[Pages H4894-H4902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 1371, STRONGLY CONDEMNING THE
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND ITS BORDER CZAR, KAMALA HARRIS'S, FAILURE TO
SECURE THE UNITED STATES BORDER

Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 1376 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

H. Res. 1376

Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be
in order without intervention of any point of order to
consider in the House the resolution (H. Res. 1371) strongly
condemning the Biden Administration and its Border Czar,
Kamala Harris's, failure to secure the United States border.
The amendment to the preamble printed in the report

[[Page H4895]]

of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution shall
be considered as adopted. The resolution, as amended, shall
be considered as read. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the resolution and preamble, as
amended, to adoption without intervening motion or demand for
division of the question except one hour of debate equally
divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Homeland Security or their
respective designees.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is
recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I
yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
McGovern), my good friend, pending which I yield myself such time as I
may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded
is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of the
underlying legislation. The rule provides for consideration of H. Res.
1371, a resolution strongly condemning the Biden administration and its
border czar, Harris, for their failure to secure the U.S. border under
a closed rule with 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by
the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland
Security or their respective designees.
Mr. Speaker, since Biden-Harris took office, American leadership both
at home and abroad has become weak and feckless, and that is just
putting it mildly. On the global stage, we have seen the Houthis
creating chaos in the Red Sea after the administration delisted them as
a foreign terrorist organization. Then, just last week, they
successfully launched a deadly suicide drone attack in Tel Aviv.
Iran has grown stronger and more dangerous than ever. Their proxies,
Hamas and Hezbollah, are launching a two-front war against Israel and
have attacked our servicemembers over 100 times since October 7. Now
their nuclear program is 1 or 2 weeks away from the time needed to
produce enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear weapon. Even
Secretary Blinken stated: Where we are now is not a good place.
I can continue talking about the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal,
about Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine following the administration's
decision to green-light Nord Stream 2 or I could talk about record-high
inflation reaching over 20 percent under Biden-Harris, but the biggest
failure is the crisis at the southern border.
Just 64 days into this administration, Biden named Harris his border
czar. Now my friends from across the aisle are trying to cover up her
failures as border czar and trying to argue that she was never even in
charge, but to their chagrin, I brought receipts with me.
Let me read you a few headlines and quotes. Here is Axios on April
14, 2021: ``The number of unoccupied minors crossing the border has
reached crisis levels. Harris, appointed by Biden as border czar, said
she would be looking at the `root causes' that drive migration.'' That
was Axios in 2021.
Here is another headline from the Associated Press on March 24, 2021:
``Biden taps VP Harris to lead response to border challenges.''
Here is another one from Axios, March 24, 2021: ``Biden puts Harris
in charge of border crisis.''
Just wait for it, here is President Biden on that same day, March 24,
2021: `` . . . she is the most qualified person to do it--to lead our
efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that
help--are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks,
stemming the migration to our southern border.'' That was Joe Biden.
The President went on further: `` . . . it is not her full
responsibility and job, but she is leading the effort because I think
the best thing to do is put someone who, when he or she speaks, they
don't have to wonder about is that where the President is. When she
speaks, she speaks for me. Doesn't have to check with me.''
Now the debate has been settled. President Biden clearly put Vice
President Harris in charge of the border. What did the border czar
Harris do? The Biden-Harris administration issued 94 executive actions
related to the border. They halted the construction of the border wall
and ended remain in Mexico, and they established the catch and release
program.
What were the results? In February 2021, the country witnessed a 174
percent increase in southwest border encounters compared to February of
2020. On her watch, there have been over 9.6 million illegal immigrant
encounters nationwide. Experts estimate that the number of known got-
aways--those are illegal immigrants who have evaded capture--exceed 2
million.
In May of 2021, CBP encountered over 180,000 individuals attempting
to enter the country illegally along the southwest border. That was a
staggering 675 percent increase from May of 2020. Since fiscal year
2021, 378 illegal aliens on the terrorist watch list have been
apprehended at our southern border.
In June, NBC reported that over 400 illegal immigrants with ties to
ISIS entered the U.S. under border czar Harris, and the whereabouts of
50 of these individuals are still unknown. In fiscal year 2024, there
have been a record-breaking 31,000 Chinese nationals encountered at the
southwest border.
Perhaps the worst stat of them all: We have lived through 39 months
where the total encounters have been higher than even the highest month
seen under President Trump. This is a really simple vote. If you are
okay with those results, go ahead and vote ``no.'' If you think border
czar Harris has failed the American people, vote ``yes.'' It is really
that simple.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
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

[[Page H4896]]

$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.
I reserve the balance of my time.

