Termination of National Emergency Declared By the President on February 2019--Veto Message From the President of the United States

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time.

Today I rise in strong support of securing our borders. There is a crisis at the southwest border that can no longer be denied.

Changing demographics have created unprecedented challenges for Border Patrol agents. Today, record large groups of women and children from Central American countries are overwhelming Border Patrol facilities and undermining the safety of migrants and staff.

Family apprehensions for fiscal year 2019 are already 800 percent higher than fiscal year 2013.

Customs and Border Protection statistics indicate that border apprehensions are on pace to hit a 10-year high.

Human smugglers are exploiting loopholes in our broken immigration system and using children as visas to gain entry into the U.S.

Further, drugs are pouring through our porous borders. As you just heard the gentleman mention, in fiscal year 2018, Customs and Border Protection seized almost 900,000 pounds of drugs at the border, the majority of which were seized between the ports of entry. That includes approximately 2,000 pounds of fentanyl, which equals a lethal dose for the entire United States population.

To address this crisis, we need an all-of-the-above solution to border security that includes manpower, 21st century technology, and a barrier. With this approach, we will stem the flow of drugs that are devastating our communities. We will stop human smugglers and others from crossing hundreds of miles of open desert with innocent children.

Border security used to be a bipartisan issue. I have been on the Homeland Security Committee since it was established as a select committee after 9/11.

Not one time in the history of that committee has there been any partisan dispute about the need for a barrier, the wall, until Donald Trump became President, and now it is a toxic issue.

I stand by President Trump's actions to keep Americans safe, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same. Vote against the effort to override the President's veto.

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