[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13425-13426]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             SECURING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE UNITED STATES

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I was down on the Texas-Mexico border 
this weekend. I met with Federal officials, and I met with State 
officials as well.
  I want to commend the work that the State of Texas is doing to 
protect and secure the sovereignty of the United States, including the 
Department of Public Safety, local law enforcement, Parks and Wildlife 
law enforcement, the Texas Rangers, and soon to be the National Guard. 
It is obvious to me that they are on the border and they are protecting 
the sovereignty of our country for all Americans.
  While meeting with the Border Patrol, I asked them where are these 
people coming from that are so quickly coming to the United States. 
They told me they are coming from 144 countries. Most recently, 2 weeks 
ago, there were three Ukrainians who crossed into the United States. 
The reason why is because the word is out to the world that if you can 
cross into the United States through Texas, you are going to get to 
stay. That is too bad. That is tragic.

[[Page 13426]]

  It is the first duty of government to secure the national borders of 
any country. That is the obligation of our country, and it is the 
obligation of this administration. We protect the borders of other 
nations. It is about time we protect the border of the United States of 
America.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________