Issues of the Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARRIS. Mr. Speaker, the leadership at the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration is a complete and dangerous failure at our southern border.

Last month, I joined nearly 60 of my House Republican colleagues to witness firsthand the Biden administration's catastrophe at Eagle Pass, Texas, in the Del Rio sector of our southern border.

After being briefed by Border Patrol at the southern border, it became clear to me that this administration has allowed dangerous terrorists, drug traffickers, child sex traffickers, and other human traffickers to enter this country easily as a result of this administration's wide open southern border policies.

In fact, since Joe Biden took office, 361 individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watch list have been apprehended attempting to cross our southern border illegally.

Who in the world knows how many from that terrorist watch list were among the millions of got-aways, people who weren't apprehended at the southern border?

In addition to these terrorists coming through our borders, more than 54,000 pounds of fentanyl has been intercepted at American borders. Now, I know fentanyl well. I am an anesthesiologist by trade. We use it in the operating room all the time. 54,000 pounds of fentanyl is enough to kill the entire human population of the planet. That is the amount that was intercepted at the southern border. Only God knows how much was not intercepted at the southern border because our Border Patrol agents, instead of patrolling the border, are processing illegal immigrants into our interior through the asylum process.

As we stood at the banks of the Rio Grande watching this catastrophe unfold at our southern border, the President of the United States that very same day that we were down there chose to help the flow of illegal immigration by actually sending his lawyers into Federal court to remove the razor wire that the Texas Department of Public Safety had put up to protect their communities from the invasion, the protection that Joe Biden was not providing to the State of Texas or to the rest of America.

Now, while speaking to the press yesterday, Joe Biden, with a straight face, declared: ``I've done all I can do. Just give me the power. . . . Give me the Border Patrol, give me the people, the judges--give me the people who can stop this and make it work right.''

Wow is all I have to say. The American people know that he refuses to admit that during his first 100 days in office, he took 94 executive actions on immigration, most notably including the halting of the construction of the border wall.

Now, I will note, Mr. Speaker, it is kind of interesting. He has got a wall around his house, but he won't put a wall around our country to protect us from invasion.

In August 2022, President Biden and his administration decided to make the border crisis worse by formally ending President Trump's successful remain in Mexico program. Yes, Mr. Speaker, the President could at any time reinstate the program under the same statutes and laws that were in place during President Trump. President Biden could reinstate remain in Mexico tonight.

I would suggest if the President is listening, Mr. President, you asked yesterday what you can do. Pick up a pen, reinstate remain in Mexico.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Biden administration announced on May 10, 2023, that it would allow for the release of migrants into the U.S. with no way to track them. Millions of people entering the United States, given identification papers, even if we really have no idea who they are, and we are not tracking them at all. That is mind-boggling to most Americans.

Make no mistake, Joe Biden absolutely has the power to stop this invasion. He is simply unwilling to do it and unwilling to use those powers.

It is a reckless dereliction of duty for the Biden administration, our border czar Kamala Harris, and Secretary Mayorkas to continually allow the cartels to smuggle both humans and fentanyl into our streets without putting an end to this crisis. It is well within his power.

Last year, in May, House Republicans passed the Secure the Border Act, a comprehensive immigration overhaul that would protect and secure the United States from illegal immigration, force the Biden administration to restart construction of the border wall, end catch and release--very important--and increase the number of Border Patrol agents to stop the flow of deadly fentanyl into this country.

House Republicans passed that bill a year ago, but Leader Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate refuse to even take up the bill for a vote. Shame on them. If President Biden were really serious about fixing the crisis at our southern border, he would end it today by reinstating the successful border policies put in place by President Trump and instructing the Senate to pass H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act passed by House Republicans, tomorrow before they go home on their weekend break.

Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I also want to highlight another piece of legislation that I am spearheading, H.R. 1547, the One Seat Ride Act, which I introduced with Representative Watson Coleman of New Jersey, and I am glad to say this legislation passed this House in December in a large bipartisan fashion.

This legislation directs the Secretary of Transportation to conduct cost-benefit analysis of a one seat ride trip versus a transfer trip option during peak hours on New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line. The results of this study would then be transmitted to key congressional committees.

Currently, Raritan Valley Line passengers are forced to change trains at Newark Penn Station to access New York City and to make the same change headed westbound. A one seat ride allows passengers to take one- time efficient trains from stations such as Westfield, Somerville, and Lebanon directly into New York City.

Since the bill passed in this body, we are now one step closer to paving the way for a more connected and efficient future where commuters can travel seamlessly both eastbound and westbound at all times of the day and night. For New Jerseyans, this means more time at home and less time commuting.

My priority will continue to be breaking down transportation barriers by enhancing our region's infrastructure. Again, I am proud that this bill passed the House, and I am working hard to get the Senate companion bill introduced and work its way through the Senate.

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