[House Report 117-488]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress     }                                    {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session        }                                    {     117-488

======================================================================


 
   RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO 
TRANSMIT CERTAIN DOCUMENTS TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO 
      THE IMPACT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON FEDERAL OR TRIBAL LANDS

                                _______
                                

 September 22, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

            Mr. Nadler, from the Committee on the Judiciary,
                        submitted the following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1249]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 1249) of inquiry directing the Secretary of 
the Interior to transmit certain documents to the House of 
Representatives relating to the impact of illegal immigration 
on federal or tribal lands, having considered the same, report 
unfavorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the 
resolution as amended not be agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     3
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     4
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     6
Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects..........................     6
New Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost 
  Estimate.......................................................     6
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     6
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     6
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     6
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     6
Minority Views...................................................     7

  Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
following:

That the Secretary of the Interior is directed to transmit to the House 
of Representatives, not later than fourteen days after the date of the 
adoption of this resolution, copies of any document, memorandum, 
correspondence, and other communication or any portion of any such 
communication, that refers or relates to the impact of illegal 
immigration on Federal or Tribal lands, including the following:
          (1) All documents and communications related to the current 
        level of environmental damage to Federal protected and Tribal 
        lands along the Southern border, including but not limited to--
                  (A) any reference to the accumulation of garbage;
                  (B) any reference to habitat destruction;
                  (C) any reference to wildlife deaths; and
                  (D) any reference to the creation of illegal trails.
          (2) All documents and communications referring or relating to 
        coordinating garbage removal efforts along the Southern border.
          (3) All documents and communications referring to the 
        transport of illicit drugs across federal or tribal lands, 
        including but not limited to--
                  (A) any reference to tribal concerns about drug 
                trafficking;
                  (B) any reference to Department of the Interior 
                employees' concerns about drug trafficking on federal 
                lands; and
                  (C) any reference to reports of drug cartels crossing 
                Federal or Tribal lands.
          (4) Any meeting or communication that occurred between 
        Secretary Debra Haaland, or her representative, with Tribal 
        representatives referring or relating to drug cartel activity 
        on Tribal lands.
          (5) Any meeting or communication that occurred between 
        Secretary Debra Haaland and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, or 
        their representatives, referring or relating to drug cartel 
        activity on Federal or Tribal lands.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H. Res. 1249 is a resolution of inquiry directing the 
Secretary of the Interior to transmit certain documents to the 
House of Representatives relating to the impact of illegal 
immigration on federal or tribal lands.
    Representative Blake Moore (R-UT) introduced the resolution 
on July 22, 2022, and it currently has no cosponsors.
    H. Res. 1249 directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 
days after the date of the adoption of the resolution, copies 
of any document, memorandum, correspondence, and other 
communication or any portion of any such communication, that 
refers or relates to the impact of illegal immigration on 
Federal or Tribal lands, including the following:
    (1) All documents and communications related to the current 
level of environmental damage to Federal protected and Tribal 
lands along the Southern border, including but not limited to--
          (A) any reference to the accumulation of garbage;
          (B) any reference to habitat destruction;
          (C) any reference to wildlife deaths; and
          (D) any reference to the creation of illegal trails.
    (2) All documents and communications referring or relating 
to coordinating garbage removal efforts along the Southern 
border.
    (3) All documents and communications referring to the 
transport of illicit drugs across federal or tribal lands, 
including but not limited to--
          (A) any reference to tribal concerns about drug 
        trafficking;
          (B) any reference to Department of the Interior 
        employees' concerns about drug trafficking on federal 
        lands; and
          (C) any reference to reports of drug cartels crossing 
        Federal or Tribal lands.
    (4) Any meeting or communication that occurred between 
Secretary Debra Haaland, or her representative, with Tribal 
representatives referring or relating to drug cartel activity 
on Tribal lands.
    (5) Any meeting or communication that occurred between 
Secretary Haaland and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, or their 
representatives, referring or relating to drug cartel activity 
on Federal or Tribal lands.

                Background and Need for the Legislation


                I. BACKGROUND ON RESOLUTIONS OF INQUIRY

    Under the rules and precedents of the House, a resolution 
of inquiry is used to obtain information from the executive 
branch. A resolution of inquiry is directed at the President of 
the United States or the head of a Cabinet-level agency, 
requesting facts within the control of the executive branch.\1\ 
As a ``simple resolution,'' designated by ``H. Res.,'' a 
resolution of inquiry does not carry the force of law. 
``Compliance by the executive branch with the House's request 
is voluntary, resting largely on a sense of comity between co-
equal branches of government and a recognition of the necessity 
for Congress to be well-informed as it legislates.''\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Christopher M. Davis, Resolutions of Inquiry: An Analysis of 
Their Use in the House, 1947-2011, Cong. Res. Serv. R40879 (May 15, 
2012).
    \2\Id. at 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    House Rules afford resolutions of inquiry a privileged 
parliamentary status. A Member files a resolution of inquiry 
like any other legislation. The resolution is then referred to 
the proper committee of jurisdiction and the committee may: (1) 
report the resolution either favorably or unfavorably; or (2) 
choose not to report the resolution. If the committee does not 
report the resolution to the House within 14 legislative days 
of its introduction, however, a motion to discharge the 
resolution from committee can be made on the House floor.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\House rule XIII, clause 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                      II. NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

