Floor Statements

Madam Chair, I thank the chairman for yielding.

On September 15, 2023, against the strong public outcry from the local community in Brooklyn and across New York City, the lease signed by the Biden administration proposes to house at least 2,000 migrants at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, at a monthly rent of $1.7 million.

Under the terms of the lease, the city, who will be reimbursed by the State, will pay the first 3 months up front and the city will be able to use 30 acres of land at the location. The total cost of the agreement is over $20.8 million.

According to the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, who himself has said this migrant crisis will destroy New York City, so far in fiscal year 2023, New York City has spent $1.4 billion to deal with this crisis. It is estimated that the taxpayers will be forced to pay $12 billion by 2025 if this crisis is not handled, meaning, if we do not stop the unsustainable and unsafe flow of individuals coming through our southern border.

Additionally, the mayor has said because of this crisis, he has to propose a 15 percent across-the-board cut for New York City services for our actual citizens. He wants to bring the number of cops to 1990 levels; thousands of fewer cops on our streets than we had on September 11, 2001.

We are having a hiring freeze for not just the cops, but the school safety officers. There is no difference than the left's defund the police agenda than this. This is defunding the police to pay for citizens of other countries to receive free housing and services. They are just not calling it that.

The gentleman who spoke prior on the other side of the aisle says that we have to get to the root of the problem. You are absolutely right. Our mayor, by the way, is misinterpreting the right-to-shelter decree, which is intended for homeless New Yorkers, mandating the city to house homeless New Yorkers, not citizens of other countries.

Madam Chair, if there is any question about that, we sued, and a judge on Staten Island reaffirmed what we have been saying, that the city has no obligation to house citizens of other countries, and the decree was meant for homeless New Yorkers.

However, the mayor continues to use luxury hotel rooms, crushing tourism in New York. They are using school spaces, whether they are former Catholic schools--and they have even used public school gyms and cafeterias at one point--or public and open spaces such as park land, and even assisted living facilities. They actually went so far as to kick a bunch of seniors out of assisted living facilities in my district and then turned around and made it a migrant shelter.

How is that fair for the citizens of New York?

Let's get to the root of the problem. The root of the problem is that the President of the United States chose to put in place executive orders that dismantled public safety, that took away the tools of our Customs and Border Patrol agents, that allowed for a free flow of individuals into the country, 1.7 million of them.

We don't know who they are, where they are, or what their intention is. Then the other 6-million-plus that applied for asylum, guess what, 50 percent of those cases are denied in court. People are abusing the asylum system to gain entry into this country, to be released into this country. Most don't show up to court. When they do, 50 percent of those cases are denied.

We need to go back to enforcing the laws, making sure there is a proper process in this country for people, yes, to apply for asylum.

My mother is a Cuban refugee. I support people coming to this country and applying for asylum the right way.

What is the right way? The right way is you go to the next safe country.

We have people from over 120 countries coming through the southern border. We only have two countries bordering the United States, yet we have people from 120 countries, which means the process is not being followed.

Madam Chair, I will tell you something else. This is very unfair to immigrants. I don't know if the other side understands what this President is doing. He has a ``last in, first in approach,'' which means that the people coming over the border are having their cases heard first.

So the people who have been waiting in line for years--and there is a 10-year backlog right now because of this crisis the President created--those people are not being heard and they are having their cases pushed back even further. How is that right?

Maybe you are the party that is anti-immigrant, that you are letting people who applied the right way, who came to this country the right way, to be stuck and pushed to the back of the line.

Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chair, the sponsor of this amendment asked the question: Do these individuals have a legal right to apply for asylum? The answer is yes. The thing is, they are supposed to be applying from the next safe country. We have over 120 countries represented at our southern border. We are only bordered by two. Therefore, they are not following the process and are coming illegally.

The cartels are the ones benefiting from the current process as it is. I hope the other side understands that these individuals, every single one of them, are paying the cartels thousands of dollars to be trafficked into the United States. That money is then used to continue to pump fentanyl into the United States, killing Americans. Let's stop bankrolling the drug cartels that are profiting from this human trafficking.

Next, let me point out that this process is not safe for anyone--not the migrants, either. That is why I don't understand why my colleagues want to continue to encourage people, instead of applying from the next safe country, to take this treacherous journey at the hands of the drug cartels.

