[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 31, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H359-H362]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ISSUES OF THE DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duarte). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Kean) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. KEAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on this special order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. KEAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the great
State of New York (Ms. Malliotakis).
[[Page H360]]
Ms. MALLIOTAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to
highlight to my colleagues what exactly is happening in New York City
as a result of Joe Biden's manufactured open-borders policy and the
crisis that has been created in terms of a migrant crisis in New York
City.
This morning, a lot of New Yorkers woke up to the news that two of
our NYPD officers were attacked by a mob of migrants. It is outrageous
to think that individuals who came to this country and claim to be
innocent asylum seekers would attack our police officers. That
disrespect is unbelievable. Nevertheless, sadly, it is not the only
time we have seen crimes like this taking place.
Now, let's remember that the individuals who are coming through the
southern border are paying thousands of dollars to the drug cartels to
be smuggled here. My mayor is further incentivizing this by offering
housing, food, healthcare, education, legal services, and laundry
services. You name it. The taxpayers are paying to house those
individuals who attacked those police officers.
Nonetheless, that is not all we are seeing happen.
Mr. Speaker, let me show you a few recent headlines all in New York:
Illegal immigrant bites off police sergeant's finger after DUI bust, a
driving while intoxicated bust; four migrants were arrested for
stealing more than $12,000 in goods from Long Island's Macy's; New York
City migrant pick-pocketing teams are the newest headache for the NYPD;
asylum seeker was accused of killing--of killing--another at Randall's
Island migrant shelter; a migrant woman was arrested after slapping an
NYPD cop. A migrant was stabbed by girlfriend in a possible love
triangle; migrants are behind the boom in New York City's red light
district, Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, says.
Democratic mayors are also saying this is destroying New York City.
We are seeing New York City struggle to pay for this crisis that Joe
Biden, again, created with his executive orders and 60 policy changes
he made from the Trump administration that made our border wide-open.
Chuck Schumer in the Senate refuses to do anything. They refused to
pass our bill, H.R. 2, which would end this crisis today.
I called ICE this morning, and I said that I want these individuals
deported. The ones who are committing crimes like attacking our police
officers, can we at least agree as Democrats, Independents, and
Republicans that we should not tolerate that?
What also really concerns me is that we have caught hundreds of
people on the terrorist watch list at our border. As a New Yorker from
the post-9/11 world, I have to question that there are 1.8 million
people who have totally evaded law enforcement. In fact, the Customs
and Border Patrol union leader told us today it is probably more like 4
million. That is on top of the 8 million or so who have come, paid the
cartels to come here, and have claimed asylum. We are not even talking
about those people who turned themselves in. We are talking about the 4
million got-aways. We don't know who they are, where they are, and what
their intentions are.
That should concern every single person in this body, particularly,
the President of the United States.
TSA is allowing individuals to board planes without identification,
like the American citizens have to provide when we board planes. They
can use a detainer. They can use a warrant for their arrest and all
sorts of other documents that are probably produced, by the way, from
fake identification that they used to come over the border. That is
directly against the 9/11 Commission recommendations.
The last thing I just want to talk about is that New York City is
complicit because they are not complying with detainer requests.
ICE is trying to do some of its job. When these people commit crimes,
NYPD arrests them, and they release them back onto the street.
Why?
It is because they are forced to by the Democratic policies put in
place by my city and my State. That is unfortunate.
So, now, when these two individuals attacked the police officers,
they were arrested, but they were released back onto the street. They
weren't detained to be sent to deportation. In fact, now ICE has to try
to go out and find them with no cooperation from local law enforcement
because Democrats in New York have tied their hands.
That is unconscionable, it is unsafe, and we have to make sure that
the Democrats here, the Democrats over in the Senate, and the President
stop playing with fire because this is a dangerous situation.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, our ally in Israel is being attacked by
terrorists. Iran is making threats against us saying they are going to
commit attacks against us on our own soil. We have them attacking
American soldiers at 160 different posts in the Middle East. We saw
three soldiers killed by Iran proxies the other day.
Yet we are going to keep this border open like this?
It is unconscionable to me, and I expect action from the Senate.
Allowing 1.8 million people to continue to pay the cartels to come in
is not border security. So we expect them to either pass our bill, the
Border Security Act, or pass something that is reasonable so that we
can have a real discussion and debate and seal this border and make our
country secure once and for all.
Mr. KEAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr.
Rose).
Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me
tonight.
Mr. Speaker, President Biden's policies at the southern border are
working if the goal has been to let more than 8 million illegal
immigrants enter the country. That is more than the entire population
of my home State of Tennessee. If that is the goal, then indeed his
policies are working.
For example, look no further than on the campaign trail in 2019 when
then-candidate Biden said to a crowd of Iowa voters: ``We could afford
to take in a heartbeat another 2 million people.''
