[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 17, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H165-H173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DENOUNCING THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S OPEN-BORDERS POLICIES, CONDEMNING 
  THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY CRISIS ALONG THE SOUTHWEST 
  BORDER, AND URGING PRESIDENT BIDEN TO END HIS ADMINISTRATION'S OPEN-
                            BORDERS POLICIES

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 969, I call up 
the resolution (H. Res. 957) denouncing the Biden administration's 
open-borders policies, condemning the national security and public 
safety crisis along the southwest border, and urging President Biden to 
end his administration's open-borders policies, and ask for its 
immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Newhouse). Pursuant to House Resolution 
969, the resolution is considered read.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 957

       Whereas the United States is in the midst of the worst 
     border security crisis in the Nation's history;
       Whereas, during every month of the Biden administration, 
     U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered more 
     than 100,000 illegal aliens along the southwest border;
       Whereas the total number of illegal aliens encountered 
     along the southwest border during the Biden administration 
     exceeds 7 million;
       Whereas the Biden administration has released at least 3.3 
     million of those illegal aliens into the interior of the 
     United States;
       Whereas, during the Biden administration, more than 1.7 
     million known illegal alien ``gotaways'' have successfully 
     evaded U.S. Border Patrol along the southwest border;
       Whereas, during the Biden administration, an untold number 
     of unknown illegal alien ``gotaways'' have evaded detection 
     along the southwest border;
       Whereas the record 312 illegal aliens on the Terrorist 
     Screening Dataset encountered by Border Patrol along the 
     southwest border during the Biden administration represents a 
     more than 2,700-percent increase when compared to the total 
     number of such aliens encountered during all four years of 
     the previous administration;
       Whereas the Biden administration created the illegal alien 
     crisis at the southwest border by terminating the Migrant 
     Protection Protocols, halting border wall construction, 
     abusing parole authority, mass releasing millions of illegal 
     aliens into the country, and implementing policies that 
     incentivize illegal immigration, among other actions;
       Whereas the Biden administration systematically dismantled 
     immigration enforcement and restricted the ability of 
     immigration officials to deport aliens who violate United 
     States law, ensuring relatively few aliens, including 
     criminal aliens, are removed from the country;
       Whereas the Biden administration's lax immigration 
     enforcement policies have resulted in numerous violent 
     criminal aliens being released into United States 
     communities;
       Whereas the Biden administration's lax border enforcement 
     policies have allowed fentanyl to saturate United States 
     communities and kill Americans;
       Whereas the Biden administration's historic border crisis 
     has made every State a border State;
       Whereas the Biden administration refuses to use tools 
     already at its disposal to end the border crisis; and
       Whereas the Biden administration's proposed solution to the 
     historic border crisis--legislation to grant amnesty to tens 
     of millions of illegal aliens--will do nothing but 
     incentivize additional illegal immigration: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) denounces the Biden administration's open-borders 
     policies;
       (2) condemns the national security and public safety crisis 
     that President Joe Biden, ``Border Czar'' Vice President 
     Kamala Harris, Secretary of the Department of Homeland 
     Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and other Biden administration 
     officials have created along the southwest border; and
       (3) urges President Biden to end his administration's open-
     borders policies.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran) and the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran).


                             General Leave

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to include extraneous material on H. Res. 957.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in support of H. Res. 957, 
denouncing the Biden administration's open-borders policies, condemning 
the national security and public safety crisis along the southwestern 
border, and urging President Biden to end his administration's open-
borders policies.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a problem at our southern border. I represent 
the First District of Texas, which is a rural district located in 
northeast Texas comprised of 17 counties. It borders Louisiana and 
Arkansas, and although it is not physically adjacent to the southern 
border, my district is directly impacted by the open-border policies of 
the Biden administration, as is every corner of America today.
  The text of my proposed House resolution is simple, straightforward, 
and to the point. It denounces the Biden administration's open-border 
policies, condemns the national security and public safety crisis 
caused by these policies, and urges President Biden to end them 
immediately.
  Mr. Speaker, why do we need to actually have this resolution in the 
House today? I will tell you, Mr. Speaker. It is for two primary 
reasons. One is because we need to admit that there is a problem. This 
House needs to admit that there is a problem on the border. Number two, 
we need to identify the source of the problem itself. Why do we have 
open borders? It is because of the policies of this administration.
  Those two things today, to admit and to identify, will help lead us 
to a solution from this House body and across the three branches of 
government.
  The border numbers do not lie. In fact, they tell a clear story about 
the depth of the crisis and the proximate cause rooted in the Biden 
administration policies.
  Consider that the total number of illegal aliens encountered along 
the southern border since President Biden took office exceeds 7 
million. At the same time, the Biden administration has released at 
least 3.3 million of those illegal aliens into the interior of the 
United States. This number is larger than the entire population of 
States like Nevada, Arkansas, and Kansas. In fact, it exceeds the 
combined populations of Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, and North Dakota 
together.

[[Page H166]]

  Additionally, more than 1.7 million got-aways and an untold number of 
unknown illegal got-aways have successfully evaded capture by the U.S. 
Border Patrol along the southwestern border.
  Mr. Speaker, 312 illegal aliens on the Terrorist Screening Dataset 
were encountered along the southwestern border since President Biden 
took office. By contrast, consider that during the 4 years of the prior 
administration, only 11 illegal aliens on that same list were 
encountered by Border Patrol.
  If we look just at the last quarter, we see how depraved the 
situation is on the southwestern border. More than 785,000 migrant 
encounters have been reported just since the beginning of this fiscal 
year, and last month's record high, the first time ever in American 
history, was 300,000-plus encounters along the southwestern border.
  In fiscal year 2023, 27,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the 
southern border. This is almost double what fiscal year 2022 brought at 
14,700 pounds, and it is six times higher than in fiscal year 2020.
  We have seen more than 150,000 unaccompanied minors cross over the 
U.S.-Mexico border, and reports indicate that we have lost contact with 
over 85,000 of those unaccompanied children.
  It used to be that most of the migrants who were coming up to our 
southern border were from Mexico, but now the landscape has changed. In 
fiscal year 2022, migrants from Mexico crossing illegally made up just 
33 percent. Now, individuals are coming from across the world, more 
than 150 countries, and many of those countries have direct ties with 
terrorism.
  When I was down at Eagle Pass on the border several months ago, we 
were told that there were at least 27 countries with ties to terrorism 
that had immigrants come across that southern border who were 
encountered in the last couple of years. How astounding and how 
problematic for this country.