By the way, my colleague Tony Gonzales, who represents Eagle Pass, just told me that 14 individuals drowned this Thanksgiving weekend alone in Eagle Pass.

We have the Doctors Without Borders report that says in Panama alone, in just 1 month, hundreds of women and children were raped. We know that is a common occurrence, so why are we encouraging people to take that treacherous journey instead of applying from the next safe country?

Lastly, Floyd Bennett Field, it was mentioned that it was unsafe, as indicated in the lawsuit brought by the councilwoman and others. I am a party to that lawsuit. It floods. There was no NEPA process. All of a sudden, my colleagues on the other side don't want to conduct a full, thorough NEPA environmental impact statement as required by law.

Why did they bypass that? If they didn't, they would know that it is a flood zone and unsafe for people to be living there.

Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).

Mr. Chair, the bottom line here is that we need to secure the border. We passed H.R. 2, which can stem this unsustainable flow. Unfortunately, a lot of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle

voted against H.R. 2. That is the real solution. We need to secure our border.

Let's revert to the policies that were working previous to Joe Biden dismantling our border and making it open. It is unsafe and unsustainable for both American citizens as well as the individuals who are taking the treacherous journey at the hands of the drug cartels, which are profiting off of this human trafficking. Our government should not allow it to continue.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, my amendment would prohibit any funding from being used by the National Park Service to enact the terms of the lease to house migrants at Floyd Bennett Field in the Gateway National Recreation Area in Brooklyn, New York, where our Mayor Eric Adams, has setup a tent city for over 2,000 migrants with little supervision. Turning our Federal parks into encampments for un-vetted migrants from all over the world is unsafe, and it is unfair to the surrounding communities and the taxpayers being forced to foot the bill.

There have already been dozens of arrests at existing shelters in New York City, stabbings, DUIs, and other horrific incidents. And it is wrong that our mayor continues to misinterpret New York City's right to shelter decree, which was intended for homeless New Yorkers, not citizens of other countries.

Today, as a matter a fact, there is a group of big city Democrat mayors here in Washington, including Mayor Adams, scheduled to meet with the White House for what I assume is a request for more money to add more shelters and more encampments through our cities.

Mr. Chairman, President Biden and congressional Democrats in Congress

have no intention to stop the flow of migrants at our border. And Congress cannot and will not continue to fund this insanity.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment since the Senate refuses to pass our H.R. 2 bill, which would provide border security and stop this unsustainable and unsafe flow.

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

Mr. Chair, I will respond by saying that we are a welcoming nation. We are a welcoming city. My parents are immigrants, as well.

However, nobody was required to pay for their housing--my parents did not move into a park that the mayor created to be an encampment--taking that away from the taxpayers.

I simply say that we need to have individuals who want to come to this country follow the rules, follow the law, and that is the big difference here. The President has created a crisis. It is of his own making with his open border policies.

You mention war-torn countries, but there are over 120 different countries that are being represented, not to mention it is just completely unsustainable. I am not just talking about the 6 million that you mentioned that applied for asylum. I am sure you know that more than half of those asylum cases were denied in court. I think that is an important thing to point out, which means that they are abusing the asylum process to gain entry into our country.

My office, in particular, has helped nearly 100 people become U.S. citizens. I am very proud of that. It may be more than anybody else in this Chamber, quite frankly. We did it for the people who followed the rules, did everything right, have been waiting in line and unfortunately, got stuck in our bureaucracy because now they are being shoved to the back of the line because, as you know, those individuals coming over the border are taken up first before anybody else, which is completely unfair to those who have come here legally.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).

Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Chair, I would just add that the gentleman made a good point in saying that there has been significant flooding at this particular site. If you care about migrants and care about their safety, there was nearly a foot of water following the recent rainstorms at this site. I don't know how you expect to have these tents set up and people living in that condition. That is number one. Number two, there is also a fire safety issue. Even the legal aid society, by the way, has come out against this particular encampment because they don't feel that it is safe for the inhabitants.

The other point that was brought up about the NEPA process is a very important one. I always hear my colleagues on the other side talk about protecting the environment, yet they are turning a blind eye right now to when the environmental review process is not being fulfilled. There wasn't an environmental assessment. There wasn't anything done to evaluate this, which is why they probably didn't know that such flooding would exist.

