Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024
Floor Speech
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Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer my straightforward amendment that prohibits funds within this act from being used in violation of Federal immigration law for sanctuary city policies.
The concept of sanctuary city policies directly violate the rule of law. Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 of the United States Constitution gives Congress clear jurisdiction on immigration matters. A nation of laws must enforce established laws and not seek ways to circumvent them. These sanctuary cities are disregarding Federal statutes by harboring thousands of illegal immigrants and providing a safe haven for violent criminals.
My amendment prohibits the use of funds that are appropriated by this act from being used in contravention of section 642(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
This Federal law prohibits sanctuary policies that obstruct law enforcement officials from sharing information regarding a person's immigration status within the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
More than 200 State and municipal jurisdictions across the country have established policies that directly violate the law and shield criminal illegal aliens from enforcement.
There is a complete and total invasion taking place at our southern border due to the Biden administration and the left's radical open border agenda.
Since Biden has taken office, Border Patrol has encountered more than 6.3 million illegal aliens who have illegally entered America, released nearly 2.9 illegal aliens into our communities, and let more than 1.7 million known got-aways evade Border Patrol and enter the country with no record or knowledge of who these people are.
The number of illegal aliens who have entered the interior of the United States under the Biden administration now is greater than the population of at least 22 States, as well as Washington, D.C.
It is not just illegal immigrants coming across the southern border, but enough fentanyl to kill every American 15 times over. This drug, mostly imported from China and continuously smuggled through our southern border, is killing children and destroying families throughout the country.
Equally concerning is that in the last fiscal year alone, the FBI stopped more than 172 illegals on the terrorist watch list. Our porous southern border is literally a major national security risk.
These open borders and sanctuary city policies are destroying America. Cities like Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York have continued to beg the Federal Government for more money to handle the unprecedented influx of illegal aliens rather than changing their illegal alien policies that have exacerbated the problem.
Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman and the committee for their work on this bill. I respectfully ask that my colleagues join me in support of the rule of law by voting in favor of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. BOEBERT. It is not my time.
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Ms. BOEBERT. I have reserved. You are free to speak.
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Ms. BOEBERT. Sure. Ask your question.
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Ms. BOEBERT. I am sorry. I couldn't hear the gentleman. I was getting clarification.
This is precautionary.
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Ms. BOEBERT. There are sanctuary city policies that are in place that are allowing the refuge of illegal aliens into these cities, and there is an influx in crime and drugs into these cities.
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Ms. BOEBERT. There is no way for these folks to even report what is taking place because they are protected under this fake policy that has been created that is subduing the actual rule of law that we have in the Constitution of the United States.
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Ms. BOEBERT. That is precautionary.
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Ms. BOEBERT. I have seen this administration use all sorts of funds to protect illegal aliens, and this is precautionary to ensure that it will not be used.
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Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chairman, I want to state one more time that the White House has had a reputation of spending funds to protect illegal aliens who have broken our Nation's laws to illegally enter our country. I want to make very clear in this financial services bill that these funds cannot be allocated in that way.
If we don't put the cuffs on this administration somewhere, they will continue to go rogue and waste the taxpayer dollars that are being brought in by the hardworking Americans to fund these services for illegal aliens and to protect them in these sanctuary cities.
I am putting the handcuffs on the Biden administration with this commonsense amendment. If the gentleman, as I said, agrees that there are no funds, then there should be no problem to say we cannot allocate funds to protect these sanctuary cities and these illegal aliens.
Mr. Chair, I have spoken my piece on this amendment. I am prepared to close, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer my amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriation Act for fiscal year 2024 to prohibit performance awards or bonuses for Senior Executive Service employees at the IRS.
Joe Biden has weaponized the Internal Revenue Service against the American people. He started off with a Big Brother proposal directing the IRS to snoop on the American people's bank accounts to monitor transactions of $600 or more. He then spent $80 billion to build an army of 87,000 armed IRS agents to target middle- and low-income families and small businesses with a flood of audits and draconian enforcement activities.
It is clear the IRS has long lost its touch with its mission, which is to serve taxpayers. American families don't need more audits and red tape. My amendment helps return the IRS to its original mission and ensure hardworking taxpayers receive satisfactory customer service without having to fear a supercharged IRS.
We need to protect the taxpayers, rein in an unaccountable Federal agency, and reverse course from this dangerous path of growing bureaucracy and heavy-handed Federal Government.
I have a message to all of my colleagues here today: If you disapprove of the IRS leaking tax information about the President's political opponents, then support my amendment.
If you disapprove of the IRS targeting conservative groups for their political beliefs, then support my amendment.
If you disapprove of the IRS ignoring congressional subpoenas, then support my amendment.
If you disapprove of this agency stonewalling Congress, destroying evidence, and lying to the American people, then support my amendment.
Finally, if you disapprove of IRS senior executives receiving bonuses for their work, then support my amendment.
Again, I thank the chairman and ranking member for their continued work on the committee.
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Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I have never been more thrilled to be a part of the Republican Party. I would much rather stand with the American people than stand in this Chamber and defend 87,000 armed IRS agents.
I have seen the recruiting requirements that say you must carry a firearm and be prepared to use deadly force. This amendment is straightforward, saying we don't want to give more money to IRS agents. We do not want to give bonuses to IRS agents who target conservative groups, who release tax information about the President's political opponents, or who ignore congressional subpoenas.
We have had IRS whistleblowers before the Oversight Committee who said that they were told that they must protect Joe Biden's son. That is why they became whistleblowers. They said enough is enough. We are here for justice. We want what is fair. We are not supporting a particular party. They saw the rot within the IRS and came forward.
I am proud to stand with the American people and say that we should not issue bonuses to IRS agents.
Taxation is theft, and arming 87,000 IRS agents to go after the hardworking middle class is just flatout armed robbery.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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