  Despite the authority that the President has to fix these issues, he 
simply will not do it. What policies are we talking about? The current 
administration has ended the Migrant Protection Protocols and the 
remain in Mexico policy. We are told by border security people that if 
we reinstate just remain in Mexico, that could end up to 70 percent of 
the encounters that we see coming across the border.
  The administration also has reinstated catch-and-release policies. 
They have suspended asylum cooperative agreements with other nations, 
such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. They have ignored 
existing restraints on the abuse of parole. They have halted necessary 
border wall construction. They have undermined the Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement's core mission by preventing them from deporting 
certain aliens who violate U.S. law. They have enabled use of 
smartphone apps to facilitate the release of border crossers into the 
United States. Moreover, they have redirected Customs and Border Patrol 
agents to do ICE paperwork processing instead of focusing on law 
enforcement work.
  In short, the current administration's policies have led to the 
numbers that we are seeing today, numbers like 2.5 million just in the 
last fiscal year, 2.3 million in the year before, and 1.74 million in 
the year before compared to numbers like 400,000 or 500,000 per year 
under the prior administration.
  One is too many, but 2.5 million is egregious. It has led to 
situations like overcrowded classrooms and children trafficked to do 
work in industries unsuited for children--unsuited for anybody; 
millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills in hospitals across the 
U.S., which overwhelm first responders in border communities; homeless 
veterans who are getting kicked out of shelters in favor of illegal 
aliens; and even the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans by 
fentanyl.

                              {time}  1415

  Because of the increased fentanyl crisis, these effects are being 
felt in rural and metropolitan communities in both blue and red States.
  As of the beginning of December, the city of Denver had spent over 
$33 million to house, feed, and educate around 30,000 illegal aliens. 
Chicago residents are up in arms, as well, as are New York City 
residents. Their mayor says that this crisis will destroy the city.
  In 2022, here is the number I was citing for you just a second ago--
73,654 people died from fentanyl overdose in the U.S. This is more than 
double the amount of deaths in 2019 and the highest in American 
history.
  Assaults on Border Patrol agents doubled just last year. 
Nevertheless, the Biden administration is doubling down on these open-
border policies.
  What will it take for them to wake up?
  What will it take for us to find a solution for the border crisis?
  There is a lot to be done. There are lots that can be done by this 
body and the Senate and across this government, but it starts with 
leadership in the White House, policy leadership in the White House to 
undo the current open-border policies and to return to the policies 
that were preventing this crisis before.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 957 denounces these open-border policies, 
condemns the national security and public crisis that we are seeing 
today because of that, and urges the President to end those policies 
immediately. The people of America deserve better. They deserve to have 
the sovereignty and the geographic borders of this Nation protected.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this country is facing real problems. The right to 
bodily autonomy is under attack across the Nation. There was a school 
shooting just 4 days into the new year, leading to the tragic death of 
an 11-year-old and the injury of 7 others.
  Our immigration system cannot function because Congress has failed to 
reform it for over 30 years, and Republican hard-liners are threatening 
to shut down the government if we don't ``shut down the border.''
  House Republicans are not working to respond to any of these problems 
as they are too busy fighting among themselves. Their historic 
dysfunction has even prompted multiple Members of their Conference to 
complain that they have nothing to campaign on.
  Today's resolution is not going to help. This resolution will do 
nothing to solve the situation at the border. It proposes no solutions 
of any kind. In fact, this resolution is nothing more than a highlight 
reel of the Republican talking points on immigration that we have heard 
over and over from Republicans since President Biden was sworn into 
office.
  Let me say once again: The border is not open. The Biden 
administration has been removing people at a record clip over the last 
few months, restricting asylum with a new regulation, and placing 
thousands of families in expedited removal.
  Since the end of title 42 last May, the Biden administration has 
removed or returned nearly a half million individuals. That is more 
than the number of people removed in all of fiscal year 2019 under the 
Trump administration.
  However, because President Biden isn't saying that he wants to shoot 
migrants trying to cross the border, like Governors Abbott and DeSantis 
have, Republicans don't think he is doing enough.
  Further, despite my colleagues' claims, fentanyl is largely not 
coming into this country between ports of entry. More than 90 percent 
of fentanyl interdicted is stopped at ports of entry where cartels 
attempted to smuggle it in through primarily vehicles driven by 
American citizens.
  I am not sure how anyone can say the border is open.
  On top of this, at every turn, Republicans have voted against giving 
the administration the resources it needs to do its job. Nearly every 
current House Republican voted against the bipartisan infrastructure 
deal in the fiscal year 2023 omnibus.
  Both of these bills provided significant additional funding to 
increase staffing and modernize ports of entry to combat the smuggling 
of people and drugs.
  We need to work together to address our broken immigration system. 
Right now we have a system where many, many people come into this 
country, present themselves to Border Patrol or not. They are 
apprehended. They claim asylum under our law. They are entitled to a 
hearing before an immigration judge, but because we don't have enough 
asylum officers and immigration judges, their case isn't heard for

[[Page H167]]