{time} 1800

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Feenstra). The Chair reminds Members to
refrain from engaging in personalities toward nominees for the Office
of the President.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, if you want to talk about being ashamed, let's talk
about who should be ashamed. It is Biden and Harris. They have been a
complete disaster, especially with the southern border.
Excuse me for being so audacious as to bring facts and figures to a
debate, but I guess I have to apologize for bringing more facts and
figures to a debate. Let's go through a few of them.
The Biden-Harris administration has failed to remove 99.7 percent of
illegal immigrants released in the United States. Here is another stat:
In June, there were 130,419 illegal immigrant encounters at our
southern border. This is roughly 4,300 daily encounters, which is--wait
for this--four times more than the definition of a crisis that was set
by Obama's own DHS Secretary Johnson, who said in 2019 that more than
1,000 encounters a day would overwhelm the system. That was President
Obama's DHS Secretary.
Do you want to talk about more facts and figures? In May 2024,
Committee on Homeland Security Republicans released documents showing
the Biden administration--wait for this--secretly flew over 400,000
illegal immigrants into our country.
Harris still has visited our southern border only once since she
became border czar. It took her a total of 93 days to make a token trip
to El Paso, which is 800 miles from the sector experiencing the worst
numbers.
Then, in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, Harris was asked: Do
you have any plans to visit the border?
She replied: At some point, we are going to the border. Then, she
said: We have been to the border.
Lester Holt replied: You haven't been to the border.
Harris replied: And I haven't been to Europe.
You just can't make this stuff up.
Then, former Border Patrol Chief Ortiz stated: ``I have never had one
conversation with the President or the Vice President, for that matter.
I was the chief of the Border Patrol. I commanded 21,000 people. That
is a problem.''
Current Border Chief Owens felt her absence, as well, reporting that
the VP has not spoken with him since she was appointed in July 2023.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Burgess), the chairman of the Rules Committee.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, honestly, I keep hearing the term ``MAGA''
used by the other side. I am referred to as MAGA. You keep saying that
word. I don't think you know what it means. It is an acronym that
stands for Make America Great Again. I don't know why anyone would take
offense to that. If anything, it is something that should bring us all
pride.
The nickname ``czar'' is shorthand that has been used by the media.
It is not new. This goes back to the administration of Franklin
Roosevelt.
I think the point that many of us would like to make is that it is no
secret that the mainstream media is basically a mouthpiece for the
Democratic Party. It has been for years.
It is ironic that today suddenly the mainstream media has decided the
use of the term ``czar,'' which they threw around freely during the
Obama administration, threw around freely earlier in this
administration, now that term is one that, well, they used it
inappropriately.
I will help the ranking member. I brought the Axios quote that he
referenced because now, this morning, magically they say they were
wrong 3 years ago when we referred to Vice President Harris as a czar.
Again, the term has been used under Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson,
Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush,
President Obama, and twice under President Trump.
Who can forget the famous car czar, Steven Rattner? Who can forget
the healthcare czar in the Obama administration, Nancy DeParle?
These terms were used as an effort to elevate someone's status. They
were working in the White House on a particular issue. They had never
gone through Senate confirmation.
Vice President Harris was appointed by President Biden to fix the
crisis at the border, and my constituents in Texas have witnessed
firsthand that the situation on the border is not fixed. Communities
are constantly being flooded by illegal immigrants. This leads to the
flow of drugs and the rise of crime.
Now, because she is the presumptive nominee for President, to protect
her campaign, the leftist media is trying to change the story and
mislead the American people. Republicans are being accused of
fabricating the title, yet those same media outlets that were
proclaiming her the border czar are now claiming that this was falsely
reported by their news outlets, that this was falsely reported 3 years
ago.
Regardless of how the minority wants to describe her, she was tasked

[[Page H4897]]

with managing the border. On her watch, well over 9 million illegal
immigrant encounters occurred. Illegal immigrants who evaded capture
are well over 2 million. American lives have been lost as a result of
the Vice President's failure of her principal task of defending the
border.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward
the President or Vice President.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
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.' ''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.