Once again, it is unsafe for everybody involved. It is not the responsibility of the taxpayer. It is going to cost them $15 billion to have these encampments. We shouldn't be doing this. Let's pass H.R. 2 and secure our border.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and memory of Alan Bernikow, whose generosity impacted thousands of Staten Islanders.

Alan was a mentor and a dear friend of mine. He was a compassionate community leader, entrepreneur, and philanthropist looking to make a difference in the lives of those around him.

He climbed to the top of the corporate ladder. He was the inaugural chairman of the Heart Institute at Staten Island University Hospital; he served on the board of directors of the Richmond University Medical Center; and he was the former President of the Richmond County Country Club and the Jewish Community Center. He also founded the JCC's annual golf and bocce classic which funds scholarships for local children.

He and his wife, Joan, were married for over 50 years and they donated their time, their energy, and their resources to Staten Island's flagship JCC, which bears their name.

Today, on Staten Island, there is a celebration of Alan's life, and I send my deepest condolences to his family and friends and our community during this difficult time.

Mr. Speaker, I offer this tribute of Alan's life for the official Congressional Record.

Mr. Speaker, I hope the American people are listening right now. The Democrats would rather shut down the government than end an unsustainable and unsafe border crisis that has flooded our streets with fentanyl, an unsustainable flow of illegal immigrants destroying New York City, as Mayor Adams says, and only enriching the drug cartels.

This bill is common sense, and everyone should support it. It does three things that the American people want. It avoids a shutdown; it cuts excessive, wasteful spending that has led us to a $33 trillion debt; and it secures our border. It stops an unsustainable and unsafe crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to put taxpaying, hardworking American citizens and their safety first.

I heard my colleague from New York City say that it was cruel that we want to secure our borders. Do you know what is cruel? In New York City yesterday, at one of the migrant shelters, a 7-year-old girl was sexually abused. Do you know what is cruel? Somebody was stabbed at the Roosevelt shelter in Manhattan. The fact is, there are dozens of crimes being committed, and our mayor and you guys are doing nothing about it.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, my amendment would prohibit any funds from being used by the Department of Homeland Security to assist the Department of Defense to house illegal immigrants at military installations within the United States, specifically, referring to Coast Guard bases.

I had an amendment earlier today that passed by voice vote with no opposition. The reason why this is needed, unfortunately, is because the Governor of New York State, which I represent, sent a letter on May 12 to President Biden requesting that national parks as well as military installations and naval resources in and across the northeast be utilized as available space to maintain critical and essential public services to shelter and house migrants.

I know that it is hard to believe that in a post-9/11 world, the Governor of New York, of all places, would actually want to house citizens of other countries on our military installations, but sadly, that is the reality of what my Governor is requesting of the administration.

It is not the first time that this has been considered. Under the Obama administration, they had identified a number of bases that were accommodating individuals who were citizens of other countries, including the Army base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, and a naval base in southern California.

I think it is particularly important to note that we found roughly 250 individuals on the terror watch list at the southern border, but that does not include those individuals who are among the 1.7 million who have entered our country without any interaction with our government or our law enforcement.

There is a concern there that we didn't know who they are, where they are, and what their intentions are. They could very well turn up in New York City and try to demand housing because our mayor continues to incentivize illegal immigration and people to come to New York City to do so.

Mr. Chair, I think, again, in a post- 9/11 world, it would be ridiculous to allow citizens of other countries to become residents of our military installations. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about how the crisis created at our border by President Biden's executive orders is affecting my city and also the Senate's refusal to pass H.R. 2, the border security act that we passed in May.

In addition, it is only exacerbated by Mayor Eric Adams' insistence that these individuals who enter our country are entitled to free housing at taxpayer expense. New York City has now over 200 shelters and is housing more illegal immigrants than actual citizens of New York.

Not all of these individuals are innocent asylum seekers. Let's be honest and let's be clear. First of all, many of them are using the generosity of this country to gain entry. We know that more than half, between 50 percent and two-thirds, of these individuals are denied their asylum cases when they come to court. There are also many who have already been arrested for committing crimes in our community.

At just one of the 205 migrant shelters, the Roosevelt Hotel, there have been dozens of arrests, mostly for domestic violence, robberies, and assaulting police officers, as well. Earlier this year, four individuals that were housed at the Watson Hotel were arrested for shoplifting tens of thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise from Macy's at Roosevelt Field Mall.

