Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Chair, I want to comment a little bit on the last speech from the other side. They said the vast majority of fentanyl coming across the border to this country comes from designated points of entry. You hear that said, but I think what they should say is the vast majority of fentanyl that we catch comes across from designated points of entry.

There are--depending on the month--30- or 40,000 people who are got- aways who come across between designated points of entry. We never catch them because they are called got-ways, and nobody is monitoring places that are not designated points of entry.

Clearly, if you want to sneak fentanyl across the border you would do it between designated points of entry, and it would not show up on any statistics because we don't catch those people.

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Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Chair, first of all, one comment on the people who are more likely to be victims of violence in a natural disaster. Just doing a quick Google search, I noticed that 80 percent of the murder victims in this country are men. Maybe the men are getting killed when the weather is good. I don't know.

In any event, as chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, I have had the opportunity to go down to the border several times. It amazes me what a good job dogs do at detecting drugs coming across our southern border. They are not only able to detect drugs. They also detect explosives, money, and even human beings being trafficked or smuggled.

We wonder, if canine units are so effective, why not expand their use along the southern border? To find the answer to this question, my amendment in this en bloc would express the need for a study on the expanded use of canine units along the southern border.

Mr. Chair, I would appreciate it if that amendment was included.

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