No, VP Kamala Harris Was Never Named `Border Czar'

[From Scripps News San Diego, 11:27 am, July 22, 2024]

President Biden tasked Harris to address the root causes of
migration, not border security.
Within months of taking office in 2021, Vice President
Kamala Harris was assigned a difficult task concerning the
U.S. southern border, checking in with Central American
governments to address the root causes of immigration
problems in the United States.
The Trump campaign has already labeled that effort a
failure, while Democrats blame the other side.
The assignment for Harris was to focus on what was
happening south of the border--in the countries where
migrants are originating. She was never actually named a
``border czar,'' a moniker coined by Republicans.
``I've asked the vice president of the United States
yesterday to be the lead person on dealing with focusing on
the fundamental reasons why people leave Honduras, Guatemala,
and El Salvador in the first place,'' Biden said in 2021.
House Speaker Mike Johnson used the term ``czar'' when
calling her completely inept on Sunday. Other Republicans
have followed suit.
Harris traveled to Mexico and Guatemala in June 2021, and
in her remarks, focused on economic instability, violence and
corruption, telling migrants the border is not open.
``The goal of our work is to help Guatemalans find hope at
home,'' Harris said at the time. ``At the same time, I want
to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about
making the dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border:
Do not come. Do not come.''
Meanwhile, Harris faced sharp criticism for not going to
the border itself and bristled when pressed in an NBC News
interview why she had not been to the border.
Just weeks after the NBC interview, Harris visited the
southern border, again telling migrants to not come.
In El Paso, she toured Border Patrol Facilities and met
with groups that help migrants. Again, her focus was on what
causes people to come to the U.S. in the first place. She
largely left enforcement of border security to Homeland
Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Over the next two years, the vice president secured more
than $5 billion to address the root causes of migration out
of Central America. Nearly $1 billion was targeted to the
Central American Forward initiative, developing jobs and
women's empowerment programs.
The Biden administration has deported or expelled nearly
4.5 million people, the most for any single president since
George W. Bush, according to federal data.
Harris has agreed with criticism that the U.S. immigration
system is ``broken,'' saying in March the U.S. needs to fix
it. But she points the blame at Senate Republicans pushed by
former President Donald Trump to extinguish a bipartisan
border security deal. Harris claimed Trump would prefer to
run on a problem than to fix it.
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.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.

[From TIME Magazine, July 23, 2024]

Kamala Harris Was Never Biden's `Border Czar.' Here's What She Really
Did

(By Vera Bergengruen)

On her first foreign trip as Vice President in June 2021,
Kamala Harris was tasked with delivering a blunt message in
Guatemala City. ``I want to be clear to folks in this region
who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the
United States-Mexico border: Do not come,'' she said at a
press conference, pausing for effect. ``Do not come.''
Three years later, that sound bite may come to haunt
Harris' nascent presidential campaign. Despite her warning,
border crossings reached historic highs during the Biden
Administration. Republican critics cast the episode as a
symbol of Harris's ineffective tenure as President Biden's
``border czar,'' a misleading label they applied after she
was charged with helming diplomatic efforts to address the
root causes of migration from Central America to the U.S.
Kamala Harris had one job,'' Nikki Haley told the crowd at
the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week.
``One job. And that was to fix the border. Now imagine her in
charge of the entire country.''
In fact, Harris was never put in charge of the border or
immigration policy. Nor was she involved in overseeing law
enforcement efforts or guiding the federal response to the
crisis. Her mandate was much narrower: to focus on examining
and improving the underlying conditions in the Northern
Triangle of Central America--El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Honduras--which has been racked by decades of poverty, war,
chronic violence, and political instability. The strategy
relied on allocating billions for economic programs and
stimulating private-sector investment in the region in hopes
that these programs would ultimately lead fewer migrants to
make the dangerous journey north.
It was the first high-profile assignment in Harris' tenure
as Vice President, and it was an especially thankless one. At
best, addressing the ``push factors'' that spur migration
would lead to incremental improvements and take a generation
to yield results. At worst, it would make Harris the face of
the border crisis, one of the Biden administration's biggest
political vulnerabilities. ``To the extent that this was a
useful assignment, she did reasonably well in getting the
private sector to invest in Central America, says Muzaffar
Chishti, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy
Institute. ``But it was an assignment that could not produce
results anytime soon.''
The so-called ``root causes strategy'' focused on improving
economic and security conditions by creating jobs, combating
corruption, improving human and labor rights, and reducing
violence. Harris allocated funds for humanitarian relief from
natural disasters, and directed more than 10 million COVID-l9
vaccines to the Northern Triangle countries. She held
bilateral meetings with the region's leaders, as well as
meetings with NGOs, business executives and human rights
advocates. She worked with the U.S. Justice Department to
launch an AntiCorruption task force focused on prosecuting
corruption cases with ties to the region, as well as Anti-
Migrant Smuggling task forces in Mexico and Guatemala.
Most importantly, Harris spearheaded a public-private
partnership that, as of March 2024, had secured commitments
from major U.S. and multi-national companies to invest more
than $5 billion in the region. The Vice President ``put her
name on the line with very serious senior CEOs and kind of
created a brand appeal for Central America that didn't
exist,'' says Ricardo Zuniga, who until recently served as
the U.S. special envoy to Central America.
Harris also spent time in Washington communicating with
regional leaders. One tangible result, according to two
former U.S. officials, was that it gave the U.S. the standing
and relationships to help prevent Guatemalan prosecutors from
overturning the results of last year's presidential election,