years, so they are told to come back in 4 years or whatever for their 
hearing, and the Republicans call this catch and release.
  If the Biden administration's proposals for funding for more border 
guards, more CBP people, more asylum and immigration judges would be 
approved, then these claims could be adjudicated in a matter of weeks, 
not years. Those entitled to asylum would be granted it in weeks and 
would be permitted to work, and those not entitled to it would be 
swiftly deported.
  However, due to the lack of resources caused by Republican insistence 
on voting against those resources, this doesn't happen, and we have the 
catch and release system and millions of people staying in this country 
when they shouldn't entirely because of the Republicans, and then they 
say it is President Biden's open border policy.
  We need to work together to address our broken immigration system. 
Unfortunately, House Republicans insist they will only consider H.R. 2, 
their fantasy, draconian, enforcement-only bill which stands no chance 
of passage in the Senate.
  Real solutions require compromise, but MAGA Republicans aren't 
interested in compromise. What they are interested in is passing bills 
like the one before us today. I should say resolutions. This is not a 
bill.
  This resolution is nothing but empty rhetoric designed to score cheap 
political points that bring us no closer to meaningful reform.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution, and I 
hope we can get to serious work, but meanwhile, we should oppose this 
resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Biggs).
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I get a kick out of listening to the 
gentleman from New York who doesn't know a darn thing about the border 
crisis and gets to stand up and say: Oh, by golly, 90 percent of the 
fentanyl they are catching right there is in the port of entry.
  Do you know why they catch it at the port of entry? Because that is 
where you have x-rays for the vehicles coming in. You have dogs that 
sniff. Most of the vehicles are getting picked up and looked at. It is 
the same with the pedestrians coming across.
  Do you know why you don't find it between the ports of entry where 
1.9 million people have come across the border, Mr. Speaker? You know 
why they don't find it? Let's say, right now if you are on the Tohono 
O'odham reservation, they have 62 miles right there along the border. 
You can drive that, and you are going to see maybe one or two agents in 
that entire area.
  Do you know why? Because the rest of them are processing all of the 
people that the agents have had to encounter. They are out at these 
facilities.
  When I was down in Lukeville right before Christmas, I was standing 
there and I asked, hey, where you from? Guinea. How about you? Burkina 
Faso. How about you? Senegal. How about you? India. How about you? 
Pakistan. They are coming from all over the world to Lukeville, 
Arizona.
  I happened to be there during a 2-week period where 30,000 encounters 
took place in that area alone. Oh, yeah, this border is secure. It is 
closed. What they don't tell you is that you have got a bunch of people 
coming in between the ports of entry that we can't even catch.
  When I was down in Lukeville, we couldn't catch them. Why can't we 
catch them? We sense them. In some places we have sensors. Why couldn't 
we catch them? As I drove along for miles along that border, I didn't 
see a single agent. Why? Because they are all back at the facility 
processing. That is what they are doing. That is what these guys have 
done. That is what the Democrats have done.
  When they say, parole is a good thing, the statute is real clear: It 
is supposed to be particularized. It is supposed to be case by case.
  We actually heard in Oversight today that the million-plus people who 
have received parole are all being adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. 
I asked the witness: Have you ever been down there and watched the 
process before they grant somebody parole? I saw it on video. Go with 
me sometimes. Stand down there, visit, watch it, and you will be 
stunned to know that there is virtually no vetting whatsoever. Why? We 
are relying on those individuals to tell us where they are from and who 
they are. That is how open this border is.
  Mr. Speaker, I will say that the gentleman from New York also 
explained the reason that they support this illegal migration is 
because they want people to pick our vegetables. That is how they view 
people coming in from all around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to 
do so, as well.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, the reason the gentleman from Arizona 
couldn't find any Border Patrol agents is because Republicans have 
refused to vote the appropriations to greatly increase the number of 
Border Patrol agents that the Biden administration has proposed.
  We know there aren't enough Border Patrol agents. The administration 
knows this. The administration has proposed funding for many more 
Border Patrol agents, but the Republicans have refused to vote for it. 
Then they complain that they can't find Border Patrol agents along the 
border.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from 
Washington (Ms. Jayapal), the ranking Democrat on the Immigration 
Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 957.
  Today, the Republican majority has brought up a pointless resolution 
that does nothing to address the situation at the border and repeats 
the same tired and untrue talking points about the border.
  I, too, want to be clear: The border is not open. No matter how many 
times the Republicans repeat it, it doesn't make it true. Every time 
Republicans go on television with these false claims, the only people 
that are being empowered by those false claims are the cartels who use 
those false claims to then entice families to come to the border 
believing that it is open.

  The fact is that Republicans have not had any interest in doing 
anything to fix the border because they want to keep chaos at the 
border until the election. They want to use immigrants as a political 
tool to ramp up fear and xenophobia in the run-up to the election.
  Don't just take it from me, Mr. Speaker. Take it from my Republican 
colleagues themselves. On the issue of immigration, Representative 
Nehls said: ``I'm not willing to do too damn much right now to help a 
Democrat and to help Joe Biden's approval rating.''
  On the issue of holding Ukraine aid hostage for unworkable border 
policies, Representative Crenshaw said: ``Some might even be afraid of 
giving up the border as a campaign issue. They don't want a solution.'' 
That is from Republicans, not from Democrats.
  That is the truth. There are real changes that are needed to 
immigration policies that haven't been updated in 30 years. Some even 
have bipartisan support, but none of them have moved because 
Republicans don't really want a solution to this. That is why time and 
time again when Republicans had a chance to support more resources and 
personnel for the border, they voted ``no.''
  In 2021 and 2023, nearly every current House Republican voted against 
providing additional funding to increase staffing and resources at 
ports of entry to combat smuggling of people and drugs.
  When my colleague from Arizona says that everyone is coming to the 
border, he is not wrong in that we have taken away all of the legal 
pathways for people to actually be able to come here and the only one 
that seems to be remaining open is now the border.
  When he says that agents aren't out there, it is because they are 
processing; then you should want to fund agents to be able to process 
so that we can have border agents that are out in the field doing the 
work that they need.
  The President's supplemental funding request for the border actually 
does include more money for immigration judges and asylum officers that 
would help process people in a legal and orderly fashion. It has money 
for cities to be able to help people work and support themselves as 
they wait for their immigration papers to be processed.
  Furthermore, we could pass the American Dream and Promise Act and

[[Page H168]]

the Farm Worker Modernization Act, which are both bipartisan, to help 
bring real solutions to a broken immigration system.

                              {time}  1430

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Washington.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. However, Republicans won't agree to that. Why? Because 
it would help make the situation at the border better, and they don't 
want that under any circumstance.
  They would rather continue the cruelty:
  The cruelty of seeing migrants fleeing horrific circumstances thanks 
to Republican Governors who use their own military to block Border 
Patrol agents from doing their jobs and saving lives;
  The cruelty of blaming immigrants for everything just to try and win 
elections;
  The cruelty of separating mothers from their babies.
  That is the extreme Republican playbook.
  Let's stop wasting everyone's time with this empty rhetoric and work 
on some real solutions. Vote ``no'' on this fact-free resolution.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).
  Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Speaker, a nation without borders is not a nation 
at all.
  Currently, we have an administration that prioritizes illegal 
immigrants over American citizens, over our own constituents.
  Since President Biden took office, more than 8 million illegal 
immigrants have entered our country without consequence; 300,000 since 
December alone. Within months, there will be more illegal immigrants 
than the population of my home State of New Jersey, a State that would 
rank tenth in population made up of illegals.
  Yet, this President, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and my Democratic 
colleagues continue to deny that the crisis even exists, allowing 
millions of illegal immigrants, many from countries that hate America, 
threatens our national security, and it is wrong.
  Using taxpayer dollars to give illegal immigrants free healthcare and 
making Americans pay for it is wrong.
  Sacrificing the education of our American children to turn their 
schools into shelters for illegal immigrants is wrong.
  Cutting public safety funding to pay for services like free housing, 
free legal aid, and welfare for illegal immigrants that many Americans 
struggle to afford themselves is wrong.
  College education subsidies for illegal immigrants is wrong.
  Those on the terror watch list slipping through our borders is wrong.
  Sanctuary State status, sanctuary city status is wrong.
  Standing idly by while tens of thousands of Americans, American young 
people, die at the hands of illicit fentanyl that is flowing freely 
across our border is wrong.
  President Biden and this administration have had the power to stop 
it, but they refuse. Our Democratic colleagues had a chance to stop it 
by voting for H.R. 2, but they refused.
  Four years ago this didn't exist, and now our Senate colleagues have 
refused to take up H.R. 2 and are working to increase incentives for 
illegal immigrants to come into our country.
  We need to get serious. Those responsible must be held accountable, 
and once again I demand that this administration, for once, put 
American people first.
  I hope and I pray that everyone will vote for this good resolution.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentleman from California (Mr. Correa).
  Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, let me just say to my colleagues on this 
floor that what is really wrong is to misstate the problem, the facts 
to the American public.
  I have been to the border numerous times in the last year as a member 
of the Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border Security 
and Enforcement. I just got back from Latin America.
  I have spoken to the border guards at our border. Do you know what 
they have told me? They need relief. They need resources. They are 
tired of working overtime, two double shifts, not enough personnel, not 
enough resources, not enough technology. That is the answer to the 
problem.
  The problem isn't an open border. The border is not open. The problem 
is a worldwide refugee challenge. Italy, Greece, Germany, Colombia, 
Costa Rica, and Mexico all have a problem.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the 
gentleman from California.
  Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, the solution is simple. Let's fund 
additional resources for our borders, for border security. Senate 
Democrats and Senate Republicans are joining the President in 
negotiating a solution. House Democrats are there. I ask my colleagues 
across the aisle, join us. Let's come up with a solution. America 
deserves solutions, not political statements.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Kiley).
  Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, the situation at the southern border is 
utterly untenable. It is an urgent national security and public safety 
crisis. Everyone knows it. The American people know it. Members on both 
sides of the aisle in this House know it, and the President sure ought 
to know it.
  What we have seen is absolutely beyond anything we have ever seen 
before. In the 3 years of this administration, there have been 6.7 
million illegal border crossings and 1.7 million got-aways, folks that 
just evaded detection by Border Patrol. In the last month, we had days 
where there were 10,000 illegal crossings in a single day.
  These numbers are staggering, and they are unprecedented, but what is 
the meaning of those numbers? On the one hand, it has been an absolute 
bonanza for the cartels. On the other hand, it has been an 
absolute tragedy for the American people, as we have truly incredible 
amounts of fentanyl coming into the country, taking the lives of young 
people in every community in our country every day. We have more and 
more people suffering through the horror of human trafficking and being 
victimized. We have growing national security risks every day with the 
increasing likelihood of terrorists coming into this country, putting 
all Americans at risk.