Just this week, an illegal immigrant, who was previously released from Customs and Border Protection and the New York State Police was arrested for a murder on September 2. He was in our country and on our streets, despite having a warrant out for his arrest for a previous stabbing.

There were two individuals who are accused of sexual assault in Erie County in western New York. Even the Erie

County executive, an elected Democrat, has had enough of what is going on, demanding that Mayor Adams pause putting more of these asylum seekers in his community until these security threats are addressed.

Now, this Monday, we marked 22 years since the 9/11 attacks. Democrats and Republicans say, ``never forget,'' yet here we are in a situation with an open border that just in the first 10 months of this fiscal year, 146 people who appeared on the FBI terror watch list were apprehended at our southern border. Combined with the last fiscal year, we are talking about 250 individuals.

What we should be more concerned about, however, are the 1.7 million individuals who are the got-aways, meaning they had zero interaction with our law enforcement or our government. They are in the interior of the country. We don't know who they are. We don't know where they are. We don't know what their intentions are. That is the estimate that CBP is saying.

Yes, we have had millions of people cross our border, but guess what? There are 1.6 million of them who we don't know who they are or what their intentions are. This should be concerning, considering that the FBI has just confirmed that ISIS is smuggling Uzbek asylum seekers across our southern border. An Iranian national was caught in the interior after Iran has threatened revenge and harsh retaliation against the United States, and they said they are going to conduct terrorism on our soil. Yes, the same Iran that Joe Biden just gave $6 billion to.

More than 107,000 Americans died from overdoses last year, and two- thirds of those deaths are attributed to mostly fentanyl. The DEA recently made over 3,000 arrests of drug cartel networks operating right here in the United States of America thanks to Joe Biden's open border. The deaths are equivalent to a commercial airline crashing every single day.

I ask my colleagues on the Senate side: When are you going to pass our H.R. 2, our border security act? If the President is not going to undo his executive orders, we need to take action. The House passed it. Unfortunately, I think every Democrat in this Chamber voted against it. Let's see the Senate do its job and pass H.R. 2. If the President is not going to undo the crisis that he created, then we must do it for him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3941. I am proud to cosponsor this legislation with Congressman Marc Molinaro, who is also from the State of New York.

There are two people who are truly responsible for the crisis that we see of 7 million illegal immigrants who have come to the United States. Firstly, there is our President, who decided to open the borders without any type of process, any type of order, and, quite frankly, in violation of our own Federal laws. Then, you have Mayor Adams in New York City, the city in which I reside and represent, who decided to misinterpret New York City's right to shelter law, which was intended for American citizens, not citizens of other countries who just came over the border last week.

The problem is, if you look at New York City right now, you will see that there are more illegal immigrants being housed in our shelters than American citizens. Walk down the streets of the city, and you see homeless New Yorkers, people who have substance abuse issues, people who have mental health issues lying on the streets of our city while the mayor has gone head over heels and has done everything possible to house citizens of other countries who chose not to follow our rules, who chose not to follow the proper process, and have come into our country. We don't vet them properly, and we don't know what their intentions are.

I am the daughter of immigrants. I think that many people are coming

here for the right reasons. They do want to have a better life. However, there are many others who are not. We need to differentiate between them. People who come illegally need to follow our process.

Two-thirds of the people who are heard in court are not legitimate asylum seekers. That means they are in this country illegally. The mayor insists that New York taxpayers have to continue to foot the bill of billions and billions of dollars while taxpayers are trying to keep roofs over their own heads. They are trying to pay their mortgages and pay their property taxes, which he keeps raising that levy. They are having their own difficulty, thanks to Bidenflation, in keeping a roof over their head, and now the mayor wants them to house these individuals, as well.

On top of it, they want to add schools, which is where children should be learning. They have lost 2 years of socialization, of physical fitness, of interaction thanks to COVID, and now he wants to take away the school gym.

If anyone says it is a manufactured crisis, look at New York City because it is happening there. The people of New York know it. The people of this country know it, and they know that it has to stop.

House Republicans put forward, by the way, a proposal to stop this, to secure our borders, and every single one of the Democrats voted against it.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding me some time.

Madam Speaker, as a Representative in New York City, I am all too familiar, unfortunately, with this situation. Quite frankly, this is a problem that was created by two people. First, our President decided it was a good idea to open our borders and allow millions of individuals to come in without the proper vetting, without knowing exactly what their intentions are.