[[Page H4898]]

which was won by anti-corruption outsider Bernardo Arevalo.
While delayed, the ultimately peaceful transition of power
avoided the political instability that Biden Administration
officials feared could cause a spike in migration. The U.S.
applied public pressure through sanctions and visa
restrictions on officials they accused of undermining the
democratic process, as well as behind the scenes. Harris's
team was directly involved, especially her national security
adviser Philip Gordon, who traveled to the region to push for
a peaceful democratic transfer of power, according to the two
former U.S. officials.
But the narrow mandate given to Harris ignored shifting
migration patterns, experts say. The slow process of
addressing the ``push factors,'' or reasons that migrants
leave their countries, says Chisthi, can't compete with the
``pull factors''--the economic and safety incentives that
draw people to the U.S. When Biden assumed office, officials
thought Central America would continue to be the epicenter of
migration pressure. ``We were wrong,'' says Zuniga. After the
initial surge, migration from the Northern Triangle largely
stabilized. By December 2023, 54 percent of encounters at the
southern border involved citizens of countries other than
Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, according to
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Much of Harris's work failed to break through back home.
Instead, she became the target of Republican broadsides about
the border crisis and was repeatedly criticized for not
visiting the U.S.-Mexico border. ``She's dealing with a
narrative problem,'' says Zuniga. With immigration topping
the list of Americans' concerns, according to recent Gallup
polls, an ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border, and
political deadlock on immigration reform and funding, Harris
emerged as the most visible scapegoat.
As they shift their focus from Biden to Harris, it's clear
that Republicans plan to attack Harris's role on immigration
issues. ``The border crisis is a Kamala Harris crisis,''
former President Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance,
declared at a July 22 rally. A recent National Republican
Senatorial Committee memo outlining talking points calls her
``the architect of [Biden's] biggest failure.'' In a post on
Truth Social on July 23, Trump said her ``incompetence gave
us the WORST and MOST DANGEROUS Border anywhere in the
World.'' Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said if Harris
is elected, he will ``need to triple the border wall, razor
wire barriers and National Guard on the border.''
Harris has a broader record on immigration, including
backing a bipartisan border-security deal aimed at reducing
border crossings earlier this year. As a Senator, she was an
outspoken advocate of legal protections for DACA recipients,
made headlines for aggressively questioning Trump immigration
officials, and derided the then-President's border wall as a
``medieval vanity project.'' But it's clear the ``border
czar'' label has become a political liability.
Some Harris allies have expressed frustration with Biden
for putting her in this position. In doing so, he was
repeating a familiar pattern--it was a portfolio Biden
himself was given as Vice President. In 2014, when a surge in
children and families from Central America overwhelmed the
U.S. immigration system, then-President Barack Obama tasked
him with leading the international response to the crisis.
``The solution to this problem is to address the root causes
of this immigration in the first place,'' Biden said on a
trip to Guatemala City that summer. ``Especially poverty,
insecurity and the lack of the rule of law.''
Seven years later, little had changed when Harris gave the
same speech, in the same place. Politically, ``the problem is
that no one cares about the root causes,'' says Chisthi.
``It's too abstract. And frankly, very little can be done
about them in the short run, while the public is focused on
what is happening with the border today.''
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the
Record a July 17, 2024, article from The New York Times titled: ``Why
Republicans Keep Calling Kamala Harris the `Border Czar.' ''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.