  Mr. Speaker, this isn't brain surgery. We know what a secure border 
looks like. The House has passed legislation, the Secure the Border 
Act, with commonsense reforms, beefing up our border security with 
physical barriers, with technology, with Border Patrol, with 
commonsense legal reforms to the parole and the asylum process, even 
reinstating remain in Mexico. That one simple step would solve a good 
portion of this problem.
  This should not be a political issue. It is not a partisan issue. It 
is a basic matter of governance. It is the most basic thing that 
Americans ought to be able to expect from our government. It is the 
most basic responsibility of a civil society and of a nation-state.
  That is why Americans--Democrat, Republican, Independent, it doesn't 
matter--are urgently calling for change. This resolution gives voice to 
that call for change, and I am proud to support it.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar).
  Ms. ESCOBAR. Mr. Speaker, I proudly represent El Paso, Texas, a 
border community, and I rise today in strong opposition to this 
resolution, which is nothing more than a collection of Republican 
talking points.
  Let's be clear: Reforming our outdated immigration laws is our 
responsibility, a congressional responsibility, and it is our 
responsibility to do so in a way that actually works and doesn't 
sacrifice our values.
  Some Republicans prefer to go on TV to complain, and others openly 
acknowledge they don't want a solution, including the Speaker of the 
House, who says he wants to wait until after the election.
  To those who claim their unworkable Secure the Border Act is a 
solution, please read your bill. You will see that fundamental to it is 
that Mexico will accept every single migrant the U.S. sends to them. 
That has never happened. It will never happen. Therefore, H.R. 2 is 
nothing more than a fantasy for you all.

[[Page H169]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Texas.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Ms. ESCOBAR. Mr. Speaker, for those Republicans who are tired of 
complaining and really want a solution, please join our bipartisan 
coalition, a coalition that worked on real solutions, legislative 
solutions. It is called the Dignity Act of 2023. It addresses the 
border and beyond and does it in a way that doesn't sacrifice our 
values. Please join us. Let's fix this together because we can.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Williams).
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to denounce 
President Biden's open border policies that have fueled the invasion--I 
repeat invasion--of our country through our southern border. I wonder 
how many of my liberal friends across the aisle have actually even been 
to the border.
  Let us be clear: This is a crisis of Biden's making. He has not been 
to the border nor has Vice President Harris been to the border. They 
have been to a parking lot in El Paso, Texas, and that is as good as 
they could do.
  For over 3 years now, Biden has ignored calls from the American 
people to secure our border and protect American lives. This 
administration's failed policies have allowed over 8 million illegal 
immigrants to cross into our country, forcing border States such as my 
home State of Texas to take matters into their own hands, only to be 
attacked by Biden's out-of-reach DOJ and be sued for protecting the 
lives of Texans.
  It is time President Biden and his administration are held 
accountable for the lack of action at our southern border.
  From my very first day, I have fought against the radical left's open 
border and pro-amnesty policies and the House Republicans have done 
their job with real solutions and passed H.R. 2 to fully fund and 
secure our border, but that too has been ignored by Senator Schumer and 
President Biden.
  This is not the border between New York and New Jersey. It is totally 
different. Some don't see it that way. Today, we take another stand. I 
urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 957 to denounce President Biden's 
open border policies. In God we trust.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for 
yielding, and I am very glad that my colleagues, and some from Texas, 
want to have the real truth discussed on this floor.
  The real truth is that President Biden has not fostered nor 
encouraged open borders. In fact, the United States does not have open 
borders.
  It would be truly an act of real leadership if Republicans would work 
with Democrats and the present administration to do as was done during 
the Reagan administration when, yes, whether you agreed or disagreed, 
immigration laws were passed. If this Republican contingent of Members, 
House and Senate, would work, we would find a resolution to some of the 
concerns that we have.
  It is very clear that the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas is not a 
solution. The present resolution that we have is not a solution.
  Today, there are approximately 38,000 people in immigration 
detention, which is 4,000 more than what DHS is funded for. People 
without facts don't realize, somewhat similar to Trump, many of us are 
concerned about due process rights, but when accusations are made about 
one party is better than another, that is not true. Of course, there 
were those removed under title 42, and the Biden administration did 
that when that law was in place. The total is nearly equivalent to the 
number of people removed in all of fiscal 2019 in the past 
administration.