Some, yes, are applying for asylum, but they should still be doing so through the proper channels. They should be doing so from the next safe country, not coming to the southern border.

With that said, we look at court documents and we see that roughly 60 percent of those individuals are having those court cases denied under this administration, which tells you that the majority of people coming over our southern border are not legitimate asylum seekers.

Secondly, I blame the problem in New York City on my mayor, Mayor Eric Adams, because he is misinterpreting New York City's right-to- shelter law. That was a court decree under Mayor Ed Koch that was agreed to to address the issue of homeless New Yorkers.

It was always intended to provide support and housing for homeless New Yorkers, citizens of New York, not individuals who just strolled over the border last week.

Think about this: By the mayor's logic, everyone in New York City is entitled to shelter whether they are a citizen or not. If all 6 million people who came over our border came to New York City, they would be entitled to free shelter.

If 8 billion on the planet came to New York City, they would be entitled to free shelter. Clearly, the mayor's interpretation is nonsensical.

The mayor has now resorted to using all sorts of facilities meant for our citizens, including our children, to be used to house these migrants.

Now, first of all, I think it is clear--and I see that there is bipartisan opposition to schools and their gymnasiums being taken away from children who suffered under COVID. They lacked physical education. They lacked socialization. Now, to take away their gym for this housing is absolutely ridiculous.

The mayor has reversed course on that after there was so much opposition from the people in the city of New York, but he is still using old schools. Facilities that were previously Catholic schools that have closed that were perhaps going to to be utilized as public schools, that has now stopped because the mayor is choosing instead to house migrants in those old schools.

Now, the greatest plan or, I should say, the most ridiculous plan we have heard to date is now he is going to use taxpayer money to pay New Yorkers to house individuals in their homes. We are talking about billions and billions of dollars a year. Hardworking taxpayers are getting pummeled in New York City, because property taxes are increasing year after year. People can't afford their own rent. They can't afford their own roofs. He is saying you have to pay for individuals who cross into our country illegally.

It is a disgrace. We should be stopping it and make sure not another Federal dollar, not a penny, goes to fund the expansion of this program. The mayor needs to comply with the actual laws and tell the President to secure the border and stop this nonsense.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize one of my constituents, 100-year-old World War II veteran Daniel Lawrence Holihan of Staten Island, New York, who tomorrow will be awarded the Bronze Star from Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro for his heroic achievement.

In January, the members of the VFW Post 7172 on Staten Island, led by Captain Timothy Forsyth, contacted my office about a veteran who they believed should be recognized for his achievements on Iwo Jima in February of 1945 as a member of the Underwater Demolition Team Thirteen.

Five days before the historic battle of Iwo Jima, the USS Barr was ordered to the eastern side of the island where Team Thirteen was ordered to erect a navigational light on Higashi Iwa, an islet about 4,000 yards offshore.

Despite the heavy artillery fire of the enemy, 3 officers and 15 men assigned to the task, including Petty Officer Daniel Holihan, were miraculously successful in carrying out their mission without a single casualty. These men worked tirelessly for 5 days to clear the water's edge and make way for the historic battle of Iwo Jima.

Petty Officer Holihan, along with several other enlisted members of his team, was initially recommended for the award of the Bronze Star Medal; however, because Mr. Holihan was transferred to the East Coast at the end of the war, he was not able to participate in the presentation of this prestigious award.

Earlier this year, I wrote to the Secretary of the Navy highlighting Mr. Holihan's contributions and asked that his service receive the honor it deserves from our grateful nation. In response to my request, tomorrow, Secretary of the Navy Del Toro will award Mr. Holihan the Bronze Star for Valor for his heroic actions and his selflessness.

I, like those who I represent in New York's 11th Congressional District, am very proud and grateful for Mr. Holihan's service to our great nation and the bravery that he displayed nearly 80 years ago.

As we head into Memorial Day weekend to honor those who did not return from war, those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, I also want to give thanks to our servicemembers like Daniel Holihan who were willing to give their lives, but thankfully returned home.

Deadly Fentanyl Must be Controlled

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the HALT Fentanyl Act. This is the Drug Enforcement Administration's top legislative priority.

