Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services Relating to ``Patient Protection and Affordable Care

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, my Republican colleagues and I spent a great deal of time this Congress focused on securing justice for victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens.

Unfortunately, during the last administration, the Biden administration was completely what I would call willfully blind to the threat posed by people coming unvetted across our borders.

From Laken Riley, to Kayla Hamilton, to Jocelyn Nungaray, the victims of illegal aliens are numerous and must not be forgotten. What makes these tragedies so heartbreaking is the knowledge that many of these victims could have lived but for the Biden administration's open border policies and its failure to act responsibly and enforce the law. These good Americans died at the hands of criminal aliens who should never have set foot in our country.

But there is another category of illegal alien criminals who perhaps are not so widely known, largely because the mainstream media outlets refuse to report on the many heinous crimes committed by illegal aliens each year. These are individuals who have endangered Americans by drunk driving.

Every 42 minutes, someone dies in a crash involving alcohol. As we have seen in the news, many of these crashes have been caused by illegal aliens who jeopardize the safety of law- abiding Americans. They have killed or severely maimed U.S. citizens and other lawful residents, depriving families of their loved ones and causing untold human misery. Some of these aliens have driven with expired licenses, suspended licenses, or no license at all and have shown complete disregard for the danger this may pose.

Last January, two college students in Illinois named Katie Abraham and Chloe Polzin were killed in a hit-and-run crash involving an illegal alien who was drunk driving. Their killer, an illegal alien from Guatemala, was charged with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, and reckless homicide.

Last October, Secretary Noem highlighted more than 140 illegal alien truckdrivers who were arrested in Northwest Indiana during Operation Midway Blitz. These aliens were found guilty of numerous crimes, including driving under the influence, drug trafficking, theft, burglary, assault, child abuse, domestic battery, prostitution, and fraud. More than 40 of them had been issued a commercial driver's license by States like California, Illinois, and New York. It is clear that these States are not conducting due diligence if they are issuing commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens who threaten the safety of American citizens on our roads and highways.

Of course, Texans have not been spared the harm committed by such aliens, as we saw in the case of Arturo Cruz-Badillo. Cruz-Badillo is a Mexican national who had seven--seven--DWI convictions, a conviction for battery, and was removed from the United States three separate times. But despite all of these criminal convictions and removal for illegal entry in the United States, he was once again found reentering illegally last August, hiding in a commercial cargo trailer. He was sentenced to jail earlier this year for his crimes.

On top of the revolving door of removals because of how different States treat DUI and DWI offenses, some aliens are convicted multiple times but never removed from the United States.

As recently as last month, ICE arrested 118 illegal aliens in California, including pedophiles, burglars, domestic abusers, and serial drunk drivers. One of these offenders had four separate DUI convictions, including one that caused bodily injury. He was also convicted of driving with a suspended driver's license. Another was convicted of a DUI, a hit-and-run, and driving without a license. Yet another was convicted of causing injury to a child, a hit-and-run causing property damage, and two DUIs, driving under the influence. Finally, one of these criminals was convicted of DUI causing great bodily injury, a hit-and-run causing property damage, and a separate DUI.

Consider how devastating a car accident can be even if there are no physical injuries. These accidents cause not only bodily injury but property damage to a person's car, and it must either be repaired or replaced, often costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

In the case of a hit-and-run, the situation is even more difficult because the victim cannot get the insurance information, if it exists, from the driver at fault in order to have the damage paid for.

For the one in four American households who lives paycheck to paycheck, an unexpected car accident might mean having to choose between repairing their car or paying their rent.

Of course, if the driver at fault is an illegal alien, it is more likely to be a hit-and-run because they don't want to be detained or deported. And even if they are caught, they are not likely to have insurance.

As a father of two daughters, I believe the danger illegal aliens pose to the safety of Americans is simply unacceptable. It ought to be unacceptable to all of us and not tolerated. For this reason, I am introducing the Stop Illegal Aliens Drunk Driving Act to address this discrepancy in Federal law where these DUIs--repetitive driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated--are simply winked at or ignored.

This bill would make DUI and DWI offenses that result in death or bodily injury an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Aggravated felons are subject to mandatory detention. They are also ineligible for most immigration benefits.

Furthermore, this bill would ensure that any illegal alien removed from the United States as an aggravated felon due to a DUI or DWI who attempts to reenter illegally is subject to a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Americans deserve to be safe while driving on our roads. Parents should not have to worry, when they give their 16-year-old the keys to the car--who has learned how to drive or is just getting their first driver's license--they shouldn't have to worry whether an illegal alien driving under the influence of alcohol is going to cause them bodily harm or kill them outright.

We simply cannot continue the status quo of allowing aliens who entered our country illegally or were allowed by the Biden administration's open border policies and who decide to drive drunk or under the influence--we can't allow them to continue to endanger the American public in this way. For this reason, I hope all of my colleagues will join me and support the Stop Illegal Aliens Drunk Driving Act.

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