Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, I do have an amendment at the desk, and I do want to make clear that this is on behalf of August Pfluger, my colleague from Texas, who has been a champion of this issue since he has been in Congress.
The issue that is before us as we take up the Department of Homeland Security appropriations is the policy that the administration has put forward and, indeed, some Members of this Chamber, even some on this side of the aisle, have put forward. The policy would limit the ability to transport people who have come here illegally and that have been released into the United States by the administration into Texas. It would limit the ability to transport these individuals to other places in the country.
We have referred to this as the remain in Texas policy, which we Texans take significant issue with. The impact on the State of Texas cannot be overstated.
Texas, more than any other State in the Union, has been bearing the brunt of the wide-open border policies that have endangered the American people now for 3\1/2\ years, something that we hope to end soon.
We, in Congress, have a duty under Article I to do something about it. That is why we put forward, I believe, a good DHS appropriations bill.
We made clear that we need to secure the border in the process, but what we are not going to do is allow funds to be used to limit the ability of Texans to alleviate the damage being done to our State.
We have spent now, I think, $13 billion, with a b, to carry out the duties that the Federal Government are supposed to carry out under the Constitution of the United States. That is what Texas has had to do.
We have now been able to defray some of the traffic. We have now been able to decrease and force some of that traffic to other States, but we shouldn't be having to do that. We shouldn't be having to put up razor wire. We shouldn't be having to move our DPS troopers down to the border instead of allowing them to do their job to patrol the rest of the State, particularly because in the rest of the State, there are massive amounts of fentanyl pouring into our communities and our schools, killing our kids and killing the people in our community.
Our position is that under no circumstances should any of the funds in this bill be used to limit the ability of the Governor of Texas or any of the other leaders of the State of Texas, or, frankly, leaders in other States from transporting people out of Texas so that other States have to bear the burden equally or at least partially. It is not even close to equally, by the way, partially, as much as Texas.
In particular, take Kinney County, Texas. We had testimony in the Judiciary Committee from the leadership, the county attorney from Kinney County, Texas.
Prior to the Biden administration's policies being implemented, in 2021, they had about 150 arrests. Do you know how many they have had in the subsequent 3 years? Mr. Chair, there have been 7,000 arrests in a county of 3,000 people.
We have documented evidence of individuals who have been unable to go get 911 services in Kinney County because the sole ambulance in Kinney County, population 3,000, was out dealing with issues involving illegal aliens.
Meanwhile, the people who live there and pay taxes, a person died because they weren't able to get a 911 response because it is being consumed and those activities are being used to deal with the issue that the Federal Government not only refuses to deal with but, in fact, is purposely putting gas on the fire.
I am here to advocate for the amendment being offered by Mr. Pfluger to say that no funds shall be able to be used to implement such a policy.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, my simple question, although the gentlewoman has yielded her time back, would simply be: What is the problem? What is the harm of putting the language in the bill if it is a policy that is not being implemented? I would tell you that it is a $13 billion rumor.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, in the wake of 3\1/2\ years of abject failure, but worse than that, purposeful action by the executive branch of the Federal Government to undermine the security of the American people, empower cartels, empower China, and allow little children, little girls to get sold into the sex trafficking trade for political expediency for the radical progressive Democrat left, in the wake of all of that with dead Americans, with Laken Riley, with Lizbeth Medina, with Kayla Hamilton, with all of the horrific stories, the stories of a 12-year- old little girl getting raped, a 13-year-old little girl getting raped, in the wake of all of that, now the administration wants to continue its lawlessness by the use and abuse of executive power to grant amnesty.
That is the goal. That is the aim. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, our radical, progressive Democratic colleagues, view this as political opportunism--nothing more, nothing less. This is not about the huddled masses being invited into the United States. This is not about anything of the sort. This is about political power. That is what this is about.