New York Times: Why Republicans Keep Calling Kamala Harris the 'Border
Czar'

(By Jazmine Ulloa and Nicholas Nehamas)

As Democrats tangle over the re-election prospects of
President Biden, Republicans at their national convention
this week have trained some of their most intense criticism
on Vice President Kamala Harris.
They have tied her to an administration that they say has
led to increases in crime and inflation. They have cast her
an enabler of an aging and ineffective president. They have
blamed her for record levels of migrant crossings at the
border.
But perhaps no phrase has been deployed more than this one:
``border czar.''
``Kamala Harris isn't able to do any job. She was appointed
border czar,'' said Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida on
Wednesday to a couple of snickers in the audience.
``Appointing Kamala Harris to oversee the border is like
appointing Bernie Madoff to oversee your retirement plan.''
But Ms. Harris was not, in fact, appointed border czar, nor
was she tasked with addressing the broader problems plaguing
the border itself, where minors have at times slept on the
floors of overcrowded facilities for days beyond the legal
limit. 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.
It was the same politically unsavory task that former
President Barack Obama delegated to Mr. Biden when he served
as Mr. Obama's vice president. And it's a task that has only
become harder--and more politically polarized--since then,
becoming perhaps the thorniest issue facing the Biden-Harris
administration.
Brian Fallon, campaign spokesman for Ms. Harris, said
former President Donald J. Trump and his party have
``resorted to lying about the vice president's record,''
after Mr. Trump tanked a bipartisan border deal earlier this
year.
``As a former district attorney and attorney general, she
has stood up to fraudsters and felons like Trump her entire
career,'' he said. ``Trump's lies won't stop her from
continuing to prosecute the case against him on the biggest
issues in this race.''
But attacking Ms. Harris serves several functions,
Republican and Democratic strategists said. Republicans see
her as a possible alternative to lead the Democratic ticket
if Mr. Biden steps aside, with his campaign under pressure
over concerns about his re-election bid. And if that does not
happen, as Mr. Biden has vowed to stay in the race, she
remains a powerful figure with the potential to energize the
parts of the coalition seen as up for grabs: women, young
people and voters of color.
Some speakers like Nikki Haley, Mr. Trump's one-time
presidential rival, have long sought to convince Republicans
that a vote for Mr. Biden will be a vote for Ms. Harris,
arguing that Mr. Biden is too old to finish his second term
even if he is re-elected.
``You never want to miss an opportunity to lay out the case
that the Biden-Harris administration has been a disaster,''
said Dave Carney, a Republican political strategist at the
convention.
So the calls of ``border czar'' from the stage have
continued.
On Monday, Bob Unanue, the president of Goya Foods and
chairman of the Hispanic Leadership Coalition, insulted Ms.
Harris by riffing on the pronunciation of her name in Spanish
to denigrate her as ineffective. ``Our border czar, `Que-
mala' Harris--that means `so bad'--and we have enough bad, we
need some goodness--was missing in action,'' he said.

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 reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I have seen gaslighting, but I have never seen
gaslighting to

[[Page H4899]]

