‘Political Pattycake’: GOP Lawmaker Blasts Senate For Proposing ‘A Do-Nothing Border Bill’

4 months ago

During House floor remarks on Wednesday, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) spoke about the chaos at the southern border.

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Transcript

00:00 Today I rise on behalf of my constituents in western North Carolina to highlight the

00:04 dire situation at the southern border and to advocate for the enforcement of our nation's

00:09 immigration laws. The Biden administration continues to break records and not in a good way.

00:15 The number of individuals on the terrorist watch list that were apprehended illegally crossing the

00:21 southwest border increased 2,500 percent from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2023. And a

00:30 record-breaking 301,000 migrants were caught trying to illegally enter our country in the

00:38 month of December alone. Our country's border control agents are overwhelmed and they're

00:43 underfunded. And what has President Biden done? Nothing but open our southern border up to more

00:51 illegal immigrants and chaos. I went to the Tucson sector of the southern border last year to witness

00:57 the crisis for myself. I saw millions of taxpayer dollars in the form of unused border wall materials

01:05 rusting away in the hot Arizona sun. Local law enforcement pointed out to me where the border

01:12 wall ends at the top of a hill and shared how cartel members sit on the Mexico side of the

01:17 mountain peak to serve as a lookout. These cartel members are able to see for miles and signal to

01:25 illegal immigrants when the coast is clear so that migrants can then flood our open border.

01:30 Many of the illegal immigrants trying to cross our border are military-aged men. They're not families

01:37 and children. They're cartel members trying to smuggle fentanyl into our borders and to cause

01:42 harm to our communities. Local law enforcement shared how difficult it's been to step up when

01:49 executives in the federal government refuse to prioritize our national security. I sympathize

01:56 with Cochise County law enforcement and I think every law enforcement officer across this country

02:02 can sympathize too. Sheriffs across this country have told me that they've asked to meet with Joe

02:08 Biden to tell him firsthand of the problems that they're having and their requests for some reason

02:14 have not been granted. Why will the president not meet with them? Is he afraid of the truth?

02:21 Since 2021, America has seen an unprecedented surge at our southern border. Customs and Border

02:29 Patrol reports over 7.6 million encounters and the Secretary of Homeland Security has

02:36 affirmed more than 85 percent of the migrants caught illegally crossing our southern border

02:40 are ultimately released back into the country. That's nearly 6.5 million migrants released into

02:47 the interior of the United States by the Department of Homeland Security since January 2021.

02:53 Now we have record levels of fentanyl flowing across our borders, courtesy of the Mexican

02:59 cartels. Over 27,000 pounds were seized last year and it's destroying the very fabric of our

03:08 communities. In 2022 alone, illicit opioids claimed the lives of 313 members of my district.

03:16 That's 313 sets of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and loved ones

03:22 gone due to drug trafficking promoted at our southern border and ignored by our country's

03:29 president. During my time in Congress, I've written, I've co-sponsored, helped pass legislation in the

03:35 House to secure the southern border and end this administration's radical and dangerous border

03:40 policies. I was proud to co-sponsor and vote for HR2, the Secure the Border Act, over a year ago,

03:46 last May. Senate Democrats and President Biden could take real concrete steps to solve this

03:53 migration crisis and to address everything from court backlogs to the trafficking of

04:00 unaccompanied children if they would just get behind HR2. But they haven't. Why are Democrats

04:08 so adamantly opposed to commonsense legislation to protect Americans and close our southern border

04:14 once and for all? Instead of supporting the strongest border security package in American

04:19 history, the Senate has proposed a do-nothing border bill that enriches criminal networks,

04:26 uses taxpayer dollars to fund organizations that facilitate mass illegal immigration,

04:32 codifies Biden's open border policies like catch and release. As terrorists, drugs, and weapons

04:39 flow freely into our country, I believe that we should be putting American people first,

04:45 not playing political patty cake. Madam Speaker, I yield back.

‘Political Pattycake’: GOP Lawmaker Blasts Senate For Proposing ‘A Do-Nothing Border Bill’

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