Secure the Border Act of 2023
Floor Speech
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, just to reiterate what we have heard today: House Republicans know that border security is national security, which is why tackling this crisis truly is crucial to fulfilling our promise to the American people and to deliver them a nation that is safe.
Since President Biden took office, there have been over 5 million illegal crossings over our southern border, and more than 1.3 million people have evaded apprehension. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, fentanyl is pouring over our southwest border and into my communities, into your communities, killing Americans at catastrophic rates.
On May 11, title 42 is set to expire, which is only going to exacerbate the current border crisis. The President and our Democratic colleagues have offered no long-term solution. While H.R. 2 does much to strengthen the border, it also fails to address an issue critical to our Nation's farmers--reliable access to agricultural workers.
We need essential reform to our immigration, asylum, and workforce laws, issues that I and many others have been working on relentlessly since being here in Congress. The United States is blessed with fertile lands and a climate conducive to agricultural productivity. However, without an adequate workforce, our farmers and our ranchers struggle to harvest and tend to their crops. This poses a direct threat to our Nation's food security, our national security, and our economic prosperity.
Mandating E-Verify would have a devastating impact on the American agricultural industry, including processing of agricultural products if it were to be enacted without reforms to our agricultural labor system. They must go hand in hand.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, just to finish, the current status quo is not working for our farmers, and we must address this crisis. We cannot mandate E-Verify without stabilizing our existing agricultural workforce: Removal of the seasonality requirement from H-2A agricultural visa programs and wage reform that makes H-2A wages and benefits more market based.
With the amended legislative language, I support H.R. 2 but seek a commitment from leadership and my colleagues that we continue the important work on true bipartisan legislation that will resolve the workforce needs in our industry.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans know that border security is national security, which is why tackling this crisis is crucial to fulfilling our promise to the American people and delivering a nation that's safe.
Since President Biden took office, there have been over 5 million illegal crossings over our southern border and more than 1.3 million people have evaded apprehension.
At the same time, fentanyl is pouring over the Southwest border and into our communities, killing Americans at catastrophic rates.
On May 11th, Title 42 is set to expire, which is only going to exacerbate the current border crisis.
President Biden and our Democratic colleagues have offered no long- term solution.
While H.R. 2 does much to strengthen the border, it fails to address an issue critical to America's farmers--reliable access to agricultural workers. We need essential reform to our immigration, asylum, and workforce laws--issues I have been relentlessly working on since coming to Congress.
The United States is blessed with fertile lands and a climate conducive to agricultural productivity. However, without an adequate workforce, our farmers and ranchers struggle to harvest and tend to their crops. This poses a direct threat to our nation's food security, national security, and economic prosperity.
Mandating E-Verify would have a devastating impact on American agriculture, including processing of agricultural products, if it were to be enacted without reforms to our agricultural labor system. They must go hand in hand. The current status quo is not working for our farmers, and we must address this crisis.
We cannot mandate E-Verify without stabilizing our existing agricultural workforce, removal of the seasonality requirement from the H-2A agricultural visa program, and wage reform that makes H-2A wages and benefits more market-based.
With the amended legislative language, I support H.R. 2 but seek a commitment from leadership and my colleagues that we continue the important work on true bipartisan legislation that will resolve the workforce needs in our industry.
Thank you, Mr. Leader. We need real reforms that will ensure our farmers and ranchers have the workforce they need to feed our country and ensure our food security and economic prosperity.
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