House Republicans Hold Press Briefing on Border Security

Good afternoon everyone. I'm honored to stand here with my colleagues to highlight the border crisis, which is the top issue across the country. The numbers do not lie. Our country is being invaded right now right in front of our very eyes because of Joe Biden's catastrophic border policies. Just last month, over 300,000 illegal immigrants came across our southern border, the largest amount in a single month in history. 19 of those individuals were arrested for being on the terrorist watch list, not to mention the countless unknown God aways. (00:54) Texas is the first line of defense against this full-fledged invasion at our southern border. As Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas refused to enforce our laws by rolling out the red carpet for illegal immigrants, Texas not only has the right to defend itself, but must take a stand for the sake of our country's sovereignty and future. I am proud to stand with Texas because this is not just a Texas problem. This is a national crisis. Every single community has turned into a border community because of the open border policies of Joe Biden, overwhelming our communities, bringing illicit fentanyl, increasing crime, and displacing American tactic payers, including students in a high school at New York who were forced to study at home and now illegals are at a public high school to house them and students are forced to do online learning. (01:44) On Friday, I led New York Republicans calling on my home Governor Kathy Hochul, to join the 25 Governors in support of Texas Governor Abbott as he tirelessly works and stands with border patrol officers to not only secure Texas's border, but secure our country from this invasion that Joe Biden's policies have created. We are proud to stand with our colleagues from Texas today. You'll hear from many of them and I'm honored to turn it over to my colleague, the Majority Whip Tom Emmer.

Thank you, Elise. (02:15) In a Friday evening news dump, the Biden administration quietly revealed that they made history once again with their failed border policies. More than 302,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in December, making it the highest single month ever recorded. This unprecedented crisis is happening for one reason and one reason only. Joe Biden and the Democrats have rolled out the welcome map for illegal immigrants through their open borders agenda. As a result, Texas has been forced to step up and do what the federal government won't, protect its citizens and the American people. (02:56) Let me be very clear. Texas has every right to protect its citizens and their property, and Joe Biden should be ashamed of himself, not only for turning his back on the American people, but also for actively blocking Governor Abbott from doing his job. He has turned every community, Joe Biden has turned every community into a border community with his failed policies. Look no further than my home state of Minnesota, where according to media reports, a member of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group was recently arrested after being caught at the southern border and then released back into the country by this administration for nearly a year ago. Let that sink in as a known member of a terrorist organization roam freely from our southern border to our northern border for nearly an entire year because the Biden administration would not do its job. (03:52) The consequences of Biden's border crisis have been catastrophic and they are impacting every single American. House Republicans won't let it stand. That's why nine months ago we passed H.R.2, the strongest border security bill in decades. What has been the Biden White House and the Schumer Senate's response? To deny the crisis even exists and to brazenly lie about the president's role in creating the crisis. Joe Biden has the power to address this unprecedented crisis tomorrow by reversing the 64 executive actions he took to effectively open our southern border. (04:29) And Chuck Schumer has the power to stand up to the White House by saying zero is the acceptable number of illegal immigrants Congress will tolerate coming across our border. But they won't because they don't care. Enough is enough. Our House Republican majority will stand with Texas as they do the job Joe Biden refuses to do. We will continue to stand against the failed policies that created this crisis in the first place and we will only accept legislative solutions that actually secure our borders once and all. With that, one of the leaders in our conference on this, I'm turning it over to Chip Roy from Texas.

Well, thanks Elise. Thanks, Tom. And thanks to all these colleagues and friends for standing here and standing with Texas. Many of whom here are Texans. Thomas Jefferson says, "Self preservation is paramount to all law." I don't know if I could talk about Thomas Jefferson now unless his statute gets somehow removed from the capitol suddenly, but the fact of the matter is, that's the basis for why we even have a government and why we have a constitution in the first place, is to ensure that we can take care of ourselves, to ensure that we're secure. Our borders are wide open. And unless you debate whether there's an invasion, talk to the people of Texas. (05:48) I was in Brackettville, Texas just last week in Tony's district, where Tony... And the people down there, the ranchers, there were 200 people in the room and they were saying, "Where are you?" They were looking at us and saying, "What are you going to do? What are you going to do to help us? What are you going to do to protect us? Because if not, we are going to have to protect ourselves." And that's what we're seeing out of Governor Abbott appropriately. (06:12) The president has the ability right now the power to stop it. 2.12F, he could use that power. He could undo many of the orders that Tom referenced. But he chooses not to because this is all a sham and it's purposeful. It is a purposeful effort to deluge our society and to undermine our way of life, to destroy Western civilization. It is being done, the hands of Democrats in power in the White House. We have a duty in Congress to stand up against funding that behavior. And the governor of Texas has the duty, the right and the ability under the Constitution of the United States to stand up and defend the people of Texas. And we are going to stand alongside the governor. With that I'll turn it over, my friend Michael McCaul.

