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House Freedom Caucus

Floor Speech

By: Jody Hice
By: Jody Hice
Date: Dec. 19, 2018
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Government Budget and Spending Immigration

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Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from North Carolina for recognizing me tonight.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that immigration continues to be one of the most pressing issues that we are facing in our country today. The question of illegal immigration is not going away. In fact, it is growing. It is getting worse. It is getting more complex with each passing day, and Congress has repeatedly failed to take any action whatsoever.

We have the opportunity now in this spending bill to finally deliver results for the American people--again, something that we have not done over and over and over again.

The Department of Homeland Security has reported that, roughly, on average, 2,000 illegal aliens are crossing our southern border every day. Now we learn from Border Patrol that, in recent months, there has been an increase of 90 percent attempted illegal individuals crossing our borders compared to this time last year.

The border crisis is for real, and it is time for us to act.

The President has requested $5 billion. That is really not a whole lot of money compared to the $1.3 trillion that we spend in discretionary spending every year.

Look, the wall is not the whole answer, but it is the first step, because walls work. Wherever there have been walls put in place, there have been great results that have been produced: for example, a 92 percent drop in illegal traffic in San Diego since a wall was there; 95 percent decrease in El Paso; 90 percent decrease in Tucson. Walls work.

Now, look, there are other things we need to do, some practical steps, from closing the asylum loopholes, stopping chain migration, making E-Verify mandatory. There are other things, but I hear, right now, the voices of millions of Americans from my district and across the country, as we have all heard the chant: Build the wall. Build the wall. Build the wall.

We are standing here tonight as a voice for millions of Americans who feel like they have lost their voice in Washington, and we are saying it is time right now. Build the wall. Let's do it.

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