  However, this administration wants to put forward reasonable and 
effective legislation so that we will get an additional 1,300 Border 
Patrol agents, 375 immigration judges, 1,600 asylum officers to speed 
up processing of asylum claims, 1,000 CBP officers, new detection 
technology for ports of entry, additional investigative capabilities to 
combat fentanyl trafficking, and $1.4 billion more to help communities 
receiving migrants.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, quickly, fentanyl is not an immigration 
issue. It is a criminal issue, a crime issue. It is where we have to 
come together with our law enforcement across America.
  What I will say, the utilization of State laws that effectively are 
not governed by the Constitution, States do not have immigration 
authority, and blocking the Border Patrol is not an effective 
immigration tool. Causing a mother and two of her children to die is 
not an immigration tool. I don't want to be a part of it.
  I want to be a part of the work that the President is doing. I thank 
the President and Vice President. I want this House to be helping in 
this work so that we can, in fact, have border solutions that work, 
where visas are able to be given to the appropriate people.
  Limiting or removing parole does not work.
  Additionally, 8.3 million relatives of U.S. citizens and legal 
residents are awaiting a green card. That does not work.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article written by David J. 
Bier titled: ``8.3 Million Relatives of U.S. Citizens & Legal Residents 
Awaited Green Cards in 2022.''

                             [May 17, 2023]

8.3 Million Relatives of U.S. Citizens & Legal Residents Awaited Green 
                             Cards in 2022

                           (By David J. Bier)

       The United States hit a new record of about 8.3 million 
     immigrants at various stages in its family-sponsored 
     permanent residence process in 2022--an increase of nearly 1 
     million since 2019. The staggering number of pending cases is 
     primarily the result of outdated caps on green cards, but 
     processing delays are also affecting a substantial number of 
     applicants.
       The U.S. immigration system's current caps came into effect 
     in fiscal year 1992. Figure 1 breaks down the family-based 
     backlog into its two main categories: immediate relatives 
     (``uncapped'') and family preference immigrants (``capped'') 
     from 1992 to 2022. Immediate relatives--spouses, minor 
     children, and parents of adult U.S. citizens--have no direct 
     cap (though their admissions reduce the cap for the family 
     preference (or capped) immigrants from 480,000 to 226,000). 
     The immediate relative backlog has increased from about 
     73,000 in 1992 to over 1 million in 2022.
       Family preference immigrants are spouses and children of 
     legal permanent residents, adult children of U.S. citizens, 
     and siblings of adult U.S. citizens, as well as any spouses 
     and minor children of those relatives. Immigrants who need a 
     cap number available to apply for a green card made up about 
     86 percent of the family-based backlog in 2022. From 1992 to 
     2022, the number of capped family-sponsored immigrants stuck 
     in the backlog increased from about 3.3 million to about 7.1 
     million. The cap is set at 226,000 annually.
       These estimates differ significantly from the most commonly 
     referenced source for information on the family-sponsored 
     green card backlog: the State Department's annual immigrant 
     visa waiting list report. The numbers from that report are 
     shown in orange (Petition Approved-Wait Listed (Abroad)), but 
     that report does not include several groups of applicants. It 
     excludes the ``immediate relative'' or uncapped categories, 
     anyone waiting to apply inside the United States, and--most 
     importantly--anyone whose petition is yet to be adjudicated. 
     As Figure 2 shows, 3.6 million had a sponsor's petition 
     pending. This massive backlog in pending petitions is largely 
     because of the government's correct view that it shouldn't 
     waste resources adjudicating applications that will not 
     result in a green card being issued thanks to the cap.
       The overall cap is set at 226,000, but it is divided into 5 
     categories based on the immigrant's marital status and 
     relationship to the U.S. sponsor:
       1. F-1--Married adult children of U.S. citizens: 23,400
       2. F-2A--Spouses and minor children of legal permanent 
     residents: 687,900
       3. F-2B--Unmarried adult children of legal permanent 
     residents: 626,300
       4. F-3--Unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens: 23,400
       5. F-4--Siblings of U.S. citizens: 65,000
       In addition, immigrants from each country have a separate 
     limit. No single birthplace can receive more than 7 percent 
     of the green cards, though 75 percent of the F-2A category 
     aren't counted against the cap.
       As a result of the country caps and category caps, 
     applicants face wildly different potential wait times: 
     anywhere from 6 years to 233 years (effectively infinite). As 
     seen in Table 1, the odds of a new family-sponsor surviving 
     to be able to act as a sponsor when

[[Page H170]]

