This week, The House of Representatives PASSED my bill, H.R. 4209,the DHS Illicit Cross-Border Tunnel Defense Act.
Law enforcement officials have discovered more than 230 cross-border tunnels used to smuggle drugs, weapons, and even humans beneath the Mexico-U.S. border, and there are likely many more still undiscovered.
Not only do these tunnels make Border Patrol agents' jobs much more difficult, but they directly threaten our national security as well as the security of our district, which sits only 100 miles from the border.
This legislation will make sure Customs and Border Protection (CBP) develops a plan and has access to the tools and resources they need to destroy the underground tunnels beneath our southern border that cartels and human trafficking rings use to flood our communities with drugs and migrants.
This is a good step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go in the fight to secure our border. I am proud to see this bill pass the House, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to send this measure to the President’s desk.
You can read more about my solution to this crisis in my Op-Ed, originally published in Fox News, foundhereor below.
Moments before the House passed my bill, I spoke on the House Floor and urged my colleagues to vote in favor of a strong border and pass my bill.Watch my Floor remarks here or below.
Oil and Gas Hearing
On Wednesday, the Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing with oil and gas executives.
Instead of asking insightful questions to lead to real solutions and making efforts to work together, House Democrats attacked the energy executives, falsely accusing them of price gouging. They spent the entire time pointing fingers at everyone except President Biden and his policies for our energy crisis.
Ironically, these are the same Members who six months ago held a hearing with the same executives demanding these companies cut production and invest in more "renewables." Now that gas prices are hurting their districts and all Americans, they are blaming American companies for not producing more.
After sitting in on the hearing, I can tell you that Democrats are not on the right path towards a solution to our skyrocketing energy prices.
They should we workingwithAmerican oil companies to unleash the exceptional energy workforce our country has to offer - especially in places like the Permian Basin.
Hear more of my thoughts:
Pressing the Biden Administration for Answers
This week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee hosted a hearing on Restoring American Leadership in the Indo-Pacific, where the Deputy Secretary of State, the Honorable Wendy R. Sherman, was the key witness.
I have major concerns the Deputy Secretary of State could not answer any of my questions. That includes whether President Biden will rejoin the Iran Nuclear Deal.
This is the Biden Administration failing the American people. We deserve real answers and real foreign policy that prioritizes the United States.
If you would like to watch the entire hearing, clickhere. You can watch my line of questioning by clickinghereor below.
Putting a stop to President Biden’s ‘Climate Emergency’
Instead offixing our broken supply chain or bringing prices down for Americans, President Biden's administration is pouring their efforts into making climate change the big issue of the day. To prevent the White House from trying to distract the American people by declaring climate change a National Emergency, I joined Congressman David B. McKinley and Senator Shelley Moore Capito and introducedthe "Real Emergencies Act."
Our nation cannot take any more top-down decrees that pander to green special interest groups and put blue-collar energy workers last. We need to focus on real emergencies - like skyrocketing inflation and record high energy costs.
This legislation ensures that President Biden does not abuse the power of his office to pursue his anti-American energy agenda against the will of the American people.
President Biden has botched the border crisis our country faces. Now, his administration is rescinding Title 42—one of the few effective policies that allowed Border Patrol officers to turn illegal migrants away during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
His decision to lift this order will cause an even more unmanageable surge of illegal migration to our southern border.
This week, I joined Congressman Golden, a Democrat from Maine, in introducing two pieces of legislation to secure our border:theDHS Rural and Remote Hiring and Retention Strategy Act of 2022, andthe Public Health and Border Security Act of 2022.
These bills would help address Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel shortages in rural areas, and block President Biden from rescinding Title 42.
Incentivizing an unmanageable surge of illegal migration to our southern border while our Border Patrol officers and border states lack adequate resources is unacceptable. It is telling that even Democrats in states as far away from the border as Maine recognize the severity of the border crisis and are taking steps to address it.
I am proud to join these bipartisan efforts and hope more of my Democrat colleagues will join us in addressing the disastrous border crisis.
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