Subterranean Border Defense Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a growing threat to the rule of law in my State of Texas.

The rise of sharia, the law of Islam, has reached a tipping point in the Lone Star State, especially in north Texas, which I represent. Opaque sharia-compliant actions are advancing across our State and our Nation. We must be clear that America recognizes only one legal system: the Constitution and laws of the United States.

I commend Texas Governor Greg Abbott for his strong leadership in recently confronting this challenge. His actions regarding the proposed Texas American Muslim University and the planned Muslim-only event at a taxpayer-funded water park demonstrate the continuing vigilance required to protect our uniform system of justice.

Last year, nearly 95 percent of Texas voters supported Proposition 10 to ban sharia. That was not a symbolic gesture. It was an overwhelming mandate. Texans declared decisively that no foreign legal framework shall influence, operate alongside, or supplant our State's judicial system. They expect their elected representatives to honor that vote.

Recent events in the United Kingdom offer a stark and tragic warning. A new independent report on grooming gangs has exposed decades of systematic child sexual exploitation, predominantly of young, White, British girls by groups of Pakistani Muslim men, with authorities repeatedly failing to act out of fear of being labeled racist.

Thousands upon thousands of victims were betrayed by the very institutions meant to protect them. We must not allow such horrors to take root here in America.

While Congress is acting--my bill, H.R. 6230, the Tehran Incitement to Violence Act, passed the House and is now pending in the Senate-- Federal efforts alone are not enough. The primary responsibility for protecting our legal system from parallel frameworks rests on the shoulders of an informed citizenry, along with those of State and local leaders. Texans are leading the way, and others are beginning to follow.

In Kaufman County, Texas, Federal, State, and local officials worked in unison to stop a sharia city project backed by a Dubai-based development company.

Several of my constituents confronted the Wiley School Board after one of their high school principals granted a group called Why Islam access to the campus to hand out Korans.

One of my constituents, Jessica Hulcy, grabbed her walker, got a ride to Josephine City Hall, and stood in front of a crowded room to share her concerns about the proposed East Plano Islamic Center.

Across the Red River, citizens in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, successfully put a stop to a sharia enclave after imploring their local leaders to just say no.

Even across the pond, citizens in the U.K. are beginning to push back against the cultural shift wreaking havoc in their community because of sharia's influence.

In America, belief is protected. Conduct under the law is not. Let me be clear: Sharia is a political-legal ideology, not a religion. Therefore, it should not fall under the First Amendment protection for faith and worship. The First Amendment safeguards an individual's right to believe and practice their religion, but it has never granted immunity to political systems, especially those that claim authority above the Constitution, which sharia does.

When presented as a governing framework that dictates civil law, family law, criminal penalties, and public policy, sharia functions as an ideological legal code rather than a religious belief.

Under this view, the Constitution must remain the supreme law of the land. No ideological system, particularly sharia, religious in origin or otherwise, can override the liberties, equal protections, and democratic processes guaranteed to every American.

I thank the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the Texas legislators advancing commonsense measures, such as House Bill 495, which prohibits public institutions from accepting funds from foreign adversaries.

I also encourage States to expand tools for local officials, including county commissioners, in order to safeguard our laws.

Thomas Jefferson declared: ``I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.'' This eternal hostility must extend to any religious or foreign legal code, particularly sharia, that seeks to supplant American liberty and self-government.

As Sir Winston Churchill warned: Sometimes it is not enough that we do our best; we must do what is required.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of my bill, the Subterranean Border Defense Act, a bipartisan piece of border security legislation that I have introduced alongside the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa).

Effective border security is created by overlapping deterrents, something we always need at our borders. The Subterranean Border Defense Act would help us address the growing threat of illicit cross- border tunnels by requiring annual reports to Congress on counter- tunneling operations, fortifying our security system at the border.

Put simply, this would help ensure that Congress has the necessary data to forge another much-needed layer of defense.

As transnational criminal organizations continue to grow in both size and sophistication, illicit cross-border tunnels along the southwest border of the United States represent a significant and growing threat to national security. Congress must address this deadly threat and ensure U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the resources needed to acquire counter-tunnel technology.

Since 1990, officials have discovered more than 140 tunnels that have breached the U.S. border, with an 80 percent increase in tunnel activity occurring since 2008.

Over the years, CBP has worked to combat these tunnels as part of their overall strategy. In fact, the United States conducts research, development, and test activities with Israel, which must contend with a vast network of Hamas tunnels originating in the Gaza Strip. This partnership helps us to detect and destroy tunnels in our respective countries.

The FY23 NDAA mandated that CBP submit a one-time report to Congress on a strategic plan to counter illicit cross-border tunnel operations. This singular report has since led Congress to conduct critical oversight and has enabled CBP to formalize many of the processes, technologies, and resources needed to counteract illicit tunnels under the U.S.-Mexico border.

My bill would expand on this success by mandating a report every year going forward to ensure Congress has sufficient knowledge and oversight regarding this dynamic threat.

With border crossings thankfully going down since January, I think it is safe to assume this will drive threats at our border underground through these tunnels.

I thank Mr. Correa for co-leading with me, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation for a secure southern border.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 495) to require annual reports on counter illicit cross-border tunnel operations, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 495.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 495, the Subterranean Border Defense Act.

The collective failure of the last administration and its refusal to secure our borders allowed transnational criminal organizations to go unchecked in their efforts to infiltrate the United States.

Illicit tunnel pathways into our country have only made it easier for criminals to bring their illegal businesses into the homeland, from human trafficking to drug smuggling deadly fentanyl and other drugs that are being funneled from nations afar, including Communist China. Fortunately, President Trump, border czar Homan, and Secretary Noem have arrived to set the situation right.

H.R. 495 will require DHS to provide annual reports on its efforts to counter illicit tunnel operations at our borders.

I commend the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Crane) for his leadership on this effort, and I urge strong support for the measure.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Crane), the author of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing.

I again thank both of my colleagues, Mr. Correa and Mr. Crane, for putting this together.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 495, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 495 because we need more oversight and information on the threat of tunnels going under our border.

It is a fact that tunnels, clandestine tunnels, under our borders have been an issue for not years but decades, and it is time we take action. It is time that Congress be informed of our progress to prevent such tunnels from happening. That is why I support H.R. 495.

Tunnels are used by transnational criminal organizations looking to make a profit at the expense of our taxpayers. Over the last 30 years, cartels have created illegal and sophisticated tunnels under our border walls to smuggle drugs into our country, as well as money and weapons out of our country.

This bill creates an annual reporting requirement to keep Congress informed on the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to counter illicit cross-border tunnels and hold the bad actors accountable.

This information will help us, Congress, address the issue at the border and let us, as Members of Congress, better respond to the challenges.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, I believe this bill is an important step in the right direction. Receiving information from the Department of Homeland Security on an annual basis will improve Congress' efforts to counter illicit cross-border tunnels and hold bad actors accountable. I support this bipartisan piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.