[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 119 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H3212-H3213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         IMMIGRATION OVERSIGHT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Rose) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROSE. Madam Speaker, since taking the majority in the House in 
January, Republicans have been consistently holding hearings to conduct 
oversight and demand accountability of the Biden administration when it 
comes to the humanitarian crisis at our southern border.
  For years now, sensible Republicans have done everything they can to 
offer solutions to this humanitarian crisis in an effort to halt 
illegal immigration but have been met with opposition by those on the 
other side of the aisle that prefer the open-border policies of this 
President and his administration.
  Unfortunately, despite these repeated attempts to bring this 
administration to the table to enact sensible immigration reform, which 
the American people support, President Biden has done the opposite.
  In fact, in President Biden's first 100 days in office, he took 94 
executive actions on immigration, perhaps none as costly as halting the 
construction of the southern border wall. He also ended the remain in 
Mexico program, which had proven to be a successful deterrent at the 
border.
  Now, the good people at the Customs and Border Protection, who are 
working hard under strenuous circumstances to protect our borders, have 
seized over 17,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2023, including a

[[Page H3213]]

14 percent increase in the month of April alone, compared to the prior 
month.

                              {time}  1015

  In addition to these alarming figures, so far in fiscal year 2023, 96 
people were stopped while attempting to cross the southern border whose 
names could be found on the terrorist watch list. To put this into 
perspective, during the entire last fiscal year, there were only 98 
arrests, and that was more than in fiscal years 2017 through 2021 
combined.
  Madam Speaker, it is clear to the American people that President 
Biden's Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security is directly 
responsible for this abhorrent failure. That is why, much to my regret, 
I have no choice but to continue my call for impeaching Secretary 
Mayorkas, with the hope that the Biden administration will go ahead and 
replace him with someone willing to actually take on the task of 
securing our border. At the very least, the appropriate House 
committees must begin considering and debating impeachment articles.
  Madam Speaker, one of the most rewarding opportunities I am afforded 
as a Member of Congress is getting to welcome new citizens who have 
recently been naturalized into the United States. I repeatedly take the 
time to point out the perseverance and dedication it takes to become a 
U.S. citizen the legal and right way. It goes without saying: These 
folks will forever be able to hold their heads high, knowing that they 
respected our laws even before they became a citizen of this great 
country.
  I will also add that because of my familiarity with this process and 
seeing what so many have to endure to come here legally, I have one 
more reason out of many to fight against illegal immigration. That is 
why I will continuously demand the Biden administration and Secretary 
Mayorkas uphold our immigration laws, and I will engage in House 
Republicans' oversight efforts until the American people can be 
confident the administration is following the laws that govern 
immigration in this country.
  Madam Speaker, I ask all Members of Congress to join me in demanding 
accountability from President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.

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