00:00from Illinois seek recognition. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
00:04The clerk will designate the amendment. Amendment number 57 printed in Part B of
00:09House Report number 118-559 offered by Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois. Pursuant to House Resolution
00:191316, the gentlewoman from Illinois, Ms. Ramirez, and a member opposed,
00:24each will control five minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois.
00:28Thank you. Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to H.R. 8771. Today, in a few hours,
00:36I'll be launching my new Global Migration Caucus. So, while I will stand with colleagues to affirm
00:43that there are those of us in Congress who want to be an effective ally to global efforts to
00:49create a safer, more equitable world where people can build the life they want and deserve at home,
00:56today, my Republican colleagues, however, seek to withdraw our participation in coordinated
01:01global efforts, eliminate critical support for migration management, and fuel the crisis of
01:08displacement they claim they so desperately want to address. We must not let the recklessness
01:15and the dangerous efforts go unchallenged. My amendment, it will strike the harmful,
01:22hateful language of the underlying bill that prohibits the support of safe and humane migration
01:27management efforts around the world. As Vice Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee,
01:33I hear my colleagues talk about what is happening at the border, especially at the southern border,
01:39but they ignore questions about why we are seeing a humanitarian crisis at the border.
01:45They don't want to talk about the root cause of migration, like violence, democratic backsliding,
01:51economic exclusion, climate change, some of these crises that are driving families from their home
01:57in search of safety and stability, much like what happened to our own ancestors,
02:02maybe in the early 1900s or the 50s. Everything I have witnessed throughout my official trips
02:08and conversations with families, governments, and civil society points to this truth. Our country's
02:13safety is fundamentally connected to the stability, to the security, and the sustainability people
02:20experience or do not experience across the globe. I've heard a mother talk with desperation
02:28about the sexual violence and trauma that a 12-year-old, her 12-year-old, endured while
02:33crossing the Darien. I heard stories of threats of violence and cartel intimidation that drove a
02:39mother to send her sons on a harrowing journey through dangerous migration routes. For so many
02:45people around the world, the choice is flee or die. Again, it's no surprise to me that the party of
02:53reactionary, isolationist, fear-based, xenophobic politics doesn't understand the ideal of cooperation
03:00and prevention. Both cooperation and prevention require forethought, working across differences,
03:08embracing possibilities, and a commitment to inclusion, none of which are reflected in H.R.
03:158771. An example, the bill specifically bans funding for the safe mobility offices,
03:24which have been a cost-effective, let me say again, cost-effective part of the U.S. government
03:30strategy to reduce irregular migration within the Western Hemisphere. So, to my Republican
03:38colleagues, which one is it? Do you want less irregular migration, or do you want to slash
03:45funding to address the conditions that drive displacement around the world, and ban funding
03:50for programs to increase access to lawful humanitarian pathways to the United States
03:57and other countries? Madam Chair, this amendment is necessary. This amendment will address the
04:07issues, and I hope that my colleagues will, maybe in some cases, for the first time this Congress,
04:15do that common sense thing, address the issues that they care so much about, they say, and in
04:21fact, support migration management, support countries that need resources so that they do
04:29not have to come through a southern border. I reserve the rest of my time. The gentlewoman
04:35reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from Florida seek recognition? Thank you, Madam
04:40Chairwoman. I rise to claim opposition to time and opposition to this amendment. The gentleman is
04:45recognized. Thank you. A couple things. First, you know, the reason for the situation in the
04:51southern border can be explained by just two words, Joe Biden. That is, that is who has created the
05:00crisis in the southern border. Now, this amendment strikes, attempts to strike Section 7045F.
05:09By the way, much of this is already existing law, but it's really basically saying, this amendment,
05:14is that, well, we don't have an issue in the southern border. There's no problem with the
05:18southern border. We've got to realize that close to 10 million people have crossed unlawfully into
05:23the United States under this President. That's roughly the population of the entire state of
05:29Michigan, for God's sake. And this bill attempts to do what we can, despite the President of the
05:36United States, to stop this crisis that has been created by Mr. Joe Biden. See, the bill prohibits
05:44outright funding for programs that push migrants towards the United States unlawfully, either by
05:53giving them cash cards or giving them information about, you know, future stops, where to go,
05:59connecting them with lawyers, and giving them even coaching. Coaching them to answer the questions
06:06falsely, falsely, while claiming asylum. How can anybody support that? This is a country that
06:14believes in the rule of law. This amendment also, if that were not enough, proposes to strike the
06:20prohibition on funding to the safe mobility offices and the welcome court, unless authorized.
