Border Security

Floor Speech

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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Walker for holding this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I want you to know I continue to be astonished that our Democratic Members--our colleagues--turned a blind eye to what is happening in this country because of what is going on on the border.

Unlike many in Congress, I have been down to the border multiple times. I grew up just a number of miles--60, 70 miles--from the border myself. I have been down there many times. A couple of weeks ago I took eight Congressmen with me. We toured the border. We met with multiple ranchers, and their story is very similar. We got to talk to one guy-- four home invasions, more than 15 burglaries, endless vandalism, and trespassing daily. He was not unique.

Another family has set up their own cameras and sensors so they can see. We watched them. We watched the people coming across. This is hour after hour of footage. Do you know what? These were young men coming across with carpet slippers so you couldn't see their footprints. I didn't see the moms and children coming across. I saw the young men carrying bundles of drugs across.

On Monday the ``Washington Examiner'' published an article detailing the fear of border residents living in New Mexico. They, like those in Arizona, Texas, and California have been burglarized. They find groups of illegal aliens squatting in their barns with bundles of drugs on their land. But they won't call the authorities because they fear retaliation from drug cartels.

Many of the people we met with said: we will meet with you on condition that you don't reveal us meeting to the press because every time the press reveals something, we are retaliated against by drug cartels.

Yesterday at the end of a Judiciary Committee hearing about gun violence, after going on a screed--a demagogic tirade--about the importance of protecting every life, this Member said that every life is valuable. I agree with that. But she is valuing some over others.

Why wouldn't she focus on policies that would help the lives of all Americans through border security?

In 2015, a young man from my Congressional District, Grant Ronnebeck, was shot and killed by an illegal alien. Not only should that murderer not have been in possession of a firearm, he shouldn't have even been in the country. He had been deported before, yet he comes back because the border is porous.

For some reason, no Democrat is willing to ensure that criminally violent aliens like Grant's killer aren't released back into our community. I introduced a bill called Grant's Law to ensure no criminal alien can be released from custody. I can't get a single cosponsor from the other side of the aisle.

Two weeks ago 250 pounds of fentanyl and 400 pounds of additional drugs were interdicted in Nogales. That is the number one sector for drug seizures in this country. Forty percent of all drugs that are interdicted are in the Tucson sector. Just today, in the Ajo region, 300 people crossed--today--2 hours ago.

I am told by experts that we only interdict 15 percent of dangerous drugs and fewer than 50 percent of the people who are crossing.

Mr. Speaker, I call out for my colleagues across the aisle: Help us. Help this country. I am telling you: Walls work. We have to stand with the President.

I stand with the President. I stand with the people of America. I stand with people in my district. I stand with the people who believe and understand that we have to get border security and the most foundational and fundamental thing we can do is build a wall.

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