If we do not take action to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances, we will see many fentanyl-related substances becoming street legal, we will see law enforcement lose their authority to seize these extremely lethal drugs, we will see drug traffickers continue to be empowered to push these deadly drugs on our children, and we will see our U.S. Customs and Border Protection lose their authority to seize these substances crossing the border.

In 2022, last year, more than 109,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses, with the majority coming from illicit fentanyl and fentanyl- related substances. It is the number one killer of young Americans aged 18-49.

In addition to that, it is important to note that the DEA has announced results of a years-long national operation, Operation Last Mile, which specifically targeted fentanyl traffickers run by the drug cartels operating right here in the United States.

According to the Department of Justice, there are two cartels who use multicity distribution networks, violent local street gangs, and individual dealers across the U.S. to drive addiction.

The DEA's operation led to the arrest of over 3,300 individuals and the seizure of nearly 44 million fentanyl pills, more than 6,500 pounds of fentanyl powder, more than 91,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 8,500 firearms, and more than $100 million. The fentanyl powder and pills seized alone equate to nearly 193 million deadly doses of fentanyl removed from our communities across the United States.

It is so incredibly important that we not only pass the HALT Fentanyl Act to keep DEA having the tools they need to do their job, but we also pass House Republicans' border security package. We know that the drug traffickers are raking in $13 billion a year from human trafficking and drug trafficking over our southern border.

According to the DEA, the Mexican criminal organizations are now the most prominent wholesale-level heroin traffickers in the DEA Chicago, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington field division areas of responsibility; and they have greatly expanded their presence in New York City.

We must pass our border security bill in the Senate, and we must pass the HALT Fentanyl Act here in the House and in the Senate, as well.

Mr. Speaker, once again we are seeing a policy from President Biden and the Democrats where they say one thing, and they do another.

How many times have you heard the President talk about made in America? How many times have you heard the Democrats talk about buy in America? Yet here we are seeing another policy that does just the opposite. It hurts American manufacturers. It hurts American jobs. It is giving an advantage to not just a competitor, but an adversary.

Mr. Speaker, we support energy diversification. We support clean energy, but we want it to be American energy, and we want it to be done by American workers in manufacturing right here in the United States of America. We want to support our domestic solar manufacturers, not further discourage them from investing in manufacturing here.

Instead, we see the Democrats put forward another policy that instead of supporting American labor, it supports Communist Chinese slave labor, and we know this is often linked to the genocide of the Uyghur Muslims. If you are going to use Chinese slave labor, then at least have them pay a fair tariff, at least have them follow the same rules. Don't put forward a rule that allows them to circumvent tariffs.

As you know, last year an American solar manufacturer petitioned the Commerce Department to review whether Chinese producers were circumventing tariffs on imports from China by shipping their products through Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Lo and behold, in December of 2022, President Biden's own Commerce Department made a preliminary determination that circumvention is, indeed, happening through all of those countries.

That is why we must support the American worker today. We must support manufacturing in America, and override this veto of a resolution that, quite frankly, passed with bipartisan support here and in the Senate, as well.

Look, this is an opportunity for us to stand with American energy producers. Like I said, we support clean energy, we support diversification, but we want it to be made here in America using

American products, supporting American jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to urge my colleagues to support this joint resolution to override the President's veto and do the right thing. We are not going to allow the President to get away with this, to constantly say made in America--he supports American workers, he says, but then again, he puts forward another policy that does the exact opposite. It hurts American people and is supporting the Communist Chinese Party instead.

Mr. Speaker, due to a family funeral, I was not able to be present to cast my vote for the following roll call votes on May 17, 2023 and May 18, 2023.

Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 217; NAY on Roll Call No. 218; YEA on Roll Call No. 219; YEA on Roll Call No. 220; YEA on Roll Call No. 221; YEA on Roll Call No. 222; YEA on Roll Call No. 223; NAY on Roll Call No. 224; YEA on Roll Call No. 225; YEA on Roll Call No. 226; and YEA on Roll Call No. 227.

Mr. Speaker, my parents came to this country as immigrants. Many of my constituents came to this country as immigrants. I think fundamentally Republicans and Democrats agree that we are a Nation of immigrants. Yet, what we are seeing currently at our southern border is a travesty. It is not helpful to the migrants, it is not helpful to our Nation, and it has certainly created so many problems that we are facing right now.

