Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. 5585.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, on December 7 of 2022, Border Patrol Officer Raul Gonzalez got up, he got dressed, kissed his family good- bye, and left for work.

His family would never see him again. He was killed later that day in Mission, Texas, doing his job trying to protect our country. A group of illegal aliens and their smuggler led him on a high-speed chase that ended in a fatal wreck that took his life.

Now, this is becoming an increasingly common story along our southern border in the age of Biden's open-border policies. The number of high- speed chases by Border Patrol or local law enforcement has exploded along with the illegal human trafficking and smuggling that they are trying to stop.

The Biden administration's lax enforcement of our immigration laws has incentivized this, creating the conditions that create these deadly high-speed chases, and the problem has now reached critical levels.

One lifelong Arizona resident reflected on the dangers of Highway 90 in Cochise County, now a major smuggling route. She said, It is scary to the point you don't want to drive the highway, but to get to work you have to. I am actually scared about going out into the public sometimes, because what if there is a high-speed chase and something goes sideways, they get into a car accident, hop the curb and hit anybody?

In Tombstone, Arizona, U.S. Marshal Jim Adams spoke of the high-speed chases racing through his town. He said, This is a weekly occurrence, sometimes daily, sometimes several times a day.

Americans near the border should not be living in terror for themselves or their loved ones being killed by high-speed chases caused by cartel smugglers. Yet, in many communities, they do now.

Human smuggling is an incredibly lucrative business. According to Border Patrol estimates in the Del Rio sector alone, cartels profit $32 million a week for a staggering total of $1.6 billion per year just in that one sector. The cartels expertly control their side of the border. Nobody gets through without paying them.

Yet, while the cartels are making billions controlling their side of the border, Joe Biden is spending billions of dollars while abandoning control of our side of the border.

This bill is very simple. It makes it a Federal crime to evade the Border Patrol or local law enforcement that is assisting the Border Patrol within 100 miles of the international border. If you are a foreign national, it makes the conviction or admission of such a crime grounds for inadmissibility and removability. If you hurt somebody, we will put you in prison for 5 years. If you kill somebody, we will put you in prison for 10 years. If you are a foreign national, we will send you packing when you get out.

That is what the Democrats in this House will oppose today, and that should be a wake-up call for every American.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Ciscomani), the author of this bill.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Van Duyne).

Ms. VAN DUYNE. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5585, the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act. This bill is named in honor of a heroic Border Patrol agent who was tragically killed in the line of duty last year while pursuing illegal migrants as they attempted to evade capture in my home State of Texas.

The crisis at our southern border threatens our community safety and our national security. Far too often, we see smugglers and illegal immigrants, desperate to evade detection and prosecution, who are willing to endanger themselves and innocent bystanders by taking brave law enforcement officers like Agent Gonzalez on high-speed chases.

Tragically, this administration deliberately opened our borders to weaken national security, and their policies continue to encourage smugglers and cartels, who stand to make a profit by moving illegal immigrants and drugs into our country. Our Border Patrol agents want nothing more than to secure the border and apprehend those illegal migrants, but this administration won't let them do their jobs.

As we have seen, cartel members, smugglers, and human traffickers have no qualms about surpassing speeds of 100 miles per hour, or greater, even in residential areas. Our law enforcement officers have to make a difficult decision in those cases about whether or not to pursue the vehicle. This pursuit could make a difference in a child's life who is in the grips of a human trafficker or could also prevent thousands of doses of deadly fentanyl from reaching our communities and murdering our children.

H.R. 5585 will help protect our brave law enforcement officers by criminalizing the act of fleeing from Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement officers. By passing this bill, we will give our law enforcement officers the tools they need to prosecute and punish criminals who engage in these dangerous high-speed chases. We will ensure that any illegal alien who evades Border Patrol agents can be deported and not allowed to return to our country.

Mr. Chair, we have a solemn duty to do everything in our power to protect those who protect us. I am grateful to my friend, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Ciscomani), for offering this important piece of legislation and to Senator Cruz for offering a similar measure in the U.S. Senate.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz).

Ms. DE LA CRUZ. Mr. Chair, today, I have the honor to stand before this distinguished body to highlight the urgency and importance of the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act. In the face of one of the most severe border crises in our history, it is imperative that we unite to support this crucial legislation.

This bill, which I proudly co-led with Congressman Ciscomani, is a commitment to our national security and public safety. It is also an acknowledgment of the perilous risks that our brave Border Patrol officers face daily. Agent Raul Gonzalez, a hero and a cherished member of our community, tragically lost his life in a high-speed chase involving illegal immigrants. This heart-wrenching incident is a reminder of the dangers at our border.

This law proposes that any illegal immigrant who fails to yield to Border Patrol agents could be charged with a felony. Moreover, if their actions result in the tragic loss of an officer's life, they could face life sentences. This isn't about right versus left. It is about right versus wrong and protecting those who protect us.

I invite my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join us. This is a time for unity, not division. Supporting this lifesaving legislation means standing up for the rule of law and sending a clear message: Evading American law enforcement is a serious offense, and if it results in the death of an officer, the consequences will be severe.

