John Rutherford: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are calling the…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are calling the situation at the southern border a manufactured crisis. What a heartless and naive thing to say. Tell that to the families of almost 300 people who die every week from the heroin flooding across our southern border. Tell that to the ICE agents who seized enough synthetic opioids in 2017 to kill every single American by overdose. Or come on down with me to the 2100 block of Jefferson Street in Jacksonville, Florida, and you tell that to the medical examiner who saw, in 2017, the highest rate of fentanyl-related deaths in the entire State of Florida. A manufactured crisis? Hardly, Mr. Speaker. Thankfully, the experts at DHS who are on the ground doing the good work to protect us understand what is necessary to combat this crisis, and they have asked Congress for our help. These DHS professionals have told us that security at the border requires a multilayered approach that includes additional personnel, increased technology, access roads, and, yes, a wall. The wall is not and never has been the beginning and end to border security, but it is an important part of a comprehensive security plan. Let's give the DHS the money for the wall, get out of the way, and let the folks on the ground do their job. Mr. Speaker, I have spent 41 years of my life as a law enforcement officer, including 12 years as sheriff.…”