Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 996 and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 996

Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order without intervention of any point of order to consider in the House the resolution (H.Res. 863) impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Homeland Security now printed in the resolution shall be considered as adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution, as amended, to adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question except two hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security or their respective designees.

Sec. 2. Upon adoption of House Resolution 863-- (a) House Resolution 995 is hereby adopted; and

(b) no other resolution incidental to impeachment relating to House Resolution 863 shall be privileged during the remainder of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.

Sec. 3. At any time after adoption of this resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 485) to amend title XI of the Social Security Act to prohibit the use of quality-adjusted life years and similar measures in coverage and payment determinations under Federal health care programs. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and amendments specified in this section and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five- minute rule. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Energy and Commerce now printed in the bill, modified by the amendment printed in part A of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further amendment under the five-minute rule and shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. No further amendment to the bill, as amended, shall be in order except those printed in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules. Each such further amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such further amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill, as amended, to the House with such further amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, last night the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 996, providing for the consideration of two measures: H.R. 485 and H. Res. 863.

The rule provides for the consideration of H.R. 485 under a structured rule with 1 hour of debate and H. Res. 863 under a closed rule with 2 hours of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking minority member of the committee of jurisdiction, or their designees. The rule provides for one motion to recommit for H.R. 485.

The rule also deems passed H. Res. 995, which appoints the impeachment managers. I will also mention that all amendments offered to H.R. 485 were made in order.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying bills H. Res. 863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors; and H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023.

Today, this body begins consideration of one of its most solemn constitutional duties: the consideration of Articles of Impeachment against a Federal official.

H. Res. 863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors includes two Articles of Impeachment: willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust.

On February 2, 2021, Alejandro Mayorkas was sworn in as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security by Vice President Kamala Harris. On this day, Secretary Mayorkas solemnly swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

He swore that he took this sacred obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and swore to faithfully discharge the duties of the office.

Mr. Speaker, I submit to you that this oath of office sworn on February 2, 2021, has, indeed, been broken.

Since President Biden took office, United States Customs and Border Protection has encountered more than 7 million illegal migrants along the southwest border; 3.3 million have been released into the United States interior, including 312 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Data Set.

In 2003, Customs and Border Protection encountered over 2.5 million illegal migrants attempting to cross the United States southern border. That is an all-time high for a fiscal year.

In December alone, Customs and Border Protection encountered 302,000 illegal migrants attempting to cross the United States southern border, the highest number of unlawful migrant crossings in a single month in recorded history.

Mr. Speaker, Secretary Mayorkas has shown willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law time and time again. He has willfully refused to comply with numerous detention requirements spelled out in the Immigration and Nationality Act but has instead implemented a mass catch and release program, whereby apprehended illegal migrants are released into the interior of our country without any effective way to ensure their return before an immigration court.

Secretary Mayorkas has also willfully misused parole authority laid out in the Immigration and Nationality Act that permits parole to be granted only on a case-by-case basis, temporarily, and for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

Mr. Speaker, Secretary Mayorkas has not only failed in his solemn statutory duty to control and guard the border of the United States, to protect and defend this country and the Constitution, but he has also breached the public trust.

Secretary Mayorkas has willfully failed to put in place or enforce initiatives that he abandoned that would enable the Department of Homeland Security to maintain operational control of our southwest border. He has also breached the trust of Congress and the American people by knowingly making false statements about the results of his refusal to comply with the law.

The American people, and certainly those that I represent in Texas, have had enough of the Secretary's lies. Despite undeniable evidence that his gross negligence toward securing our southern border is endangering American families and communities across the country, Secretary Mayorkas thinks what he is doing is just fine, but he could not be more wrong.

Contrary to what the Secretary says, the border is not secure. America is, in fact, less safe because of his negligence and because of his numerous failures. Since Secretary Mayorkas will not resign, Congress must take this action.

Every day that Secretary Mayorkas remains as the head of the Department of Homeland Security is another day of pathetic disservice to the American people.

Mr. Speaker, many of us have been to the border. I have been many times, and I have seen how understaffed, unsupported, and underresourced the Customs and Border Patrol is. My friends on the other side of the aisle might have you believe it is not because of a lack of funding. While more funding may be helpful for better technology or building and repairing the border wall, it will not make up for the time spent by Customs and Border Patrol agents at the funerals of their coworkers or time spent wondering if they are next.

It is shameful that these brave men and women aren't getting the support that they need. The Biden administration's policy of open borders and amnesty is killing Americans, and Alejandro Mayorkas, whose primary job it is to secure the homeland, refuses to do his job.

The worsening conditions of the men and women who have sworn to protect our border and actually honored that oath is unacceptable. We must hold those accountable who have willfully refused to honor their oath.

Mr. Speaker, this rule also allows for consideration of H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act, that I introduced along with Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman Smith, and my friend from Ohio, Dr. Wenstrup. This bill aims to preserve access to lifesaving cures and to prevent discrimination for Americans with disabilities.

I practiced medicine for nearly 30 years. I treated each patient as a human being, not just a diagnosis. Quality-adjusted life years measurements are cruel and hinder the physician's ability to care for and treat all patients with dignity. The government should never be able to decide or determine the value of a life to approve or deny care.

Mr. Speaker, many years ago, the Affordable Care Act banned Medicare from using quality-adjusted life years, a metric often used in cost- effective analyses widely known to discriminate against people with disabilities. The purpose of the quality-adjusted life year metric assigns a person living with a disability a lower value of a year of life than a person who is considered to be in good health.