this extent. This is quite amazing. Before we get into gaslighting,
let's talk about a quick history lesson.
The President that I recall throwing around the term ``czar'' was
President Obama. He had a car czar with the cash for clunkers program.
It is kind of funny when you think about it. This is the same President
who allowed Russia to invade Crimea. This is the same President who
went up to the then-President of Russia, I believe, Dmitry Medvedev,
and said: I just need a little flexibility. Tell Vlad I just have to
get through this election cycle, and then we can talk.
That President named a czar, and that became part of our lexicon, and
now we are being attacked because we are calling Harris the border
czar.
Axios, as I said before, April 14, 2021, ran an article referring to
Harris as border czar. Again: ``The number of unaccompanied minors
crossing the border has reached crisis levels. Harris, appointed by
Biden as border czar''--it says that right here in the article--``said
she would be looking at the `root causes' that drive migration.''
Now, you can say Axios retracted that. They retracted that 3 years
after, when that became politically inconvenient.
The Democrats are now trying to say that Harris had nothing to do
with the border. Unfortunately for the Democrats, we have a slew of
other statements and articles that say that Biden put Harris in charge
of the border.
Here is Axios again, March 24, 2021. The title of the article is:
``Biden puts Harris in charge of border crisis.'' It doesn't get more
clear than that.
Here are remarks by the President when he was at the State Dining
Room on March 24, 2021. This is Biden talking about Harris: ``She is
the most qualified person to do it--to lead our efforts with Mexico and
the Northern Triangle and the countries that help--are going to need
help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration
to our southern border.''
Again, that is President Biden telling people at a state dinner that
he is putting Harris in charge of the border.
Here is another AP article, titled: ``Biden taps VP Harris to lead
response to border challenges.''
You can quibble about names, if she was called the border czar, which
is popular in our lexicon, or if she was called whatever. The fact
remains the President put the Vice President in charge of managing the
border crisis, and it has been an abysmal failure.
The stats speak for themselves. I will get to more stats later on in
the debate.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Langworthy), a fellow member of the Rules Committee.
Mr. LANGWORTHY. Mr. Speaker, hundreds of thousands of Americans die
every year from fentanyl. Communities, including many in my own
district, have been ripped apart by the scourge of this deadly poison.

I have hosted roundtables with local law enforcement, families of
victims, and other advocates all across my district. One thing I have
consistently heard is that we need to stop the flow of fentanyl into
this country.
Our police officers are struggling to keep up with the constant
influx into our communities, and it is killing some of our youngest and
brightest citizens.
Every American knows these deadly substances are flooding across our
borders, brought to this country by criminals who directly benefit from
the Biden-Harris administration's open-border policies. We also can't
forget the other Americans who have been assaulted and murdered by
illegal immigrants allowed to enter this country.
Laken Riley is dead. Rachel Morin is dead. Others have lost their
lives. Even children have been brutally assaulted. Why? So our border
czar, Kamala Harris, could score political points with the radical
leftwing of her party.
Meanwhile, the State of New York is going bankrupt, spending billions
of dollars to pay for housing, benefits, and food for this flood of
illegal immigrants being released into the interior of this country.
Again, this is a direct result of the open-border and sanctuary
policies of the Democratic Party under Biden-Harris. Vice President
Harris, the anointed border czar, wholeheartedly supports these
policies.
Time and again, she looks into the eyes of the American people who
have seen loved ones die of fentanyl overdoses or have been the victims
of criminals who were in this country illegally and lies to them. She
lectures the American people about the root causes of illegal
immigration and pretends that her policies had nothing to do with this
historic crisis.
We are not buying it, and the American people won't buy it in
November.

{time} 1815

Rather than visit our southern border, she led a junket to Central
America to plead and to beg migrants to not come.
It doesn't get more pathetic than begging other countries while
paying lip service to Americans who are feeling the real pain of this
crisis.
Now, of course, this is entirely consistent with Vice President
Harris' failed leadership in this administration. The condescension and
virtue signaling may play well among the liberal, coastal elites who
are now circling the wagons to ensure that she is slammed in there as
the Democratic Presidential nominee in August, but the American people
see her failures for what they are.
People are suffering. People are dying from this crisis that Kamala
Harris and President Biden have created. Kamala Harris deserves full
condemnation, and I am glad to see the House take up this resolution.
I am going to sit and wait for the condemnation of the little
Democratic rally that was held for Kamala Harris over at Union Station
today.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McClintock). Members are reminded to
refrain from engaging in personalities toward the Vice President.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
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.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico
(Ms. 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.

[[Page H4900]]

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. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
To be clear about one thing: I am not afraid of Vice President Harris
and neither are any of my colleagues. The people who should be most
afraid of the Vice President are the American people.
In going back to talk about the southern border, every single day in
this country, roughly 300 Americans die of fentanyl overdoses. That
would be the equivalent of a commercial jetliner going down every
single day, once a day, for the last 4 years. That should scare the
American people.
Talking about more things, let's talk about crime under this
administration. Americans continue to be the victims of violent crime
under the Biden-Harris administration.
According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association's 2022 crime report
for urban areas across the country, homicides were up 13 percent since
2020, rapes were up 23.56 percent since 2020, and aggravated assaults
were up 33.89 percent since 2020.
In 2022, at least nine cities, seven of which are Democrat run, saw
record homicides. 2021 was the deadliest year in two decades for our
law enforcement officers.
Just listen to their party leaders, like Vice President Harris. She
supports defunding the police. She believes it is ``wrongheaded'' and
``outdated'' to think police officers make our communities safe.
She wants to give voting rights to murderers, terrorists, rapists,
and even inmates that are sitting on death row.
Harris wants to abolish ICE which protects our communities from
illegal aliens and the crimes they commit. She believes cash bail
should be eliminated.
The only time Vice President Harris has called for law enforcement to
get involved was when Jussie Smollett said men with red MAGA hats were
after him. Harris called it a modern-day lynching, and of course, this
was an absolute hoax that was fabricated by the radical left with the
help of no other than Vice President Harris.
Americans should be afraid of the policies of the Vice President.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
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 reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the Vice President, including by
making reference to other sources that would have been out of order if
spoken in the Member's own words.

Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume. Let me just get this straight. By the minority's logic,
because Republicans are talking about Vice President Harris, we are
somehow afraid of Vice President Harris. That is quite amazing because,
for the last 8 years, they have been talking about President Trump. Let
the American people decide who is afraid of who.
To the attack that we have done nothing about the southern border, I
can give the Democrats some ideas of what to do. How about they can
start requesting that the administration go back and repeal the 94
executive orders they issued when they took office which repealed
President Trump's executive orders to secure the southern border. That
would be a great start. You don't even need congressional action to
undo those executive orders.
I have not heard one of my Democratic colleagues call for any of
those executive orders to be reversed.
Here is another good idea: H.R. 2. This Chamber passed H.R. 2. It was
the first border security bill that was passed in this Chamber, I
believe, since the mid-nineties. That was a great bill. It ended catch
and release. It reinstated remain in Mexico. It required that this
administration finish the border wall. That would definitely halt
illegal immigration.
That is sitting over in the Senate. Maybe my friends from across the
aisle here could ask the other Chamber to run that bill. Just a few
ideas.
I love it when I hear my colleagues talking about so-called bans.
There are

[[Page H4901]]

a few bans that the Vice President is in favor of. Let's go through
some of those.
Under President Biden and Vice President Harris, the administration
has supported bans on the following: gas-powered vehicles, gas stoves,
firearms, and LNG exports.
That is not enough for the Vice President. Harris wants to go even
further than Biden. She supports bans on--this is a great list. It is
like it is written by the Babylon Bee or something. She supports bans
on red meat, plastic straws, private health insurance, fracking, and
gas-powered schoolbuses.
Before you know it, the average American is going to have to show
their grocery list to Czar Harris before they go to the grocery store.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
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.

{time} 1830

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.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my
amendment into the Record, along with any extraneous material,
immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. McGOVERN. To discuss our proposal, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Garcia).
Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues
to defeat the previous question and support the American Dream and
Promise Act.
Here we are again, wasting our time on yet another border resolution
that does nothing, nada, to secure our border, reform our broken
immigration system, or provide relief to the undocumented community.
This time, however, it is a little different twist because they are
targeting Vice President Kamala Harris for political gain. They are
spewing lies that she is Biden's border czar. Trust me, if she had been
given that position, it would be border czarina, because this is all a
lie. It is false, period.
She was tasked with leading diplomatic efforts in Guatemala,
Honduras, and El Salvador to reduce migration from those countries.
That is what she was tasked to do.
Vice President Harris secured billions in private-sector investments
to promote democracy and economic opportunity in those countries, and
we have seen huge improvements. The numbers don't lie. In 2023,
migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador only made 22 percent
of all border crossings, down from 41 percent in 2021. That is a huge
improvement.
However, Republicans don't care about facts. They would rather make
up lies and get ready for the campaign rhetoric. They want to spew lies
plain and simple for political gain. The reality is that if they were
serious about border security and fixing our immigration system, then
here is an idea, they would work with Democrats.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the
gentlewoman.
Ms. GARCIA of Texas. We have several solutions that we have put
forward, including my bill, the American Dream and Promise Act, which
would finally provide Dreamers, TPS recipients, and DED beneficiaries
with a pathway to citizenship.
Not only is my bill bipartisan and popular with my colleagues, 207 of
whom were cosponsors, but it is popular with the American people. Poll
after poll shows that upwards of 70 percent of Americans support
permanent solutions for Dreamers because Americans support Dreamers and
Dreamers support America. They know that their home is here. They rose
to the challenge during the pandemic and served as doctors, nurses, and
teachers. They are serving in our military and protecting our
communities as law enforcement officers and firefighters.
The American Dream and Promise Act is a real commonsense solution and
not a rhetoric bill. It is not a MAGA waste of time. Enough of this
``pendejada,'' ``foolishness,'' BS, and garbage. Let's move forward.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question and
instead support the American Dream and Promise Act, a real solution to
provide relief to real people supported by Americans.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, I am
prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 7
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Pennsylvania has 10 minutes
remaining.
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