We have seen over 5 million illegal crossings at the southern border, another 1.3 million got-aways. CBP has seized 14,000 pounds of fentanyl at our southern border, enough to kill over 3.1 billion people.

In 2021, more than 71,000 individuals died from synthetic opioid overdoses, and this is roughly 200 people every day. In my city of New York, we have seen overdoses skyrocket since Joe Biden put in place his open border policy, 2,700 in his first year alone. That is the highest in decades. We are seeing fatal overdoses in New York City, on average, every 3 hours. A couple weeks ago, we saw a 16-month-old baby in my district overdose from fentanyl, as well.

The only people that are truly benefiting from this policy are the cartels that are making $13 billion a year from human and drug smuggling.

We also need to be concerned about who is attempting and is entering our country. In the first 6 months of fiscal year 2023, 80 people on the terrorist watch list were stopped attempting to cross the southern border on top of 98 last year. That is more than the previous 5 years combined.

We can say that we want to support immigration, but it must be legal immigration.

This is completely unsustainable, it is dangerous, and that is why I stand before you to ask in a bipartisan manner that we get behind H.R. 2 and vote to pass it today and that Senator Schumer brings it for a vote in the Senate.

In New York City, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now saying that they are fully booked through October 2032 because two-thirds, at least, of the individuals crossing into our country claiming asylum do not qualify, and they are clogging up the system for those who truly are eligible for asylum.

We have seen 60,000-plus migrants come to New York City since last spring. Remember, they have crossed and they entered our country not by the proper channels but by crossing our southern border, and Joe Biden has allowed them to do it.

Our mayor is spending billions of dollars to house these individuals in city hotels. At the same time, he is saying we are going to cut city services by a billion dollars every year for the next 4 years, and we are going to cut everything from libraries to programs for our children, fire, sanitation, parks, and homeless services. We have homeless New Yorkers, and the mayor is saying that he has to put citizens of other countries in shelters instead of our own. It is just completely backward and unsustainable.

As I walked here today, I just got notice that the mayor decided to halt this ridiculous policy. He was basing all of this, by the way, on a right-to-shelter law under Mayor Ed Koch that was meant for homeless New Yorkers. He has abused that, and that is what we are seeing take place today.

We can work to address this issue. Let's protect the taxpayers. Let's protect our Nation's security. Let's put forward the border security plan that is before us today, and then let's also work to make sure that we know who is entering in and out of our country through proper visas, employer visas, family-sponsored visas. I am willing to work with everybody on that, as well. We must stem the flow. Let's stop putting the drug cartels before American citizens, and let's move forward today and pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, since House Republicans have been in control, we have brought transparency to the people's House. We are the ones who are protecting taxpayers. We are the ones exposing waste, fraud, and abuse, including as high as $400 billion in COVID relief and unemployment fraud.

Sadly, my home State of New York ranks near the top of the list, with an estimated $11 billion in this fraudulent unemployment benefits. These taxpayer dollars went to fraudsters, many overseas, as far as China, Russia, and Nigeria. They even went to dead people.

They spent it on Rolex watches, fancy furnishings, and designer goods at Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, Gucci; $10 million on a villa in the Dominican Republic; $3.5 million on a mansion in New Jersey; a charter jet to get the fraudster who purchased it to and from; Porsches, Ferraris, Bentleys, BMWs, and Mercedes Benz. One person even received $1.5 million over a span of 10 months.

Meanwhile, my district offices in Staten Island and Brooklyn had to help dozens of constituents who had their identities stolen and could not get the unemployment benefits they desperately needed.

New York had to take an $8 billion loan from the Federal Government, which it has not paid back yet, by the way, to cover all of this. Now, our small businesses are paying the price with higher unemployment assessments.

The bottom line is, this bill would help crack down on this type of fraud, would give law enforcement the statute of limitations it needs for criminal charges or civil actions, incentivizes States to help us crack down and recover these fraudulent payments, and stops unemployment insurance payments to incarcerated and deceased people.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know how anyone can't support this bill. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation.

I hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talking about our children, our grandchildren, our future. If they truly cared about the next generation, they would support this measure as well because the reality is we cannot continue down the path that we are on.

Right now, we are seeing Republicans take over this House from a body that, with Democrats' complete control with the President, chose to add $10 trillion in new spending in just 2 years.

