Crisis At Our Southern Border

Floor Speech

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Ms. MALLIOTAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss the crisis at our southern border and to call for this body to immediately take up the Border Security Act of America that will restore order; that will enhance technology; and that will give our Customs and Border Protection agents the tools that they are begging for.

A year ago last March, I actually went where the President and our Vice President refuse to go: to the southern border, Rio Grande. And if you talk to the CBP agents there, they will tell you exactly what is going on.

We are seeing our southern border overrun by the drug cartels. We are seeing human trafficking take place. We are seeing and hearing from children who are being abused along the journey, and the amount of fentanyl and other drugs that are streaming over our border and killing Americans is at record levels. It could be stopped today, but this administration and this Congress refuse to do it.

The issue of public safety and national security is one we just discussed last week, September 11; we said we will never forget. But yet, here we have policies in place that make us less safe and could potentially cause something catastrophic to happen.

We need to be wise. We need to be reasonable. We are a nation of immigrants. We are a compassionate nation. My mother is a Cuban refugee. My father is a Greek immigrant.

It is not about that. It is about having order. It is about having laws. It is about having policies in place and making sure that they are being followed.

We know that 66 suspected terrorists were apprehended attempting to cross our border. We also know that, at a time like this, we face threats from Russia and from China, and Iran straight out said that they plan attacks on United States soil.

And yet, with 3.2 million people crossing into our country illegally and 500,000 gotaways from over 60 different countries, we run a risk of being in danger. Think about that, that is almost four times the population of the President's home State of Delaware.

Now it is also having a financial impact on our constituents. It is now costing American taxpayers $20 billion a year, something completely unsustainable as U.S. debt approaches $31 trillion.

Americans are struggling right now to get by. They are trying to keep roofs over their own heads. They are trying to pay their utility bills. They are trying to put food on the table for their children, and now the majority wants them to pick up this additional cost for this unsustainable policy.

My own mayor is saying that it is having an impact on New York City and that it is at a breaking point. He is complaining about the Governors who are busing individuals to New York City, but he hasn't said a peep about the President who was flying them in over the last 2 years.

The bottom line is, if my mayor or anyone else has an issue with what is happening in their cities, they need to hold the President accountable and this Congress accountable to make sure that we pass the laws that make sense.

We need to bring up the Border Security for America Act before we leave next week. If not, we are doing a great disservice to the people of this country. We are continuing to increase our debt. We are continuing to make our cities less safe, and we are continuing to put our Nation at risk in the future.

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