Speech #1130113019

There is a crisis at our border. It is a crisis. a disaster of the Presidents own making. The Obama administrations lax immigration enforcement policies have given confidence to parents who are in the U.S. illegally that they can stay. and now they are finding ways to bring their children. who are still in Central America and beyond. to the United States unlawfully. Although President Obama has many tools at his disposal to stop this surge at the border. he refuses to use them. and instead proposes to make the situation worse by taking more unilateral actions to stop the enforcement of our immigration laws. It is ultimately up to President Obama to end this crisis by reversing his policies that created it. However. since he refuses to do so. we have to act to the extent we can to provide narrow and targeted funding to meet the immediate needs of our law enforcement agencies at the southern border. We have to enable them to do their job. to secure our border. and enforce our immigration laws. And we should act to provide narrow tweaks to the 2008 law regarding the removal of unaccompanied alien minors. Because of the Presidents inaction. we are taking the responsible step today of passing these narrow fixes that will help the American people avoid billions of dollars in additional costs due to the President not trying to solve this problem but asking for more money to continue to resettle thousands and thousands. tens of thousands of people into the interior of our country. While the bill is not perfect. it does give law enforcement many tools they have requested. For example. while I was in the Rio Grande area earlier this month. Border Patrol agents cited administrationcreated restrictions that bar them access to Federal land as a significant stumbling block to securing the border. One of the most important provisions of this bill gives Border Patrol agents access to Federal lands so they can stop drug traffickers. human smugglers. and unlawful immigrants from exploiting these gaps along the border. Since the President isnt taking serious action to address the crisis at the border. the House is doing so today. and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.