Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Strongly Condemning the Biden Administration and its Border Czar, Kamala Harris's, Failure to Secure the United States Border

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Before I even get into my speech, the gentleman referred to Axios as this mainstream publication that referred to the Vice President as the border czar. I think he might have missed the correction that Axios issued. An editor's note here said: This article has been updated and clarified to note that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a border czar in 2021.

I am happy to pass on the correction. Again, for the record, I think my Republican friend should stick to the facts.

Honestly, Mr. Speaker, I have to say I don't think we should even be spending a single second on this debate because this resolution is a total and complete insult to this institution.

This all started with an emergency meeting, an emergency meeting in the Rules Committee last night. An emergency. Drop everything and come to the Rules Committee. What did the Republicans bring up? Not legislation to help working Americans, not a bill to ensure the safety of our communities, not something to actually secure the southern border or fix our broken immigration system. No, no, no, none of that. They called an emergency meeting to attack Vice President Harris. That is the emergency.

They want to hold a Trump rally here in the Capitol Building. They are weaponizing Congress and using our time to produce a political attack ad. Let's set the record straight. This resolution originally called Vice President Harris Biden's border czar. Not because that was her title, but because of a lie that MAGA media outlets just made up.

The Vice President was never put in charge of the border. She was given a diplomatic role to focus on resolving some of the long-term, big-picture root causes of immigration crisis. Her job was to help give migrants options in their home countries so that fewer of them would make the journey north. Guess what? She delivered. There were $5.2 billion in private sector commitments that will give people jobs, opportunity, and hope in their home countries. That is what leadership looks like. That is what action looks like.

Do you know what happened? Illegal border crossings just hit a 3-year low in June, Mr. Speaker. Let me repeat that. Illegal border crossings currently are way down, but that is not what you will hear from the other side today. They are going to twist themselves into knots blaming everything on Kamala Harris.

However, their blame game just highlights what is going on here. Republicans don't care about fixing our immigration system. They had a chance to do something, and they blocked bipartisan progress for their own political gain. On day one in office, President Biden and Vice President Harris put forth a plan to create a fair and just immigration system. Republicans refused to act.

President Biden and Vice President Harris then worked across the aisle to put together a historic bipartisan immigration bill. Trump told Republicans to kill it, and they did. They want a crisis at the border because it helps them with their political messaging.

What do they bring to the floor instead? They bring a pointless, useless, nonbinding resolution. It has all the legislative authority of a FOX News sound bite or a Trump Truth Social rant.

We know how this is going to go. The other side is going to rant and rave about numbers. They will tell very sad stories about families that have been impacted by our broken immigration system, stories that, honestly, do break my heart. However, what Republicans will not do is actually do anything about it.

This meaningless, feckless, slanderous resolution won't help a single grieving family. It won't do a single thing to make Americans safer. Nothing. It won't strengthen our border. It won't create a better immigration system. It is just a chance for House Republicans to bash someone that they are afraid of.

They are melting down over Kamala Harris. I mean, they have completely lost their minds since she became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee. They are scared. They are scared, Mr. Speaker, because she offers America something that Donald Trump could never. She offers decency, unity, and hope. I get it. I get it. Republicans are scared of the excitement surrounding her candidacy. Maybe they are afraid their nominee is too boring or won't be able to keep up. After all, he is the oldest Presidential nominee in our Nation's history. Maybe they are afraid they are going to lose.

You would think they would focus on actually passing something meaningful. They have canceled Congress next week because they are too incompetent to even pass their own appropriations bills. Three of the four funding bills were pulled this week because Republicans didn't have the votes. It really is sad because the United States Congress should be a place where we advance legislation that actually helps people, but because House Republicans are incapable of doing that, they are rallying behind this do-nothing, pathetic, purely political resolution.

Mr. Speaker, they should be embarrassed. This resolution is beneath the dignity of this institution, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Mr. Speaker, you can't make this stuff up. First of all, let me set the record straight.

The original version of this resolution said that President Biden asked Vice President Kamala Harris to serve as the administration's border czar, which he did not do. Someone made it up, I think. I don't know.

After my colleagues and I pointed out that fact, the gentleman from Pennsylvania and the Republican side of the committee scrambled to try to find a shred of proof that, in fact, Biden actually appointed her as a border czar, and they couldn't find anything.

So, they made a frantic last-minute change to now say that Vice President Harris ``came to be known colloquially as the Biden administration's border czar.''

I mean, we caught you, but come on. This would be comical if it weren't such a monumental waste of time and taxpayer dollars, and all for a resolution that does absolutely nothing.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania went on a big rant, throwing around all kinds of numbers and identifying all kinds of problems we are faced with, and I am trying to figure out where in this four-page resolution there is anything that would do anything to solve any of the issues that he raised. There is nothing.

This is a nonbinding resolution. This will never become law. This doesn't even go to the Senate. This is like voting on a press release. I mean, what a colossal waste of time.

