Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. MOONEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment to prevent tax dollars from hardworking Americans from being sent to Mexico allegedly in support of economic development until the President of the United States of America informs Congress that Mexico has decided to stop the free flow of fentanyl across our southern border.

My plan is a simple and strong response to the Mexican Government's refusing to take action to address the crisis of fentanyl pouring across our border. The Mexican President continues to falsely state that fentanyl is not manufactured or consumed in his country.

On March 17, 2023, Mexico President Obrador said at a news conference in Mexico City, ``Here, we do not produce fentanyl, and we do not have consumption of fentanyl.'' Suggesting why doesn't the United States take care of its own issues.

However, the numbers do not lie. The Drug Enforcement Administration said in December that ``Most of the fentanyl trafficked by the Sinaloa and CJNG cartels is being mass-produced at secret factories in Mexico with chemicals sourced largely from China.'' There were 14,000 pounds of fentanyl seized last year at the southern border and more than 11,000 pounds this year so far.

Fentanyl is pouring across our border because of the disastrous open- border policies of President Biden and his Democrat allies in Congress. Meanwhile, Mexico refuses to act against the cartels. Todd Robinson, who is President Biden's Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February 2023, To be honest, the challenge that we have with Mexico is their unwillingness to put sufficient resources into the fight against fentanyl, and we are pushing them to do that.

Multiple administrations have pushed Mexico to do more, yet they refuse to act. Now is the time for Congress to step up and use the power of the purse to hold Mexico accountable until they change their behavior.

Mr. Chair, this amendment is focused solely on economic aid. This amendment does not impact narcotics interdiction and border security assistance that we also provide to Mexico. Mexico should not be rewarded with economic support funding when they refuse to stop the production of fentanyl that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. West Virginia, in particular, has been hit hard by the drug epidemic, and a lot of the poison on our streets can be traced directly back to Mexican drug cartels.

We need to secure our border, but we also need Mexico to partner with us. Our practice of giving them more United States taxpayer dollars as an inducement to fight against drug trafficking has failed. It is time to cut off economic funding until the President of the United States can report to Congress that Mexico is working with us to address the flow of fentanyl across the border. I call on all my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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