    This resolution is unnecessary. The Minority has had no 
problem obtaining briefings or information on this issue. The 
Minority can also request this information from the Department 
of Interior's Congressional Liaison Office, which is the normal 
and appropriate route for these types of requests.

                                Hearings

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6)(A) of House rule XIII, 
the Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H. Res. 
1249.

                        Committee Consideration

    On September 14, 2022, the Committee met in open session 
and ordered the resolution, H. Res. 1249, unfavorably reported 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, by a rollcall 
vote of 19 to 16, a quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of House rule XIII, the 
following rollcall votes occurred during the Committee's 
consideration of H. Res. 1249:
    1. A motion to unfavorably report H. Res. 1249, as amended, 
was agreed to by a rollcall vote of 19 to 16. The vote was as 
follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]




                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of House rule XIII, the 
Committee advises that the findings and recommendations of the 
Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) 
of House rule X, are incorporated in the descriptive portions 
of this report.

                Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of House rule XIII, the 
Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

   New Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to 
clause (3)(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested 
but not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office a budgetary analysis and a cost estimate of this 
resolution.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of House rule XIII, no provision 
of H. Res. 1249 establishes or reauthorizes a program of the 
federal government known to be duplicative of another federal 
program.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
House rule XIII, H. Res 1249 requests certain documents from 
the Secretary of the Interior relating to the impact of illegal 
immigration on federal or tribal lands.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of House rule XXI, H. Res. 1249 
does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax 
benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 
9(e), or 9(f) of House rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the resolution as 
reported by the Committee.
    H. Res. 1249 directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 
fourteen days after the date of the adoption of the resolution, 
copies of any document, memorandum, correspondence, and other 
communication or any portion of any such communication, that 
refers or relates to the impact of illegal immigration on 
Federal or Tribal lands, including the following:
    (1) All documents and communications related to the current 
level of environmental damage to Federal protected and Tribal 
lands along the Southern border, including but not limited to--
          (A) any reference to the accumulation of garbage;
          (B) any reference to habitat destruction;
          (C) any reference to wildlife deaths; and
          (D) any reference to the creation of illegal trails.
    (2) All documents and communications referring or relating 
to coordinating garbage removal efforts along the Southern 
border.
    (3) All documents and communications referring to the 
transport of illicit drugs across federal or tribal lands, 
including but not limited to--
          (A) any reference to tribal concerns about drug 
        trafficking;
          (B) any reference to Department of the Interior 
        employees' concerns about drug trafficking on federal 
        lands; and
          (C) any reference to reports of drug cartels crossing 
        Federal or Tribal lands.
    (4) Any meeting or communication that occurred between 
Secretary Debra Haaland, or her representative, with Tribal 
representatives referring or relating to drug cartel activity 
on Tribal lands.
    (5) Any meeting or communication that occurred between 
Secretary Debra Haaland and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, or 
their representatives, referring or relating to drug cartel 
activity on Federal or Tribal lands.

                             Minority Views

    H. Res. 1249 directs the Secretary of Interior to provide 
to Congress documents and communication in her possession that 
relate to the effects of illegal immigration on federal and 
tribal land.
    Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee continue to 
ignore the unprecedented crisis on our southwest border. Since 
President Biden took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) officials have encountered nearly 3.5 million illegal 
aliens along the southwest border.\1\ Nearly one million of 
those aliens have been released into the U.S. by the Department 
of Homeland Security (DHS) pursuant to DHS policy.\2\ At the 
same time, nearly a million illegal alien ``gotaways'' have 
successfully crossed the border undetected during the Biden-
Harris Administration.\3\ Press reports also indicate that 
``nearly 750 migrants have died at the southern border this 
fiscal year.''\4\ This record number is over 200 more than the 
number for last fiscal year.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border 
Encounters, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-
encounters.
    \2\Texas v. Biden, Case No: 2:21-cv-00067-Z (N.D. Texas) (Brief For 
America First Legal Foundation As Amicus Curiae In Support of 
Respondents, Defendants' Monthly Report For March 2022, Defendants' 
Monthly Report For April 2022).
    \3\Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin, Migrant Encounters at Southern Border 
Hit New Record in May, as Numbers Keep Rising, Fox News (Jun. 16, 2022) 
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/migrant-encounters-southern-border-
record-may.
    \4\Priscilla Alvarez, First on CNN: A Record Number of Migrants 
Have Died Crossing the US-Mexico Border, CNN (Sept. 7, 2022) https://
www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/politics/us-mexico-border-crossing-deaths/
index.html.
    \5\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Aliens who cross the southwest border illegally routinely 
leave large quantities of trash and other refuse on U.S. 
federal and non-federal lands. The illegal aliens themselves, 
as well as the trash they leave behind, have detrimental 
effects on wildlife, vegetation, and the border environment in 
general.
    According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the 
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality ``estimates that 
over 2,000 tons of trash are discarded at the Arizona border 
every year.''\6\ Recent press reports have also detailed 
environmental damage from the refuse left by illegal aliens 
crossing the southwest border. For instance, as Breitbart noted 
in April of 2022:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Center for Immigration Studies, Trash at the Border Highlights 
the Environmental Cost of Illegal Immigration (Sept. 19, 2018).