My Republican friends love to complain, but they don't like to do anything to fix anything, and this is the latest example. What a waste of time for this institution to have to concern itself with a glorified press release.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article from Scripps News titled: ``No, VP Kamala Harris was never named `border czar.' ''

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I request unanimous consent to include in the Record a Time magazine article titled: ``Kamala Harris Was Never Biden's `Border Czar.' Here's What She Really Did.''

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Mr. McGOVERN. ''

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the gentleman keeps saying, the idea that Kamala Harris is the border czar was invented by rightwing media.

Let me read to you from the article I just inserted: ``Ms. Harris was not, in fact, appointed border czar, nor was she tasked with addressing the broader problems plaguing the border itself.''

It goes on to say: ``Rather, she was deputized by President Biden with the diplomatic mission of solving the `root causes' of migration from countries like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, tackling the issues that spur people to flee in the first place, like drug violence and lack of economic opportunity.''

Mr. Speaker, in fact, my Republican colleagues had to change their resolution, as I mentioned, at the last minute in the Rules Committee last night because we caught them. They actually acknowledged, by changing their resolution, that President Biden never, in fact, named Vice President Harris the border czar. They changed their resolution to acknowledge the fact that ``border czar'' is a term that basically they made up.

Mr. Speaker, why are we here? Why are we doing this? We are doing this because they are afraid of the Vice President. She is drawing huge crowds. There is incredible excitement, and they are in a panic. They don't know what to do.

God forbid they bring any legislation to the floor to actually help the American people or help solve any crisis that we are faced with. Instead, a glorified press release comes to the floor so that they can rant and rave, point fingers, yell and scream, and get everybody all up in arms.

The bottom line is that this is like one of the biggest wastes of time that I can recall ever coming to this floor, and we have done a lot of things here under their leadership that I think is a waste of time.

Mr. Speaker,

I have an opiate problem in my district as well. This is a serious issue.

The gentleman just got on the floor and ranted and raved about the fentanyl problem. While he was going on, I was reading this bill. The word ``fentanyl'' isn't even mentioned once in this, in this press release that is useless, that does nothing. It doesn't even mention the word ``fentanyl.'' What is going on over here?

Again, the gentleman from Pennsylvania didn't answer my question. Of all the issues he raised here, where in this bill is there funding or solutions to deal with the fentanyl problem or to deal with securing the border or to provide more assistance for our border security?

There is nothing in this. This is useless. It is a press release. This is what we are spending our time on. We could probably come together and maybe figure out some concrete things we can do to save lives, so people don't die from fentanyl. We could probably come together and find some commonality to figure out ways to strengthen our border.

Let me just tell the gentleman one of the reasons why the border is the way it is and the immigration system is so messed up is because Congress has refused to act. Every time we try to get something to the floor, Republicans find a way to derail it.

Give me a break. What a waste of time. This is pathetic.

Leger Fernandez), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, we had to rush over last night to an emergency Rules Committee meeting to engage in this emergency resolution. This isn't an emergency. It is Republican panic.

House Republicans are afraid of Vice President Harris. House Republicans are afraid of the energy and the excitement Vice President Harris inspires in Americans. She is a new generation of leader who is bringing us a vision of prosperity and opportunity for all Americans. They are afraid of that vision. They are afraid of the vision because she has been fighting for working families, for unions, and for women who want reproductive freedom.

Vice President Harris' vision stands in stark contrast to the vengeful and hateful policies House Republicans and their nominee propose.

Republicans and their nominee want to divide Americans while Vice President Harris wants to unite Americans. She wants to make sure she fights for reproductive freedom for women. She will fight to make sure that we have access to contraception, to IVF.

What does the stark vision of the Republicans and their Project 2025 propose? They propose a national abortion ban. They propose restricting women's ability to make their own choices. They propose controlling Americans and controlling women.

Let's talk about immigration, since that is in the title of this. For decades, House Republicans have been the ones who blocked meaningful immigration and border bills. They refuse to participate in bipartisan solutions which we know are necessary for immigration and the border. Congress, we are the ones who must act.

This year, Vice President Harris, along with President Biden, Democrats, and Senate Republicans, made a deal on immigration reform and border security. Then former President Trump asked them to kill the border deal, so House Republicans did. They declared it dead on arrival in the House.

House Republicans don't have a real solution for the border because they don't actually want to fix it. If they did, what would they talk about? Everything they propose is dark, and it is always siding with the billionaires and the richest corporations instead of working families.

I am excited by Vice President Harris, and it is telling how scared the Republicans are of our nominee for President.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell they are afraid of the Vice President because that is all they want to talk about. They are obsessed.

Real time fact check, Mr. Speaker: This resolution does nothing to help any of the immigration problems that anyone on the other side of the aisle is talking about. There is no money, nothing, no laws, nothing. This is a press release.

I want to correct the record on Vice President Harris because what is being repeated on this floor this afternoon is totally divorced from reality.

Kamala Harris has won election after election by inspiring and uniting people. She earned her spot as Vice President the old-fashioned way, through hard work, political courage, and fighting for a better country.