Thanks, Chip. Let me just say Texas is ground zero, but it impacts every state. I want to thank the non Texans for standing with Texas here. Like Ronald Reagan once said, "A country with no borders is no country at all." We don't have a border. This man on day one rescinded all the policies of the prior administration. They finally got it secure, that is Remain in Mexico. Migrant protection protocols, building the wall, all these things led to a more secure border. He could change that tomorrow without any legislation coming out of the Senate, but he chooses not to do so. (07:41) I went down to the border recently and Monica Dela Cruz and her district, with Tony Gonzalez and with Monica Dela Cruz. I've been down down there so many times. I was Deputy Attorney General for criminal justice state of Texas. I was the chief of Counter-terrorism state of Texas, and then I was chairman of Homeland before Foreign Affairs. I've seen this thing, this movie for 25 years. This is the worst movie I've ever seen. When you go down to the detention spaces, it's a human tragedy unfolding and they're overcrowded and they are overloaded, and they are dumping them into the United States of America. Why? Because they're being processed in the United States rather than outside the United States. It's really that simple. And they get released, catch and release. 8 million encounters. What are we going to do with them? With no legal status, criminal enterprise in the United States, MS-13, sex trafficking organizations. Then we have 300 on the terror watch list. (08:47) When I was chair of Homeland, that's a staggering number. The FBI director said that's a big red flag, and that's just who we know about. Finally, 200,000 tests due to fentanyl poisoning. My children have been to funerals. One just last Christmas Eve, a friend took fentanyl by accident, thought it was Xanax. Christmas morning, the family tried to wake him up, he was dead. This is the real human life tragedy of the Biden Administration's policies. We will begin our articles of impeachment tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM on the Homeland Security Committee and we will prevail because nobody deserves it more than this man. I call him the architect of destruction and chaos. He has created this crisis and he knows better. He's smarter. He knows what he's done and he needs to pay for his sins. So with that, let me introduce another great Texan, Mr. Roger Williams. Thank you.

Thank you, Chairman. I too have been going to the border since 2005 when I was Secretary of State of Texas under Governor Perry. And I can tell you, it's worse today than it was yesterday, and it's going to be worse tomorrow than it is today. There is an invasion taking place at this southern border, a national security crisis of Biden's making. Millions of fighting age men and women are making their way into our communities and draining American resources, infecting all of you out in the audience. (10:19) I spent the last week in my district meeting with local law enforcement, elected officials and constituents to hear how their communities are suffering from Biden's failures at the border. I heard how bad actors are smuggling deadly fentanyl into our streets and cartel members are terrorizing our communities with human trafficking and violent crimes. My constituents, my neighbors, and friends are pleading for help to secure our border. Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden continue to ignore. They totally ignore the pleas of the American people, forcing Governor Abbott to take on the crisis alone. Instead of coming to Texas' aid, our president has decided to retaliate against and target patriots such as Governor Abbott and the brave men and women of the National

... the guard who are putting their lives on the line to safeguard our nation. And remember, President Biden has only been to a parking lot in El Paso, Texas. It's his way of talking about the border. And Texans have had enough, in the past time for Biden to get to work and to do what is required of our commander-in-chief. If the federal government refuses to do their job to protect the American people, we must ensure Texas, Texas, is allowed to defend its borders and its people. It's my honor now to bring one of my colleagues again from Texas, Congressman Brian Babin to the stand. Brian not here? He's pulling teeth somewhere, I guess. Jodey Arrington.

