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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Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Thompson for yielding.

We should be offended at the lies. We should be offended that the American people are being lied to.

We should be offended that kids were separated from their parents and their families under the Republican Party and the Republican leadership. That is what the American people and they should be offended about.

House Republicans are living in a land of make-believe when it comes to the record of Vice President Harris. We keep hearing the term over and over again, the lie that she was the border czar. Vice President Harris was never the administration's border czar. As a matter of fact, Republicans even know that because they had to change the resolution. There has never been such a position. It was invented by Republicans.

Border security is the responsibility of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. He has been to the border. He has met with the border chief. Republicans tried to impeach him, and they failed in the Senate. Now they have a desperate resolution to blame Vice President Harris for the border.

Again, this was not the responsibility President Biden gave her. President Biden tasked the Vice President to address the root causes in the Northern Triangle countries of Central America that caused migrants to flee their home countries.

While a lot of work remains, Vice President Harris got results. She announced an additional $310 million for humanitarian relief to address food insecurity for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. She led efforts on a private-public partnership that has secured commitments from the private sector to invest over $5 billion in the region to improve peoples' lives.

She worked with the Department of Justice to launch the Task Force Alpha to combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking from the Northern Triangle countries. This task force led to over 220 convictions of members of human trafficking organizations.

Border crossings from migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, the countries in Vice President Harris' root causes portfolio, have also decreased in recent years. In fiscal year 2023 the crossings from these Northern Triangle countries made up 22 percent of all crossings, down from 41 percent in 2021 when she started.

This resolution also criticizes the administration for the number of border crossings and the encounters.

Guess what, Mr. Speaker?

Border crossings are lower today than when the Trump administration left office.

Let me say that again: Border crossings are down at a lower level than when even the Trump administration left office, but that is not convenient for my colleagues across the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans also fail to tell you the Republicans have refused to vote even on a border supplemental bill because former President Trump told them: Don't do it, we need this for an election year issue. Here we are on the House floor talking about this as a political issue.

What Republicans also fail to tell you, Mr. Speaker, is that more Democrats have actually voted for funding for DHS and border security than Republicans.

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Ms. BARRAGAN. This resolution does nothing to address the challenges at our southern border, and Republicans know that. They are not serious in addressing border security. This resolution is not about solutions, it is about politics.

Democrats, including Vice President Harris, will continue our work to address the challenges everyday Americans face.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject these desperate tactics and this dishonest resolution.

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