That is why Republicans are afraid of her. I get why they are afraid. I get the contrast isn't great for them right now.

As a prosecutor, Kamala Harris took on perpetrators and put sexual abusers in jail, going after fraudsters who ripped off consumers and cheaters who broke the rules for their own personal gain.

As Attorney General, Kamala Harris won a $20 billion settlement for people whose homes had been foreclosed on, putting $20,000 back into the pockets of victims of unethical foreclosures.

Kamala Harris went after for-profit college scammers and forced them to return money to students and veterans that they stole from.

Kamala Harris is fighting nonstop to protect the freedom of women to make their own choice about their own bodies while Republicans want to institute Project 2025 to ban abortion nationwide.

Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act that is lowering drug costs for seniors and people with diabetes.

That is exactly why my Republicans friends are terrified. They are attacking her in the most vicious, personal, and insulting fashion.

Here are some of the quotes from some of our colleagues in Congress. These aren't rightwing media pundits. These are Members of Congress.

``One hundred percent she was a DEI hire.''

``I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that that's what we're seeing.''

Another quote: ``Democrats . . . have to stick with her because of her ethnic background.''

What is this, 1951? I knew they were trying to take us backward, but this is a new low. It is beyond offensive. We all know what this is. We all know what motivates these kinds of comments. I would say it on the floor, but I would probably have my words taken down again. Maybe they think it is easier to silence me than debate me. Maybe they are afraid of the truth.

The truth is that this resolution reeks of desperation. The truth is they want to distract from the Vice President's incredible track record of success, including the fact that she secured $5.2 billion in private-sector commitments that will go toward addressing the underlying causes of migration that push people to our southern border in the first place.

Mr. Speaker,

I guess the talking points from the NRCC went out, because I think the gentleman just read them to us.

The gentleman talks about H.R. 2. It got 32 votes in the Senate. They killed it. It is dead.

Then he talks about Homeland Security appropriation bills. It wasn't killed in the Senate. My Republican friends in the House killed their own bill in the House. It is dead. It didn't go anywhere. They didn't send it over to the Senate. Give me a break. Oh, my goodness.

What are we left with?

A nonbinding resolution, a nonbinding resolution that does nothing. That is the big plan, a press release. Oh--well, I am not going to say that because I will get my words taken down.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, I want to urge that we defeat the previous question. If we do, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 16, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2023.

Mr. Speaker, the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act provides a pathway to citizenship for people who only know America as their home. They contribute to society as taxpayers, small business owners, educators, and more. Dreamers were brought to the United States as children through no fault of their own. It is past time to open the doors and empower these talented individuals by granting them access to citizenship that they rightfully deserve.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to fix our broken immigration system and secure our border. H.R. 16 won't solve every issue, but it will address a longstanding one in our failing immigration system. It is the right thing to do, and it has the added benefit of being a bill that actually does something as compared to the resolution that we are dealing with right now.

Instead of considering the do-nothing Republican nonbinding resolution before us, which is nothing but an RNC press release, and a bad one at that, let's consider actual legislation to start fixing these issues. Let's bring up H.R. 16.

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Mr. McGOVERN. To discuss our proposal, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Garcia).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

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Mr. McGOVERN. I yield myself the remainder of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this is the sixth time House Republicans want us to vote on nearly the exact same do-nothing border resolution. The only difference is that this time they have slapped Vice President Harris' name on it because she is running against Donald Trump.

Republicans are using official government resources to settle their political scores.

Isn't it wrong to use taxpayer money for a campaign rally?

Has anyone checked with the Federal Election Commission to see if this is even allowed?

Mr. Speaker, they are using your taxpayer money to turn this place into a testing ground for RNC attack ads.

My Republican colleagues should be embarrassed by this. All they talk about is their precious H.R. 2 and Homeland Security bills.

News flash: H.R. 2 is hot garbage. It is a horrible bill that only earned 32 votes in the Senate. Even Republicans in the Senate knew it was a bad bill.

They keep saying H.R. 2 is the solution, but they don't even have the votes on their side to get it to the President.

Moreover, let's not get started on their Homeland Security funding bills. Those bills never even made it to the Senate because they didn't send them over.

The solution is to pass a bipartisan bill, but they are worried if they pass one, it actually might work. It might secure the border, and then they won't have anything to campaign on.

At the end of the day, this is all about the fact that they have no vision, only division; no ideas, only attack ads; no plans, only meaningless resolutions that do nothing and are not worth the paper that they are printed on.

Contrast that with Kamala Harris and Democrats in terms of what we are offering, and what we are offering are real solutions, real action, and a future that guarantees every American has an opportunity to succeed.

We aren't afraid to work across the aisle to get things done for this country. Republicans offer nothing but anger, fear, and petty name- calling.

What a joke. Honestly, Mr. Speaker, if anyone thinks this resolution is a good idea, I think they might be in a cult. Get out of here with this nonsense. Go back to worshiping a convicted felon, and let us run this place like adults.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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