On the recordFebruary 2, 2022
I am here today to discuss the crisis at the border. Unfortunately, it is not getting any better. In fact, it is getting worse by any measurement. The flow of illegal drugs and illegal migration continues to surge. As the lead Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I recently traveled to the U.S.-Mexican border in Nogales, AZ, just south of Tucson, to learn firsthand from Border Patrol and Customs officials and Border Patrol agents who are on duty 24-7 trying to protect our Nation from illicit narcotics, unlawful immigration, and terrorism. It was my third trip to the border in the last year, and, like other trips, what I saw was alarming. Officials at the port of entry told me about the increasing and more sophisticated efforts to smuggle illegal and deadly drugs into the United States. They showed me some of the x rays that have been taken of some of the vehicles where the smugglers are cleverly hiding these illicit narcotics into compartments. By the way, this is deadly stuff. This is mostly now the illicit drug called fentanyl, which is a synthetic form of opioid that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is probably killing two-thirds of the people who are dying from overdoses. The number of overdose deaths in this country is at record levels. During the year of 2021, we believe it is going to exceed 100,000 individuals--record levels.…
