Mann Condemns President Biden’s Failed Border Policies

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (KS-01) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to call out the Biden Administration and Senate Democrats’ handling of the crisis at the southern border. Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the House’s vote on the Secure the Border Act. Rep. Mann voted in favor of the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 219-213. The U.S. Senate has not yet considered the legislation.

In his speech, Rep. Mann called attention to how the crisis has worsened since this time last year. He noted that U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP) agents have encountered more than 33,000 individuals attempting to cross the border who had a criminal background and seized enough fentanyl to kill 3.8 billion people. Rep. Mann emphasized that these statistics put the safety and well-being of Kansans in the Big First at risk and called on Senate Democrats and the Biden Administration to work with House Republicans and secure the border.

Transcript

Mr. Speaker., three hundred seventy days ago, this body passed the Secure the Border Act of 2023. After President Biden’s policies created the worst humanitarian crisis in our nation’s history, House Republicans rallied together to end the crisis and secure the southern border. Sadly, some Washington Democrats are more loyal to progressive activists than to keeping Americans safe. They would rather leave the border wide-open than consider our legislation. In the meantime, America suffers.

Since House Republicans passed H.R. 2, there have been more than 2.1 million encounters with illegal immigrants trying to enter the country at the southern border. Nearly 120 of those individuals’ names appear on the terrorist watchlist, and almost 33,000 of them had some sort of criminal background. In the past year alone, our border patrol agents have seized enough fentanyl to kill 3.8 billion people. That’s the entire populations of China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Brazil combined. It doesn’t matter what the White House says, the numbers don’t lie—President Biden’s policies are failing, and the country is less secure.

Under President Biden, every state is a border state. Kansans in the Big First feel that, and it is why they are so concerned about President Biden’s border crisis. In my Commitment to the Big First, I pledged that I would fight for a nation that’s secure and work to end the crisis at the border. That commitment is one of the many reasons I supported H.R. 2. Rather than working with House Republicans to fix the President’s crisis, Senate Democrats have decided to let H.R. 2 just sit in the legislative graveyard. In the meantime, Mexican cartels are more empowered while more drugs and more crime pour in over our border.

Mr. Speaker, Americans deserve better than this. Our children deserve to live in a country where they are safe and secure. It’s beyond time for President Biden to work with House Republicans to secure the border. Enough is enough.

Thank you.

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