[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 85 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3297-H3308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         POLICE OUR BORDER ACT


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 8146.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1227 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 8146.
  The Chair appoints the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford) to 
preside over the Committee of the Whole.

                              {time}  1353


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 8146) to require a report by the Attorney General on the impact 
the border crisis is having on law enforcement at the Federal, State, 
local, and Tribal level, with Mr. Rutherford in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered 
read the first time.
  General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed 1 
hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority 
member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Nadler) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chair, on Inauguration Day of 2021, our borders were secure. The 
Trump remain in Mexico policy had cut phony asylum claims to a trickle. 
The border wall was nearing completion. The court-ordered deportations 
were being enforced. By the end of that day, President Biden had 
reversed those policies, and thus began the greatest illegal mass 
migration in history.
  Since that day, he has allowed 6.9 million illegal migrants to enter 
our country and demand free food, free clothing, free legal assistance, 
free education, free shelter, free lodging, free phones, and free cash. 
Except, of course, it is not the least bit free. It all comes out of 
the earnings of American families and out of the services that we set 
aside for Americans in need.
  Unlike legal immigrants who obey our laws and do everything our 
country asks of them, the first act of these 6.9 million aliens who 
have illegally entered our country is to commit a Federal crime. I have 
watched them personally taunt our Border Patrol at the border as they 
do so.
  Woke cities and States have passed sanctuary laws that forbid our law 
enforcement officials to turn over illegal aliens who have committed 
other crimes to ICE for deportation as the law requires. This 
administration has made these policies national by refusing to enforce 
over a million court-ordered deportations.
  It shouldn't surprise us that many who are willing to violate our 
immigration laws are also willing to violate the rest of our laws, as 
well. The number of terrorist suspects that the Border Patrol has 
encountered has ballooned exponentially, and law enforcement officials 
are warning that among the 1.9 million got-aways--mostly single, 
military-aged men--is likely a dangerous fifth column, which could soon 
launch devastating attacks within our borders.
  Fentanyl brought in through the open border is killing hundreds of 
Americans every day. The Democrats' sanctuary policies hamstring 
attempts to deport criminal illegal aliens. Worst of all, the admission 
of untold thousands of the most vicious gang members on the planet is 
now producing a terrible butcher's bill of murders and assaults on 
Americans.
  When the Federation for American Immigration Reform looked at the 
requests by States to be reimbursed for the cost of incarcerating 
aliens, they found that immigrants are 231 percent more likely jailed 
for crimes in California, 440 percent more likely in New Jersey, and 60 
percent more likely in Texas, just to name a few.
  Immigrants are 231 percent more likely to be jailed in California, 
according to their own SCAAP numbers. You won't find that anywhere else 
because it is illegal in California to otherwise report the immigration 
status of criminals and criminal suspects. By their criteria, not a 
single crime is committed by illegals in California, yet their jails 
are overflowing with them.
  As of last December, there were at least 617,000 aliens on 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's non-detained docket who have 
criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. Yet, these dangerous 
offenders are out on American streets, free to re-offend.

  This past year, Mr. Biden removed 60 percent fewer criminal illegal 
aliens than Trump did in 2019 despite an exponential increase of 
illegal aliens entering our country, and we are seeing the results 
every day in murders and assaults on America's streets and in empty 
chairs at Americans' family dinner tables.
  Earlier this year, New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban 
declared that ``a wave of migrant crime has washed over our city.'' He 
should know because, earlier this year, a group of illegal aliens 
brutally assaulted two NYPD officers. New York Mayor Eric Adams 
described the assault as ``an attack on the foundation of our symbol of 
safety.'' He then called on the city council to consider if there 
should be more collaboration with Federal immigration officials. I 
suppose it is better late than never.
  The bill before us today, H.R. 8146, the Police Our Border Act, 
requires the Attorney General to submit a report to Congress on the 
impact of the Biden border policies on law enforcement officers. This 
report would document officer safety concerns that are linked to 
increased cross-border movement, such as fentanyl exposure and assaults 
on law enforcement officers. The report would also examine the overall 
burden of this unfolding tragedy on law enforcement capabilities and 
officer morale.

[[Page H3298]]

  Our men and women in blue continue to protect our communities even 
when our communities don't fully support them. We owe them better as a 
nation. With this measure, we declare our determination to recognize 
and document the threats they face so that we can enact measures to 
make it harder for a President to ever again unleash these threats upon 
the American people.
  Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chair, this year, our Republican majority has wasted time passing 
three different but equally meaningless resolutions related to the 
Biden administration's immigration policies. This week, we debated a 
fourth.
  We now move on to yet another meaningless and poorly written piece of 
immigration legislation. Just like the four resolutions, this bill is 
full of empty rhetoric that will do nothing to solve the situation at 
the border.

                              {time}  1400

  Not a single dollar will go to help our law enforcement agents at the 
border as a result of this bill. Not a single person will be denied 
entry to this country as a result of this bill. Not a single community 
will be made safer as a result of this bill.
  It is just another stale attempt to demonize and fearmonger about 
immigrants wrapped in fresh packaging.
  The bill itself is an oddly written and thrown together reporting 
bill that claims to require the Attorney General to produce a report on 
the impact of the Biden border crisis on Federal, State and Tribal law 
enforcement.
  When it comes to reporting bills, I am usually supportive. It is 
essential for us to conduct oversight of the executive branch, and 
reports are an important way to do that.
  Unfortunately, this bill is such a sham and is riddled with so much 
misinformation and blatantly partisan political rhetoric masquerading 
as fact that I cannot support it.
  Here is just one example of how poorly written the bill is. It 
requires the Attorney General to report on the impact of the so-called 
Biden border crisis without defining that term. Without a definition, 
the term is meaningless, and the Attorney General would have no 
guidance to know what data the report should actually contain.
  The obvious cheap political rhetoric exposes this legislation as an 
unserious messaging bill. Beyond that, in a world where my Republican 
colleagues consistently say that they do not trust the Attorney General 
to carry out their intent, the lack of definitions makes little sense.
  The bill also attempts, incorrectly, to paint undocumented migrants 
as being the primary source of fentanyl brought into the country, when 
we know that this is not true. The vast majority of fentanyl is seized 
at ports of entry, trafficked by U.S. citizens. Over 86 percent of 
those convicted for fentanyl-related drug trafficking convictions are 
U.S. citizens.
  Furthermore, cartels are not risking their product on people who 
illicitly cross the border between points of entry. In fiscal year 
2023, CBP seized approximately 27,000 pounds of fentanyl. Less than 10 
percent of those drugs were seized by the Border Patrol.
  The vast majority, or roughly 90 percent of fentanyl, was seized by 
the Office of Field Operations, which mans the ports of entry.
  Lastly, the bill asks the Attorney General to report on the resources 
devoted to addressing the border and the resources that are ``not 
available to law enforcement agencies.''
  However, at every turn, it has been Republicans who have voted 
against giving DHS the resources it needs to do its job. In 2021, all 
but six current House Republicans voted against the bipartisan 
infrastructure deal, which provided additional funding to modernize 
ports of entry and allow for nonintrusive inspections to combat the 
smuggling of people and drugs.
  Likewise, all but two current House Republicans voted against 
providing robust funding for Customs and Border Protection and border 
security operations in the FY 2023 appropriations omnibus legislation.
  That bill provided more than $17 billion to CBP, including $60 
million to hire an additional 125 CBP officers and $70 million for 
nonintrusive inspection technology to detect narcotics and firearms at 
ports of entry.
  When it comes to the President's supplemental request, which would 
provide $14 billion for border security, we have not had a single 
hearing, let alone a vote on the request. The President has requested 
vital funds for 375 immigration judges and 1,600 asylum officers to 
speed up processing of asylum claims so that people could get their 
asylum claims adjudicated in weeks, not in years.
  The Republicans are fond of talking about catch and release, but that 
is because it takes years for someone to get his asylum case 
adjudicated. The President has requested these funds, and if he got the 
375 immigration judges and 1,600 asylum officers as well as the funds, 
you would adjudicate these cases in weeks, not years.
  He has also asked for funds for additional personnel at ports of 
entry and technology to stop drugs from coming into the country. The 
Republicans have said no.
  As a final indication of just how unserious this bill is, its 
findings state that Congress should pass and the President should sign 
into law ``strong border security legislation.''
  Never mind the fact that it was House Republicans who walked away 
from a bill negotiated by one of the most conservative Members of the 
Senate, a bill that Senator McConnell called the toughest border bill 
in 30 years, all because Donald Trump told them he wanted the issue for 
the election, not a solution.
  Now, I know my Republican friends will say, well, there is H.R. 2, 
which is a better bill. Well, I don't know whether it is a better bill, 
but it is a bill that cannot pass. It could not get more than 32 votes 
in the Senate with 49 Republican Members.
  You don't get strong border security legislation by passing 
congressional resolutions and reports. You have to do the hard work of 
legislating, but that appears to be far beyond the capacity of this 
Republican majority. Instead, they are reduced to pointless bills like 
this that accomplish nothing and are full of misleading talking points.
  We deserve better than this waste of time.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, when my friend complains about partisan 
Republican rhetoric, I would advise him to listen to his own 
constituents who are begging their Representatives in New York and 
Chicago and Denver whose social services are being overwhelmed by the 
tidal wave of illegal immigration that this administration has 
unleashed and that my friend has defended every day in this House.
  He complains that the term ``Biden border crisis'' isn't defined. He 
might want to open his eyes and look around him or open his ears to 
hear the pleas of his own constituents.

  Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. D'Esposito), the author of this measure.
  Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Chair, I am not really sure where to begin.
  My friend across the aisle said that we would talk about H.R. 2, but 
that it didn't have the votes to pass. Well, I think we are in the same 
situation as the imaginary bill he talks about which never made it out 
of the Senate and wasn't a solution. It was a surrender.
  If you need a definition of the ``Biden border crisis,'' let's talk 
about the over 8 million illegal migrants that have come over this 
border since Joe Biden has taken office.
  Let's talk about the over 1.3 million known got-aways that have come 
into this country that we don't know what they are doing, who they are 
talking to, or who they are associating with.
  Let's talk about the record number of illegal narcotics that have 
come across the southern border.
  Let's talk about the problems, the draining of resources that the 
migrant crisis, the Biden border crisis, is leaving on law enforcement 
across this country.
  I am not just going to focus on police departments back in New York. 
Let's start farther away. Let's start with and talk about sheriffs and 
deputies along the southern border who have said that the Biden border 
crisis has affected

[[Page H3299]]

every single bit of industry in their State or county.
  Let's talk about sheriffs that, Mr. Chair, we have visited who have 
said their jails are full to capacity. Why? Because of the Biden border 
crisis.
  I am not really sure what my good friend from New York across the 
aisle needs more explanation about the Biden border crisis, but I will 
tell you this: Law enforcement throughout this country has made it 
explicitly clear. They have made it explicitly clear that they need 
help, that they need communication, and that is exactly what this bill 
does.
  It is not a messaging bill.
  It requires the Justice Department to provide to law enforcement 
agencies information, intelligence, and explain to them the issues that 
are plaguing this country that the migrants are affecting so that we, 
Congress, can provide the resources that these law enforcement agencies 
need.
  Now, this isn't just Republicans talking about this. The very city 
that my friend across the aisle represents, the mayor of the city of 
New York, Eric Adams, has said: ``The migrant crisis will destroy New 
York City.''
  I have to remind my friend across the aisle that the very department 
who provides him executive protection, the New York City Police 
Department, has said that they need more information and that 
communication between law enforcement agencies should be better. 
Whether it is Customs and Border Protection, whether it is local 
agencies, whether it is other Federal agencies, the communication 
should be better.
  So this is a step in the right direction to make sure that law 
enforcement agencies throughout the country have the ability and have 
the information that they need to effectively protect and serve the 
communities they represent.
  You see, H.R. 2 was a great starting point. Over a year ago, House 
Republicans not only put H.R. 2 across the finish line in the Homeland 
Security Committee but got it across the finish line on the floor of 
this House. It was voted against by Democrats. It was sent over to the 
Senate where it has collected dust on Chuck Schumer's desk. It has 
collected dust, and in the process, the crisis at our southern border, 
Mr. Chair, the Biden border crisis, has gotten worse. It has affected 
more people. People have died because of the failed policies of Joe 
Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.
  The fact that we have our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
saying that this is about messaging, well, Mr. Chair, I wonder if they 
would deliver that same message to the family and loved ones of victims 
who have fallen prey to the Biden border crisis.
  Mr. Chair, when we are back home in our districts, we need to assure 
our constituents. They need to know that we are committed and dedicated 
to fact-finding and well-researched policy.
  Mr. Chair, the other side of the aisle can't support this simply 
because they are trying to deny that there is even a crisis. The fact 
that we are wondering what is the definition of the Biden border crisis 
is actually scary. It is either they are not paying attention, they are 
not reading the newspapers, they are not focused on the facts, or they 
just don't care.
  What I will tell you is there is a crisis, and the crisis has gotten 
worse because of Joe Biden.
  We have seen migrants in some videos that have gone viral on social 
media. As a matter of fact, two of the victims of some of these crimes 
were my guests right here at the State of the Union, two members of the 
NYPD who were brutally attacked in Midtown Manhattan by illegal 
migrants.
  We know for a fact that migrants smuggle narcotics into this country. 
We know for a fact that illegal migrants have been arrested for brutal 
crimes and for making communities less safe.
  We know for a fact that illegal migrants have been part of burglary 
rings, not just in sanctuary cities, but in places that surround them, 
like my home on Long Island.
  This is a crisis. It is the Biden border crisis. This piece of 
legislation is common sense. It is about making sure that we provide 
the necessary information, communication, and resources to law 
enforcement agencies throughout this country so that they can continue 
to do the best with what they have, they continue to do the best with 
the hurdles that are in front of them, that they continue to do the 
best because they are facing, just like all of us, the historic 
disaster at our southern border that is the Biden border crisis.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  My friend from New York talks about the Biden border crisis, and he 
talks about the bill that failed in the Senate because the former 
President, former President Trump, told the Senate, told Republicans 
not to vote for it because he wanted an issue. He didn't want the 
problem solved; he wanted an issue.

                              {time}  1415

  He said it in his own words. Congressman Nehls said it in his own 
words.
  H.R. 2, which they claim to support, in fact, would never get more 
than 32 votes in a 49 Republican Member Senate. Republicans didn't 
support it, never mind the Democrats.
  The only viable bill was the bill negotiated by Mitch McConnell and 
Senator Lankford. It was the most conservative bill in a generation, 
and one that was supported by the union representing the Border Patrol 
people. However, that bill was killed because President Trump wanted no 
progress and said so. At least he was honest about it. He said: I don't 
want any progress in this area. I want an issue.
  My Republican friends are talking about the issue that could have 
been solved by now if it weren't for President Trump's ordering them 
not to solve it.
  We will hear a lot of rhetoric about solving a problem when they are 
participating in what amounts to a plot not to solve the problem by 
passing the strict bill that could have been passed, that was supported 
by and that is supported by the union representing the border patrolmen 
and could actually solve the problem.
  They don't want to solve the problem. They just want to talk about 
the problem.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chair, my friend calls the Senate bill the only viable bill.
  If it is so viable, then where is it?
  The Senate bill could not be passed by the Senate.
  H.R. 2 was passed out of this House and did ultimately receive, I 
believe, 47 votes in the Senate. The Democrats love to tout the Senate 
bill. That bill would not have ended Biden's open-border policies. It 
would have institutionalized them.
  Current law gives the President full authority to secure our border. 
Trump proved that. It requires asylum claimants to be detained. Trump 
did that.
  This bill that he talks about would leave future Presidents powerless 
to secure the border until illegal immigration reaches 4,000 a day, 1.5 
million a year, and it would have required that they be released into 
our country. That is the Democrats' idea of border security, a 
guaranteed 4,000 illegal aliens being released into our country every 
day.
  Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. 
Bacon).
  Mr. BACON. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague, my friend from 
California, for yielding.
  Mr. Chair, I want to speak on H.R. 354, the previous bill that we 
just debated on. It is my legislation that I have worked on for 7 
years. It is the LEOSA Reform Act.
  What does this bill do?
  It says that if you are a retired law enforcement officer, Mr. Chair, 
or if you are an off-duty law enforcement officer and you maintain your 
gun qualifications, then you can carry your sidearm. We used to have 
LEOSA that was standardized throughout all 50 States, but over time, 
over the last decade, it has gotten very uneven, and it has been 
chipped away at in various States. We want to level the table again for 
all of our law enforcement officers.
  When I talk to our county sheriffs, and I have three of them, this is 
their number one priority. Their number one ask is to get LEOSA passed 
again. When I talk to our Federal law enforcement, it is also one of 
the top requests that they have.
  Mr. Chair, why is it called the law enforcement safety bill?
  It is because, just picture, if you will, if you are in a theater, 
and someone who is deranged starts shooting their weapon at people, 
hurting or killing innocent people, who would you want to have in 
there, Mr. Chair?