As a result, 53 human beings roasted in the Texas heat in a tractor- trailer in San Antonio, Texas, which I represent, because my radical, progressive Democratic colleagues and the radical, progressive Democratic regime in the White House at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue care more about political expediency than these human beings. That is the truth.
They care more about political expediency than the individual Americans dying from fentanyl poisoning or any of the individuals that I just described who were murdered or raped or killed because we are allowing criminals to be released into the United States illegally, unlawfully, using and abusing parole authority.
Now, the administration wants to grant amnesty. Why? Trust us, it is out of the goodness of our hearts, we are told. No, it is for the political expediency of setting up future voters.
Importantly, and more presciently, this is all about creating more incentive for more people to flood the zone, to flood the border, to come into this country. That is what it is about.
It doesn't matter whether it empowers cartels. It doesn't matter whether it empowers our enemies. It doesn't matter what it means for the security of the people of Texas or anybody else in this country. It is all about flooding the zone with more numbers.
The legislation that we have before us, the amendment that we are putting forward, would prohibit the use of funds from promoting such a foolish amnesty plan by this radical administration that refuses to follow the law.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Self), my good friend.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleague from Texas. I agree with him, and I associate myself with his remarks.
The unilateral action by this executive branch is nothing new. They have been doing it with student loans. They have been doing it with all sorts of laws, where they ignore the law--parole authority, abuse of law, endangering the American people.
This would give permanent residence and a path to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of illegal alien spouses of U.S. citizens and their noncitizen minor children. That is being done through unilateral action by the executive branch.
This is not how we are supposed to make policy or law. It is important for us to use the power of the purse to push back.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment will prohibit Homeland Security appropriations from being used to carry out President Biden's climate executive orders.
People might wonder why this is important. President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have been doing a massive amount of damage to this country with wide-open borders. Not only do they endanger the American people, but they have literally lied and been caught lying about their own Border Patrol agents, who they accused of whipping Haitian migrants when they knew full well it wasn't true.
They have been targeting, undermining, and attacking their own personnel, their own law enforcement community, going after CBP and Border Patrol simply because Border Patrol wants to do their job. That endangers the American people.
That is not it. That is not all they are doing. The President's executive orders are undermining our national security and making us beholden to China in other ways, making us beholden to the rest of the world by undermining our ability to produce reliable energy--all in pursuit of radical, progressive Democrats' vision of unicorn energy policy, which is unreliable and will not produce the energy needed to be able to carry out and be competitive in the world.
EVs are piling up on lots as we speak. Dealers can't unload them. They literally can't. They can't sell them. Why? Because if I want to get in my car in Austin, Texas, and drive to Midland, I have to stop three times along the way and can't even find charging stations. Put aside the fact that the cars are more expensive, more unreliable, and more difficult to repair. That is the reality.
Meanwhile, unreliable energy is dotting our grids across the entire country, including Texas. Why? Because instead of pursuing logical policies like nuclear, if you care about CO
We are literally shooting ourselves in the economic foot. That is what we are doing. We are doing it all because, I don't know, the feels. I don't know, put a sticker on your Tesla while you drive around and feel good about yourself. Pat yourself on the back when you are not denting CO
The radical climate change executive orders by the President are undermining our national security, forcing the DOD, DHS, all these executive branch agencies to weaken their ability to be productive and get their job done.
Can you imagine the Border Patrol can't even talk right now on radios? They can't even communicate when they move along the border, if they are even allowed to go man the border. Instead, they are changing diapers in some room in one of the ports of entry because we have been dumping people in through parole policies.
Now they are going to be stuck down there trying to charge their batteries, hoping they can even go find the people crossing the river. You can't even make this crap up.
If you set out to destroy a country, if you set out to literally destroy a country, I don't know how you could come up with policies better than those of the radical, progressive Democrats, who want to remake this country in their radical, leftist image.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I would just note that it is critically important that we adopt these amendments to restrict the executive branch from carrying out these executive orders. They are undermining our efficiency and effectiveness.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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