Chair Rodgers Opening Remarks at Oversight Hearing on Biden's Border Crisis (1.17.24)

the chair of the full committee Miss Rogers for her five minutes for an opening statement thank you chair Griffith America is less secure today because of President Biden's border crisis the administration's failure to enforce the laws harming the American people our open borders have far-reaching consequences on our nation's economy our Health Care system and our education system the Biden administration's refusal to act as a failure of leadership to protect and defend our nation Americans faith and trust in their government suffers as a result last December the Pew research poll showed that 67% of Americans are not confident in the president's ability to make wise decisions about immigration policies last year this subcommittee traveled to McAllen Texas where we saw the consequences of unpredicted unprotected borders up close and after witnessing what I saw there I was deeply troubled I had trouble sleeping we talked with everyday Americans who were struggling to deal with their new reality of overwhelmed hospitals and schools we toured a path by the cartels to smuggle migrants and illegal drugs into the United States and we met with border patrol Personnel who shared how frustrated they are with this administration's policies which are making their jobs nearly impossible in the year since our hearing the crisis has only worsened the Biden border crisis is allowing records amount of fentanyl to pour into to our communities more people than ever are dying from fentanyl poisoning it Remains the leading cause of death for Americans between ages of 18 and 45 a record 74 and a half million fentanyl pills were seized just last year while some may celebrate this the sad truth is for every batch seized more slips through undetected and more lives are lost that's the message Molly Kean shared with our committee last year after her son Carson took a pill he thought would help his anxiety it turned out to be laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl no one should feel the pain Molly felt more can and must be done President Biden's border crisis is not only harming border communities it's it's harming every Community across the country America's largest cities often run by politicians who once proudly declared their cities to be so-called Sanctuary cities are now begging migrants not to come and pleading with the administration to do something New York City's homeless population is at an all-time high fueled by the constant arrival of more migrants the migrant influx is projected to cost New York City alone 12 billion dollar over three years and the governor of New York announced just yesterday that she wants to spend another $2.4 billion from the state to care for massive increase in migrants and that's on top of the nearly two billion the state already allocated in emergency funds just this past week students in New York City were sent home and told to return to remote learning all because their school had to be converted into a temporary shelter for nearly 2,000 migrants President Biden's open border agenda is unsustainable irresponsible and inhuman the problems at our Southern border could be mtig mitigated in part by enforcing existing immigration laws this Administration is choosing to ignore House Republicans have made securing our border a top priority and pass sweeping Border Protection legislation at the start of this Congress hr2 would go a long way to solving the Biden border crisis but unfortunately President Biden and the Senate Democrats continue to show little interest in a solution House Republicans also passed the halt fentanyl act led by chairs Griffith and L to permanently give our law enforcement the tools they need to keep deadly fentanyl off our streets the Senate must take action every day they do not means another day that communities across the country struggle with the toll of the Biden border crisis the American people deserve better I yield back G lady yields back thank you so much chair now recognizes ranking remember the