     a green card is available under the cap is low in many 
     category-country combinations. Virtually all new sponsors 
     from Mexico in 2022--outside the F-2A category--will die 
     before their family member receives a green card. In fact, 
     nearly 40 percent of all new sponsors in 2022 and 58 percent 
     of sponsors in non-F-2A categories will die before their 
     relatives get to immigrate. Even if the sponsor survives for 
     eternity, about 1.6 million immigrants currently in the 
     backlog will die before receiving a green card.
       Even the shortest wait for F-2A category--for spouses and 
     minor children of green card holders--is unconscionable. 6 to 
     10 years to wait to be with your nuclear family? This would 
     be unimaginable in nearly all developed democracies. The 
     United States stands apart in having some of the most 
     restrictive immigration laws among wealthy countries.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Restricting immigration and parole is a lose-lose 
situation, as is rejecting DACA young people who are, in fact, ready to 
be paramedics, lawyers, doctors, teachers.
  The White House calls on Congress to advance critical national 
security.
  All of this is what President Biden is doing, and I would make the 
argument that this is what we should be doing in order to have real 
immigration reform. I ask that we do not support the underlying bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H. Res. 957--
denouncing the Biden administration's open-borders policies, condemning 
the national security and public safety crisis along the southwest 
border, and urging President Biden to end his administration's open-
borders policies.
  This resolution is yet another shameful effort to distract the 
American people with unviable solutions for immigration and border 
control--all in the face of inaction to prevent our government from 
shutting down once again.
  This resolution does nothing to address legitimate issues at the 
southern border--instead, it repeats an old list of hyperbolic 
Republican talking points on immigration.
  Rather than working constructively to address these issues, House 
Republicans continue to make the evidence-free argument that President 
Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary Mayorkas have intentionally 
created a ``national security and public safety crisis'' at the 
southern border.
  This bill peddles the false narrative that President Biden has an 
open-borders policy and vi11ainizes immigrants fleeing dangerous 
situations.
  And it does nothing to advance common sense solutions to improve our 
immigration system like creating better legal pathways, increasing 
processing capacity at ports of entry, or funding more immigration 
judges to reduce the asylum backlog.
  It is truly shameful that just days until a government shutdown, my 
Republican colleagues continue to waste time with a resolution that 
repeats the same, tired, inaccurate talking points on immigration and 
the border.
  Once again, Republicans talk a big game when it comes to immigration 
and border security--but instead of trying to pass thoughtful and 
bipartisan legislation that might fix the problems in our immigration 
system, their resolution accomplishes nothing.
  Let's look at the facts.
  Today, there are approximately 38,000 people in immigration 
detention, which is 4,000 more than what DHS is funded for and roughly 
what the Trump administration averaged in Fiscal Year 2018.
  The Biden administration has also significantly increased removals 
(in ways that many in our caucus worry violates due process).
  Since the end of Title 42 last year, the Biden administration has 
removed or returned to Mexico over 470,000 individuals, including over 
78,000 individual members of family units, including children.
  The total is nearly equivalent to the number of people removed in ALL 
of fiscal year 2019 under the Trump administration.
  This is hardly an open border.
  Time and again, my colleagues across the aisle have refused to 
support additional resources and personnel for the border.
  In 2021, all but six current House Republicans voted against the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, which provided additional funding to 
ports of entry to combat smuggling of people and drugs, and for 
modernization.
  All but two current House Republicans voted against providing robust 
funding for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and border security 
operations in the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations omnibus legislation.
  That bill provided more than $17 billion to CBP, including funding 
for an additional 300 U.S. Border Patrol agents--the first increase 
since 2011.
  The omnibus also included $60 million to hire 125 CBP officers and 
$70 million for nonintrusive inspection technology to detect narcotics 
and firearms at ports of entry.
  In October of 2023, the Biden administration sent Congress a 
supplemental funding request, which included an additional $13.6 
billion for border security.
  Yet House Republicans refuse to schedule a vote on this funding 
request, which would provide the Biden administration the resources it 
needs to secure the border and provide additional support for 
communities receiving migrants.
  More specifically, this supplemental funding would pay for the 
following:
  an additional 1,300 Border Patrol agents;
  375 immigration judges and 1,600 asylum officers to speed up 
processing of asylum claims;
  1,000 CBP officers with a focus on countering fentanyl;
  new detection technology for ports of entry;
  additional investigative capabilities to combat fentanyl trafficking; 
and
  $1.4 billion more in grants to help communities receiving migrants, 
among other investments.
  Democrats have put forward good faith bipartisan solutions to 
actually secure the border by expanding lawful pathways to relieve 
pressure on the border and adequately fund government agencies.
  By forcing a vote on a meaningless resolution filled with empty 
rhetoric, Republicans are showing they have no real solutions to 
address the border. Members should not take the bait.
  In sum, this resolution is a pitiful attempt to continue the 
politicization of our government's ability to function.
  All a vote would do is put every Republican who supports it on record 
pushing this extreme agenda.
  This is not what Congress should be focused on. Democrats and 
President Biden will stay focused on putting people over politics and 
keeping our government funded and functioning for the American people.
  As such, I ask my colleagues to vote NO on this shameful resolution 
providing for debate on these highly politicized and dangerous bills.

                              {time}  1445

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Cloud).
  Mr. CLOUD. Mr. Speaker, if we were to ask the cartels to design a 
border security apparatus for the United States, it would look very 
much like the one the Biden administration has given us--just enough of 
the illusion of border security for them to be able to charge a hefty 
premium but not enough to actually stop their trafficking of humans and 
drugs into our country.
  The truth is, the Biden administration has every single authority and 
more resources than the Trump administration had to secure the border, 
but they refuse to do so. They blame Texas. They blame us in Congress 
by saying they need more money.
  As one Border Patrol agent I talked to just 2 weeks ago on the border 
said, it is like we are holding a bucket in front of an open fire 
hydrant, and they keep asking for more buckets. We need to cap the fire 
hydrant.
  The problem from Congress' perspective is that we send over a check 
to the administration, and on the memo column, we put ``border 
security,'' but this administration has taken that check, cashed it, 
and used it to aid and abet cartels with human trafficking and drug 
trafficking into our country. We have to stop this.
  Money that is set aside for natural disasters to help Americans 
through FEMA goes to help NGOs, this entire cottage industry where 
cartels bring migrants to our country. Our border security apparatus, 
along with NGOs and Federal taxpayer funding, is then used to transport 
them throughout the country, where many times the cartels pick up that 
relationship and keep migrants in indentured servitude and as sex 
slaves. We cannot continue to allow this to happen.
  What is happening when we talk about processing who is coming across 
the border right now? Primarily, it is military-age single adults.
  When our border security has to collapse to a processing center, it 
leaves hundreds of miles open. It is where we have what we call known 
got-aways and, even more dangerous, the unknown got-aways that are 
coming across our border.
  We have no idea what is happening. We have to secure our border. It 
is a humanitarian issue. It is a national security issue.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez).
  Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose H. Res. 957.
  I have a question. If we have open borders, which is what I hear on 
the

[[Page H171]]

Homeland Security Committee all the time, then let me ask this 
question: Why are people dying--children--in the Rio Grande while 
attempting to enter our country?
  Let me ask another question. Why are there over 38,000 people right 
now sitting in immigration detention? If the borders are open, why are 
families living in fear of separation by deportation?
  We know many of them because they go to church with us--at least, I 
go to church with some of those immigrant families.
  Republicans are not serious about making real policy change because 
if they were, they would do a couple of the things that you see on my 
board here: allocate resources and capacity to make our borders safer; 
adopt smart tech to stem fentanyl brought into the U.S. through the 
ports of entry, much of it by American citizens; expedite and expand 
work permits to address our labor shortages that are driving inflation; 
and alleviate the conditions across Latin America that motivate 
families to migrate.
  I have been to the border. My mother crossed the border with me. I 
can tell you that the borders are not, in fact, open.
  I invite those serious about change, though, to support any or all of 
the solutions, the things that we were sent to do here--find solutions.
  I invite you to abandon H. Res. 957, which is a political stunt, and 
those sham impeachments that make no meaningful policy progress.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to see through the political 
performance of 2023. Let's leave it in '23. We shouldn't have brought 
it into '24. Let's vote hell no to H. Res. 957.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Van Duyne).
  Ms. VAN DUYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my Texas 
colleague's resolution condemning the purposeful actions of the Biden 
administration and Secretary Mayorkas for turning over our Nation's 
security and southern border to Mexican cartels and ushering in a vast 
tsunami of over 10 million illegal immigrants, who are overwhelming our 
cities and our States.
  Ten million illegal immigrants have come here illegally, yet my 
Democratic colleagues insist the border is closed, nothing to see here.
  Indeed, the Biden administration has enabled a horrific new era of 
human slavery, forced labor, and child sex trafficking that is 
destroying the lives of tens of thousands of people and causing crime 
to escalate across America, all because they refuse to enforce our laws 
that are already written.
  This isn't about creating a whole new immigration process. This is 
about forcing the administration and agencies to do their jobs.
  Democrats admit that the President's additional funding request isn't 
about securing the border or national security, but it is about 
processing illegals faster into the country.
  With more than 100,000 dead Americans from Chinese-supplied and 
Mexican cartel-trafficked fentanyl into our country, we need to 
understand that we are at war.
  The Biden administration has gleefully brought this misery and 
destruction to the American people. The first job of the Federal 
Government is to protect our rights and protect our homeland. 
Unfortunately, under the Biden administration's disgraceful and 
dangerous actions, the American people are less safe. We face a 
national security catastrophe, and the leftists running the White House 
could not care less.