[[Page H4902]]

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.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would remind Members to refrain
from engaging in personalities toward nominees for the Office of the
President.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield
myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, if you want to talk about division, I have got a whole
list of divisive quotes from my friends across the aisle.
It starts at the very top. Just days before what happened in
Pennsylvania, President Biden said that we need to put a bull's-eye on
President Trump. That was President Biden.
Former Speaker Pelosi said: ``You have to be ready to take a punch.
And therefore you have to be ready to throw a punch--for the
children.''
Senator Jon Tester: ``I don't think, even States where Donald Trump
won big, that it does you any good running away from Donald Trump. I
think you need to go back and punch him in the face.''
That was a quote from Jon Tester.
Here is Joe Biden again: ``I said if I were in high school, I would
take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.''
Congresswoman Maxine Waters said this: ``And with this kind of
inspiration, I will go and take out Trump tonight.''
For the Vice President, she too is engaged in some divisive rhetoric.
When asked in April 2018: If you had to be stuck in an elevator with
either President Trump, Mike Pence, or Jeff Sessions, who would it be?
Do you know how the Vice President responded?
She said: Does one of us have to come out alive?
Save me the rhetoric on divisiveness. I think the American people
know where the divisive language is coming from.
Let's go back to the Vice President and her role as border czar, at
least that is what the media was calling her up until about 3 days ago.
When Harris was tasked to be border czar, she promised to ``undo''
President Trump's border policies. Unfortunately for the American
people, she made good on that promise.
The Biden-Harris administration has referred to the influx of
illegals as newcomers. That was their word, ``newcomers,'' not illegal
immigrants.
She has called for the decriminalization of illegal border crossings.
Border czar Harris has even supported free healthcare and mass amnesty
for illegal immigrants.
The question is: Who pays the price for this incompetence?
That answer is simple. That is the American people.
The border crisis has cost the United States approximately $150.7
billion every single year. That is over $1,100 per year per every
American taxpayer.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, my congressional district, we are one
of the epicenters of the opioid crisis. Since the passage of H.R. 2,
over 17,000 pounds of fentanyl had been seized at the southern border.
To get your head around how much that actually is, Mr. Speaker, that is
enough fentanyl to kill over 3.8 billion people.
Nearly 15 Pennsylvanians die from drug overdoses every single day. As
I said earlier in the debate, in the United States, roughly 300
Americans every single day die of a fentanyl overdose.
We have also heard horror stories like the murder of Laken Riley.
Laken was a 22-year-old from Georgia who was killed by an illegal
immigrant from Venezuela.
Another American, Rachel Morin of Maryland, was a mother of five. She
was raped and brutally murdered by an illegal from El Salvador.
Her brother, Michael, stated after her death: ``Joe Biden and his
designated border czar Kamala Harris opened our borders to him and
others like him empowering them to victimize the innocent.'' Yet to
this day, we have not heard from Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. They never
apologized.
These brutal deaths are a direct result of border czar Harris'
inaction and failed policies. That is why this week House Republicans
will rightfully condemn the Biden-Harris administration for their epic
failure at the southern border. House Democrats, well, they will stand
over there and continue to support and stand by the border czar, Vice
President Harris, since they are complicit partners in this manmade
disaster at our southern border. This disaster has impacted every
community in our Nation.

The material previously referred to by Mr. McGovern is as follows:

An Amendment to H. Res. 1376 Offered by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts

At the end of the resolution, add the following:
Sec. 2. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the
House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the
bill (H.R. 16) to authorize the cancellation of removal and
adjustment of status of certain aliens, and for other
purposes. All points of order against consideration of the
bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All
points of order against provisions in the bill are waived.
The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the
bill and on any amendment thereto, to final passage without
intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally
divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective
designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.
Sec. 3. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the
consideration of H.R. 16.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time,
and I move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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