Bob Menendez: “I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss H.R. 2, the House Republicans'…”

“I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss H.R. 2, the House Republicans' border bill that fails to fix our broken immigration system. I have been to our southern border twice since January because I do believe it is important that we experience those challenges firsthand. Despite there being an immense amount of work to do at our border, this legislation fails to meet the moment. Instead of solutions, Republicans want a wall; a wall that would immediately be obsolete upon completion and would only serve as a painful reminder of the Republicans' failed border policies; a wall that would cost almost $25 million per mile to complete, resulting in a total bill to the American taxpayers of over $11 billion. For a party that talks about wasteful government spending, how can this possibly be the best use of our taxpayer dollars? Mr. Speaker, I and my colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee offered numerous amendments to this bill to address some of its core deficiencies. When I offered an amendment to strike this wasteful spending on an inefficient wall, it was rejected by every single Republican. Operation Blue Lotus, a Biden administration program, has stopped over 4,000 pounds of fentanyl from being brought into the U.S. and has led to dozens of arrests and the seizure of thousands of pounds of illicit drugs.…”