Biden's Border Crisis

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the crisis along our southwest border during the ongoing public health emergency.

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General released a report titled ``DHS Needs to Enhance Its COVID-19 Response at the Southwest Border.'' The DHS OIG findings highlight what Republicans have been saying for 7 months, that U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not conduct COVID-19 testing for migrants who enter CBP custody and is not required to do so.

Further, the report notes that without stronger COVID-19 prevention measures in place, DHS is putting its workforce, support staff, border communities, and all communities and migrants at greater risk of contracting the virus.

It is our responsibility in Congress to ensure that our frontline workforce, including the brave men and women of CBP, who put their lives on the line daily, are adequately protected.

More than 6 months ago, I introduced my first piece of legislation, the REACT Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security to test all migrants illegally crossing our border who they plan to release into our communities. In March, I offered to bring the REACT Act to the floor for a vote, but it was rejected by the majority.

Simultaneously, we are seeing the majority prepare to spend $3.5 trillion, mortgaging our children's and grandchildren's futures.

Let's be clear that none of the money in this tax-and-spend package would go to CBP. This is while the DHS OIG heard from CBP officials that they do not have the necessary resources to conduct COVID-19 testing. Yet, many on the other side remain unconcerned about the lack of testing along our southern border.

In August, more than 208,000 migrants were encountered along the southwest border. This means each day approximately 6,700 individuals were encountered.

To put this in perspective, President Obama's Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, stated in his tenure that 1,000 apprehensions a day was considered a bad day. We are more than six times that now, and on top of it, we face a global pandemic.

We are currently watching a debacle unfold in Del Rio, Texas, where this weekend alone there were estimated to be approximately 15,000 migrants crossing the Rio Grande. This surge is overwhelming an already overburdened system, and the agents and officers of CBP need Congress to focus on this crisis.

While it is promising that CBP will be surging resources to the area, it remains extremely worrisome to me that, as the OIG found, CBP is not required to test these migrants. And I understand there is also a measles outbreak at Fort Bliss.

Moreover, we will continue to see the border crisis of varying scales until we institute policies that will deter illegal immigration.

Programs such as the Migrant Protection Protocols and Title 42 health restrictions should be utilized to stem the flow of illegal migration and help keep our communities safe during the pandemic.

Notably, the DHS OIG report also states that the ``erosion of Title 42 authority has had a significant negative impact on CBP's COVID-19 mitigation measures and creates increased risk.''

I encourage this administration to continue to implement these health restrictions for migrants crossing illegally, especially while we see new variants emerging.

As the former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I know we must ensure that any individuals the Biden administration insists on releasing into our communities do not have COVID-19 or other infectious diseases. In fact, the Biden administration is recognizing the need for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations for another group of individuals, those who are being paroled in from Afghanistan.

I cannot comprehend how we can vaccinate those individuals for not only COVID-19 but also measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and any other age-appropriate vaccinations that are required by the CDC but not those coming across our border illegally.

It is clear that this administration is creating a double standard not only for U.S. citizens and migrants but also for individuals they are bringing into this country.

If I may, I will also add a boisterous happy birthday to my husband, Curt.

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