Crisis At the Border Must Be Addressed

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I had the opportunity to join with my other Republican colleagues to visit the southwest border. This was not a gesture, as the Vice President has referred to these visits. It was, instead, a learning opportunity.

The conditions we saw and the stories we heard conveyed a situation far worse than we had previously imagined. We learned that border encounters are at a 20-year high. We spoke directly to Border Patrol and law enforcement officers who told us that they are so overwhelmed with the care of migrants that they are unable to execute essential core roles of their job. We learned how drug cartels are taking advantage of the overwhelmed system and saw the routes they use to smuggle drugs and people across the border.

What we witnessed could only be defined as a crisis. This is why I encourage all of my colleagues and the Vice President to set aside political gamesmanship, visit the border, and see the crisis firsthand.

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