrol agent said, there are no drug treatments in 
a morgue.
  How long are we going to have an administration that is going to take 
the handcuffs and put them on the police?
  How long are we going to have an administration that is going to 
deplete our oil supplies and buy it from countries that don't like us?
  How long are we going to have an administration that is going to 
support abortion regardless of the term? How long?
  Ask the average businessowner in this country if he is having a good 
year or a bad year. Are prices coming up or going down? We have the 
worst inflation that we have had in a long time, and it simply cannot 
go on.
  The election cannot come quick enough. This man has sold out. This 
man has to be replaced.
  Homeland Security is the right way for this resolution to go because 
we will get the facts. I fully support it. I thank Mrs. Boebert for 
taking the lead on this.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman said something that I agree with: The 
election cannot come soon enough.
  I think people are just sick and tired of my Republican friends 
defending a three-time loser, sexual abuser, ex-President that has been 
indicted more times than he has been elected. It is pathetic.

  We should be working on matters that actually help people. That is 
why Democrats have been fighting not only for commonsense gun safety 
legislation and investments in job creation and environmental 
protection, but we have also been insisting that we get a guarantee 
from the majority here that they don't go after Social Security and 
Medicare.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge that we defeat the previous question, and I will 
offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of a 
resolution assuring our constituents that the people's House will 
protect and preserve Social Security and Medicare for our future 
generations and reject any cuts to these essential programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my 
amendment in the Record along with any extraneous material immediately 
prior to the vote on the previous question.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I will say to my friends that while you want to distract 
and deflect from all of Donald Trump's legal problems, they continue to 
mount.
  I think there will be probably more charges, I expect, in the coming 
weeks and the coming months. While my colleagues do not want to talk 
about things like Social Security and Medicare because they are the 
party of privatization, the party of trying to undercut Medicare, we 
are going to fight them on those things.
  We are going to continue to be a voice for the people of this 
country, for our senior citizens, for those who believe that Social 
Security and Medicare are important. We will not be deflected or 
deterred by whatever this circus is that is going on here today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Ogles), my good friend.
  Mr. OGLES. Mr. Speaker, Joe Biden's border policies have led to an 
all-out land invasion at our southern border, which is why the Homeland 
Security Committee should be investigating.
  Joe Biden's border policies have led to a drug crisis and thousands 
of fentanyl overdoses across our Nation--again, the jurisdiction of the 
Homeland Security Committee.
  Joe Biden's border policies have led to the murders of countless 
Americans at the hands of illegal aliens--again, a priority for the 
Homeland Security Committee.
  His blatant dereliction of duty to preserve, dereliction to protect, 
and dereliction to defend the United States of America and the American 
people deserves impeachment.
  Instead, Joe Biden has demonstrated time and again, in policymaking 
and political decisions, that he prioritizes illegal aliens over 
American citizens, over our wives, our daughters, and our children.
  His gross neglect and refusal to take action at the border warrants 
removal from his post--again, why the Homeland Security Committee must 
investigate.
  That is why I support Congresswoman Boebert's Articles of Impeachment 
and referral to committee.
  The CBP had a record number of encounters with terrorists at the 
southern border. The security of our Nation is being undermined by 
foreign enemies because they know we have weak leadership.
  We need to remove Joe Biden from the Oval Office and ensure that 
Americans are safe. We need a leader that puts America and its people 
first, not illegal immigration.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Boebert, Speaker McCarthy, and 
Chairman Green for taking this up, and I urge all my colleagues to 
support the referral of Articles of Impeachment to committee.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I have to say that my friends on the other side of the 
aisle look small and pathetic and like losers. When they lose this 
House, this is going to be a reason why.
  Mr. Speaker, my friends keep talking about open borders. That is an 
insult to the men and women in our Border Patrol who are risking their 
lives to protect our borders. It is just not true.
  I entered in the Record an article by the conservative think tank, 
the Cato Institute, but facts don't matter. It is what plays on FOX 
News and how we can distract and how people can make up things.
  I will also say, Mr. Speaker, that try as they might to deflect from 
the former President, we can't turn our back on what he has done.
  Look, Trump literally can't help himself. He has admitted multiple 
times on air, during interviews, and to

[[Page H3087]]

others that he stole and shared top-secret government information. Talk 
about a national security threat. The call is coming from inside the 
house.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an 
article from Rolling Stone titled: ``Trump All But Confesses to 
Mishandling Classified Docs on FOX News.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.

