On the recordFebruary 6, 2024
We have something in common with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. This country, Main Street, and every one of our districts have a challenge with fentanyl. We have all witnessed the deaths in our communities of good, young men and women from this scourge of fentanyl. Nonetheless, Secretary Mayorkas is doing his job. Madam Speaker, I want you to look at this graph. The seizures at the border of fentanyl: 2019, 2,800 pounds; 2023, 27,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized. Madam Speaker, I just got back again from visiting the border. I went to San Ysidro, and, again, I asked the men and women in uniform: What do you need from us to double these numbers? It was a simple answer: We want more resources. We want more personnel, more drug-sniffing dogs, and we want more equipment. Some of those agents were struggling. They were working double shifts. Women, moms, men, and fathers were saying: We don't have time for families. We are going to have to find another job. Right now we have a solution. We have legislation that the Senate has worked on with Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, and the President supporting a solution that will bring resources to the border, and the majority party here refuses to bring that legislation forward for a vote. Who is derelict in their duty? We must step up and make sure that we protect Main Street and we help Secretary Mayorkas do his job and double these numbers.