While campaigning from his basement for the job of Commander in
Chief, he never hid the fact that he would use his executive authority
to ``increase the total number of immigrants able to come to the United
States.''
He was clear as could be. It was a promise made, a promise kept, and
a promise multiplied four times over.
That quote, which can be found online in seconds, gives much-needed
context as to why he issued 94 executive actions on immigration in his
first 100 days in office, fought to end the Trump-era remain in Mexico
policy and title 42, and why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
has released millions of illegal immigrants into our country in open
disregard for the law. These actions, coupled with dozens more,
continue to send a message to Latin America and around the world,
including to suspected terrorists, that our borders are open.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has willfully misused parole
authority to flood communities with illegal immigrants, despite a
conclusion from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the
department could not simply parole every illegal alien they are unable
to detain. Without any approval from Congress, Secretary Mayorkas has
also created and expanded several parole programs. Again, this isn't a
policy failure. This is their policy.
Despite the department recently admitting that 40 percent--40
percent--of catch and release migrants had disappeared, the open-border
policies of this administration continue.
Americans should know that President Biden already has all of the
power and authority he needs to end this crisis immediately. Just
compare his numbers to President Trump's. In December, 2023, alone, DHS
reported 302,000 illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border,
which is a 300 percent increase from December 2020.
This marks 34 straight months where illegal immigrant encounters were
higher under President Biden's administration than they ever were in a
single month under President Trump.
In the last fiscal year, DHS encountered 169 people on the terrorist
watch list. That set a record as it was more than fiscal years 2017,
2018, 2019, and 2020 combined--the majority of Trump's presidency.
The Immigration and Nationality Act, coupled with recent Supreme
Court precedent, gives President Biden
[[Page H361]]
ample authority to suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of
aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens
any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate. The sad reality is the
President isn't asleep at the wheel when it comes to securing the
border. He is alert with both hands on the wheel driving it into the
ditch.
This is the America he told us he would champion. Despite his desire
to usurp Congress, however, House Republicans will continue to hold his
administration accountable for its unwillingness to enforce our laws.
That is why House Republicans continue to push for H.R. 2, the Secure
the Border Act of 2023, which would force President Biden to end the
catch and release policy, pay more for Border Patrol agents, and
restart border wall construction.
Unfortunately, even with thousands of pounds of fentanyl pouring
through and thousands of young people dead, I don't believe we will see
a change of heart needed by this President to secure the border. In
fact, it has become apparent that we likely won't see any impactful
changes at our southern border until a new President takes office.
Until then, I won't hold my breath waiting for President Biden.
Mr. KEAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr.
LaMalfa).
Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from New Jersey for
leading us here tonight and the opportunity to speak on several topics.
Tonight, indeed, we passed a very important tax-related legislation
that will be instructive in so many aspects of our society with
investments and job opportunities. Indeed, I think the tax bill we just
passed probably will be responsible for over 600,000 new jobs in
research and development. There are tax credits, as well, for small
businesses that are going to have the accelerated appreciation that is
important to them for, again, small businesses and farms to invest in
equipment.
{time} 2100
One of the things I wanted to dwell on here a little bit was the
importance of the disaster relief aspect that is in this bill that my
colleague, Mr. Steube, from Florida was also working very strongly on
and my colleague from the wine country in northern California, Mr.
Mike Thompson, helped us with.
We have had a situation where fire survivors or fire victims of
destructive wildfires in northern California and other parts of the
West, their taxation on the settlement money they had with the utility
was deemed by IRS to be a taxable event.
Even though they are victims of fire and have lost their homes and
much destruction to their property, the dollars that were coming for
restitution from a lawsuit were deemed taxable by the IRS. This put
people out to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars of taxes that
they really can't afford because they still have to put their homes
back in order and build new homes and all this entails. It really
wasn't intended as a taxable event in that sense.
This package included important pieces of our original bill that was
added as part of the tax package where folks have already,
unfortunately, had to pay this tax because of the timing of things will
be able to seek a refund. We will work with the IRS to make sure those
refunds are expedited as best as possible but prevent future taxation
on that and other disasters that have an award involved, like East
Palestine and the issues in Florida.
It is, indeed, a big success on that, as well as the other aspects of
this tax legislation tonight that are going to be helpful for boosting
our economy, boosting small business, and large business with
investment and bringing over 600,000 jobs back to their country in a
time we really need that investment and we need that boost.
I am, indeed, very glad that we are able to accomplish that here
tonight and look forward to the Senate taking it up and the President
signing that legislation expeditiously. What is important about this
nuance is that it be done before the upcoming tax season, April 15.
Some have to file March 1 so they don't get caught, again, having to
pay a tax prospectively for something they really aren't going to owe.
