[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11968]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         FUNDING A BORDER WALL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. O'Rourke) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, later this evening, perhaps early tomorrow 
morning, this body will be voting on a series of appropriations 
measures to fund our armed services and the VA. Tacked on to that, at 
the whim of the chairman of the Rules Committee, in what I can only 
describe as the most undemocratic, unrepresentative fashion, is a 
provision to fund a border wall between the United States and the 
country of Mexico to the tune of $1.6 billion, a mere down payment on 
total construction costs which are estimated to be over $20 billion.
  I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, that we keep in mind some very 
basic facts; the first being that the border between the United States 
and Mexico has never been safer or more secure.

                              {time}  1045

  Last year and the year before, we saw record-low levels of northbound 
apprehensions from Mexico. If you look at where we were in the year 
2000, you had 1.6 million apprehensions from Mexico. Last year, you had 
a little over 400,000.
  Do you know who so many of those apprehensions were? They were kids, 
young families, scared and frightened, leaving the most horrific 
brutality that we can imagine from the Northern Triangle countries of 
Central America, literally fleeing for their lives to this country, 
which is comprised of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and is 
the very foundation of our success. Apparently, this is who we are 
trying to wall off and protect ourselves from with this $1.6 billion 
boondoggle.
  We now see, in the last 4 years, that more Mexican nationals are 
leaving the United States for Mexico than are coming north from that 
country into ours. We have twice the Border Patrol agents that we did 
in 2001: 20,000 Border Patrol agents. Today, you and I, the American 
taxpayer, are spending $19.5 billion a year.
  We are long past the point of diminishing returns with this very 
precious public resource. We are trying to solve, Mr. Speaker, a 
problem that we don't have.
  Case in point: the city that I have the honor of serving and 
representing, El Paso, Texas, is regularly ranked the top, the second, 
or the third safest city, not just in Texas, but in the entire United 
States, using FBI crime statistics as crunched by CQ Press.
  We are the safest community, yes, because we have excellent local and 
Federal law enforcement, including the Border Patrol. But we are also 
the safest city because of, and not in spite of, the fact that a 
quarter of the people who I represent were born in another country, 
most of them in Mexico. They are not, Mr. Speaker, the rapists and 
criminals that then-Candidate Trump would have us believe that they 
are.
  So, if there is no rational, logical, fact-based case for a wall, why 
in the world would we be spending $1.6 billion on this, instead of 
creating more jobs or ensuring that more Americans can see a doctor or 
that more kids can go to a great school with excellent public school 
teachers?
  Here are some of the other consequences. There was excellent 
reporting in The Texas Observer, followed up by the LA Times, on the 
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. It is about 10 miles southeast of 
McAllen, Texas. It is the last refuge for the ocelot, for 400 different 
species of birds, bobcats, and armadillos.
  They are planning to build the wall right through that refuge. That 
belongs to you, me, our families, and our descendants. That is our 
heritage that we are about to wall off and destroy.
  We are dividing communities; we are diminishing our relationship with 
Mexico, who should be our closest partner; and we are making our 
communities, including El Paso and other communities in Texas, less 
safe, as we militarize them and as people who live amongst us question 
whether they can go to local law enforcement to report a crime, serve 
as a witness, testify in a case, or help contribute to the safety of 
our communities.
  Let me bring this fact to your attention, Mr. Speaker. On Sunday, in 
a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio, Texas, the bodies of nine dead 
immigrants were found in the back of a trailer. A tenth died later in 
the hospital.
  Tuesday morning, in El Paso, three bodies, including those of 
children, were dredged out of the canal that joins us with Cuidad 
Juarez and Mexico.
  Mr. Speaker, since 1998, 7,000 people--human beings--have died trying 
to cross into the United States. As we further militarize and wall up 
and make it harder for people to come as legitimate asylum seekers; 
refugees; folks who want to work in our economy; people who want to 
join their families, be with their moms, dads, brothers, and sisters, 
their children, we ensure greater suffering and death.
  Mr. Speaker, we do not need a wall. We need comprehensive immigration 
reform. We need to treat each other with dignity and respect. That 
ensures our safety, security, and success.

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