Political Quotes

“I stood before this body on December 11, exactly 6 months ago, to discuss what I called then ``an escalating crisis on our southwest border.'' Well, 6 months later, I don't think this is a subject for debate anymore. Not only is this a crisis, but it is one that has escalated and continues to do so. Congress must take action or I feel it will come to deeply regret our inaction. When I called it a crisis in December, 50,000 migrants had been apprehended crossing our southwest border during the previous month of November. It is now June, 6 months later, and we are looking at the numbers for May that approach over 133,000 apprehensions--the highest 1-month total in 13 years. In 6 short months, the numbers of encounters on the border have increased by more than 156 percent. Over the past 12 months, the number has increased by more than 229 percent. Those are staggering figures. To put this in context for my fellow West Virginians, in the month of May alone, the Border Patrol apprehended a population that is larger than our capital city, Charleston; Huntington, WV, our neighbor; and Morgantown, WV, combined--three of our largest cities in 1 month. As I said standing at this desk in December, the flow of people across the border is not only larger but is also changing. Twenty years ago, the vast majority of those crossing our border illegally were adult men from Mexico. In fact, in fiscal year 2000, 98 percent of those people caught at our border were Mexicans.…”