06:27That's what the bill, that's what the language in the bill does. If that's something you support,
06:32authorize it, for God's sake. These are gimmicks which spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars
06:39to circumvent, circumvent U.S. law, for God's sake. In the case of the welcome court,
06:47this is in essence like a matchmaking entity. You know, like match.com for folks trying to get here
06:53illegally, to the United States illegally. It recruits in the United States so-called sponsors
07:01to sponsor these individuals, even though they have no connections other than now this kind of
07:06like, you know, match system. And by doing so, the Biden administration is, frankly, has made the
07:13situation even worse. For God's sakes, the administration is now even trying to get
07:18universities involved. This is coming out of our foreign affairs budget, intended to support our
07:28national security. Again, safe mobility centers are operating overseas in places like Ecuador and
07:34Colombia, facilitating a fast track, fast track of tens of thousands of people to use a mobile app,
07:43a mobile app to obtain authorization, to then literally show up on the southern border that is
07:50wide open. Well, let me restate that. That is controlled absolutely by the Mexican narco
07:56cartels. And that's how these folks are coming into the United States. This, all of this is to
08:01facilitate the cartels, to help the cartels, to help market this illegal cartel business.
08:10So I know some people might say, well, they're going to come in either ways or another way if
08:13we don't do this. But advertising and using taxpayer money to become the advertising source,
08:19the marketing for folks to come into the United States unlawfully is frankly something that is
08:25totally unacceptable. If these programs that the gentlewoman wants to fund are so good, and then
08:33bring them up in front of Congress, have them authorized, they would get shot down dramatically
08:39because everybody can see what this is. This is using taxpayer money to circumvent the law,
08:46which hurts not only our national security efforts and our national security interests,
08:50but it also hurts the folks who have been waiting years to try to come legally into the United
08:55States. I could not, not urge our colleagues in a more forceful way to strongly oppose this amendment
09:04and I reserve. The gentleman reserves. The gentlewoman is recognized. Madam Chair, may I
09:10inquire how much time is left on both sides? One minute. The gentleman from Florida has 30 seconds
09:19remaining. Madam Chair, I'm prepared to close. The gentlewoman is recognized.
09:26I find it really ironic and hypocritical. One moment you say, close the borders, don't let
09:32people in, and if they want to come, let them come the legal way. And then we create programs,
09:39one, to invest in communities outside of the U.S. so that they don't have to come to the southern
09:45border. They don't have to do that dangerous journey. We create programs of state mobility
09:49so that they can stay in places like Colombia and other places like Ecuador or Spain in the future.
09:55And then you say, not that either. The reality, this is not about President Biden. This is that
10:00you want to create crisis and chaos and fear mongering at all costs. Even if one moment you
10:06say this and then the other moment you say that, because you have no intention in addressing
10:11issues of immigration or border, you want to create chaos because it's the only way you win.
10:18My amendment will allow us to address the root causes of migration, to ensure that people can
10:24stay in their home countries, and then you won't see them at the southern border. To me,
10:28that's a solution, and it is why I urge my colleagues to vote yes.
10:32I'd like to remind members to refrain from addressing other members and address the chair.
10:42The gentleman from Florida is recognized.
10:45Madam Chair, can I ask how much time I have left?
10:4730 seconds.
10:49Madam Chair, I would like to yield the remaining part of my time to my colleague, who I think
10:56will explain why he is also as opposed as I am to this amendment. So I remain, I would like to
11:02give him as much time as we have left.
11:03The gentleman is recognized.
11:05Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment. I'll take this brief time.
11:08Listen to the Orwellian language that we heard from the other side here in regards to irregular
11:14migration. What this is is laundering that's going on. This is laundering via the Welcome
11:20Corps, the Safe Mobility Office. The other thing that we heard was civility. How could this possibly
11:24be civil? Is it civil to have human trafficking on an epic scale? Is it civil to have cartels
11:31that are brutalizing people, especially women, raped, murdered, coming through the southern
11:38border and the fentanyl crisis that is the number one killer of young people in America?
11:43I yield back.
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