[[Page H3300]]

  I would want to have an off-duty policeman or a retired policeman who 
has maintained their qualifications and who has been trained to respond 
to these kinds of killers and these kind of incidents.
  This is what LEOSA allows. It improves the safety of wherever they 
are with these retired policemen or off-duty policemen.
  I have talked to Federal agents who have arrested serious narcotics 
dealers, and they have a price on their head. They have a bounty, if 
you will. When they are retired, they want to carry, as well, to defend 
themselves and their family.
  Mr. Chair, I hope we can have a bipartisan vote on this bill. It is 
one of the top requests of law enforcement officers at the local, 
State, county, and Federal level for us to get this done. This would be 
a way to say thank you to the law enforcement who serve every day, who 
put their lives on the line, and who still want to serve when they are 
retired and be there when and if needed.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury).
  Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Chair, as it is National Police Week, I want to 
begin by thanking all of our law enforcement for their service and 
their sacrifice on behalf of our communities.
  As we do so, we honor and remember those who have passed in the line 
of duty, including so many in New Mexico, including New Mexico State 
Patrolman Justin Hare and Las Cruces Police Department Patrol Officer 
Jonah Hernandez who died in the line of duty just this year.
  I stand to oppose this bill, but I also stand deeply proud to serve 
New Mexico's First Congressional District, which includes the 
Albuquerque metro area, the seven counties, two Tribal nations, and 
dozens of State, county, Tribal, local law enforcement and emergency 
service agencies, and Federal law enforcement.
  From Sandoval, Bernalillo, and Valencia Counties in the north, and 
Torrance, Lincoln, Chaves, Guadalupe, and De Baca in the south and 
east, our State, county, and local law enforcement agencies care for 
our communities, and keep them safe every day.
  Likewise, our Federal law enforcement are working overtime in New 
Mexico to crack down on cartels to keep drug traffickers and dangerous 
drugs off our streets.
  We thank them for their service and their sacrifice.
  We know that public safety and the fentanyl crisis are ravishing our 
communities, and they are on the front lines.
  That is why I have worked since day one in office to help secure 
millions in funding for our law enforcement for tools, technology, and 
equipment to support their work. I have fought for funding for 
recruitment and retention. This includes millions in State funding I 
helped secure during my time in the legislature. It also includes 
millions I helped secure in the Congress for State police to detect and 
tackle fentanyl; $18 million for law enforcement equipment and 
vehicles, new emergency fire stations for Moriarty, Sandia Pueblo, and 
Peralta; and more than $17 million for behavioral and mental health 
services.
  Nevertheless, we know that fighting the fentanyl crisis and fighting 
the public safety and behavioral health crisis will take more than just 
stopping the flow of drugs and other materials into our communities.
  It requires that we also face the realities of addiction and the 
people who are hurting in our communities.
  It requires that we listen to and support the people who are facing 
the realities and the relentless challenges of the opioid crisis, who 
are struggling with addiction and the daily tragedies that overwhelm 
our first responders and emergency rooms, and the thousands who have 
died in New Mexico alone from this problem.
  That is why I have also been working to help secure millions for 
behavioral health to expand clinics and housing opportunities in 
Albuquerque, veterans' transitional housing, the First Nation's Clinic, 
healthcare for the homeless, and other vital programs.
  Moreover, it is why I am also sponsoring legislation to stop pill 
presses from being used to dump dangerous drugs in our communities and 
to get emergency overdose medicine into public venues.
  These are the realities of how we deal with the fentanyl crisis. This 
is what our law enforcement are asking us to do. New Mexico is a border 
State. New Mexico is on the front line of the fentanyl crisis.
  We have to do much more. It takes resources to fight these 
challenges. We have to invest in technology, tools, and staffing to 
stop the flow of drugs into this country. It means we have to fund and 
support our State, local, and Tribal law enforcement so that they can 
actually protect our communities.
  In addition, it means that we have to take seriously and make a 
sustained investment in our broken healthcare and behavioral health 
system.
  Most importantly, above all else, it means stop playing politics with 
the lives of our people because we already know the solutions to these 
problems. We don't need another messaging bill here on the House floor. 
We need solutions.
  While you are sitting here lecturing us on your messaging bill, the 
Speaker of the House and Members of the House majority are standing in 
front of a Federal courthouse in New York City in matching outfits 
defending a sex offender in his hush money trial.
  It is a brave statement to stand on the House floor today while that 
is going on and lecture us about solutions for our communities when 
one-half of their caucus isn't even present here in the Chamber.
  Now, we already tried to pass a bipartisan solution. In fact, the 
Senate tried for months. In fact, it was led by a Senate GOP Member, 
and it was single-handedly blocked by Donald Trump because he told 
Members of this Chamber and others that he thought it would be bad for 
his campaign.
  Is this the party of law and order?
  Is this what the American people are asking us to do?
  Our families and our communities are not a political joke. They are 
not a political bargaining chip. This is about real people, people like 
one of my closest friends who died from a fentanyl overdose with two 
young children at home and the thousands of others who are suffering 
with addiction and suffering from the challenges that our communities 
are facing.
  Stop wasting our time. Stop offering false and empty words, and 
please join us for real solutions to help our communities.
  The Acting CHAIR (Mr. LaLota). Pursuant to House rules, the Chair 
would remind Members to refrain from engaging in personalities toward 
presumptive nominees for the Office of President.
  The gentlewoman from Washington controls the remainder of the time, 
and she reserves the balance of her time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chair, in response to that tirade, let me just remind the 
gentlewoman that 6.9 million illegal immigrants have been admitted into 
our country in violation of our immigration laws since this 
administration took office.
  The gentlewoman speaks of all the taxpayer money that she generously 
volunteers to pour into our social services. Well, I have news for her: 
That safety net has been shredded by their open-border policies.
  The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that just in 
the last year the cost to our public schools is $70 billion just to 
educate the children of the illegals whom they have admitted into this 
country and $22 billion in costs to our hospitals.
  Now, I submit to you, Mr. Chair, that if Republicans were to suggest 
we should cut $70 billion from public education or $22 billion from our 
public hospitals, there would be complete outrage on the other side of 
the aisle, and yet that is exactly what their open-border policies are 
costing us right now. That is a travesty.
  There is one way to solve this, and that is to secure our borders as 
we had accomplished under President Trump.
  That is why there are so many Members over there right now to defend 
a President who actually is serious about defending our borders.
  Mr. Chair, I am ready to close when the gentlewoman is, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chair, may I ask how much time is remaining.

[[Page H3301]]

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Washington has 15 minutes 
remaining.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. Chairman, while you may not know it from some of the language 
that is being used today, we are debating a poorly written ``reporting 
bill'' that will do nothing.
  This bill is full of empty rhetoric, it makes no policy changes to 
address the outdated immigration system, and it provides no funding of 
any kind.
  All this bill does is attempt to produce a onetime politically 
motivated report on the so-called Biden border crisis, just one report. 
That is it.
  Give me a break.
  Even though the entire bill is focused on reporting requirements 
related to the ``Biden border crisis,'' the bill doesn't even define 
the term.
  It is as if we needed more proof that this is not serious legislation 
and that it is more about messaging than congressional oversight of the 
executive branch.
  Why are we continuing to waste our time marking up these meaningless 
messaging bills?
  I have said this before, and I am going to say it again because the 
same resolutions keep coming up over and over again, so I feel as if I 
need to repeat myself.
  The situation at the border is directly linked to the fact that the 
legal immigration system has not been modernized in 30 years. It has 
been left in chaos because it has not been updated to meet the needs of 
our country today.

