Providing for Consideration of H.R. Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, Providing for Consideration of H.R. Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022
Floor Speech
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what my colleague earlier offered as the previous question with respect to Title 42, because what we are seeing at the border is an absolute travesty, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are going to do nothing, literally nothing about that today, even as we see people spilling across the border who are clearly testing positive for COVID.
We have a hotel in La Joya, Texas, that is literally filled right now with individuals who are heavily testing positive for COVID. These are the facts on the ground.
I know my friend, the Speaker, knows how bad it is at the border, knows how bad it is in Laredo, knows how bad it is in Del Rio, knows how bad it is in McAllen.
I have got a text here from a sheriff in a small Texas town saying, ``We are passing an emergency declaration tonight at city council that no illegal immigrants can be released in the city of Uvalde per the CDC guidelines of countries on their list without a negative COVID test. We have had our health authority write orders that give us the authority to have them, government, Border Patrol, and immigrants, quarantine for 10 to 14 days.
We have a crisis at our border, and we are playing footsie with mask mandates in the people's House. I mean, it is absolutely absurd what this body is doing, the people's House. It is an embarrassment. It is a mockery.
The American people are fed up. They want to go back to life. They want to go back to business. They want to go back to school without their children being forced to wear masks, to be put in the corner, to have mental health issues.
We are running around here, and the Speaker comes down here at 10 a.m. saying we have got to wear masks in the people's House while we have got thousands of people pouring across our border, and Democrats don't do a darn thing about it.
Heavily infected with COVID.
We have The New York Times today.
What a mess. CDC about to reverse on indoor masking for the vaccinated.
This is some serious nanny-state stuff that will only breed resentment. No kidding.
Consider resentment being magnified right here on the floor of the House of Representatives. We are absolutely sick and tired of it. So are the American people. This sham of an institution is doing nothing for the American people. Nothing for the betterment of the people that send their Representatives here.
I just met this morning with an organization that tries to take care of people from human trafficking; met with an elected official from Mexico while cartels are raping and pillaging and killing. And we have people infected with COVID coming across our southern border into Texas. And you all put masks, masks up front here? Here in the people's House? We have got to go around and see, okay, I can't come to the floor, I can't execute my constitutional duty unless I wear a mask.
Which is it, vaccines or masks? Do the vaccines work or don't they work? Do the masks work or don't they work? I would like to know which it is. I would like Dr. Fauci to come down and answer a single question about natural immunity. If you have been infected with the virus, do you have immunity? Or are they just going to go around poking people saying: You must take a vaccine. Oh, but sorry, the vaccine doesn't work. You must wear a mask.
This institution is a sham, and we should adjourn and shut this place down.
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