We need to get the language in place, the rules in place on that
after the successful passage in the Senate and by the President's
signature.
It was a great bipartisan effort; one we don't always see that often
around here. We need to see more of that on both sides and having that
big success.
For the folks that were the survivors of the Camp fire, the Zogg
fire, the Carr fire in northern California and others are going to be
affected, their patience has been rewarded.
Mr. Speaker, I thank them for their patience and for working with our
office in giving us a chance to get it over the goal line. I would have
liked to see it happen much faster, as well. Things have been tough
around here and now we are able to have success with this tonight. We
have a couple more steps to go, but I really strongly believe we are
going to get there.
This is going to be great for not only disaster victims, but all
Americans, and the boost it will be for the economy with the broad tax
package.
Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 22 seniors
in New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District. Last fall, my team and
I called on the residents that I represent to nominate a senior that
had distinguished themselves through the contributions they had made to
our communities.
I was seeking hardworking, passionate individuals who have been
living a life of public service, whether it be through their personal,
professional, philanthropic, or volunteer efforts.
In December 2023, I hosted my first annual seniors of distinction
program to recognize the outstanding citizenship in New Jersey's
Seventh Congressional District.
I was honored to receive over 100 nominations from their friends,
family, and neighbors, and had a difficult time narrowing it down to 22
senior citizens who represent all six counties in my district.
The seniors who were selected were chosen for their long history of
giving back to their community and for continuing to lend their
expertise, their experience, and their many talents to helping and
supporting others.
Every honoree had a long list of achievements, but, more importantly,
a long list of charitable, spiritual, and philanthropic activities
which they devote their time and energy to every day.
Mr. Speaker, I will list these honorees:
Barbara Agins of Somerville; Raymond Chimileski of Califon; Charles
Fineran of Hackettstown; Dr. Thomas Foregger of Berkeley Heights;
Jeffrey H. Katz of Springfield; Linda Kale of New Providence; Dr. Ken
Kutscher of Raritan Township; Shirley Lakatos of Berkeley Heights;
James McCabe of Westfield; Robert and Dace McLaughlin of Basking Ridge;
Howard Meyer of New Providence; Leon Moreau of Landing; Mayor Al Morgan
of New Providence; Mitchell Morrison of Sparta; Barbara Perkins of
Warren; Dr. Nancy Polow of Scotch Plains; Herb Waddell of Berkeley
Heights; Ronald Whalin of Basking Ridge; Dr. Rudolph Willis of Warren;
Rita Jordan of Branchburg; Larry Orlans of Hopatcong; and, Rheva
Smickel of Belvidere.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the great
State of New York (Mr. Langworthy).
Mr. LANGWORTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey
for yielding the time.
This month the United States national debt hit a record $34 trillion.
In fiscal year 2023 alone, the United States owed $659 billion in
interest on this debt, and you can expect that number to be much higher
this year.
These numbers should alarm every American and make it clear that
Bidenomics is not working, but the American people already know this.
The White House repeatedly has lied, publicly praising themselves for a
healthy economy and taking credit for meager postpandemic numbers.
The American people aren't buying this false narrative. Hardworking
Americans are still struggling to pay their bills and balance their
family budgets while the President and the Democrats in Washington
continue the reckless spending.
According to a recent Axios poll, 72 percent of Americans say their
grocery purchases are the top way they feel inflation in their lives,
closely followed by gas prices at 56 percent.
They also found that two-thirds of Americans are worried that food
prices
[[Page H362]]
will continue to climb. I will remind President Biden and my colleagues
on the other side of the aisle that when you pass bloated spending
packages that include Green New Deal funding or money to build a new
park named for Nancy Pelosi or funding for gender programs in Pakistan,
this isn't monopoly money that you are playing with. You are spending
the hard-earned tax dollars of people who wake up every day, who go to
work so that they can provide for their families. Our children, our
grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren will still be paying for
this debt long after all of us are gone from this legislative body.
This kind of spending must end. We must reverse course now to secure
our Nation's financial future and that is why House Republicans have
been focused on cutting Federal spending. That is why we work to avoid
a trillion-dollar Christmas omnibus and that is why we are going to
keep fighting to put this country back on the right track.
{time} 2110
Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Harris).
Mr. HARRIS. Mr. Speaker, the leadership at the Department of Homeland
Security under the Biden administration is a complete and dangerous
failure at our southern border.
Last month, I joined nearly 60 of my House Republican colleagues to
witness firsthand the Biden administration's catastrophe at Eagle Pass,
Texas, in the Del Rio sector of our southern border.
After being briefed by Border Patrol at the southern border, it
became clear to me that this administration has allowed dangerous
terrorists, drug traffickers, child sex traffickers, and other human
traffickers to enter this country easily as a result of this
administration's wide open southern border policies.
