[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 161 (Monday, October 2, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H4936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NO MORE EMPTY PROMISES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, last month, more than 400,000 
illegal immigrants crossed the Darien Gap into Central America on their 
way to our southern border, nearly double the number that had arrived 
in all of 2022.
  Let's put that number in perspective. Mr. Speaker, 400,000 is more 
than double the populations of Altoona, Johnstown, Chambersburg, 
Lewistown, Breezewood, Gettysburg, Waynesboro, Mifflintown, Newport, 
McConnellsburg, Greencastle, Huntingdon, Shippensburg, and Bedford 
combined.
  It is clear that President Biden's border policies, which welcome 
illegal immigration, have created a national security crisis, a public 
health crisis, and a humanitarian crisis, all due to the porous 
southern border.
  Since Joe Biden took office, there have been a total of 7.6 million 
encounters at our southern border, and for the third year in a row, 
Americans are now on track to see the worst border crisis in our 
Nation's history.
  This year, we have seen public schools used as holding facilities for 
illegal immigrants instead of being used for American students who are 
already suffering from historic learning losses following Biden's 
prolonged school shutdowns.
  While an influx of illegal immigrants has strained the food banks, 
the shelters, and the hospitals along our southern border, this 
administration continues to turn a blind eye and refuses to assist the 
communities that are threatened and in need.
  It is time for the Senate to pass the Secure the Border Act, which 
would: first, force the Biden administration to restart construction of 
the border wall; second, increase the number of Border Patrol agents; 
third, end catch and release; and, finally, deploy the new technologies 
that our Border Patrol agents have requested in order to help secure 
our southern border.
  President Biden's failure to address this crisis is simply 
unacceptable. Report after report from Eagle Pass, San Diego, and 
McAllen shows that this crisis will only continue to worsen each and 
every day.
  We can't afford business as usual from Washington, and we cannot 
abandon our Border Patrol agents who deal with this problem. It is time 
for Democrats in Congress to join us and deliver real solutions and not 
more empty promises to the American people.

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