                              {time}  1430

  When the legal process is so outdated that it takes decades for green 
card holders to get their children into the country, or when employers 
simply can't get visas for the people that they need to hire because 2 
million people are in processing backlogs, or when we have so few 
immigration judges that asylum seekers wait over 8 years to get their 
cases heard, then people turn to unscrupulous actors, including the 
cartels. The cartels promise desperate people that they can escape 
dangerous situations by paying cartels to get them in to seek safety by 
crossing the border.
  If my colleagues on the other side were serious about addressing the 
situation, Republicans would work with us to fix the immigration system 
to provide people with workable ways to immigrate.
  That would disempower the cartels. It would ensure the integrity of 
the border. It would give us what we all want, which is order at the 
border that is fueled and made possible by a legal immigration system 
that works and a legal immigration system that provides pathways for 
people to come to work here, to be with their families, and to 
contribute to our economy.
  That is what we need right now, but here we are. Instead of that, we 
are defending a bill with no chance of becoming law or solving the 
problem. Republicans are showing clearly what we Democrats have been 
saying over and over again, that my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle don't want to do anything that would help fix the broken 
immigration system. Instead of solving the problem, Republicans want to 
continue to weaponize the border as a political issue for this election 
year.
  Rather than debating meaningless bills, we should be exploring how to 
meaningfully reform the broken immigration system and expand lawful 
immigration to the United States, given the very clear and documented 
benefits that that brings.
  In 2021 alone, DACA recipients paid $6.5 billion in taxes; refugees 
paid almost $28 billion in taxes; and TPS holders paid $2.2 billion in 
taxes. Likewise, in 2021, undocumented immigrants paid approximately 
$18.6 million in Federal income taxes and $12.2 billion in State and 
local taxes.
  Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services released a 
study demonstrating that refugees and asylees generated $124 billion in 
fiscal benefits over 15 years, and the Congressional Budget Office, a 
nonpartisan entity, recently released a report finding that recent 
immigrants who joined the workforce will actually add $1 trillion of 
revenue to our country's GDP between 2023 and 2034.
  It is also estimated that putting undocumented immigrants on a 
roadmap to citizenship would not only increase U.S. GDP by $1.7 
trillion over the next decade, but that action would also raise wages 
for all Americans and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
  Unfortunately, Republicans talk a big game when it comes to 
immigration and border security, but instead of trying to pass 
thoughtful, bipartisan legislation to address problems in our 
immigration system, my colleagues waste our time on bills like the ones 
before us today.
  Members don't have to just take it from me. The fact is that the 
second most conservative Republican Senator in the United States Senate 
crafted a bill with some Democratic support to put forward before us on 
immigration reform, and Republicans decided that the majority didn't 
even want to consider that bill or vote on that bill. Do my colleagues 
know why? Because Donald Trump told them not to because it would take 
away what Republicans see as an election issue.
  I believe the American people are smarter than that.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to oppose this meaningless bill 
and to see very clearly that Republicans are not interested in 
solutions, in governing, but are just interested in meaningless 
messaging bills to try to divide us when we really should be 
celebrating the tremendous benefits that immigrants contribute to our 
country every single day.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Pfluger).
  Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 8146, the Police 
Our Border Act.
  On National Police Week, I am proud to join my colleagues in hosting 
meetings, speaking on the floor, and holding hearings, like we had 
today with my colleague, Mr. D'Esposito, to honor the dedication and 
sacrifice of our law enforcement and first responders.
  It is so important for us to thank our men and women who put their 
lives on the line every day while knowing the dangers that await them 
to keep our families, communities, children, and loved ones safe.
  There is no denying that our law enforcement has fallen under attack 
in recent years as Democratic governments cave to the defund the police 
movement.
  The crisis at our southern border now affects every State, every 
town, every congressional district, and it certainly affects our law 
enforcement heroes, as we heard during testimony this week.
  Congress should be using every tool and resource available to support 
our officers. With enough fentanyl coming across the border each year 
to kill every American seven times over, criminal illegal aliens being 
let free to roam in our communities, community resources being handed 
out to individuals who have been deported multiple times, and women and 
children being raped and killed, the crisis has reached a breaking 
point.
  Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement are suffering the 
worst consequences of President Biden's border crisis, and they need 
the Police Our Border Act now. This bill provides critical solutions 
that hold Congress and the administration accountable and ensure we are 
showing up for our law enforcement, and not just showing up, but that 
we show them our support through our voting here in Congress.
  Mr. Chairman, I hope and ask for colleagues' support on this very 
important act.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time 
to close.
  To sum up, without law enforcement, there is no law, and without law, 
there is no civilization. Without immigration enforcement, there are no 
borders. Without borders, there is no country.

  This is where the woke left is taking us, and it is time for 
Americans to decide how much farther we want to allow them to take us 
down this dismal and dangerous road.
  I think the American people are entitled to ask this administration 
and its apologists in this Congress: How do we make our streets safer 
by making it all but impossible to deport criminal illegal aliens, as 
the law requires? How do we make our families safer by flooding our 
communities with deadly fentanyl?

[[Page H3302]]

How do we make our children safer by not vetting every person who 
enters our country to keep the criminals out? How do we make our 
neighborhoods safer by refusing to prosecute criminal illegal aliens to 
the fullest extent of the law? How do we make our highways safer by 
creating the conditions of deadly high-speed chases and drunk driving? 
How do we protect our country as untold numbers of terrorists enter 
among the 1.9 million known got-aways who have entered under Joe 
Biden's nose? How do we make our communities safer as criminal gangs 
and criminal cartels set up shop in our cities for their lethal 
business of child trafficking, drug trafficking, extortion, and crime?
  These are the questions that have gone unanswered since this 
administration took office and with which our local law enforcement 
officials must grapple every day at the peril of their own lives in 
order to protect ours.
  The Democrats just don't seem to care, but America cares. Americans 
are dealing with this entirely preventable crisis every day, and our 
law enforcement officers are the heroes who protect our families and 
our communities every day. We owe it to them to document the truth, to 
acknowledge it, and to act on it. That is what this bill would do, and 
I urge the House to adopt it.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment 
under the 5-minute rule.
  The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the 
Committee on the Judiciary, printed in the bill, shall be considered as 
adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as an original bill 
for purpose of further amendment under the 5-minute rule, and shall be 
considered as read.
  The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

                               H.R. 8146

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Police Our Border Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds as follows:
       (1) Our Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement 
     officers put their lives on the line each day in order to 
     protect our country and serve their communities.
       (2) According to the National Law Enforcement Officer 
     Memorial Fund, 136 law enforcement officers died in the line-
     of-duty in 2023.
       (3) Congress should do everything in its power to support 
     law enforcement officers at every level and in every part of 
     our nation.
       (4) The southwest border crisis created by the Biden 
     Administration has made every state a border state.
       (5) The Biden border crisis has placed a burden on law 
     enforcement agencies across the nation and has placed a 
     significant strain on the resources that are critical to 
     keeping communities safe.
       (6) Law enforcement officers in every state are put in 
     life-threatening scenarios as a direct result of the open 
     borders.
       (7) Law enforcement has been forced to deal with the influx 
     of fentanyl and many officers are exposed to the drug while 
     on duty.
       (8) It is in the best interest of law enforcement officers 
     and the communities they serve for Congress to pass, and the 
     President to sign into law, strong border security 
     legislation.

     SEC. 3. REPORT.

        Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a 
     report on the impact the Biden border crisis is having on law 
     enforcement officers at the Federal, State, local, and Tribal 
     level, including--
       (1) the estimated dollar amount of all resources devoted to 
     addressing the Biden border crisis, and the extent to which 
     such resources are not available to law enforcement agencies;
       (2) the exposure of law enforcement officers to fentanyl 
     resulting from encounters with illegal aliens at the border 
     and in the United States;
       (3) injuries to law enforcement officers based on a 
     connection to the Biden border crisis or exposure to 
     fentanyl; and
       (4) the morale of law enforcement officers.

