00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I heard this microphone's a little bit late, so I'll try
00:06and keep it up.
00:07Eat it.
00:08Eat it? Okay, thanks.
00:09Thanks, Bob.
00:10Yeah. You know, just to start off, I'm always amused by the references to the immigration
00:18that took place in our country from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, which never, when
00:25our colleagues are talking about, never mentions the requirement that these immigrants had
00:31to have sponsorship from citizens here in our country, and the fact that they were not
00:36provided with this incredibly large social safety net of federal support that costs the
00:44taxpayers across this country somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 to $500 billion a
00:50year, which we can't even keep track of because so much of this money is being laundered through
00:56nongovernmental organizations.
00:58Chairman Gosar, I appreciate you having this hearing today, and the impact of President
01:03Biden's border policies extends far beyond the border regions, now affecting our cherished
01:09national parks. Just last week, we discussed the harms inflicted upon Montana's tribal
01:15residents, but it is not just the tribes that are being affected. It's the entire West,
01:20and the natural beauty that our parks and our countries hold most sacred. President
01:26Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, and their entire administration have no interest in border
01:31security. We have long since established that. We've seen what this administration and their
01:36allies in New York have done by allowing illegal aliens to reside on Floyd Bennett Field, turning
01:42a once-beautiful park into a third-world slum. These destructive policies are not only
01:48affecting Americans' park access and enjoyment, but also local communities and farmers are
01:54being harmed by uncontrolled immigration, as evidenced by Bozeman, Montana, 29 percent
02:01increase in felony cases over the past year, and that is attributed directly to the illegal
02:07immigration that's taking place on the southern border. Additionally, fentanyl seizures by
02:12Montana Highway Patrol have increased from 188,823 doses in 2022 to a staggering 398,522
02:27doses in 2023, resulting in the loss of 80 Montanans to fentanyl in 2023.
02:36So this crisis is touching the entire country. We must secure the border and protect the
02:42lives of our citizens. If we had a tally of death and destruction to the tune of 75,000
02:51to 90,000 people a year that was being caused by gunmen coming across the border, we would
02:59attack that country. But meanwhile, we allow it to sit wide open because it's the southern
03:04border and fentanyl coming across. Furthermore, the northern border must not be forgotten.
03:10U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that fiscal year 2023 saw 189,000 northern
03:18land border encounters, which is a 73 percent increase from 2022, and a 59 – 597 percent
03:26increase from 2021. We've established again that the cartels, once they find out where
03:36the pressure is being applied, they adapt, they change, and they start utilizing different
03:41tactics. And that's what we're seeing take place right now on the northern border.
03:46This issue is especially critical as Montana's Glacier National Park lies on the border between
03:51the U.S. and Canada. President Biden and his administration must provide real solutions
03:56for our border and help preserve the safety and beauty of our nation and its parks. You
04:03folks are dealing with this directly. Ms. Williams, when you talk to fellow Assembly
04:09members, do they share the same concerns that you do, or are you just an isolated outlier?
04:14Well, you're absolutely right. Very few share this, you know, same concern that I
04:22have and a few other elected city council members. And that's why we're here today,
04:28to bring light to what our communities are facing before you.
04:33Okay, so we're going to start talking to the communities then. Mr. King,
04:36as a longtime community leader in New York, has there ever been a time in your life where you've
04:41seen New York local government be so indifferent towards the interests of their taxpaying citizens
04:47and the communities in which they're supposed to protect?
04:50It's pretty rare. I think there are times when they're desperate to move problems out of Manhattan
04:55and into the outer boroughs. We all experienced that, but this was egregious.
05:00So on the grassroots level, what have you seen regarding the outcry related to the usage of
05:06Floyd Bennett Field and the extreme costs the city is undertaking to house these illegals?
05:12Well, you know, taxpayers in general don't like the amount of money that's being spent,
05:16essentially $1,200 a cot per month and everything that goes with that.
05:22But I think people are more concerned about the elements that Ms. Williams was talking about,
05:27the impact on the community, the degradation of the park, and the lessening ability of our
05:33families to use the park. And I can tell you, as a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee,
05:39I wish that this administration was as concerned about caring for our veterans as they are for
05:45caring and spending the money and the investment on the illegal aliens that we are seeing now.
05:50Mr. Chair, I see now over in the corner of my eye the clock that I have
05:54exceeded my time, so I yield back. Thank you, gentlemen. The gentleman
05:57from Texas, Mr. Hunt, is recognized for five minutes.
06:01Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Williams, are you a Democrat?
06:06Yes, I am. It's safe to say that you and I probably don't agree on a whole host of
06:12policy issues, but I think that we could clearly see that the Biden administration,
06:16Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams' actions have resulted in the destruction
06:21of our national borders and your national park, ma'am.
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