          Discarded clothing, plastics, shoes, hygiene items, 
        medicines, and identity documents are left behind every 
        step of the trail. The documents found along the trail 
        included Cuban identity documents, shot records, and 
        evidence of medical testing . . . .
          After emerging from the dense cane, larger mounds of 
        garbage become evident. The litter and clothing get 
        trapped in the recently installed razor wire.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\Randy Clark, Exclusive Video: Tour the Ecological Damage From 
Mass Migration on Texas Border River, Breitbart (Apr. 16, 2022), 
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2022/04/16/exclusive-video-tour-the-
ecological-damage-on-the-texas-bank-of-rio-grande/.

    Additionally, the Drug Enforcement Administration has 
assessed that Mexican drug traffickers remain the most serious 
drug trafficking threat in America as they continue to control 
smuggling pathways primarily across the southwest border.\8\ 
These Mexican drug traffickers are also the main supplier of 
most illicit drugs available on reservations throughout tribal 
lands.\9\ Mexican drug traffickers take advantage of the Biden 
Administration's weak border policies to not only illegally 
cross the border, but also traffic poisonous illicit drugs like 
fentanyl. This dangerous drug trade threatens every American 
community.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 2020 Nat'l. Drug Threat 
Assessment, (Mar. 2021).
    \9\Id. at 79.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    CBP continues to seize massive amounts of illicit drugs. So 
far in FY 2022, CBP has seized 552,652 pounds of illicit 
drugs.\10\ These drug seizures include fentanyl, heroin, 
cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana.\11\ Notably, CBP 
seizures of fentanyl--a synthetic opioid that is 80 to 100 
times stronger than morphine--have increased sharply along the 
southwest border since 2019.\12\ In FY 2021, CBP seized over 
11,203 pounds of fentanyl, more than twice the weight seized in 
FY 2020 and more than four times as much as FY 2019.\13\ To 
date, in FY 2022, CBP has seized a total of 10,558 pounds of 
fentanyl.\14\ The increasing flood of fentanyl across the 
border is extremely alarming, considering that only two 
milligrams can be a deadly dose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Drug Seizure Statistics, 
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics (last 
visited Sept. 9, 2022). Total drug seizures in FYs 2019, 2020, and 2021 
were as follows: 902,573 pounds, 1,060,641 pounds, and 914,469 pounds 
respectively. Id. 
    \11\Id.
    \12\Id.
    \13\Id.
    \14\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Meanwhile, our country's drug crisis continues to spiral 
out of control. According to data from the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, 93,655 fatal drug overdoses occurred in 
2020--a nearly 30 percent increase over the prior year.\15\ In 
2021, fatal drug overdoses increased to over 107,622 deaths, 
which represents a life lost every five minutes on average.\16\ 
Of those deaths, 71,238 are attributed to synthetic opioids, 
primarily illicit fentanyl.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Overdose 
Deaths in 2021 Increased Half as Much as in 2020--But Are Still Up 15% 
(May 11, 2022).
    \16\Id.; The White House, Press Release, Statement from Dr. Rahul 
Gupta on Tuesday's CDC Overdose Data (May 11, 2022) (``It is 
unacceptable that we are losing a life to overdose every five minutes 
around the clock.''). (Statement of Dr. Rahul Gupta).
    \17\U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Overdose 
Deaths in 2021 Increased Half as Much as in 2020--But Are Still Up 15% 
(May 11, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On September 14, 2022, the Committee considered H. Res. 
1249 at a business meeting. Democrats refused to acknowledge 
that illegal immigration has detrimental effects on federal and 
tribal lands, or that Mexican drug traffickers utilize federal 
and tribal lands to move illicit drugs into the country. 
Democrats voted to report H. Res. 1249 unfavorably to the 
House. We strongly disagree with the Committee's action and 
believe H. Res. 1249 would help to advance our oversight of 
federal immigration law.
                                                Jim Jordan,
                                                    Ranking Member.

                                  [all]