Secure Our Southern Border

Floor Speech

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Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud that my House Republican colleagues and I passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, last week.

President Biden's open border policies have created chaos at our southern border and the resulting crime surge and fentanyl crisis. I urge my Senate colleagues to also pass this commonsense legislation, which would finish the border wall, add Border Patrol agents, end catch and release, protect children from human trafficking, and stop the fentanyl crisis.

The border crisis is getting worse and worse every day. People on the terrorist watch list are being apprehended regularly, and there is no telling how many have snuck in illegally. I have been to the southern border, and what I saw was shocking. I saw human heartbreak, scared children, overcrowded facilities, overwhelmed Border Patrol agents, and evidence of human and drug trafficking being committed by the Mexican cartels.

Mr. Speaker, I saw whole giant sections of the unfinished border wall, with the materials to finish these sections lying in piles in the sun. We need to fix this humanitarian crisis now, and we have done our part in the House to do just that.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that the U.S. Senate and the President will step up to the plate, as well. National Police Week

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Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, this is National Police Week, and I am proud to use my voice and my vote in Congress to honor the brave men and women who wear the badge and put their lives on the line to protect all of us.

Since President Biden took office, crime rates have skyrocketed. In the last 3 years, the number of officers shot in the line of duty is up 52 percent; in major American cities, homicides are up 13 percent; rapes are up 23 percent; and aggravated assaults are up 33 percent. Meanwhile, Federal arrests are down 35 percent. These numbers confirm that we need to do a better job supporting our law enforcement officers and ensure that they have the resources they need to do their job.

I support law enforcement officers. This week, as a part of my commitment to the Big First, I am honored to support commonsense reforms to issues affecting police, oppose any efforts to defund them, and memorialize law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

I am going to memorialize four of those officers from the great State of Kansas now, who paid the ultimate price while protecting their fellow Kansans: David Leroy Ingle from Iola; Stacy Annette Murrow from Linn County; Robert Price Craft from Marion County; and Sidnee Taylor Carter from Sedgwick County. May they rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I ask everyone to join me in praying for law enforcement and in thanking your local police officers this week for their service. Honoring Dr. Marty Vanier

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Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great Kansan and member of the Kansas State University family, Dr. Marty Vanier, who is receiving the Jay Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence this week.

The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City selected Dr. Vanier as a recipient of this year's award for good reason. She has deep roots in Kansas agriculture, having grown up on her family's ranch where they raised commercial and registered Hereford cattle. She has held several leadership positions in the fields of veterinary pharmaceutical and food safety. She is now the director of the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at Kansas State.

Dr. Vanier received her undergraduate degree from Kansas State. She began her career in Washington, D.C., serving with the Animal Health Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1987, she returned to Kansas State and has since worked for the university's Department of Animal Sciences, the Office of Strategic Partnership Development for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, and the Kansas State Agricultural Biosecurity Center, which she now directs.

Dr. Vanier has the unique ability of bringing her diverse experiences to bear as an educator. She is a student, professor, veterinarian, advocate, scientist, and philanthropist all at the same time.

Her thoughtful, systematic approach to leadership has made her a favorite in the classroom and among so many others.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Dr. Vanier on this well-deserved award.

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