Combating Crime in Nation's Capital

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLYDE. Madam Speaker, right here in our Nation's Capital, crime continues to soar at an alarming rate. Yet, the D.C. Council is determined to advance a severely misguided bill to reduce penalties for violent criminal offenses.

In fact, some of the very crimes that the D.C. Council included in their radical legislation are on the rise. For example, last year, robberies were up, vehicle theft increased by 8 percent, and carjackings skyrocketed by 14 percent. Yet, the D.C. Council is fighting to reduce--yes, reduce--penalties for these offenses. You just can't make this stuff up.

Now, to her credit, D.C. Mayor Bowser opposes this dangerous effort, correctly claiming: ``This bill does not make us safer.''

For once, I agree with Mayor Bowser because combating crime and protecting citizens is not a conservative issue, it is a commonsense issue; it is an American issue.

In the face of D.C.'s failed leadership, Congress must take immediate action to prevent this disastrous bill from emboldening criminals and threatening the safety of residents and visitors.

In the coming weeks, I will introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to stop this insanity in its tracks. I look forward to leading this fight, and I urge all of my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, to join me so we can ensure that no American faces fear and violence in our Nation's Capital. Defense of Americans' Second Amendment Freedoms

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Mr. CLYDE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in the defense of Americans' Second Amendment freedoms.

The Biden administration is moving forward with yet another gun- grabbing tactic in order to register and ban millions of firearms, moving one step closer to the left's ultimate goal of disarming our Nation and dismantling our Second Amendment freedoms.

Earlier this month, the ATF finalized an unconstitutional rule pertaining to firearms with stabilizing braces. Under the ATF's new rule, any pistol-braced firearm would be considered an illegal short- barreled rifle, making these guns subject to the draconian regulations under the National Firearms Act of 1934.

Let me be clear: Unelected, anti-gun bureaucrats at the ATF do not have the authority to make laws. That authority rests right here in Congress.

Congress cannot continue turning a blind eye to the Biden administration's weaponization of the National Firearms Act and ongoing assault on Americans' Second Amendment freedoms. The time to act is now, and I am proud to lead this fight.

Next week, I will re-introduce the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act, or the SHORT Act, to repeal elements of the National Firearms Act, thereby prohibiting the ATF from registering and banning pistols with stabilizing braces.

Additionally, as soon as the ATF's unlawful rule is published to the Federal Register, I will introduce a Resolution of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to override the Biden administration's unlawful overreach.

I have always done my utmost in the defense of our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. It is now time, now that the House is under the Republican majority, to go on offense.

Madam Speaker, I want gun owners to hear me loud and clear: We are fighting for you and your Second Amendment freedoms, and we will never give up. Lawlessness at the Southern Border

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Mr. CLYDE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight the lawlessness happening at our southern border.

To no one's surprise, President Biden attempted to conceal the ongoing chaos, chaos created by his disastrous policies at the southern border, by releasing the latest CBP report on a Friday night news dump. But these tactics can't hide the truth.

Last month, over a quarter of a million, over 251,000 illegal aliens were apprehended at the southern border, making December the highest monthly total on record.

More than a quarter of a million in a single month. If that doesn't pressure the Biden administration to fix this crisis, what will?

In a dangerous addition, 17 suspected terrorists were caught illegally crossing the border in December, bringing the total number of individuals to 38 who were on the terrorist watch list and caught at the southern border, in just the first 3 months of fiscal year 2023.

How many suspected terrorists have to cross the southern border before the Biden administration will take this border crisis seriously?

To make matters worse, CBP has already seized over 9,000 pounds of fentanyl so far this fiscal year, which is enough to kill more than 2 billion people, over 6 times the population of the United States.

When will the Biden administration finally put an end to the wide- open southern border that allows this deadly drug from China to devastate our communities?

While the White House willfully destroys our southern border and subsequently demolishes our national security, House Republicans are determined to secure the border and put Americans first.

Part of that commitment is ensuring that every solitary individual responsible for this self-inflicted crisis will be held accountable, starting with Secretary Mayorkas, whose impeachment is long overdue.

Without accountability, Americans will not have the safe and secure Nation they deserve.

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