Well, among other things, I hosted eight town halls last week. And we don't have time here today that's sufficient to express the level of outrage that the people in West Texas feel on account of their federal government and their commander-in-chief abandoning them. Not only has this commander-in-chief, this derelict president, failed to enforce the laws of the land, abdicated his chief responsibility to provide for a common defense, he has unilaterally surrendered control of our border to terrorist drug cartels. (12:27) But he's gone one more step to add insult to injury to the people of Texas and to border states who are trying to fend off this deluge. At every turn, he's used every lever of power to obstruct our leaders from doing the job that he's failed to do. The fundamental question, and I suspect the Supreme Court will answer this, is can Texas and any other state defend its border, protect its citizens, and enforce the laws when the federal government fails to do it? (13:13) The Constitution is explicit and unequivocal in answering that question, Article IV Section 4 says, basically that every state is guaranteed protection against an invasion by their federal government. And it would make sense that our founding fathers would make provision for a circumstance given that they were pretty wary of a central government. And in Article I Section 10, it says, if there is an invasion or... this is important... imminent danger such that will not permit delay, the state has the sovereign constitutionally protected power to defend its border, protect its citizens and enforce the laws of the land. And I would posit that not only do they have the right, I think it's the duty of the state to protect its citizens. (14:08) So let me tell you a few things in closing that I believe to be true. Number one, the state that fought and won its independence against another country is not going to play passive victim to a failed federal government. Number two, the people of Texas are not going to ask Joe Biden for permission to protect its citizens and defend its border. And finally, not only is the Constitution on our side, but the American people are on our side as well. (14:40) With that, I'd like to ask my dear friend, proud Texan, Michael Cloud to... Or Brian Babin, even better, the Chair of the Border Caucus and great [inaudible 00:14:51].

Honored to be here with all of you all. Thank you for coming. It's a great pleasure, but it's a disturbing pleasure as well. For those who don't know me, my name is Brian Babin and I represent the 36th District of Texas. And I would like to just say a few words here if you don't mind. (15:17) We're here today because this current administration of Joe Biden would rather focus on warped gender ideologies and radical inclusion policies than to act to safeguard our national security and our sovereignty, the very sovereignty that's being threatened daily by a border crisis that seems to be worsening, not by the day, but by the minute. (15:43) Since Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas put out the welcome mat at our southern border, we have been besieged by millions of unvetted immigrants, including criminals, suspected terrorists, and more, itching to gain entry into the United States. And shamefully, this president and his cronies have gone out of their way to oblige them. (16:07) The state of Texas is using every resource available to ensure that our southern border doesn't become a relic, an antique of the past. In a persevering spirit, reminiscent of that displayed by those at the Alamo in our great state of Texas, the Lone Star State has stood its ground against an invasion and an administration that clearly wants the opposing forces to win. If we cannot defend our borders, America has no future. And so I thank God for Texas, which unquestionably has the constitutional right to protect itself, and I'm very, very proud to be a Texan. And if this becomes the hill to die on, I can tell you that I will gladly join my state and my colleagues back here, those that are from Texas, and our colleagues that don't have to be from Texas, that know that this is a disaster in the making for the United States of America. (17:07) And with that, I will yield to... Who's next? Michael Cloud, my colleague. Thank you.

If we were to ask the cartels to design a border security apparatus, it would look pretty much like what we have today. They don't want full-fledged open borders, they want just enough of an illusion of border security that they can continue to charge a premium to the migrants who are coming across our borders. They continue to do devastating things to them and to our communities. (17:42) Throughout south Texas, as I, as many others, visited throughout our district, you can hear people extremely frustrated. I had a meeting with a number of farmers. I thought we were going to talk about the ag bill, but all they wanted to talk about was the border. That was the same thing over and over again. They're tired of seeing their communities decimated. They're tired of seeing people they know killed. They're tired of seeing the weight that happens on our schools and our hospitals and everything that's happening in our communities because Biden refuses to secure the border. (18:14) Now, you'll hear him talk about, hey, we need more money, but they don't. The Biden administration, let's be clear, has every single authority that the Trump administration has. They have more resources than the Trump administration has, but they refuse to do anything about it when it comes to securing our border. If they wanted to secure the border, they have every single authority necessary to do so today, and they could do it. But they, instead of enforcing the clear congressional intent of the law, use every single authority they can try to wrangle out of the law to absolutely erase any sense of security. (18:59) Now, what this does, of course, is fund cartels to the tunes of tens of millions of dollars a week and aid and abet them in their extremely nefarious actions. We have to control the purse strings here in Congress and ensure that they do not have the money to continue to do bad things. They need to step up and they need to secure the border. But at a very minimum, Mr. Biden, if you will not secure the border, at least get out of Texas's way and let us do so. The fact that they continue to go against Texas doing the job of the federal government, on our own state tax dollars, is absolutely incredulous. It shows their intent that they do not want a secure border. They want not only an open border, but they want the mechanism we have where they're able to create an entire industrial complex around the illegal nefarious activities that the cartels are doing in our communities. It must be stopped and we will continue to work to hold the line. And I appreciate Texas standing up and the states that have joined us in doing so. (20:12) Welcome colleague, Tony Gonzalez, from Texas 23rd.