  The Acting CHAIR. No further amendment to the bill, as amended, shall 
be in order except those printed in part B of House Report 118-511. 
Each such further amendment may be offered only in the order printed in 
the report, by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered 
as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report 
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall 
not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for 
division of the question.
  The Chair understands amendment Nos. 1 and 2 will not be offered.


               Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. D'Esposito

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 
printed in part B of House Report 118-511.
  Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Molinaro), and I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 5, line 3, strike ``and''.
       Page 5, line 4, strike the period and insert ``; and''.
       Page 5, after line 4, insert the following:
       (5) the recruiting impact on hiring law enforcement as a 
     result of the Biden border crisis.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1227, the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. D'Esposito) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Chairman, this amendment, offered by my good 
friend and fellow New Yorker, Mr. Molinaro, would add an important 
provision to my legislation. If adopted, it would ensure that my bill, 
in addition to measuring things like exposure to fentanyl, injuries, 
and morale, would also measure the Biden border crisis' effects on 
recruitment.
  Mr. Chairman, in my capacity as a member of the House Homeland 
Security Committee, we have taken time to interview countless law 
enforcement professionals from all across this Nation and at every 
rank. Mr. Chairman, we have heard time and time again that today's 
political climate, both in terms of the demands made of law enforcement 
but also the flagrant lack of respect and appreciation for law 
enforcement by many on the other side of the aisle, has made it 
difficult to recruit and retain law enforcement officers.
  It is for that reason that I am proud to offer and support Mr. 
Molinaro's amendment to my bill. It is in the interest of the American 
people that we learn all the effects of this tragic Biden border crisis 
on law enforcement, including and especially this crisis' effect on 
recruitment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Washington is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chairman, this amendment furthers the major drafting 
problems in this legislation by asking the Attorney General to report 
on how the so-called Biden border crisis impacted law enforcement 
recruiting.
  As I said earlier, there is no definition for the ``Biden border 
crisis,'' and this amendment highlights just how unserious this 
legislation is.
  How on Earth is the Attorney General supposed to determine how the 
border impacts law enforcement recruitment? Are local law enforcement 
agencies going to have to go to all the candidates who turned down job 
offers and ask them if their decision was influenced by the border?
  This bill is a huge waste of time, and this amendment serves only to 
make this poorly drafted bill even more incomprehensible. I, therefore, 
oppose its adoption, and I encourage my colleagues to oppose it, as 
well.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. D'Esposito).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                  Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Nunn

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4 
printed in part B of House Report 118-511.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 5, line 3, strike ``and''.
       Page 5, line 4, strike the period and insert ``; and''.
       Page 5, after line 4, insert the following:
       (5) estimated dollar amount States expended on local law 
     enforcement efforts to investigate, intercept, and process, 
     which includes the entire evidence lifecycle, from collection 
     and analysis to storage and final destruction, fentanyl 
     trafficked from the United States border.


[[Page H3303]]


  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1227, the gentleman 
from Iowa (Mr. Nunn) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chairman, the administration's failure to 
secure our southern border has turned all of our States into border 
States.
  The administration's open-border policies have allowed an influx of 
over 8 million illegal migrants and more than 27,000 pounds of deadly 
fentanyl, and that is just what we know of, to enter our country.
  Earlier this year, fentanyl hurt so many of our families, so I 
invited folks from my district. Deric and Kathy Kidd joined me to hear 
what our country could do during the State of the Union to help fight 
the fentanyl crisis, the synthetic drug made in China that enters our 
country illegally, primarily through our southern border, which has so 
far been left completely unprotected. We honor the loss of their son.

                              {time}  1445

  At 17, he lost his life and became one of 150 Americans every day 
dying from the fentanyl crisis.
  We looked for answers from the administration to close the border 
that they could do on day one, to be able to stand up and make sure 
that catch and release is ended, and to reinstate remain in Mexico.
  The administration chose to do none of those things, and they have 
put our law enforcement on the front lines of defending our communities 
not just from local policing but from the threat posed by this deadly 
drug.
  Mr. Chair, no family should experience what the Kidd family did. 
This, in their own words, could and should have been prevented but, 
unfortunately, it remains.
  Most recently, Interstate 35 that extends from Mexico north right 
into my district in Iowa was the site of the largest seizure of 
fentanyl near Des Moines. A 35-year-old male traveling from the 
southern border was intercepted not by Border Patrol or Federal law 
enforcement but by local police. They seized 30,000 fentanyl pills in 
his car. Let's not forget one teaspoon is more than enough to kill an 
entire community.
  Luckily, our law enforcement officers were able to intercept these 
drugs and made sure they did not make it to our State and were not on 
our streets. There is no doubt that we must secure our border to 
prevent drugs from flowing into our country, but we also need to 
address the strain that this places on families and our local first 
responders.
  In conversations with sheriffs at the police departments in my 
district, I have talked with too many officers who shared their work 
and how it is being consumed in the fight against fentanyl.
  The bottom line is that local law enforcement officers should not be 
overloaded with these issues when we have a Federal responsibility to 
assist them.
  To better understand how big of an impact fentanyl is on our 
communities, my amendment would require the Department of Justice to 
detail how much States have spent on local law enforcement efforts to 
investigate, intercept, and process fentanyl that has been trafficked 
across U.S. borders.
  By understanding the root of this challenge, we can better allocate 
resources and make sure our local law enforcement has the support they 
need.
  Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and the 
underlying bill by Representative D'Esposito, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the 
amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentlewoman from Washington 
is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chairman, the Nunn amendment requires the Attorney 
General to report on how much each State spent on investigating 
fentanyl trafficked through the border.
  I do not oppose this amendment because it does not repeat the same 
misleading talking points that Republicans often use when discussing 
fentanyl, and I am grateful to my colleague across the aisle for that.
  I did want to make a couple of points on this because I think 
fentanyl is such an important issue in all of our districts. It is a 
scourge on all of our districts, all of our communities. We are all 
seeing the effects of fentanyl that is coming into this country.
  We know that fentanyl is being smuggled into our country and that 
some of it comes through our southern border, but I do want to make 
clear that fentanyl is seized primarily at the ports of entry.
  In fiscal year 2023, CBP seized approximately 27,000 pounds of 
fentanyl. Less than 10 percent of the drugs were actually seized by 
Border Patrol. The vast majority, roughly 90 percent of the drugs, were 
seized by the Office of Field Operations, which is the entity that mans 
the ports of entry.
  I will be clear that the evidence does not show in any way that 
asylum seekers are bringing drugs to our shores. In fact, increasingly, 
drug cartels are being very smart about this. They are recruiting 
American citizens to bring drugs across the border through ports of 
entry. In 2022, over 89 percent of convicted fentanyl traffickers were 
American citizens.
  If my Republican colleagues were serious about stopping the flow of 
fentanyl, the flow of drugs across the border, then I think we should 
be giving additional resources to the agencies that are manning those 
ports of entry.
  Instead, all but six current House Republicans voted against the 
bipartisan infrastructure bill, which provided additional funding to 
ports of entry to combat the smuggling of people and drugs. All but two 
current House Republicans voted against providing robust funding for 
border security operations in the 2023 appropriations omnibus 
legislation, which provided more than $17 billion to Customs and Border 
Protection, including funding for an additional 300 Border Patrol 
agents.
  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. That is exactly the kind of technology 
that our Border Patrol agents are asking us for.
  Republicans have also refused to consider President Biden's emergency 
supplemental funding request for additional border resources, which 
included $239 million to hire 1,000 additional CBP officers to stop 
fentanyl and other contraband from entering the United States. It 
included $100 million for ICE/Homeland Security Investigations to 
investigate and disrupt transnational criminal organizations and drug 
traffickers, and it included $849 million for cutting-edge detection 
technologies at ports of entry.
  This is the work the Democrats have been doing to try to address the 
scourge of fentanyl that is coming across our southern border and 
coming into our country by supporting law enforcement and stopping that 
fentanyl.
  Fentanyl is a huge problem in our communities. It is important that 
we support our law enforcement in fighting against it. This amendment 
would simply inform Congress about how much States are spending to 
combat fentanyl and, therefore, I see no reason to oppose it.

