Andy Barr: “During a meeting in the White House, our newly elected Speaker of the House interrupted Homeland Security Secretary…”

“During a meeting in the White House, our newly elected Speaker of the House interrupted Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who was reciting statistics relating to the border. ``I reject your facts,'' Ms. Pelosi said. Well, here are the facts: Fact: Last year, 17,000 people with prior criminal convictions were stopped trying to cross our southern border. Fact: The recent 8,000-plus caravan that attempted to breach our southern border contained over 600 confirmed criminal migrants. Fact: Approximately 90 percent of the heroin seized by Customs and Border Protection is interdicted along the southwest border of the United States at and between the ports of entry, and Mexico continues to be the primary supplier of heroin to the United States. Fact: The Department of Homeland Security reports a 73 percent surge in the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl interdicted at the southern border over the last 2 years. Fact: Over 72,000 Americans died of an opioid overdose last year. Fact: In my home State of Kentucky, we suffer from the fifth highest opioid overdose rate in America. Fact: The administration's request to Congress is not funding for a sea-to-sea concrete wall, as some falsely claim. It is a commonsense request for a sophisticated border wall system, including strategically placed 30- foot steel barriers, technology, lights, cameras, sensors, and other infrastructure.…”