I want to thank all my colleagues for being here today. It's very clear that House Republicans are united in securing the border. I stand with Governor Abbott. I think you've seen the bulk of governors across the country stand with Governor Abbott. And it should be very clear to President Biden that in order to get this border under control, it's pretty simple. He just has to re-implement the Trump policies that worked. He does this and the problem goes away. (20:45) I have two-thirds of the Texas-Mexico border. We see it every day. I think back to my time in the military, I'm going to close with this. My time in the military, the most difficult job I had was being a CACO officer. That's when somebody in service passes away, you're that liaison that helps the family deal with that situation. (21:05) I had to deal with that while I was in service, and I have to deal with that as a member of Congress. It's not fair for Americans to die due to this border crisis. I think of the three Americans that were killed in Jordan. Today, we're talking about them. Today, we're talking about the Americans that were killed overseas. If this border crisis continues, we're going to be talking about Americans being killed in here in the United States. That should unite us, not divide us, not only as Republicans, but as all members of Congress. It is our duty to ensure that America is safe. So thank you again. And with that, I'd like to turn it over to my good friend and colleague from Texas's 13th District, Ronny Jackson.

Well, welcome everyone. Thank you. I'd like to just start by, I'm going to reiterate what's already been said several times, and just to remind everyone that this is a disaster that was engineered and facilitated by Joe Biden and the Biden administration. We wouldn't have this if it weren't willingly being put into place.

I also want to remind the American people, most specifically those that are going to go out and vote in November, that the people that are suffering most from this right now are hardworking, blue collar Americans that rely on the resources, federal, local, and state resources that are out there to provide roads and schools and hospitals and food and school lunches. Those things are a resource, that's not an indefinite, bottomless resource. Those resources are incredibly stressed right now, and there will come a day soon where those resources are not going to be available. (22:31) It's already at the case right now where a lot of people go to the emergency department. They can't get seen in the emergency department because they're overwhelming number of immigrants that are illegally here that are seeking medical care. Taxpayers in this country pay for those resources. We can't allow our country to just be wide open to anybody who wants to come here to fall in on those resources and use those resources. That's not a recipe for success and for any country in the world, certainly not for us. (22:57) I want to say that, I want to remind those people that are going to go out and vote that this is going to be [inaudible 00:23:03]. The Biden administration will tell you day after day that this is ultimately not going to be a big deal, and that somehow this is good for our country. This is not good for our country. They're in the process right now of putting together a messaging bill that will give them an opportunity to look like they're trying to solve this problem and all they're doing is trying to politically get out of the situation that they put themselves in. (23:22) I want to tell everybody that we're not going to back down in Texas. As a member of the Texas delegation, I stand strong with Texas. I know I've talked to a lot of the border patrol agents as well. They fully understand what's going on in Texas. They back what we're doing in Texas, and we will not back down, and the Biden administration will not win this fight. With that, I'll turn it over to my West Texas colleague, Congressman August Pfluger.

