January 29, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 18 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H1253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SECURE OUR BORDERS

  (Mr. GIANFORTE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIANFORTE. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has fully 
reopened, and Federal employees are back to work. While the shutdown is 
over, the crisis at the border remains.
  I recently toured the southern border in Arizona. Ranchers and Border 
Patrol agents told me about the challenges they face because of open 
borders. I saw short, weak, barbwire fences that line our border. I 
learned more about violent cartels and how they profit from our porous 
borders, from human trafficking and the flooding of drugs into our 
communities.
  Congress has an obligation to secure our border. We must give Border 
Patrol agents the tools they need to get their job done. They told me 
they need equipment to detect drugs, and more and better body armor.
  Border Patrol agents also told me that they need a wall. They know 
walls work. Congress should listen to them.
  Tomorrow, the conference committee tasked with border security will 
meet for the first time. Having seen the border crisis firsthand, I 
urge those lawmakers to listen to our Border Patrol agents, fund 
meaningful physical barriers, and secure our borders.

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