  All of Congress should stand up for the American people, stand up for 
truly secure borders, and empower Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
and the brave men and women of our Border Patrol to do their jobs, lock 
down the border, and fight the Mexican cartels. This is what Americans 
want, and this is what Americans deserve.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, there is no denying that our immigration 
system is broken and so deteriorated. The last time that Congress 
passed any immigration reform, real reform, was in 1996. That was 28 
years ago.
  It is not just Democrats or Republicans to blame. Frankly, both 
parties have completely failed to find the courage to really, truly dig 
deep and fix our broken immigration system. Prison first, humanity 
later doesn't work. We have a responsibility to act.
  I have to tell you, as a former immigration attorney, I remember U.S. 
citizens waiting 10 years or more just to bring their children over, 
and it is even longer for those in Mexico. Siblings wait 12, 15, even 
20 years to unite with their family members. The system is completely 
broken and does not work for our country.
  Our immigrant neighbors deserve to live with human dignity, 
stability, and equal recognition as valued members of communities.
  Right now, we have so many U.S. citizens who cannot have their 
immigrant spouses adjust their status here in the United States. Look 
it up.
  It is so important to understand that we need to protect our 
immigration process by actually making sure it meets the needs of our 
country. For far too long, millions of our immigrant neighbors have 
waited in limbo while they face numerous challenges and obstacles to 
obtain legal status and a pathway to citizenship.
  Please remember that migrants and asylum seekers come to our country 
to escape violence and seek a better life for their families. They 
should not be vilified, locked in cages, or dehumanized.
  I ask all of us to please stop with the fearmongering. These policies 
are rooted in racism, xenophobia, and white nationalism. We must change 
our course.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Wyoming (Ms. Hageman).
  Ms. HAGEMAN. Mr. Speaker, for years, we have sounded the alarm about 
the crisis at our southern border. Yet, this can no longer be called a 
crisis.
  What we face is an existential threat to our Nation, and it is a 
threat enabled by the Biden administration. Since taking office, the 
Biden administration has flouted and defied countless laws of the 
United States in order to prop up their blatantly illegal open-border 
policies.
  Countless officials, including Biden, Vice President Harris, and 
Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, have violated their oath of 
office by failing to faithfully discharge the duties of their offices 
and protect our Nation.
  Under President Biden, 8 million illegal aliens have been stopped at 
our borders, and over 1.7 million known got-aways have entered the 
Nation, with an untold number of illegal aliens crossing undetected.
  In total, Biden's border failures have resulted in illegal immigrant 
totals that are well over 14 times the entire population of the State 
of Wyoming.
  The 94 executive actions taken in President Biden's first 100 days 
alone have decimated all progress made by the Trump administration to 
secure our Nation, ending the remain in Mexico program, halting 
construction on the border wall, and handicapping the ability of 
Federal law enforcement to actually enforce the law. These actions and 
dozens like them by the Biden administration have deliberately created 
an environment where the rule of law no longer exists, where fentanyl 
kills our children and friends, and where no community in America can 
be considered safe.
  Our hospitals are incurring literally tens of millions of dollars in 
uncompensated care, and our farmers are going broke because of the 
destruction of their crops.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H. Res. 957 and 
call on the Biden administration to end their dangerous open-border 
policies that place Americans at risk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  We know from the newspapers and from talking to our colleagues in the 
Senate that Senate negotiators, Democrats and Republicans, are close to 
an agreement on a bill to provide for border security and an 
immigration bill.

  The Speaker of the House has said that no matter what they agree to, 
he is not willing to look at it, that he is not willing to have this 
House pass any immigration bill whatsoever.

[[Page H172]]