Good evening. It's the willful refusal, the willful and systemic refusal to enforce the laws and the egregious breach of trust that will eventually lead to Secretary Mayorkas' impeachment. And it's not just Mayorkas, it's the entire administration. When you think about what that's led to, I want to tell you about a couple of people that lost their lives. Let's talk about the Tambunga family. 71-year-old grandmother and a 7-year-old granddaughter driving about two miles to their home, killed by a human trafficker doing a hundred miles an hour with 11 illegal aliens in the back of their vehicle. Instantly killed. (24:33) That story is being replayed every single day, not just in Texas, but throughout the United States. It's the dozens, the hundreds, the thousands of moms who have been up here to Capitol Hill telling us story after story after story of their kids being poisoned by fentanyl that no longer wake up the next morning because they ingested something that they had no idea was laced with fentanyl and they were poisoned and died. (25:01) It's the farmers and ranchers whose properties are being ravaged. Who don't want to go out and do the farming and the ranching that their families have done for so many decades. It is the willful refusal to enforce the laws. The executive branch has one job and that's to enforce the laws that are on the book. We in the legislative branch are going to assert our Article One authorities, and we're going to start by putting Secretary Mayorkas to the test with an impeachment. (25:34) I think the voters are going to continue into November by calling this what it is. It is an invasion. It is the most egregious breach of our national security in the history of this country and those effects are being played out every single day in so many places, and I believe have led to the weakening of our security all over the world to a place in Jordan where we lost three service members today. It's that weakness, or several days ago, it's that weakness that we have to, and we will, use the power of purse to reverse. President Biden, don't mess with Texas. I'd like to now introduce my friend from Texas 24, Beth Van Duyne.

Joe Biden is the extremists in his administration or arsonist. From day one, they have burned down every shred of strong, effective Trump era border security policy that was protecting America. Through purposeful and persistent actions, the arsonists of the Biden administration have created a national security and humanitarian nightmare. (26:44) By turning over control over our southern border to the Mexican cartels, Biden and the Democrats have ushered in a new massive era of slave trade here in America that is cursing the lives of illegal immigrant women, little girls, and little boys. But Biden, Mayorkas, and the Democrats couldn't care less about the lives of these small children. They're condemning them to endless rapes and a lifetime of sex trafficking enslavement. Rather than using the power that they already have in existing law, to this end, it's utter catastrophe. (27:20) Biden is salivating at the prospect of some staggeringly horrible senate compromise bill to enshrine that this ongoing disaster continues. I've got news for the Senate. You don't reward arsonists by handing them gasoline. Instead, you do what Texas is doing. You dig in, you fight, you hold the line, and you never give in when our national security is constantly being threatened by the traitorous actions of the executive branch. Stand with Texas, hold the line, and never back down. (27:57) I want to introduce Morgan Luttrell, an amazing Texan, great friend, and defender of America.

My colleagues have spoken most eloquently about the problems that we're seeing, not only the state of Texas, but across the country. In my opinion, and I'm talking to the American public, this isn't a red or blue issue. This is an American issue. (28:17) The sheer numbers that we're seeing coming across our border every single day, it's not only skilling the infrastructure from our small towns, but you're hearing the leadership across the country, in the big cities from New York to Denver, Chicago, they're begging the administration for help, begging the administration for help. (28:31) I want to stand here with my colleagues and say, Governor Abbott, great job. Keep it up. As they've stated, Texas will never back down. We count on the federal government to help us out as much as possible and they have failed us in Texas, so Greg Abbott has stepped up and said, we will secure our own border and is doing so. (28:50) What does President Biden do? He sues the state of Texas, which he does all the time because we have the ability to stop the flow. President Biden could stand in the White House, today, right now and say, secure the border, and it would happen, but he won't do it. He hasn't done it for the past three years, and now we're in an election cycle and he knows the American public are asking for help. We're spending billions and billions of dollars on illegal immigrants coming across our border. (29:13) The United States is on the top of the list with sex trafficking. Houston is one of the leading cities for sex trafficking. The federal government has said, we are not helping so Texas said, all right, enough is enough. Governor Abbott, keep up the great work. With that, I'll pass it off to Ms. De La Cruz. She still here? Here we go. Take it away.

Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Congresswoman De La Cruz and I have the honor to represent Texas' 15th Congressional District. (29:45) I am so proud of the great state of Texas for doing what the Biden administration has failed to do. It is [foreign language 00:30:02]. It is my community, my people, over 90% Hispanics, that this is affecting. Shame. Shame on the Biden administration. Shame on Joe Biden for turning his back on [foreign language 00:30:24]. Shame on Mayorkas for turning his back to those brave men and women out there on the front lines and turning his back to my South Texas. The Biden administration is a disgrace for what they have done and Texas will hold the line. Thank you. I turn this back to Weber, Randy Weber. Thank you.