                  [From Rolling Stone, June 19, 2023]

   Trump All But Confesses to Mishandling Classified Docs on Fox News

                            (By Miles Klee)

       A week after his second post-presidential arrest, this one 
     for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after 
     leaving the White House, Donald Trump turned to Fox News host 
     Bret Baier on Monday to make the case for why he should lead 
     the country again. But he ended up essentially confessing to 
     the crime of which he's accused: stealing and sharing top-
     secret government information.
       Before that, however, Baier pressed Trump to explain why he 
     kept the boxes of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago and 
     refused to comply with government requests to return them, as 
     described in his new felony indictment. In between dismissing 
     the case as ``the document hoax'' or accusing other 
     presidents of illegally hoarding their own sensitive 
     documents, Trump offered the bizarre explanation that he 
     couldn't give up the boxes to authorities because they also 
     contained . . . his clothes.
       ``Like every other president I take things out,'' Trump 
     said. ``In my case, I took it out pretty much in a hurry. 
     People packed it up and left. I had clothing in there, I had 
     all sorts of personal items in there. Much, much stuff.'' 
     After a brief digression to call his former attorney general 
     Bill Barr a ``coward,'' Trump reiterated, ``I have got a lot 
     of things in there. I will go through those boxes. I have to 
     go through those boxes. I take out personal things.'' 
     Finally, he clarified what those items were: ``These boxes 
     were interspersed with all sorts of things: golf shirts, 
     clothing, pants, shoes, there were many things,'' he said.
       While not wanting Dark Brandon to seize your golf shirts 
     may prove a compelling argument in court, another of Trump's 
     evasions seems less likely to hold water. Baier also brought 
     up one of the most damning parts of the federal indictment, a 
     recording from July 2021 in which Trump is heard showing off 
     a document detailing an attack plan against Iran, revealing 
     that it's still officially secret and he no longer has the 
     power to declassify it. Trump blustered for a moment about 
     what he actually said, then pivoted to the claim that he 
     wasn't even holding a particular document--despite 
     corroborating testimony from others in the room when it 
     happened. No wonder this guy's lawyers keep quitting on him.
       ``Bret, there was no document,'' Trump insisted. ``That was 
     a massive amount of papers and everything else, talking about 
     Iran and other things. And it may have been held up or may 
     not. That was not a document. I didn't have any document per 
     se. There was nothing to declassify, these were newspaper 
     stories, magazine stories, and articles.'' When Baier 
     referred again to the facts of the recording laid out in the 
     indictment, Trump said, presumably of the prosecutors: 
     ``These people are very dishonest people, they are thugs.'' 
     He also suggested they could be ``stuffing'' the boxes with 
     incriminating material.
       Later on, the pair got into a debate on the results of the 
     2020 election, with Baier trying in vain to remind the former 
     president that he lost while Trump rambled on about fake 
     ballots. The rest of the conversation involved Trump bashing 
     Biden's international diplomacy, from Ukraine to the Middle 
     East to China, and musing about how much better things were 
     with him in office.
       Afterward, Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said 
     that Trump's answers regarding matters of the law were ``on 
     the verge on incoherent,'' and specifically mentioned the 
     bizarre detail of not returning the boxes of classified 
     documents because they hadn't been ``separated from his golf 
     shirts or whatever he was saying.'' Overall, Hume said, it 
     sounded as if Trump was making the argument that the papers 
     were his to do with as he liked, ``which I don't think is 
     going to hold up in court.''

                              {time}  1145

  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Mills), my friend and an Army veteran.
  Mr. MILLS. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be here today to support 
Representative Boebert's request for this to be referred to the 
Committee on Homeland Security with regard to the dereliction of duty 
under this administration and this President's policies.
  As a United States Army combat veteran, I have fought abroad for the 
majority of my adult life. I have spent over 7 years of my life in 
Iraq, over 3 years of my life in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Pakistan, and 
northern Somalia. I have been blown up twice, and I am a Bronze Star 
recipient.
  I went overseas for the purpose of protecting this Nation and 
ensuring that terrorists do not have the ability to come to threaten 
our lives and threaten our children, but under the failed policies of 
this President just this last year, in the last 7 months, we have had 
over 96 people who are on the known terrorist watch list who have 
crossed our borders.
  I would love to know from this President and from everyone else here: 
Why did my brothers go and die in the thousands? Why did we waste 20-
plus years of our lives fighting terrorism? Why did we go ahead and 
botch the Afghan withdrawal and leave our allies behind if we were just 
going to open our borders anyway to them?
  Tell me why it was that we were going to vote to fight in these wars 
to protect this Nation when this President and his failed policies were 
going to do nothing but open up our borders to the terrorists who are 
coming across daily.
  We will see another 9/11-type attack if we continue this type of 
unsafe policy and do not get ahold of this right now.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want the record to reflect that the previous President 
of the United States supported an insurrection to basically steal the 
election.
  My friends think it is funny, but I will tell you this: Laugh in the 
face of the Capitol Police.
  Mr. Speaker, 140 of them were injured. People lost their lives, and 
the best you can do is laugh--is laugh--about what happened that day? I 
mean, that is disgusting.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                          ____________________