  It ill behooves the Republicans to decry lack of border security when 
the Speaker of the House has announced that under no circumstances will 
they do anything about it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Self).
  Mr. SELF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my Texas colleague's H. 
Res. 957.
  We all know the eye-watering figures: 10 million greater than the 
population of our seventh largest State, 1.7 million got-aways.
  I want to focus on the 100,000 minors that we have literally lost in 
the interior of the United States, supposedly because under some 
treaty, we are not authorized to collect and store information on 
minors.
  They are simply in the United States, who knows doing what--slave 
trade, indentured servitude. The cartels will collect their pound of 
flesh from the people who pay them to bring them across the border.
  They are in every State, and they are in many of our cities. They are 
now collecting from indentured servants, from the sex trade, from the 
slavery that we have, from the fentanyl that they bring across and 
sell.
  No new policy, no new law, no new tax dollars are a solution for this 
issue. It is the lawless behavior of the administration that must 
change.
  If you want a solution, I urge my colleagues across the aisle to 
address the lawless behavior of this administration. That is the only 
solution to secure our border.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to work together to address our broken 
immigration system. Enforcement alone cannot fix it. We know this 
because that approach has largely failed for three decades.
  We need to update our immigration system so that it meets the needs 
of our country. We need a balanced, bipartisan approach that expands 
lawful pathways. This will help relieve pressure on the border and 
allow people to come to this country in an orderly and efficient way.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution will accomplish none of that. Instead of 
reaching across the aisle in search of meaningful solutions, this 
resolution uses empty rhetoric to score cheap political points.
  This resolution doesn't claim to accomplish anything for immigration 
reform. All it does is condemn President Biden.
  In a Congress that has broken records for its lack of 
accomplishments, this is just one more useless bill that does nothing 
to help the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to 
close.
  Mr. Speaker, these are some of the things that my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle have said today.
  The border is not open. Mr. Correa, Ms. Jackson Lee, and Mr. Nadler 
all said that.
  Ms. Jayapal said: ``They don't want a solution.''
  Mr. Correa also said that we need more resources.
  In fact, that was one of the mantras throughout the debate today from 
the other side of the aisle: more resources, more resources, more 
resources.
  Let me just tell you, funding is not the issue. Funding is at an all-
time high for our border protection. Despite border protection funding 
being at an all-time high, we are seeing record-high encounters at the 
border.
  Why is that? There is one reason for that. It is the administration's 
current policies.
  I have provided this analogy several times to individuals over the 
months leading up to this debate: When I was being elected, I had a 
flood at my house. I came home one night, and there was water all over 
the floor in my house.
  My first reaction was not to stand there and say that I needed to go 
get a bunch of moppers to come in and mop up the water that is there. 
My first reaction was to find where the water leak was and turn off the 
valve to shut off the flood.
  Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we need to do. That is what this 
resolution re-sounds the alarm about. We have been talking about this 
for years on this side of the aisle. Apparently, both sides of the 
aisle are not getting the message.
  This resolution helps us to admit that there is a problem. It helps 
us identify the cause and solve it.
  Mr. Speaker, if the other side of the aisle was in charge of the 
flood at my house, they would say: Well, let's just let the flood 
continue and hire a bunch more moppers to come in to try to clean it 
up.
  That is simply not the solution. You have to turn that valve off 
first. You have to stop the incursion of water. In this case, you have 
to stop the incursion of migrants coming across our border illegally.
  It is a matter of the rule of law. It is a matter of the sovereignty 
of the United States. It is a matter of enforcing those laws that are 
on the books today and, frankly, a matter of the will of the 
administration to put back in place those policies that were working 
before 2021 began.
  Mr. Speaker, I am astounded by the fact that even today we are 
hearing over and over again from the other side of the aisle that the 
border is not open. I urge my colleagues to go visit. Having been in 
Eagle Pass and El Paso, I can tell you that it is casual. That is the 
word I would use for it. Watching people, myself, coming across the 
border casually and then taken right to a processing center, and before 
you know it, out into the interior of the United States to who knows 
where and who knows when to be found again and who knows what they are 
going to do in our midst.
  Mr. Speaker, we are seeing a rise of terrorism across this world. To 
allow our southern border to have the porous nature it does presently 
puts our Nation at risk. It is a national security issue that must be 
solved. We must have the will to do it.
  Frankly, the Republicans have already proposed the right solution: 
H.R. 2.
  Mr. Speaker, I was proud to be one of the original eight cosponsors 
of H.R. 2, and we need to pass that in its entirety.
  We certainly need to work with Senate Democrats and Republicans and 
the administration to get that done, but before that happens and for 
the last 3 years what should have been happening is that the 
administration should have enforced the policies that the prior 
administration had in place to solve the problem once and for all to 
get us to a place where we can, in fact, have our sovereignty restored, 
our geographic borders protected, and the interior of the United States 
protected.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, while the do-nothing 
extreme MAGA Republican majority wastes the time of the Committee on 
Homeland Security with a phony, baseless impeachment ``investigation,'' 
they occupy the House floor with a symbolic resolution equally as 
false.
  Put simply, there are no so-called ``open-borders policies'' to 
denounce.
  The Biden administration is, in fact, fulfilling its Constitutional 
responsibility to secure America's southern border. It is apprehending, 
processing, and removing individuals with no legal basis to remain in 
the United States in accordance with the law.
  Instead of working with Democrats to solve the challenges along our 
southern border, the extreme MAGA Republicans who run the House of 
Representatives have consistently squandered opportunities to work 
across the aisle to solve the challenges facing our Nation.
  Last Congress, they voted against funding for DHS, to include 
billions of dollars in increased funding for border security. 
Democrats, meanwhile, put people over politics and got those funding 
bills enacted into law.
  Last year, they rejected 43 common-sense amendments during the 
Homeland Security Committee's markup of its portion of H.R. 2, the MAGA 
``Child Deportation Act,'' a bill which would villainize nonprofit 
organizations and punish local officials providing aid to the needy.
  This year, instead of constructively participating in bipartisan 
negotiations on immigration reform and border security with the Biden 
administration and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, 
House Republicans are pursuing a sham impeachment of the Secretary for 
supposedly not doing his job.
  Mr. Speaker, how would the extremists in the House Republican 
Conference even know

[[Page H173]]

Secretary Mayorkas isn't performing his job? They're not showing up to 
do their job at the negotiating table.
  Instead, dressed in polos and perfectly creased khakis, MAGA 
Republicans fly down to Texas for photo ops while the real work of 
legislating remains undone--hamstrung by the endless drama within the 
House Republican Conference.
  The talented, hard-working agents and officers of Customs and Border 
Protection don't need more political photo ops or baseless impeachments 
or symbolic resolutions. They need resources.
  House Republicans would rather shut down the government than give 
those with their boots on the ground what they need to get their job 
done.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H. Res. 957 and 
reject extreme MAGA Republicans' empty gestures and false campaign 
rhetoric.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I share my Republican 
colleagues' strong support of H. Res. 957, to hold the Biden 
Administration accountable for their shameful and disastrous handling 
of our Nation's southern border. Every day, this Administration's open 
border policies are allowing illegal immigrants and drugs, including 
fentanyl, to pour into our country's communities--including many in 
Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. It must be stopped.
  The President has outright refused to enforce the law, and Americans 
are suffering for it. Data has shown that drug seizures at the U.S.-
Mexico border increased by over 58 percent from 2022-2023, not to 
mention the drugs and fentanyl that are going around our ports of 
entry. In 2022, fentanyl killed over 70,000 people and accounted for 
over 50 percent of all overdose deaths, which are only increasing 
because of this crisis.
  I urge my colleague to stand together to condemn this 
Administration's shameful treatment of our southernmost border by 
passing this resolution.
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 
957. We have all seen what is unfolding on our southern border, and the 
humanitarian and security issues it raises. The complex problems facing 
our immigration system need comprehensive reform, not more rhetoric and 
demonization of immigrants.
  But rather than working toward real solutions, this week House 
Republicans are bringing to the floor a partisan resolution condemning 
the Biden Administration over its supposed ``open border policy.'' Mr. 
Speaker, there is no ``open border.'' The Biden Administration has 
worked from its first day to ensure that everyone who arrives to the 
United States is treated fairly and humanely, while navigating within 
an outdated and broken immigration system. Congress has failed to pass 
any meaningful efforts to fix it for three decades.
  The fact remains, the United States needs comprehensive immigration 
reform. Reform that is compassionate, fair, and at times firm. For 
years, businesses, law enforcement, and faith groups have reiterated 
the harms of the current immigration system. We do not need more 
resolutions that do nothing but parrot partisan talking points.
  This Congress, Republicans have demonstrated no willingness to engage 
in finding solutions. In fact, instead of working toward solutions, 
House Republicans are making the problem worse. The Biden 
Administration requested additional resources for the border in October 
of last year, including an additional 1,300 border patrol agents and 
375 immigration judges, but Republicans refuse to allow a vote.
  And just today, Speaker Johnson was quoted saying ``I don't think now 
is the time for comprehensive immigration reform.''
  If now is not the time for action, when is? If, as this resolution 
claims, we are in ``the midst of the worst border security crisis in 
the Nation's history,'' why is this not the time to discuss solutions? 
Republicans must stop using the immigration system as a political 
talking point and an election ploy. Congress must immediately take 
meaningful action to reform a broken immigration system.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Valadao). All time for debate has 
expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 969, the previous question is ordered on 
the resolution and the preamble.
  The question is on adoption of the resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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