Border Crisis Reached Boiling Point

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, 3,400 students at James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York, were unable to attend their classes in person. Instead of learning in their classrooms, being with their fellow students, and eating lunch in the cafeteria, these students were forced from their own school in order to make room for 2,000 illegal immigrants who recently came to New York City.

This crisis has reached a boiling point, and action must be taken to address the impact that it is having on our communities. We know the historic learning loss that occurred with school lockdowns during COVID. Now, instead of using the proven and effective remain in Mexico policy, President Biden has thrown open our doors to a record number of illegal immigrants in the past year.

It is time to secure our border. It is time to stop making American families pay the price for President Biden's weak leadership and failed policies. It is time for President Biden to join us and demand that the Senate pass the Secure the Border Act and finally address this catastrophe impacting American families because of the porous southern border. Address Medicare Pay Cut

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, in rural communities like those in south central and southwestern Pennsylvania, millions of patients rely on Medicare to see their doctors, fill their prescriptions, and live healthy lives.

Now, if Congress fails to act, those patients will be in jeopardy. Medicare pay cuts, when compiled with a 4.6 percent medical inflation, will ultimately result in higher costs for Medicare beneficiaries.

When I first came to Congress, I pledged to support Medicare and pledged to support the patients who rely on those Medicare benefits. These cuts will make it impossible for rural providers to keep their doors open. These cuts will mean longer travel and wait times for patients to see family doctors, to see surgeons, and to see specialists.

Right now, thousands of Medicare patients are in need of a primary care physician. These Medicare cuts will drive further consolidation and force patients into higher cost settings of care that will both increase their wait times and increase their out-of-pocket expenses.

Congress must step in and address these cuts before they do irreversible damage to our healthcare system. America and our patients are relying on us to make the right choices.

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