A Tale of Two Presidents

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, there is an old adage that goes something like: There are no problems in our family; there are a lot of things we don't talk about.

For years, we have been talking about a crisis at our southern border. In 2016, candidate Trump talked about building a wall to protect American citizens from the surge that was taking place. He was laughed at. He was continually laughed at by the current administration until the polling came out that said the number one concern of the American people now is illegal immigration and the fact that we are being overwhelmed at both our southern border and our northern border.

Now, why do I bring that up? Well, the southern border is about 2,000 miles long, and I believe today former President Trump will go to Eagle Pass and President Biden will go to Brownsville to take a look at what is happening.

The current administration is now acknowledging the fact that maybe there is a problem down there and maybe we should be taking a look at what is happening. Polls do cause people to react.

It is truly a tale of two Presidents.

Now, the northern border, which is being totally ignored, is 5,500 miles of border. It is the longest continuous border between two countries anyplace in the world. It is virtually unwatched. Eighty-five percent of the terror watch list suspects caught at ports of entry come through the northern border.

More than 12,200 people were apprehended crossing illegally from Canada into the United States last year. That is a 241 percent increase from the previous year.

Northern border encounters are up 41 percent from last year. Seventy percent of illegal crossings in 2023 happened in New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. This is called the Swanton sector where there is a surge when it comes to fentanyl coming across our border and killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens.

There are already more northern border land encounters in fiscal year 2024, which is October 2023 until right now, than in all of 2021. To date, in 3 months, 44,801 have come across. Northern border encounters in December 2023 and in January 2024, 31,150 of them, are more than all of fiscal year 2021.

At some point, whether you like it or not, this problem is taking place in real time, in real areas of the United States of America and on your watch, Mr. President. I am sick and tired of hearing that Congress needs to address these problems when the executive office--and I would just mention to people that we are the lawmakers. The executive branch are the enforcement people of the laws that are already passed and on the books.

How can you totally ignore a situation and say that the real problem is that Republicans haven't stepped up to take responsibility for this?

This administration, without anything else, can end catch and release. They can reinstate the remain in Mexico policy, enter into the asylum cooperative agreements, end parole abuses, detain inadmissible aliens, use expedited removal, and rein in taxpayer-funded benefits for all illegal aliens.

That is right, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, you are paying for all these people who are here illegally. They ought to send you a thank you note for your hard work and issue a proclamation of suspending re-entry.

Mr. Speaker, as we watch what is happening in this country today, everything that you see happening right now, the concern that you see happening by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle is because the polls now indicate that the American people are awake and are aware of this administration's failure to enforce the laws of the land. It is that simple. It is the polling that is driving them to react. It is not the fact that it has been happening; that is incidental.

If you can ignore it long enough, then it will go away.

No. You can't ignore it any longer. Horrific things are happening to our own citizens as this administration sits back and says that there is really no problem and that this is being made up by the Republicans.

I encourage our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to remember that our oath of office is to the citizens of the United States and not to a particular party or to a particular officeholder.

When we ignore our basic responsibilities, then we have a huge problem in the United States of America.

I encourage all my fellow Americans to forget about being woke and wake up. Your country is being taken from you, and we are watching it happen.

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