00:00 To your point about immigration, border security being used as a political football, right
00:06 now we are in an election year.
00:08 Do you think there's going to be any meaningful legislation passed when it comes to the border
00:13 between now and November?
00:16 We've seen extremists try to stop it, to try to get all the credit for themselves, for
00:23 their party, for their team.
00:26 That is morally wrong and I've seen recently Speaker Johnson have some real courage of
00:36 character in bringing forward legislation that he knows is the right thing to do.
00:41 I'm hopeful that we'll come back in a session and have that same spirit of courage to really
00:49 start solving problems and regain operational control of the southern border.
00:55 But I am a freshman in the minority, so it is important for me to demonstrate and to
01:02 build a coalition of Democrats who are invested in border security.
01:09 That's the work that I can do, committed to stay at the top and operate in faith.
01:16 How have those conversations with Democrats been going?
01:19 Because you, like I said, were one of five to sign on to this statement.
01:24 Do other Democrats who didn't sign on feel similarly to you?
01:28 So many of the Democrats that joined me are from rural communities where we've seen a
01:32 real ravaging, or from working class communities from the trades, like me.
01:39 And so I think that perspective is really valuable in motivating people to come to the
01:44 table and put their shoulder behind the wheel.
01:48 But we're also, many of us are from very agricultural economies, so we need to come
01:59 to the table and support policies that would not harm our agricultural communities.
02:09 Only 40% of the fresh fruits and vegetables we consume in America are imported.
02:16 So anything that damages our farmers or our producers or leads to more consolidation is
02:22 a non-starter for us.
02:25 That said, you know, Vincente Gonzalez, who was one of the leaders on this, he's from
02:31 a border district.
02:32 He sees it all the time.
02:34 And having conversations with him, having him talk with his colleagues on both sides
02:40 of the aisle, this is how we get progress made.
02:44 Has President Biden, the Biden administration, or other members of Congress responded at
02:49 all to your statement?
02:50 He hasn't responded to our statement.
02:54 We saw him mention something about, oh, we'll get to the border security later.
03:02 That's not acceptable.
03:03 We need action now.
03:05 We need Congress to empower the president.
03:07 We need the president to exercise his full authority to address the crisis now.
03:12 later, not someday, now.
Comments