Today, we are facing a debt-to-GDP ratio of 121 percent. That is completely unsustainable.

When I was born in 1980, it was 35 percent. The debt at that time was $900 billion. Today, it is $31.4 trillion.

Yet, all we hear from the other side is that they want to spend more, tax more, and create more programs to make people dependent instead of giving people the opportunity to determine their own future and live the American Dream.

We are talking about legislation on our side that will save the American taxpayer $4.5 trillion, hardworking people who each and every day get up, go to work, and sacrifice tremendously. Some individuals are working two or three jobs, and they pay taxes so the government can be responsible with it, not throwing it around on all sorts of stuff that we don't need, such as COVID funds that have gone unspent.

We just came out of a hearing in the COVID subcommittee where we talked about, in just education, $190 billion that was earmarked to reopen our schools, which they didn't use to reopen our schools, and then only 15 percent of it was spent as of November. We are talking about saving the taxpayers $50 billion to $60 billion right there, just by reclaiming those funds.

Biden's IRS army--this is what the other side proposes--wants to tax people more. They want to take more of the taxpayers' hard-earned money. That is how they plan on paying down our debt, not by having pro-growth policies that stimulate our economy and that help us grow and help companies expand so they can create more jobs. No, they don't want pro-growth policies that are good for prosperity and for our country. They want to continue to hammer people and continue to tax them, nickel-and-dime them at each and every turn.

By just repealing the IRS army, it is $71 billion right there.

What about the Green New Deal tax credits? This is a good one.

Hundreds of billions of dollars in Green New Deal tax credits in some cases can go to--and will go to--Chinese companies, companies that are affiliated with the Communist Chinese Government, all while destroying American energy at home. American energy is reliable and affordable.

By the way, the destruction of that industry by the left is the reason why we are seeing costs of energy skyrocket for American families, as well as food costs skyrocket for American families.

The spending and the anti-energy policies that Democrats have put forward in the 2 years they had complete control are the reason why we see so much hardship for American families today.

The last thing is, well, work requirements are a good thing. People should want to participate and contribute to our economy. It will help the labor shortage issues that we are seeing, while giving people the ability to self-determine their future, not be dependent on government. We need those programs. It is critically important for us to encourage people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Brian Laline. Born on Staten Island, New York, married to Carol with three children: Christopher, Peter, and Kelly Anne and five granddaughters Olivia, Madeleine, Elle, Mila, and Katherine. Mr. Laline graduated from New Dorp High School and went on to receive his Bachelors in English at LaSalle University as well as a master's degree in education from Wagner College.

Mr. Laline taught High School English in Philadelphia before coming to the Advance as a reporter in 1972. He served various capacities as copy editor before being named editor in 1992. In 2015, Mr. Laline achieved executive editor at the Staten Island Advance.

Currently, Mr. Laline is an active member of the community, taking on roles such as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the St. George Restoration, Inc. where he received the ``Georgie Award.'' Additionally, he served as Secretary of the Board of Trustees at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the College of Staten Island Foundation and Secretary of the Museum of Maritime Navigation and Communication. Previously he was a participant on several boards and organizations important to the Staten Island community such as the YMCA, Meals on Wheels, and Boy Scouts of America. He was also a founding member of The Italian Cultural Center at Casa Belvedere.

Proving to be an outstanding member of our district, Mr. Laline has been awarded many recognitions for his work both in education and in the community. These include several distinguished service awards from organizations such as The American Red Cross, the Center for Migration Studies, and the Boy Scouts of America. He has been recognized by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Heart Association, the Zoologist Society, and the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Mr. Laline has also received the Community Resource Award, the Safe Harbor Award from the Society for Children and Families, the College of Staten Island Dolphin Award, the Teddy Award from the Teddy Atlas Foundation, the Richard M. Silberstein Award from Staten Island Mental Health, United Activities Unlimited Community Service Award, the Community Service Award from the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin, and the Community Service award from the Staten Island Board of Realtors.

Mr. Laline has been an exemplary member of the Staten Island community and leads by his example of volunteerism and constant acts of giving back. His lifelong love of education and career in editing has been supplemental to his dedication to volunteering and to these charities. Mr. Laline is the epitome of a New Yorker, constantly giving back to the neighborhood and continuing to champion for the streets that raised him.

I am proud to be honoring Mr. Laline and thanking him for all he has done for Staten Island.