Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024
Floor Speech
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Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, my amendment will prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from implementing any mask mandate for the employees of the Department.
This is an extremely important amendment. Our current appropriation bills completely stop the mandates for vaccines but do not stop the mandates for any future mask mandates.
We need to recognize as a country what Americans have already recognized, COVID is over. This is something that we even passed a resolution on, and the President himself signed it, declaring COVID is over.
We all know something to be very, very true: Masks don't work. They did not stop the spread of COVID. They were really a violation of people's rights. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci himself said that masks do not prevent the spread of COVID, and he said so in a personal email to one of his friends, advising her not to wear a mask when she flew on an airplane.
However, the Biden administration forced our TSA agents, forced everyone to be masked every single time they flew and every single time TSA agents showed up to work.
This administration insisted that illegal aliens posed no threat to spreading COVID, yet treated Border Patrol agents as if they were the COVID superspreaders. We saw many migrants come up illegally invading our country with no masks on, a constant, steady stream of thousands and thousands of people coming into our country from countries all over the world, bringing all kinds of diseases, but yet Homeland decided that it was Border Patrol agents and ICE agents who had to be masked, not the people coming into our country illegally, bringing all kinds of diseases with them. They weren't worried about COVID. It was about control.
Border Patrol agents and all DHS employees were required to wear masks when fulfilling a number of official duties at a time when there was almost no enforcement of these same mask requirements for these same illegal aliens coming across the border.
In light of Democrats' attempts to manufacture the resurgence of COVID, my amendment will protect employees of the Department of Homeland Security against all tyrannical mask mandates.
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Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, this is laughable. This is absolutely pathetic. All the whining and complaining about shutdowns coming from Democrats, who forced shutdowns on Americans by shutting down their businesses, shutting down their freedom of speech, shutting down their churches, shutting down their playgrounds, shutting down beaches, shutting down every human right that Americans possessed, shutting down their freedoms. Listen to Democrats whining and complaining about working late at night.
Americans wanted to work late. They wanted to work all the time, but Democrats forced shutdowns. Do you know how many small businesses closed? We don't know the actual number, but it is a casualty to the American Dream. Businesses were forced to shut down, and they went out of business.
Children are behind in schooling because their schools shut down, and they were forced to stay home doing virtual schooling. We have kids all over America who can't read, can't do math, and this is all happening under the Biden administration that wants to use all of our hard-earned taxpayer resources to pay for migrant children in our taxpayer-funded schools.
Yes, it is important to have an amendment in the Department of Homeland Security appropriation bills forcing there to be no mask mandates because we know the truth: Democrats will do everything they can to bring COVID back, scare Americans, and convince them that a piece of paper strapped on their ears with rubber bands is going to protect them from the man-made COVID-19 virus that came from the Wuhan lab.
This is outrageous. I can't listen to the pathetic whining. It really is pathetic.
We remember last Congress. Last Congress, Democrats had us in here late at night practically every night. I can remember many times sitting on the House floor waiting for them to get all of their things together and voting past midnight.
This is what hard work looks like. We don't want to hear government employees getting a taxpayer-funded paycheck whining about a shutdown when this comes from the very party that shut down America, and we haven't recovered yet.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, my amendment will prohibit funding for the Uniting for Ukraine program.
This is a streamlined, categorical parole process that allows an unlimited number of illegal aliens into our country from Ukraine.
There have been over 9 million illegal aliens who have invaded our country since Joe Biden took office. It is unprecedented.
Just last month, over 300,000 illegals invaded our country, the most ever recorded in a single month. Over this past weekend, Border Patrol reported there were over 11,000 illegal alien encounters in just a 24- hour period.
I deeply sympathize with the innocent people in Ukraine, especially since our government is forcing a proxy war there by funding and fueling the war instead of pushing peace in this country.
However, America is facing our own war at our southern border, and we cannot stand to address every global crisis when our own house is not in order, not safe.
We cannot afford to violate our own immigration laws on behalf of a global crisis, especially a global crisis that the United States Government is fueling and funding. The United States is fueling the war in Ukraine by sending tanks, ammunition, F-16s, and over $113 billion taxpayer dollars and counting, especially when the debate in Washington and the argument is about more money for Ukraine.
The Uniting for Ukraine process grants mass categorical parole to these individuals, which is a complete violation of our own immigration laws. Parole is to be granted on a case-by-case basis, as required by the law. Although many claim the specific process is granting parole on a case-by-case basis, based on a proven track record, this administration doesn't even know what case by case means. They just know mass migration into the United States.
Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas continue to abuse our immigration laws and create categorical parole for illegal aliens into our country. Secretary Mayorkas has already granted temporary legal status to 75,000 Ukrainians under the temporary protected status designation, which includes benefits such as work permits, Social Security numbers, and driver's licenses.
This Uniting for Ukraine process has no numerical cap, which means an unlimited number of illegal aliens from Ukraine can come and displace American workers. Our country needs to put American citizens first for once.
We need to win the war at the southern border that the Mexican cartels are waging on our country before granting parole to an unlimited number of individuals and allowing them to remain here for an indefinite amount of time.
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Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
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Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I will remind the House and the American people watching at home that Democrats aren't worried about shutdowns. They love shutdowns. They shut down America for almost 2 years.
People are still suffering from the Democratic, communist shutdowns. I don't know why they keep complaining about it because they are the party that forced it on the American people while they are complaining about it for themselves. That is so pathetic.
Everyone here gets a taxpayer-funded paycheck, so don't whine about shutdowns when you shut down America on the very people who pay your salary.
Let's talk about allowing an unlimited number of Ukrainians into the country on the American taxpayer dime. This war is not supported by American taxpayers, not Americans. Over 55 percent of Americans do not want to fund it anymore.
We want to talk about funding Border Patrol agents. Let's talk about funding Border Patrol so they can secure our border, not be the welcoming committee to the entire world for the United States of America.
Mr. Chair, I ask the House to pass my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, my amendment uses the Holman rule, which is different from other amendments that have been introduced. This uses the Holman rule to reduce the salary of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to $1, and $1 is too much money.
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has aided and abetted the complete invasion of our country by deliberately flooding our Nation with drugs, terrorists, and illegals from over 160 countries from around the world.
The mission of the Department of Homeland Security States right here: ``With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.''
Being that Secretary Mayorkas has direction, authority, and control over the entire Department, he has failed in his duties to safeguard the American people and our homeland, and he deserves to be fired and impeached.
His job is to protect our homeland and strengthen the national security of our country. Yet, his policies, directives, and statements have created a national security crisis, and has tragically resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans each year.
Since assuming office, he has allowed approximately 7.5 million illegal encounters at our border; over 250 people on the terrorist watch list to be caught crossing our border, and those are the ones we know of, approximately 1.6 million known got-aways to evade U.S. authorities. Imagine how many we don't even know about.
Just this fiscal year alone, Border Patrol arrested over 32,000 illegals with criminal convictions and over 167 MS-13 gang members.
Remember, there are 1.6 million that got away.
Are these terrorists? Are these gang members?
I am sure they are. How many of them have criminal records?
Secretary Mayorkas has allowed fentanyl, the number one killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, to overwhelmingly flood into our country and kill around 300 Americans every single day. This fiscal year alone Border Patrol has seized approximately 24 pounds of fentanyl attempting to be smuggled into the United States. That is enough fentanyl to kill every single American 15 times over, but the fentanyl keeps coming because 300 Americans are dying every single day.
His open border policies have allowed unaccompanied children to be exploited, and now over 85,000 of them are unaccounted for. Where are these children?
Tens of thousands of other children have been forced into slave labor, and that is according to The New York Times.
He has provided copious amounts of baby formula to illegal aliens at one of the largest processing centers in the country, while American mothers and infants were intensely suffering from severe shortages and couldn't find baby formula on the grocery store shelves.
He flooded hospital maternity units with illegal aliens, so much so that American mothers were turned away and forced to delay inductions. That was in Yuma, Arizona.
He canceled border wall construction contracts established under President Trump that would have secured our Nation's border and was securing our Nation's border, but now the materials lay rusting on the ground.
He has repeatedly pulled border agents from actually securing our border and has moved them to processing roles, welcoming committees, leaving huge gaps for the Mexican cartels and drug smugglers to exploit and gain control of our border, and they are controlling our border.
He has violated the law by directing DHS to mass-parole illegal aliens into the U.S. when Federal law specifically prohibits this. He has encouraged asylum fraud, abused the credible fear standard, and exercised mass catch-and-release policies.
He has turned every single State into a border State. Veterans are even being kicked out of their hotel rooms to make room for illegals.
He has even caused approximately a 1,700-percent increase in just one sector of the northern border. He has not only enabled child exploitation, sex and drug trafficking, and fentanyl overdoses, but he has also done everything in his power to put Americans last.
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