Our Nation is stronger when we work together and prioritize common sense over division. The Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act is a pivotal step in ensuring our borders are not only safe but respected. Let's honor the memory of this brave man and the countless others who put their lives on the line every single day. Let this bill's passage be a testament to our shared resolve to safeguard our Nation and uphold its laws.

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleagues for their support. Let's stand united for public safety, our Border Patrol agents, and for a stronger, more secure America.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Chair, setting aside my good friend's weird obsession with Donald Trump, I hope Americans will take note of what has been said in this debate.

The Democrats made the point, well, why chase them and endanger themselves and the public? Why not just let them go?

Well, the answer should be obvious. Under the Democrats' open-borders policy, all that you have to do is flag down a Border Patrol officer and make a phony asylum claim. Under their policies, you will be immediately released into our country. You will get a plane or bus ticket anywhere you want to go. You will get free meals, free snacks, free clothes, free phones. You immediately qualify for free medical care, free housing, free education for your children. Within 6 months, you will be given a work authorization to undercut working American families. You will be assured that your phony claim won't be heard for many years into the future, if you show up at all.

Also, when you are finally ordered deported, as is the case with the overwhelming majority of these claims, that court order will simply be ignored by our own government. There are already currently 1.3 million such deportation orders that the administration already simply ignores.

With all of these benefits waiting for you simply by flagging down a Border Patrol officer, why in the world would you want to evade capture by endangering your own lives? Well, the only reason I can think of is that you are either hiding a criminal record, or you are committing a crime.

I remind the gentleman that is why the Border Patrol chases evaders. They have caught hundreds of known terrorists and countless pounds of fentanyl and other deadly drugs by doing so.

FBI Director Chris Wray warned the Judiciary Committee that this constitutes a massive security threat--his words--a massive security threat. Let that sink in. And then consider the barbaric terrorist attack 103 days ago in Israel.

I believe it is just a matter of time before we see a coordinated terrorist attack in our own country from elements that have entered as a direct result of Biden's policies. We have already seen lone wolf attacks in Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark because of their lax border policies. I am afraid this is only the tip of this iceberg.

I, again, remind the gentleman that is why we chase evaders, and those evaders need to be held accountable to the law and punished, and, if they are foreigners, they need to be removed from our country. Yet, the Democrats object to this.

Now, the Democrats have argued that the bill should not include a mandatory minimum sentence. Well, let's go over specifically what they object to. If you cause a high-speed chase that injures somebody, you are going to serve a minimum of 5 years under this bill. If you kill somebody, it is a minimum of 10 years.

Does any reasonable person believe these mandatory minimums are unreasonable? Ask the American who has been paralyzed in such a crash if it is unreasonable. Ask the family of the mother who has been killed in such a crash if that is unreasonable. The only people who seem to think that this is unreasonable are the Democrats in this House, and voters might want to do something about that.

The Democrats argue that the bill is unnecessary because aliens who are convicted of fleeing an immigration checkpoint are already removable. You heard that argument several times. Well, that is true, but it only applies to those who are fleeing a checkpoint. It doesn't make the alien inadmissible to come back into our country, either.

This bill applies to all smugglers causing dangerous crashes or chases within 100 miles of the border, and it creates serious penalties for those who injure or kill officers or bystanders during these pursuits.

Now, the Democrats have also claimed that this measure would destroy due process by deporting an alien who hasn't actually been convicted of a crime.

Well, actually, this bill requires either a conviction of a crime, or an admission of committing that crime. That is the same standard we apply to aliens guilty of overstaying a visa, violating nonimmigrant status or condition of entry, smuggling aliens, committing marriage fraud, being a drug user or a drug addict, falsely claiming United States citizenship, or engaging in espionage. This bill simply adds evasion of the Border Patrol to this existing list.

By the way, a confession is not an idle matter. Under 80 years of precedent, the alien's confession has to be explicit, unequivocal, and unqualified. The Department of Homeland Security then has the burden of proof to show that the statement meets the requirement for removal purposes, and an immigration judge must then find that the admission is based on reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence.

This is hardly a casual confession, but it does save years and years of court proceedings and appeals.

Mr. Chair, we have heard directly from the officers and citizens of our border communities of the dangers that they now face day after day as cartel smugglers drive at high speeds through their towns to evade the Border Patrol or the police.

This bill says, if you clearly admit to this crime or you are convicted of it and you are a foreign national, we will not only deport you, but it will be grounds for forbidding you from returning, which is not part of the current law.

The bill says to legal and illegal residents alike, if you hurt somebody while causing this reckless hazard, we will throw you in jail for 5 years; if you kill somebody, it is 10.

The Democrats are opposed to these reforms. We should tell people everything they need to know about the obstacles that we are facing to securing our border and returning our border communities to peace and safety.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, H.R. 5585, the ``Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act'' would establish criminal and immigration penalties for flight in a motor vehicle from a pursuing U.S. Border Patrol agent or any federal, state, or local law enforcement assisting in such pursuit.

