Speaker McCarthy and House GOP Members Survey Chaos at the Border

Statement

"Our border agents, they do so much.

"To protect this nation, they're working harder than they ever have before. Under unbelievable stress, under unbelievable conditions.

"We took a helicopter tour throughout this region. This terrain is different than any place else on the border for America. And this is different than the other regions that we go to look at.

"What's different is what's coming across here. It's controlled, but it's not controlled by the Mexican government. It's not controlled by the American government, [it's] controlled by the cartels.

"Individuals who cross illegally on this border, in this region, come in camouflage outfits. The Sinaloa Cartel controls who comes across and the amount of drugs that come across.

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"These are single males that are coming across the border through this region. This has the largest number of percentage of gotaways.

"As you heard from the sheriff a little earlier, spend a little time with John, the rancher, he'll come up and talk to you here in a moment to tell you there's been more than 500,000 illegals that have come across this border just in a number of years. But those are just the ones they go after.

"This is a fundamental problem. But the problem is created by this administration. We've only been in the majority for two months [and our] freshman Members that I brought here have done more in four weeks of looking at the border than President Biden has done in 40 years.

"No one believes our border is secure. Not the border agents, not America. Mayorkas has no integrity to continue to say that. He has no integrity to continue to… and make it more difficult for the border agents to do their job.

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"I promised when we took the majority and I became Speaker that no longer would people have to come to Washington to talk to their government, so we will be bringing committees here. So we can listen… to Americans who are having to live through this.

"As I sat today listening to mayors who talk about a story of a 16-year-old killing a 65-year-old woman on her birthday because he was driving 105 miles-an-hour in a car chase. He wasn't illegal, he was an American hired by the cartel.

"In this region, the number one employer is the cartel. Our border, we don't even have operational control of it anymore.

"This is why I will continue to investigate what has gone wrong here. And we will hold people accountable.

"And that includes Secretary Mayorkas, you cannot lie to the American people any longer and tell us this border is secure.

"You cannot believe what people are paying, and wearing camouflage clothing, with rugs for shoes, that this border is secure.

"You cannot tell us this is secure when more than 42% of gotaways come through here.

"You cannot tell us this border is secure. Well now there's enough fentanyl in this country to kill every single American more than 20 times over. This has all got to change.

"That's our commitment. And that's what we'll make happen."

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