In fact, since Joe Biden took office, 361 individuals whose names
appear on the terrorist watch list have been apprehended attempting to
cross our southern border illegally.
Who in the world knows how many from that terrorist watch list were
among the millions of got-aways, people who weren't apprehended at the
southern border?
In addition to these terrorists coming through our borders, more than
54,000 pounds of fentanyl has been intercepted at American borders.
Now, I know fentanyl well. I am an anesthesiologist by trade. We use it
in the operating room all the time. 54,000 pounds of fentanyl is enough
to kill the entire human population of the planet. That is the amount
that was intercepted at the southern border. Only God knows how much
was not intercepted at the southern border because our Border Patrol
agents, instead of patrolling the border, are processing illegal
immigrants into our interior through the asylum process.
As we stood at the banks of the Rio Grande watching this catastrophe
unfold at our southern border, the President of the United States that
very same day that we were down there chose to help the flow of illegal
immigration by actually sending his lawyers into Federal court to
remove the razor wire that the Texas Department of Public Safety had
put up to protect their communities from the invasion, the protection
that Joe Biden was not providing to the State of Texas or to the rest
of America.
Now, while speaking to the press yesterday, Joe Biden, with a
straight face, declared: ``I've done all I can do. Just give me the
power. . . . Give me the Border Patrol, give me the people, the
judges--give me the people who can stop this and make it work right.''
Wow is all I have to say. The American people know that he refuses to
admit that during his first 100 days in office, he took 94 executive
actions on immigration, most notably including the halting of the
construction of the border wall.
Now, I will note, Mr. Speaker, it is kind of interesting. He has got
a wall around his house, but he won't put a wall around our country to
protect us from invasion.
In August 2022, President Biden and his administration decided to
make the border crisis worse by formally ending President Trump's
successful remain in Mexico program. Yes, Mr. Speaker, the President
could at any time reinstate the program under the same statutes and
laws that were in place during President Trump. President Biden could
reinstate remain in Mexico tonight.
I would suggest if the President is listening, Mr. President, you
asked yesterday what you can do. Pick up a pen, reinstate remain in
Mexico.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Biden administration announced on May
10, 2023, that it would allow for the release of migrants into the U.S.
with no way to track them. Millions of people entering the United
States, given identification papers, even if we really have no idea who
they are, and we are not tracking them at all. That is mind-boggling to
most Americans.
Make no mistake, Joe Biden absolutely has the power to stop this
invasion. He is simply unwilling to do it and unwilling to use those
powers.
It is a reckless dereliction of duty for the Biden administration,
our border czar Kamala Harris, and Secretary Mayorkas to continually
allow the cartels to smuggle both humans and fentanyl into our streets
without putting an end to this crisis. It is well within his power.
Last year, in May, House Republicans passed the Secure the Border
Act, a comprehensive immigration overhaul that would protect and secure
the United States from illegal immigration, force the Biden
administration to restart construction of the border wall, end catch
and release--very important--and increase the number of Border Patrol
agents to stop the flow of deadly fentanyl into this country.
House Republicans passed that bill a year ago, but Leader Schumer and
the Democrats in the Senate refuse to even take up the bill for a vote.
Shame on them. If President Biden were really serious about fixing the
crisis at our southern border, he would end it today by reinstating the
successful border policies put in place by President Trump and
instructing the Senate to pass H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act passed
by House Republicans, tomorrow before they go home on their weekend
break.
Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I also want to highlight another
piece of legislation that I am spearheading, H.R. 1547, the One Seat
Ride Act, which I introduced with Representative Watson Coleman of New
Jersey, and I am glad to say this legislation passed this House in
December in a large bipartisan fashion.
This legislation directs the Secretary of Transportation to conduct
cost-benefit analysis of a one seat ride trip versus a transfer trip
option during peak hours on New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line.
The results of this study would then be transmitted to key
congressional committees.
Currently, Raritan Valley Line passengers are forced to change trains
at Newark Penn Station to access New York City and to make the same
change headed westbound. A one seat ride allows passengers to take one-
time efficient trains from stations such as Westfield, Somerville, and
Lebanon directly into New York City.
Since the bill passed in this body, we are now one step closer to
paving the way for a more connected and efficient future where
commuters can travel seamlessly both eastbound and westbound at all
times of the day and night. For New Jerseyans, this means more time at
home and less time commuting.
My priority will continue to be breaking down transportation barriers
by enhancing our region's infrastructure. Again, I am proud that this
bill passed the House, and I am working hard to get the Senate
companion bill introduced and work its way through the Senate.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President and to direct their
remarks to the Chair and not a perceived viewing audience.
____________________