  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Indiana (Mrs. Houchin).
  Mrs. HOUCHIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my good friend from 
Iowa's amendment and the underlying bill by Mr. D'Esposito, H.R. 8146.
  The Nunn amendments will provide policymakers with the information we 
need to better support our local and State law enforcement officers. 
This is especially important given the strain the crisis at our 
southern border has placed on our local communities like the ones we 
are privileged to represent in Iowa, Indiana, and New York.
  Biden's border crisis has made all districts across the country 
battlegrounds where police are fighting the scourge of fentanyl every 
day. It is an epidemic, funded by China, driven by the drug cartels, 
and assisted by Biden's disastrous border policies.
  During National Police Week and every week, we should be doing 
everything in our power to support the men and women in blue. That is 
why I am grateful to the gentleman from Iowa for his leadership and the 
gentleman from New York and encourage all of our colleagues to support 
the Nunn

[[Page H3304]]

amendments and Mr. D'Esposito's bill, the Police Our Border Act, H.R. 
8146.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. D'Esposito).
  Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Chair, everyone knows the reality of the crisis 
at the southern border. We know that narco-terrorist groups are 
exploiting President Biden's weakness to import record amounts of 
fentanyl into the United States.
  Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the size of a few grains of sand, is 
a lethal dose. Seizures of this uniquely dangerous drug by law 
enforcement agencies have doubled, if not tripled in some places. We 
are catching only a fraction of the fentanyl entering our Nation, and 
more data on this issue is the first step toward stopping that.
  Mr. Chair, I encourage all of my colleagues to support Mr. Nunn's 
amendment.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I think this can be a bipartisan 
solution. It impacts all of our communities, all of our cops, and all 
of our families.
  Mr. Chair, I urge passage of the amendment, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn).
  The amendment was agreed to.


              Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Nunn of Iowa

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 5 
printed in part B of House Report 118-511.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 5, line 3, strike ``and''.
       Page 5, line 4, strike the period and insert ``; and''.
       Page 5, after line 4, insert the following:
       (5) how many law enforcement officers have been reassigned 
     and local resources reallocated to investigate, intercept, 
     and process, which includes the entire evidence lifecycle, 
     from collection and analysis to storage and final 
     destruction, fentanyl trafficked from the United States 
     border.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1227, the gentleman 
from Iowa (Mr. Nunn) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, the influx of fentanyl at the southern 
border has truly impacted every American community.
  Since 2021, overdose losses due to fentanyl have exceeded 200,000. We 
are losing over 150 neighbors, community members, and children daily 
due to this deadly drug.
  It is truly a weapon of mass destruction, produced in China, and sent 
to the United States with a clear result of killing our country.
  This crisis has persisted due to the open-border policies of this 
administration. The mass importation of fentanyl that is being created 
is resulting in more and more of not only Communist China's ability to 
influence but Mexican-based cartels to enter and terrorize every 
American community.
  It is a flood of illicit drugs, and it is costing every single 
community more. The lack of enforcement on our southern border to deal 
with this flow of fentanyl is being felt, most poignantly, by our 
frontline defenders, the brave men and women in uniform, our first 
responders, many of whom are already facing staffing shortages back 
home.
  Mr. Chair, I thank the men and women who are both the front line and 
now the last line in the battle against fentanyl in our communities.
  I do a lot of ride-alongs with my sheriffs and my local law 
enforcement, and I have seen firsthand how fentanyl has hollowed out 
communities and created great pain for so many. There is more that we 
can do. Our officers are left thinly spread out, our constituents are 
under siege, and our communities are literally dying as a result of 
failed policy.
  We need to better understand the full scope of the fentanyl crisis, 
including the impacts that are occurring to our local law enforcement. 
My amendment to this bill would require the Department of Justice to 
report to Congress on how many law enforcement officers have been 
reassigned, how many local resources have been reallocated, how many 
community policing programs have been reprioritized or, in some cases, 
not prioritized because fentanyl has become the number one issue that 
so many of our local law enforcement has had to address.
  Gaining visibility on where our local officers are spending their 
time, prioritizing the threat, and appropriately separating and 
addressing the issues at the State and Federal levels, respectively, is 
not only imperative; it is simply prudent.
  I am proud to offer this amendment and urge my colleagues to support 
it, along with the underlying text.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the 
amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentlewoman from Washington 
is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chairman, this amendment requires the Attorney 
General to report on how local officers and resources have been 
reallocated to combat fentanyl trafficked through the border. I do not 
oppose the amendment because the amendment itself, like the previous 
amendment, does not repeat the same misleading talking points. I was 
ready to give my colleague across the aisle some credit again, but, 
unfortunately, the same misleading talking points were just repeated in 
talking about the amendment.
  Fentanyl is not coming across the southern border because of some 
failed border policy. It is coming across the southern border primarily 
carried by American citizens at ports of entry.
  This is about providing resources to our law enforcement officers on 
the southern border to be able to have the technology to detect that 
fentanyl. It is about providing enough people so that they can actually 
do the kind of monitoring that they are asking for. It is about 
providing the resources that Democrats put forward as the answer to 
this question and Republicans oppose time and time again.
  I will be very clear that I appreciate the data that we are getting 
because fentanyl is a scourge. I have gone out with my local 
firefighters across Seattle multiple times, and I will tell you that 99 
percent of their calls are responding to fentanyl overdoses, to opioid 
overdoses, and it is heartbreaking to see what is happening.
  In fact, in my first year, I worked with Speaker   Mike Johnson on a 
bipartisan allocation of money to provide other ways of dealing with 
overdoses due to opioids and fentanyl on the streets by actually 
providing supportive services for law enforcement so law enforcement 
wasn't having to deal with all of this. I don't think that this is 
something that the majority of our law enforcement members want to be 
dealing with in our cities.
  I just want to be clear: We should be fighting the scourge of 
fentanyl. We should be doing it in a bipartisan way. We should not be 
doing it as part of some legislation that is meaningless, that puts the 
blame for what is happening with fentanyl on some ``Biden border policy 
that has failed.''

                              {time}  1500

  Combating fentanyl should be a priority for all of us regardless of 
what side of the aisle we are on. We should not repeat the talking 
points that are divisive and untrue in talking about this issue.
  Fentanyl seizures shot up during the Trump administration and have 
continued to rise during the Biden administration. It is a bipartisan 
problem. Fentanyl poisoning is killing so many beloved members of our 
communities, and we have to do everything to stop it.
  Republicans often assert, without any evidence, that asylum seekers 
are the ones that are bringing fentanyl onto our shores, even though 
the data suggests otherwise. Once again, I am going to repeat this: The 
vast majority of fentanyl that is seized coming into this country is 
seized at ports of entry, smuggled in by United States citizens.
  Playing politics about such a deadly substance is extraordinarily 
irresponsible. Fortunately, the amendment itself is straightforward, 
and it aims to get more data about combating fentanyl so we can be 
better informed about how it is impacting our communities.
  The underlying legislation, on the other hand, and some of the 
talking

[[Page H3305]]

points that are used by my colleagues across the aisle is not that. The 
underlying legislation is poorly written, and it is misleading. The 
talking points are misleading, but the amendment is clear, and so 
because of that, I see no reason to oppose it.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague on the other side 
of the aisle. I think we can all agree that fentanyl is a challenge and 
that it is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate. Fentanyl now 
kills more Americans from my daughter's age to my age, and I am getting 
to be an old man. We should not be in this position.
  The reality is that our frontline defenders have become our local law 
enforcement, and collectively I think we absolutely agree that this 
should never have happened. This amendment moves forward with the 
ability to identify this and to help to prioritize these resources.
  I will say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: There is 
a way to end this. We recognize immediately that fentanyl comes largely 
from China. We recognize immediately that it is coming across our 
southern border, and in this there is no dispute.
  ``Shut down the border'' should be a great mantra for all of us to be 
able to save lives. Today, the administration can do that. It can end 
the catch and release program; it can reinstate a remain in Mexico 
policy; it can ensure that the drugs flowing across our southern border 
are intercepted there, so they don't end up being intercepted on our 
streets, in our hometowns, in the heart of the heartland in communities 
like mine in Iowa.
  Mr. Chair, I don't want to see another child, friend, or neighbor die 
because we at the Federal level have failed to do our job. By 
prioritizing these resources, we can better identify what other 
services are being left behind and what other communities are 
endangered because their first priority has to be intercepting 
fentanyl.
  Mr. Chair, I encourage passage of the amendment and the underlying 
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR (Mr. DesJarlais). The gentleman's time has expired.
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Chair, here I was coming to the floor thinking that 
I could support an amendment that made sense to me about fighting the 
scourge of fentanyl, and I do support the amendment because I think 
data will be good for us.
  I just would say to my friend across the aisle: Shutting down the 
border is not going to fix this problem. By saying that and by 
continuing to use those divisive talking points, he is moving us away 
from a solution to the really dire issue of fentanyl that is killing 
our communities.
  Let's work together in a bipartisan way to actually deal with the 
scourge of fentanyl. Let's not put it on the border and let's not 
pretend that shutting down the border is going to help because, as I 
said, fentanyl poisoning rose under the Trump administration, and 
Donald Trump did try to shut down the border until the courts prevented 
him from doing that.
  The reality here is, we have a real problem. We have a real problem. 
I was willing to come to the floor and support this amendment because I 
think the data is important, and I hope my colleague across the aisle 
will recognize that sticking to the facts, as he did in his amendment, 
is the most important thing to actually addressing the issue of 
fentanyl.
  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                Amendment No. 6 Offered by Ms. Houlahan