We grieve the loss of Agent Gonzalez and honor his service and dedication to the safety and security of our country. We owe a great debt to Agent Gonzalez for his sacrifice and offer our deepest condolences to his family.

I am deeply concerned about the safety of those law enforcement officers working to secure our borders, particularly with regard to the dangers presented by vehicular pursuits. We must be certain that we are creating a framework that will truly ensure their safety. In doing so, we not only honor Agent Gonzalez but we make certain that we have no further loss of life in this way.

It goes without saying that I cannot support this bill if the mandatory minimum penalties remain, especially since they would be triggered without a finding of intent to kill or inflict serious bodily injury.

And still there are larger issues lurking in the definition of the offense--namely, the elements that must be proven to establish a violation.

As the bill is currently written, it fails to require conduct that would indicate some knowledge of wrongdoing, such as the refusal to obey a verbal or audible signal by law enforcement to stop operation of the vehicle.

But even if we forgive the vague definition of the offense, prosecutors would be required to prove not that the Border Patrol agent was acting within their duties as an employee but that the agent had the legal authority to engage in a pursuit--which is a considerably more involved question of law.

This language would make it difficult for prosecutors to pursue cases involving flight and pursuits. We should work together to ensure the language of this bill gives prosecutors the authority to truly protect our officers at the border and keep them safe.

To address several faults in this bill, I offered an amendment that would have eliminated the mandatory minimum penalties; required that the government prove that the Border Patrol agent in question acted within their official duties; and added an additional data point to the annual report to determine whether high speed chases near the border are commonly committed by citizens of the United States or non- citizens.

However, my amendment was not ruled in order, allowing these problematic features to remain.

Vehicle pursuits have long plagued law enforcement agencies in every corner of the United States, particularly in determining the appropriate response to suspects that fail to stop or take flight from a lawful stop. And while law enforcement agencies across the country have increasingly restricted when vehicle pursuits can be undertaken, high speed chases along the border have continued to rise.

While U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was slow to revise its own pursuit policy, the agency issued the newly revised CBP Emergency Driving and Vehicular Pursuits Directive in January of last year. The updated directive acknowledges the risks associated with vehicular pursuits--and shifts the agency's overall approach to a risk-based model when pursuits occur.

The agency moved from a rather vague policy to a standard that seeks to minimize the impact on citizens and innocent bystanders, while maintaining the ability to pursue those individuals that present a danger to public safety.

We must be certain that we do not undermine the work that CBP has done to move away from a policy that resulted in a record number of deaths of migrants and innocent bystanders.

While I want to believe that this legislation is a legitimate effort by my Republican colleagues to protect not only law enforcement officers at the border but the safety of migrants and citizens, the true nature of this bill is revealed in the immigration provisions that would levy consequences as severe as inadmissibility and deportability without requiring a conviction.

I am certainly willing to work with my colleagues to make this bill a useful tool for prosecutors. In its current form, this is a flawed, unworkable bill for more than a few reasons. That is why I must oppose H.R. 5585, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, this amendment requires a new fact to be proven at trial that the pursuing law enforcement officer was ``under the command'' of the U.S. Border Patrol in each and every case.

I can imagine many circumstances where local law enforcement is alerted to a Border Patrol chase that is going through their jurisdiction and then act immediately to assist them without necessarily being directly under their command.

The issue is not who is pursuing smugglers but rather the circumstances of the pursuit; namely, this person is evading the Border Patrol. It is unlikely that during each and every pursuit in progress the Border Patrol is going to have time to deputize local law enforcement and place them under their command.

This is a ridiculous expectation, so ridiculous as to raise the suspicion that it is intended solely to render the bill unworkable and meaningless.

These high-speed chases occur far too often in our border communities, and State and local law enforcement are often first responders in protecting these communities along with the Border Patrol.

This amendment would serve only to challenge law enforcement, who are properly doing their job, to stop smugglers and illegal aliens from terrorizing their communities.

Mr. Chair, I, therefore, oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close if the gentlewoman is finished.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chair, I was just shocked to hear the gentlewoman accuse the Governor of Texas of murder. This is an example of the kind of extremism that we see on the left in this House today.

Now, the fact is the Border Patrol agents are strained to the breaking point by this administration's open-border policies, and they often rely on local law enforcement having their backs.

If the gentlewoman doesn't know what active assistance is, it is a high-speed chase that is going through their community and they are there in a position to back up the Border Patrol. Mr. Chair, you can't negotiate that. You cannot be deputized. That is part and parcel of law enforcement. You have to spring into action.

When overt local police are providing this assistance, they should have the protection that this bill provides. It also puts every smuggler on notice that if they are trafficking human beings or drugs across the border and they are pursued, then they darn well better pull over.

Apparently, this is just too much for the Democrats to bear. I am not sure whether we should laugh this amendment off the floor or merely defeat it. In either event, it is a foolish idea.

Mr. Chair, it deserves a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

The motion was agreed to.

Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Molinaro) having assumed the chair, Mr. Fulcher, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5585) to impose criminal and immigration penalties for intentionally fleeing a pursuing Federal officer while operating a motor vehicle, had come to no resolution thereon.

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