Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chairman, the reason for the situation at the southern border can be explained by just two words: Joe Biden. That is who has created the crisis at the southern border.

Now, this amendment attempts to strike section 7045(f). By the way, much of this is already in existing law. What this amendment is really basically saying is: We don't have an issue with the southern border. There is no problem with the southern border.

Madam Chairman, we have to realize that close to 10 million people have crossed unlawfully into the United States under this President. That is roughly the population of the entire State of Michigan for God's sake.

This bill attempts to do what we can, despite the President of the United States, to stop this crisis that has been created by Mr. Joe Biden.

The bill prohibits outright funding for programs that push migrants toward the United States unlawfully either by giving them cash cards or giving them information about future stops, where to go, connecting them with lawyers and even coaching them in order to answer the questions falsely while claiming asylum.

How can anyone support that?

This is a country that believes in the rule of law.

If that were not enough, this amendment also proposes to strike the prohibition on funding to the Safe Mobility Offices and the welcome court unless authorized. That is what the language in the bill does. If that is something you support, then authorize it for God's sake.

These are gimmicks which spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to circumvent U.S. law for God's sake.

In the case of the welcome court, this is, in essence, like a matchmaking entity like match.com for folks trying to get here to the United States illegally. It recruits in the United States so-called sponsors to sponsor these individuals, even though they have no connections other than now this kind of like match system. By doing so, the Biden administration, frankly, has made the situation even worse.

For God's sake, the administration is now even trying to get universities involved. This is coming out of our Foreign Affairs budget which is intended to support our national security.

Again, safe mobility centers are operating overseas in places like Ecuador and Colombia to facilitate a fast track of tens of thousands of people to use a mobile app to obtain authorization to then literally then show up on the southern border that is wide-open-- let me restate that--that is controlled absolutely by the Mexican narco cartels, and that is how these folks are coming into the United States.

All of this is to facilitate the cartels and to help the cartels market this illegal cartel business.

I know some people might say: Well, they are going to come anyway or another way if we don't do this.

However, advertising and using taxpayer money to become the advertising source for marketing to folks who come into the United States unlawfully is, frankly, something that is totally unacceptable.

If these programs that the gentlewoman wants to fund are so good, then bring them up in front of Congress and have them authorized. They would get shot down dramatically because everybody can see what this is. This is using taxpayer money to circumvent the law which hurts not only our national security efforts and our national security interests, but it also hurts the folks who have been waiting years to try to come legally into the United States.

Madam Chairman, I could not urge our colleagues in a more forceful way to strongly oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chair, may I ask how much time I have remaining.

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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chair, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany) who is opposed, as I am, to this amendment.

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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

The motion was agreed to.

Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Armstrong) having assumed the chair, Mr. Garbarino, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 8771) making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

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