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 6 
printed in part B of House Report 118-511.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 2, strike line 17 and all that follows through line 
     19, and redesignate succeeding provisions accordingly.
       Strike the term ``Biden'' each place such term appears.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1227, the gentlewoman 
from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan) and a Member opposed each will control 
5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment that 
would remove unnecessary and partisan language from the legislation 
that is under consideration, the Police Our Border Act.
  Let me read what my amendment says because it is only two lines.
  Page 2, strike line 17 and all that follows through line 19 and 
redesignate succeeding provisions accordingly.
  Strike the term ``Biden'' each place such term appears.
  Let me tell you what lines 17 through 19 say. ``The southwest border 
crisis created by the Biden administration has made every State a 
border State.''
  Before I continue on, I thank Ranking Member Nadler for his 
leadership on this issue on the Judiciary Committee.
  The reason I read that amendment and the lines that it refers to is 
that it is really important that the American people know that the 
situation at our border requires our action. I agree. We agree. The 
vast majority of Congress agrees. However, if you listen to this 
Chamber, and many of you all have lately, you would think that this is 
not a bipartisan issue. Unfortunately, this is intentional.
  I want to let the American people in on a poorly kept secret: Too 
often bills are written to be intentionally inflammatory to divide 
Republicans and Democrats. My amendment seeks to bring us together, 
back to the middle ground that we all share because real, substantive, 
and durable action will need the support of both of our parties.
  We know our police and law enforcement need and deserve support. We 
know our border needs and deserves to be addressed. We know that 
fentanyl is an issue requiring our attention, but bipartisan action is 
what is required and what is demanded by us of our bosses. Our bosses 
are the electorate.
  We in Congress must do a better job than to just be simple partisan 
hacks, political reporting with no chance of ever making it to or past 
the President's desk. The American people, our bosses, deserve better, 
which is why this amendment, my amendment, plainly just asks for data 
on the facts and the facts alone.
  A report like the one in the bill that is proposed with my proposed 
changes is important not only for our law enforcement but also for the 
American people, as well. It will allow us to take a step toward 
understanding things such as the estimated dollar amount of all the 
resources that would be devoted to addressing the situation at the 
border and the extent to which such resources are not available to law 
enforcement agencies. It would help us understand the exposure to and 
possible injury as a result of the fentanyl crisis on our law 
enforcement. With this data, we can finally address these issues.
  As is demonstrated by the way that this legislation was written, my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle are likely to falsely claim 
that President Biden is boasting of an open border, but this ignores 
the fact that under numerous administrations, both Democrat and 
Republican, the situation at our border has worsened. In fact, this 
issue is not just about Republican or Democratic administrations, it is 
also about the Congresses that have not addressed this issue, either.
  Record migration to our border, coupled with a woefully inadequate 
and overwhelming processing system here in the U.S., has caused 
existing challenges to get progressively worse over time. We know that 
our law enforcement agencies have faced many new challenges as a 
result.
  This is a serious issue which we must address with serious 
legislation. I believe if my amendment passes that many of my 
colleagues on this side of the aisle will find it in their ability to 
be able to vote for the underlying bill. I would encourage those on the 
other side of the aisle to find it within their heart to see not 
everything as a partisan issue.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reject the deeply 
cynical and deeply political option in the current text and to instead 
vote ``yes'' on my amendment that will enable the underlying bill to 
move forward in a bipartisan fashion.

[[Page H3306]]

  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the 
amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, who does the gentlewoman think she is 
kidding? Who does the gentlewoman suggest we assign responsibility for 
this catastrophe that has overwhelmed our country and its social 
services, its criminal justice system, and its citizens?
  On January 20, 2021, the border was secure, the Trump policies were 
working. On that day, our laws didn't change, the Presidency changed. 
On that day, the Trump policies were reversed by one person, Joseph 
Biden.
  Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
LaLota).
  Mr. LaLOTA. What the heck, Mr. Chairman?
  When he was President, President Truman had a placard on his desk: 
``The buck stops here.'' It was a sign of responsibility that the 
Commander in Chief, the Chief Executive of our great country, wouldn't 
pass off as an excuse any responsibility that he was responsible for. 
Yet, what my colleague proposes to do is to disassociate the border 
crisis from the chief proponent of it and to pass the buck to somebody 
else.
  Not 1, not 2, not 10, not 20. Rather, the President has taken 64 
different actions to undermine border security through executive orders 
and other administrative actions, which have opened the border wide, 
canceled mass parole, repositioned border agents away from the border, 
paroled millions into the interior, causing crises in cities like New 
York.

  It is the President's border crisis. There should be no renaming of 
this. There is one individual in our great country who can today, with 
the stroke of a pen, start to solve this crisis, undoing the same 
executive orders that he issued to get us into this crisis. That is 
President Biden.
  Mr. Chair, I am in strong opposition to this amendment. 
Bipartisanship does not mean blind. It doesn't mean that we need to be 
ignorant to the facts that the Commander in Chief, President Biden, is 
the sole person responsible for this border crisis.


                    Announcement by the Acting Chair

  The Acting CHAIR. The Chair will remind all persons in the gallery 
that they are here as guests of the House, and that any manifestation 
of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation of the rules 
of the House.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time I have 
remaining.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania has 1 minute 
remaining.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, it is rebuttals and comments like these that 
I find, frankly, deeply distressful. They are nothing but finger-
pointing, and really the genuine politicization of this body and this 
government. My colleagues are self-defeating in their efforts to try to 
put the words into this piece of legislation that requires us to assign 
one single point of blame when there clearly is quite a lot to go 
around, and it has gone around for a very long time.
  By politicizing this issue in this way, it is self-defeating because 
we have no ability to actually pass this piece of legislation, and so 
in and of itself this becomes a self-defeating effort.
  I believe if my colleagues truly wanted the information that this 
bill purports to want, if they truly wanted to understand what is 
causing the border issues and what could be done to be helpful, then 
they would work with us as Democrats to make that, indeed, happen. We 
would then be able to pass this bill in the House, and as is the custom 
with our Constitution and with ``Schoolhouse Rock,'' send it to the 
Senate and send it to the President's desk for signature. Here we have 
no opportunity to have this happen.
  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. D'Esposito).
  Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Speaker, my colleague on the other side of the 
aisle said that our bosses deserve better. She is right, the American 
people do deserve better.
  Over the tenure of Joe Biden, he has made this country less safe. 
Like my friend from New York mentioned, by the stroke of a pen, 
President Biden can begin changing the course of this country, but 
unfortunately he won't because he doesn't want to.
  As a matter of fact, in his first days in office, he used that same 
pen to create this disaster that we are dealing with right now, an 
unprecedented historical number of migrants illegally coming into the 
United States of America, some involved in terrorist organizations, 
smuggling illegal narcotics into this country.
  You are correct, our bosses do deserve better. The American people do 
deserve better. I encourage you to encourage your side of the aisle to 
please have Joe Biden use that pen and put this country back on track.
  The Acting CHAIR. Members are reminded to direct their remarks to the 
Chair.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. Chairman, this is not a question of incompetence, and it is not a 
question of chance. This is a deliberate policy by this administration, 
and we should have the courage and candor to say so.
  My Democrat colleagues should have the courage to look their 
constituents in the eye and admit what they have brought upon this 
country.
  People ask me all the time: How could this be happening? The answer 
is pretty simple. Elections have consequences. Sometimes elections have 
terrible consequences, and that is what we are facing.
  This catastrophe will end when this administration ends, and that 
will be done by the American people at the ballot box.
  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania will be postponed.


