Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I yield myself 2\1/2\ minutes. My amendment would prohibit Federal Homeland Security funding from being diverted for Operation Lone Star, ensuring that Federal Homeland Security appropriations are spent on Federal operations like Border Patrol. Operation Lone Star, unfortunately, has been defined by corruption, incompetence, and cruelty. Two years ago, the Governor of my State of Texas launched Operation Lone Star, a destructive $4.5 billion political stunt that has led to a Federal civil rights investigation, the tragic deaths of 8 National Guard servicemembers, and a formal diplomatic complaint from our Nation's and Texas' largest trading partner. Under the guise of border security, Governor Greg Abbott has embarked on an unprecedented campaign of government overreach--seizing private property, destroying livelihoods, and turning American border cities and towns into war zones where helicopters buzz overhead and armed troopers pull over American citizens for looking too much like immigrants. At the beginning of the summer, Governor Abbott installed invisible razor wire in the middle of the Rio Grande and built a 1,000-foot string of floating deathtraps that are separated by serrated blades and secured to the riverbed with a net that is designed to catch and drown the families who reach it. During the August recess, I went down to Eagle Pass, Texas, to see the impact of Operation Lone Star for myself.…”