That's a hard act to follow. For those of you who don't know, Texas has 1200 miles of the 2000 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico. We are the ones bearing the brunt of this crisis. You've heard it from all my colleagues. Our communities are bearing the brunt of millions of illegal crossings over the last three years. Actually, it's been a lot longer than that, but it's been under the Biden administration exaggerated really badly. (31:20) Let's be clear. This is a manmade problem. It's just that simple. The consequences of an open border are not just a force of nature, they are the results of decisions made in Washington, and it's time for some accountability and prioritizing Americans in Texans community and safety. How's that for a novel idea? (31:44) We cannot ignore the consequences of Biden's choices, and that is precisely what our great Governor Abbott is doing. Folks, I love what Governor Abbott's doing. I think he ought to send Biden a letter. When Biden says, stand down, he ought to send Biden a letter, as Brenda's grandmother used to say, with three words. Well, four actually. Go butt a stump. That's what Biden ought to be hearing from Governor Abbott. But Governor Abbott's doing the right thing. He's taking the bull by the horns. He's prioritizing safety. (32:15) I want to go back to some history. We talked about Thomas Jefferson here a while back. Here's the fact. The 13 colonies, then the 13 states were in existence before the federal government. Federal government didn't establish the colonies or the states. The states established the federal government. Sometimes we forget that. (32:37) I think the Supreme Court got it wrong, five to four. Maybe we ought to tell them to go butt a stump, but I don't want to do that on national camera. Well, anyway, the 10th Amendment is in place. It says, all rights remain to the people that are not enumerated in the Constitution. President Biden, step aside, get out of the way. Stop your war

... on Texas for doing the right thing. It's such a very simple job and yet he refuses to do it. Mr. President, you picked the wrong state to mess with. You picked the wrong governor to mess with, and quite frankly, you picked the wrong state delegation to mess with. Pick up the phone, instruct your appointees to secure the border, Mr. President. It has been said here, "Enough is enough." Don't mess with Texas. And with that, I will yield to my good friend Nathan Moran.

Thank you Mr. Weber. It's a pleasure to be here with you today, and thanks to all my colleagues for their eloquent discussion of this issue today. (33:49) It is clear to me, without any question, the proximate cause of this crisis are the policies of the Biden administration and the failure and refusal of Secretary Mayorkas to simply do his job. But Democrats nationwide are taking notice, and they're beginning to acknowledge that there is a crisis. And not only that, but they're beginning to acknowledge that the crisis is a result of the Biden Administration's open border of policies. (34:16) We saw this just a week and a half ago when House Resolution 957, my resolution denouncing the Biden demonstration's open policies was not just supported by Republicans, but it was supported by 14 Democrats. Democrats from Washington State, from Alaska, from Florida, not just from Texas. People across the nation are beginning to understand what we know in Texas to be true, and that there is clearly an invasion. (34:41) Even so, the Biden administration continues to ignore this reality and it resists exercising its executive powers to address this crisis. Instead, its executive energy is spent and focused on fighting Texas in its effort to secure the border and deflecting and defending its atrocious record and claiming money is the cause of all this. That's all I hear from the Biden administration is, "Well, we need more money. We need more money." (35:10) We're spending money at an all time high for border security. Yet what we are seeing is an all time high of encounters, and there's only one reason for that. And it started January 20th, 2021 and that's the open border policies. (35:23) Speaker Mike Johnson has laid out 64 specific actions that President Biden took, executive actions that he could undo. And every one of those actions since January 20th, 2021, undermined the border of security of this nation. (35:40) This is not an immigration processing issue. This is a border security, a national sovereignty, and a national security issue. It must be solved and it can be solved immediately. (35:52) Congressional action is important, but its necessity would be less critical if the President would simply step up and do his job, if Secretary Mayorkas would step up and enforce the laws that are already on the books. Congressional action is not a substitute for that executive action, and it cannot be an excuse for the administration to simply say, "We're going to wait and see if there's a deal." A deal doesn't need to be made. He can make those decisions Today under 212(f). Secretary Mayorkas can enforce the law today, the laws that are already on the books, these things that we're working on in Congress are a supplement to what need to happen. We want to bring that number down to zero. (36:36) It's imperative that we continue calling out the Biden administration for his failure to follow the law and his failure to enforce the laws and turn its back on the American people. We need to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable this week and in the months to come, and we need to pass the key provisions of H.R.2, there's no question about it. The safety and security and the sovereignty of our nation is at stake and on the line. (37:01) With that, we are grateful. We stand with Governor Abbott. We stand to hold the line and we are grateful for all those across the nation who would do the same. This is indeed the crisis of our time. (37:13) Thank you for being here today.

