End the Border Catastrophe Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. CISCOMANI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Alabama for yielding me time. I am glad to see this body taking up my border security legislation today alongside these other important packages as well.
Now, the gentleman from New York calls this a joke. Well, I don't know what he finds funny, but nothing about this situation is funny. It is not funny to our Border Patrol agents; it is not funny to my border communities; and it is certainly not funny to the hundreds of thousands of women and children being trafficked by the Mexican cartels at our southern border. There is nothing funny about this situation.
Let's be clear: Our border is broken and has been for a long time. At a time where our world is more dangerous than ever and our adversaries are emboldened, protecting our homeland is our most critical priority. Attacks by our adversaries have spurred the urgent need to support our allies. Congress should be able and must do both, and it all starts with a secure border, Mr. Speaker.
This bill takes major strides in addressing our porous border. It would immediately restart construction of the border wall, end the disastrous catch and release policies, and streamline the asylum process. We have seen policies that work, including remain in Mexico and Asylum Cooperative Agreements in the Northern Triangle. This bill would start the process of going back to those policies and, in turn, stem the flow we are seeing.
The United States Congress is the most powerful body in the world. We must be able to support our allies while we protect our homeland as well.
The world is looking to America for strength, and our country is looking to Washington for leadership. The administration is nowhere to be found, has been nowhere to be found. We must step up and fill the gaps the White House has left by their weakened foreign and domestic policy stances.
Since January of 2021, there have been more than 7.6 million migrant encounters at our southwestern border. In addition to this staggering 7.6 million, estimates suggest upwards of 1.8 million additional illegal immigrants that evaded Border Patrol and entered our country. Most notably, 169 individuals on the terrorist watch list were apprehended at the border in FY23.
These are no longer just families coming to America in search of a better life. In FY24 so far, we have witnessed over 20,000 Chinese nationals at the southwest border. Encounters of Chinese nationals have already surpassed all of last fiscal year.
I recently went to Israel and personally walked through the devastation of October 7. Make no mistake, Hamas wishes the same fate on Americans.
This bill does not just address a major national security weakness, it solves a crisis that millions of Americans already live with. In my district alone, we have seen close to 1,000 migrants per day enter our communities. Arizonans have seen a spike in high-speed car chases and illicit activity by Mexican cartels.
In FY 2023, fentanyl overdoses in the U.S. rose above 112,000. Fentanyl overdose death is becoming the number one cause of death among young people in my home county of Pima County.
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Mr. CISCOMANI. My colleagues from New York to Oregon have seen the effects of our border crisis in their own communities. We must send the signal that the U.S. southern border is not open. Our adversaries, whether it is the Mexican cartels or the CCP, will seize any moment to take advantage of American weakness.
Each of these packages take a firm stance to stand with our allies in Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. In turn, my bill takes a firm stance on America's strength in our homeland. Mr. Speaker, this is personal to me. Not only is it the number one issue in my district, it is the number one issue for Republicans and Democrats in my district as well.
I am a third-generation American. I immigrated here with my family when I was a young boy. Today, the open-border policies of the Biden administration are not the way of the American dream. It dilutes and diminishes the efforts and sacrifice of so many immigrants that came before us to open the way, invest in this country, and became Americans.
It is fueling human trafficking and enabling the cartels and flooding our country with fentanyl and other deadly drugs. America is the land of opportunity. I believe that. I am a proud product of the American dream, living it every single day, Mr. Speaker. But the crisis at our southern border is not the American Dream. It is a nightmare. We must take steps to secure our southern border immediately. This legislation is a start. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
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