Jodey Arrington: “I would like to say that I am very concerned, to my friend and the gentlewoman from Arizona, to put it mildly. I am…”

“I would like to say that I am very concerned, to my friend and the gentlewoman from Arizona, to put it mildly. I am troubled that our Nation and our Nation's leaders here in this great body of the United States House of Representatives would not put politics aside and put our country and our citizens' safety first. It is the number one job. It is the most important job, to provide for a common defense and to ensure the safety of the United States citizens. We can never be distracted from that, and we can never allow partisan politics from fulfilling that first responsibility and duty. I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership and for bringing this discussion to the floor so that we can speak directly to the American people about our strong support for our Commander in Chief who is simply asking for the tools and resources to do that which he ran for the Presidency on, was elected to do, and is now doing everything with unwavering commitment to follow through on that promise to secure the border. Border walls and barriers are a fundamental component of security. As a Texan, I can tell you being on the front-lines--and the gentlewoman knows this as well being on the front-lines as well from the great State of Arizona--that this is costing our States billions of dollars, $12 billion in the great State of Texas. We see the drugs that are flowing in, the gangs, the crimes, and the criminal activities.…”