I've been asked to moderate the questions that I want the whole delegation in non-Texans to participate. Yes ma'am.

What do you say to Dems who argue that House Republicans have no evidence that Mayorkas actually committed high crimes and misdemeanor worthy of impeachment. What do you hope to get out of the hearing today?

Well, I'd say a failure to enforce laws of the nation. But if you look at the founding fathers, it didn't have to violate a criminal statute. In fact, at the Constitutional Convention, they didn't have a lot of federal laws on the books. (37:51) And what it boils down to is under British common law was a breach of the public trust, basically something that is so injurious to the state that it called for an impeachment. So I think his dereliction of duty, his failure to uphold the laws of the nation, and his failure to the public and violating his own oath of office to protect the nation from all enemies, both foreign and domestic has been violated to the extent... (38:24) You talk about injury to a state, Texas has never seen so much injury as we do today. So I think it's high time. I think this man is again the architect of this and he has what's coming to him. Anybody else? Sure.

How do you feel about Senator James Lankford citing an election year as one of the reasons why Republicans are starting to back away from the deal he's negotiating in the Senate?

I applaud anybody trying to fix the system and trying to pass additional laws. I've done that in my course of my career, and border immigration's tough. (39:04) But the fact is, as been said before, it's the rescission of these executive orders that has created this crisis. He is created by executive fiat, a crisis down at the border. I'll give you a good example. Do you know the Remain in Mexico law is a 30-year-old statute that the Trump administration found and decided, "Hey, this may actually work." (39:28) And you know what it did? It didn't require legislative action. There were plenty of laws under the INA that pertain to this and if he could just reverse those policies back to the prior administration and that is in Catch and Release, Remain in Mexico, bill the wall, we'd come a long ways without any more congressional action. If the Senate passes something with significant policy changes, I think we'll take a look at that.

Speaker Johnson has said that Senate bill is dead on arrival in the House. It seems like you're striking a different tone. Can you talk about how you approach that? Do you think you might consider this somewhat leadershipping?

Well, I think he has a little bit of a preview that say a lot of us don't, but I don't think he's going to put anything on the floor that compromises what we stand for and makes the situation worse. So we don't know exactly what's going to come out of the Senate. (40:28) We do know that these over 60 executive actions, if reversed, could change everything down there. And it would change it overnight without one legislative action. I wish they would deal with political asylum. But the president can change that overnight if he wants to.

Sorry guys, last question.

Thank you. Just last hour, the Democrats were in here and Congressman Goldman said, "If the Republicans are going to open the door to impeach a secretary because they don't like how that secretary is doing his job, what happens if there's another child separation policy?" And he says, "This sets a precedent to impeach for policy disagreements." Does it set that precedent?

It is not a policy disagreement. It's a man who is responsible, in my judgment for aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise in the United States. It's something that has allowed 8 million people to try to enter this country. It's allowed 300 people on the terror watch this; we don't know how many more got in. (41:31) The FBI director Wray, 19 hijackers took down the World Trade Center, for God's sakes how many more have gotten in under this man's reckless policies? (41:42) And finally, the fentanyl deaths, to me, that's enough. When I look at a parent in the eye whose son or daughter didn't wake up the next day, they deserve better. And this may not go anywhere in the Senate, but for God's sakes, we're sending a message loud and clear on behalf of the American people that we disapprove of this man. Yes, in the policies, but if you look back to the founders, dereliction of duty, breach of public trust. (42:13) Those of us who live in a border state see a breach of public trust every single day. No one sees it more than Monica, who I thought gave excellent remarks. We see that breach of public trust on our border every single day. And it's time that we stand up and make a bold statement to the first cabinet member impeached since the Ulysses S. Grant administration. And that should send a bold message. Thank-