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Congressman Guest Supports Critical Legislation to Address Border Crisis
“The President’s veto be damned,” says the Congressman in response to veto threat.
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Vice Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security Michael Guest voted in favor of H.R. 2 – Secure the Border Act of 2023. The comprehensive legislation would address a wide range of issues plaguing the United States’ southern border.
H.R. 2 is a combination of three pieces of legislation passed through the House Committees on Homeland Security, Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs. The Committee on Homeland Security (CHS) portion includes two measures that Vice Chairman Guest has introduced in the 118th Congress or in previous Congresses—the Eradication of Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to Address Yearly Losses of life (END FENTANYL) Act, which would require Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to update its policies and manuals at least every three years to help prevent drug and human smuggling at ports of entry, and the Operation Stonegarden Authorization Act to support law enforcement in border states that are aiding in border operations.
Two weeks ago, Guest joined Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA-01), House CHS Chairman Mark Green (TN-07), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (OH-04), and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (TX-10) in a press conference announcing the legislation.
A summary authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) can be found here along with the text of the bill.
A transcript of the Vice Chairman’s speech can be found below.
Make no mistake, our border is broken. This Administration, for over two years, has been unwilling or unable to secure our southern border. Statistics show that in FY 21, President Biden set a record with 1.9 million encounters; in FY 22, he broke that record with 2.7 million encounters; and in FY 23, President Biden is on pace to break that record once again.
The numbers to my left paint a grim picture of the dire situation along our southern border, and these numbers will only grow worse as Title 42 expires.
Republicans from Homeland Security, from Judiciary, from Foreign Affairs have worked together to craft legislation that will combat the border crisis — a crisis created by failures of this Administration.
This legislation will hire thousands of new agents, pay retention bonuses to our front-line officers, invest in new technology, construct hundreds of miles of walls and barriers, and will support our local and state partners.
Congress must fill the gap of leadership created by the inaction of this Administration. We must stop the flow of illegal drugs from pouring into our communities. We must end the flood of immigrants that are coming across each and every day, and we must support the hard-working men and women of law enforcement who are on the front lines of this crisis.
We will not back down from this fight, and any veto threat by this president be damned, we will deliver security to the American people.
Background:
On Monday, President Biden promised to veto the Secure the Border Act of 2023 in an official policy statement issued by the White House.
The poster in the video shows data from Chief of the United States Border Patrol Raul Ortiz who provides weekly updates on border statistics. The two tweets on the poster are from May 6 and April 28.
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