The quality-adjusted life year often fails to consider outcomes meaningful to patients, such as the impact on the ability to work or the impact on caregiving needs. In a quality-adjusted life year base assessment, a person living with conditions like heart disease, ALS, or sickle cell disease will be considered to be of less worth than someone else.

Often, quality-adjusted life years are used by countries that have government-controlled healthcare systems to devalue treatment for those with chronic conditions and disabilities. This concept has been pushed by socialist healthcare advocates for years. Thankfully, the United States of America has not fallen totally prey to these harmful ideologies, at least not yet.

I remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that the first quality-adjusted life year ban within the Affordable Care Act passed with strong Democrat support. Therefore, this bill should be passed with strong Democrat support, as well.

It is not the government's place to determine whether a person living with a chronic condition or a disability is of less worth. This is why we need to prohibit the use of quality-adjusted life years in all Federal programs and ensure that all human life has inherent value. Republicans will continue to work to reduce the government's hand in healthcare, and I urge colleagues to join us in supporting H.R. 485.

Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong support of the rule and the underlying bills. I urge my fellow Members to support the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, what is needed is border security. What is needed is border protection. Immigration reform can come later after border security is established.

So a discussion about what is happening over in the Senate, to me, until you get the border secured, you have no opportunity to discuss any type of immigration reform.

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr Speaker, I would recommend to the gentleman to enforce existing law as a starting point.

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, may I further inquire as to engaging in personalities or destruction of personalities? Is that something we are now doing on the floor of the House?

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Mr. BURGESS. It wasn't a hypothetical; it was what was said on the other side.

Mr. Speaker, we can talk about existing authority that the President has today that he could use to solve the problem at our southern border. He could end catch and release, reinstate the remain in Mexico policy, enter into asylum cooperative agreements with other countries, end parole abuses, detain inadmissible aliens, use expedited removal, rein in taxpayer-funded benefits for people who are in the country illegally, and issue a proclamation to suspend or restrict entry.

All those are available to the President right now, today, to solve this problem.

Mr. Speaker, the difficulty that we have is that President Biden will not use any of the tools he has in his toolbox, and now he is asking for additional tools.

The other problem is codifying 5,000 illegal immigrants a day, 2 million a year, is not, in anyone's estimation, a solution to a problem.
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Mr. BURGESS. In this memo, he basically says he is going to make the laws that he then purports to enforce.

He bemoans the fact that there is no path for citizenship that has been established, but then goes on to say: ``The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen therefore should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.''
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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, that number has increased year over year. It was 100,000 kids last year. What are we doing if we are losing track of 100,000 children that have come into this country illegally?

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I think we have seen one of the worst cases of Trump derangement syndrome ever recorded.

I would just remind people that I am not running for reelection, so I am not beholden to anyone. As I told the gentleman last week, I am bulletproof. I am only beholden to the constituents I represent. And the constituents I represent do not understand why Texas has had to endure basically an invasion during the tenure of this Secretary of Homeland Security, why he has not enforced the laws that he swore an oath to uphold and enforce. He won't do it.

What are we left to do when we have someone who is charged with protecting our country, charged with enforcing our laws, and he says it is too much trouble, I can't do it?

We know it is possible, because I was on a codel with Speaker Johnson down to the border down at Eagle Pass not but a couple weeks ago. The week before, we had seen on Bill Melugin's report on FOX News thousands of people on the riverbanks on the United States side who were there awaiting processing to be released into our country to parts unknown, for lengths of time unknown. When the Speaker of the House goes down there, there is not a soul on that riverbank.

This problem can be stopped literally overnight, if the Secretary and the President would make it a priority and would do it, but they won't. What are we left to do?

I agree with the gentleman that there is an election coming up. I hope people do remember that. I hope they do remember they have a President who, under 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, has it in his power right now to suspend activities on the southern border, but he won't do it.

We are being invaded, Mr. Speaker. My Governor, Governor Abbott, has officially declared an invasion. I don't think there is any debate about that. The administration and this Secretary have done nothing to help Texas. Instead, they have turned around and sued the State at every turn. Mr. Speaker, $12 billion dollars is what Texas has had to spend over the last year to do the job that Secretary Mayorkas should have been doing.

Just by the numbers, over 2 million illegal aliens apprehended last fiscal year, 15,000 pounds of fentanyl seized from drug smugglers crossing our border. How many families need to lose a child? How many American lives have to be cut short before Secretary Mayorkas, President Biden, and his border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, change course and actually enforce existing law?

The consequences of this administration and Secretary Mayorkas' actions have been staggering: A southern border open to drug cartels, criminals, human traffickers, and potential terrorists; a record number of migrant deaths; rising human trafficking; exploitation of minors; a growing public health disaster; and an annual net burden to the American taxpayer exceeding $150 billion.

Mr. Speaker, each of these consequences would have been avoidable if Secretary Mayorkas had just enforced existing law. This willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and the continued breach of public trust by Secretary Mayorkas will not be tolerated. For this, he must be impeached.

I also thank Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers for her leadership in bringing H.R. 485 to the floor and Chairman Mark Green of the Homeland Security Committee for his work on a proper and thorough investigation leading to consideration of H. Res. 863.

Madam Speaker, I stand in strong support of the rule and the underlying legislation.

The material previously referred to by Mr. McGovern is as follows:

An Amendment to H. Res. 996 Offered by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 4. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 12) to protect a person's ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide abortion services. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 5. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 12.

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Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

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