                 Amendment No. 7 Offered by Mr. LaLota

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 7 
printed in part B of House Report 118-511.
  Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Chairman, I rise as the designee of the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Gimenez), and I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 4, line 23, insert ``, and the nationality of each 
     such alien'' before the semicolon.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1127, the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. LaLota) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Chair, the cartels have more control over the U.S.-
Mexico border in Cochise County than either the governments of Mexico 
or the United States.
  That is what law enforcement officers from the Tucson sector of 
America's southern border told me on my fourth trip to the southern 
border recently: The cartels have more control over our border than we 
do.
  What are the cartels doing with that control? To America's detriment, 
they are smuggling people and drugs across it every day.
  I suppose we could blame the cartels because they are vicious and 
ruthless, but we should look closer to home for the blame.
  We should look to the person most responsible for creating the 
disaster at the southern border. We should look to the very person who, 
when he took office, repealed 64 very effective policies, which were 
keeping our border safe: canceling border wall construction, 
instituting a mass parole system, and taking border agents away from 
the border to place them in migrant processing centers to process more 
and more migrants into the interior of the country.

[[Page H3307]]

  Who is responsible for the disaster at the southern border? It is not 
climate change or migratory patterns. Rather, it is illegal 
immigration's best friends: President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.
  President Biden's open-border policies have allowed nearly 10,000 
pounds of fentanyl to enter the United States so far this fiscal year.
  This scourge has led to over 200,000 fentanyl deaths in the United 
States since President Biden started repealing those very effective 
border policies. In fact, fentanyl is the leading cause of death of 
Americans ages 18 to 45.
  In response to President Biden's open-border policies, my good friend 
and fellow Long Islander, Congressman D'Esposito, has proposed an 
effective bill that would modify the requirements for reporting by the 
Attorney General on the impacts of the border crisis.
  Included in Congressman D'Esposito's bill is language to better 
understand when law enforcement is exposed to fentanyl.
  This legislation is critical to understanding the challenges law 
enforcement officers face every day while giving further insights into 
the crises at our southern border, those crises caused by President 
Biden.
  I, alongside my good friend from Florida, Congressman Carlos Gimenez, 
am proposing an amendment to Congressman D'Esposito's bill that would 
further get to the root of the fentanyl crisis.
  Our amendment requires the nationality of the migrant be included in 
the underlying reports when said migrant exposes a law enforcement 
officer to fentanyl during an encounter at the border.
  It is imperative that we, as a Nation, collect more information on 
who and where these drugs are coming from so we can put an end to the 
fentanyl scourge.
  We know from the DEA that most of the fentanyl consumed in the United 
States is produced in Mexico using precursors that come from China. 
Also, China is producing it on their own and sending it across the 
southern border, as well.
  Fentanyl is not only deadly in miniscule doses, but it is also 
frequently unknowingly contained in other substances, which multiplies 
the risk and the range of its impact.
  Mr. Chair, 75,000 Americans died in 2022 due to the scourge of 
fentanyl. Enough is enough. I urge all of my colleagues to support this 
commonsense amendment that will help better identify where the fentanyl 
is coming from.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in 
personalities toward the President.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the 
amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman from New York is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would update the report 
required by this bill to include the nationality of any noncitizen who 
exposes a law enforcement officer to fentanyl during an encounter at 
the border and in the United States.
  Just like the underlying bill, this amendment is another attempt to 
incorrectly paint undocumented migrants as being the prime source of 
fentanyl brought into the country.
  We already know that the vast majority of fentanyl is seized at ports 
of entry, trafficked by U.S. citizens. As I stated previously, in 
fiscal year 2023, CBP seized approximately 27,000 pounds of fentanyl.
  Less than 10 percent of these drugs were seized by the Border Patrol. 
The vast majority, roughly 90 percent of the fentanyl was seized by the 
Office of Field Operations, which mans the ports of entry.
  My Republican colleagues always respond that this is the case because 
ports of entry are where we have resources to interdict the drugs, but 
this is also wrong.
  Unfortunately, because Republicans refuse to adequately fund ports of 
entry, only 2 percent of passenger vehicles and 16 percent of 
commercial vehicles are inspected.
  We would likely catch even more drugs carried in by U.S. citizens if 
CBP had all the resources it needed. However, at every turn, it has 
been Republicans who have voted against giving DHS the resources it 
needs to do its job.
  This bill is so full of misinformation and could actually use some 
facts, so I will not oppose this amendment.
  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman, my colleague to the west of 
me in New York, says how most of the fentanyl is being seized at the 
ports of entry.
  I would hope the gentleman would also simultaneously criticize the 
President for repositioning border agents away from those places where 
vehicles and people are coming to traffic the drugs across, and, 
instead, repositioning those same agents at migrant processing centers 
just to parole more and more people into the country.
  If the gentleman is sincere about his concern for fentanyl coming in 
at ports of entry, he must call on the President to stop repositioning 
those agents away.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota).
  The amendment was agreed to.


           Amendment No. 8 Offered by Mrs. Miller of Illinois

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 8 
printed in part B of House Report 118-511.
  Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise as the designee of the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles), and I have an amendment at the 
desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 4, line 10, insert before the period at the end the 
     following: ``, and for the President to utilize long standing 
     authorities, including under section 212(f) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), to secure 
     the southern border''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1227, the gentlewoman 
from Illinois (Mrs. Miller) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois.
  Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, since Joe Biden took office, 
10 million illegal aliens have entered our country, and untold numbers 
of Americans have been murdered by people who should never have been 
here.
  To the Americans watching, Joe Biden does not care about you. He does 
not care about your family. For him, it is worth letting hundreds of 
thousands of illegals in every month and hundreds of foreigners on the 
FBI's terrorist watch list if it means the Democratic Party's base 
turns out in November.
  The purpose of this amendment is that President Biden already has 
existing authority to secure the border, and he needs to use it, but he 
doesn't want to because he is afraid of his far-left base.
  President Biden is choosing to keep our border open and allowing the 
American people to be kept in harm's way.
  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in 
personalities toward the President.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the 
amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New York is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would update the findings 
section of this bill to include a provision that states that it is in 
the best interests of law enforcement officers and the communities they 
serve for President Biden to use section 212(f) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act to secure the southern border.
  To be clear, the President does not have the authority to 
unilaterally shut down the border. President Biden cannot simply use 
Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent 
immigrants from crossing the border. In fact, when President Trump 
tried to do exactly that in 2018, he was immediately shot down by the 
courts.
  Moreover, enforcement-only solutions don't work. The best way to 
secure the border is to expand lawful pathways and to adequately fund 
the immigration system.

[[Page H3308]]

  We have not updated our legal immigration system in over 30 years. 
The more broken the legal immigration system is, the more people will 
try to come to the border as the only means of entry.
  This notion that the President has all the authority, not to mention 
the resources, that he needs to solve all the issues at the border with 
a stroke of his pen is a fantasy.
  Congress must work together to provide the legal tools and the 
resources necessary to address the border crisis.
  I know that there are Democrats willing to put in the hard work, but 
we have yet to find any House Republicans who are willing to do so. 
This amendment is as unserious as the underlying bill. I will oppose 
both, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. Does the gentlewoman from Illinois seek unanimous 
consent to reclaim her time?
  Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. I do.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentlewoman reclaims her 
time and is recognized.
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chair, President Biden does have 
authority to secure the border, and he did use his pen to open the 
border.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Miller).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mrs. 
Miller of Illinois) having assumed the chair, Mr. DesJarlais, Acting 
Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, 
reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill 
(H.R. 8146) to require a report by the Attorney General on the impact 
the border crisis is having on law enforcement at the Federal, State, 
local, and Tribal level, had come to no resolution thereon.

                          ____________________