Chairman Green, Homeland Republicans Blast Vice President and ‘Border Czar’ Kamala Harris’ Refusal to Secure the Border

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) was joined by Homeland Republicans and other Conference members in condemning 'Border Czar' Vice President Kamala Harris' refusal to secure our borders and protect Americans. Following their remarks, the House of Representatives passed, on a bipartisan vote, H.Res. 1371, a resolution strongly condemning the Biden administration's failure to secure America's borders and condemning Harris specifically for her catastrophic handling of the unprecedented border crisis.

Watch Chairman Green's opening remarks:
"On March 24, 2021, President Joe Biden announced to the American people that he tasked Vice President Kamala Harris to 'lead our efforts' to address the 'root causes' of the border by working with Mexico and Central America to stem the flow of illegal border crossings at the Southwest border. However, since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, CBP has recorded more than 9.6 million encounters nationwide and this number continues to rapidly increase. Over 200,000 Americans have died from the fentanyl flooding across our open border. Precious lives like those of Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Jocelyn Nungaray have been brutally taken by illegal aliens who have been released.
"We've been told that Vice President Harris' job was to find the root causes of the crisis. It turns out to do so she could have just looked in the mirror. Now, it would be charitable to say that Vice President Harris is completely out of her depth when it comes to securing the border.
"The fact is she has a long track record of opposing border security and immigration enforcement, whether as a senator, a presidential candidate, or as Joe Biden's 'Border Czar.' For example, then-Senator Harris advocated abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She proudly boasted that she'd introduced legislation to reduce the number of ICE detention beds. And she also advocated for doing away with private detention facilities. She called construction of the new border wall system a stupid use of money. She opposed the use of Title 42 during the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Now that Vice President Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, we've watched our colleagues on the other side of the aisle get defensive about it, because they know they cannot possibly defend her disastrous handling of the border crisis that she was supposed to end."

Watch Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL):
"Since the Border Czar Harris has taken over, there have been nearly eight million illegal encounters at the southern border, nearly two million gotaways…The growing crisis has a direct impact on border districts like mine. Illegal migrant landings have increased in our state, particularly in our beloved Florida Keys. We've seen an increase in encounters of Chinese nationals and other nationals. Our adversaries know that they can take advantage and exploit the open-border policies of the Biden-Harris administration. FBI Director Christopher Wray has testified that suspected terrorists have crossed the southern border and are unaccounted for in our country. The Biden-Harris open border policies are a risk to every man, woman, and child living in America."

Watch Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX):
"On day one, the Biden-Harris administration issued 64 executive orders to open the border to human traffickers, terrorists, and foreign adversaries. In fact, over 300 known or suspected terrorists have crossed the border illegally that we know about, and 50 migrants with ties to ISIS are currently on the loose inside the United States. What are we hearing from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle with regards to that? They don't care. They don't want to do anything about it--they just want to defend an open-border policy, because that's what they're doing. The American people are paying the real cost of this border crisis."
"In fact, for the first two years of the administration, we didn't have a single hearing on border security, not a single one on the Committee of Homeland Security. This resolution simply calls for accountability. How many more hearings do we have to have under our current chairman to call accountability to this? Because our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not willing to actually call out President Biden and Vice President Harris. How many more times do we have to call out for help in our communities?"
"Are we going to have to have where the FBI comes in and where other intelligence agencies come in and say, 'We've got a problem.' How many more classified hearings are we going to have to have where they come into Congress to tell us we have known or suspected terrorists inside our country. The post-9 /11 commission said the system was flashing red. Wake up--the system is flashing red right now, and it is due to President Biden and Vice President Harris' inability to secure the border and do something to secure our country. Shame on those who won't stand up and do the right thing. I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1371 and to get accountability back to the southern border."

Watch Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA):
"Since being appointed 'Border Czar' by President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris has undoubtedly been a complete failure in her job and has destroyed our country by releasing record-setting levels of criminals, rapists, and terrorists into our communities."
"The policies of the administration allowed the CBP One app to import over 400,000 [inadmissible aliens] into American communities. Under her watch as 'Border Czar,' this has happened. She can fake it for the photo-ops, but we know that Kamala Harris wholeheartedly supports the chaos at our border, the chaos in our streets, and the chaos in the families who have been victims of her open-border policies. 'Border Czar' Harris outlandishly compared ICE agents to the KKK and radically called for ICE to be abolished."
"Kamala Harris is not only the 'Border Czar', she is also the 'Czar of Chaos,' and her policies have destroyed Americans."

Watch Chairman Green's closing remarks:
"As we conclude this debate, I want to quote the vice president one more time. In 2015, she said, 'An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.' Well, actually, under Title VIII of the United States Code, illegally crossing the southwest border is a federal misdemeanor with up to six months in prison as the penalty for a first offense and a felony for repeated offenses.
"Vice President Harris brought that mentality to her role as 'Border Czar.' What we've witnessed today from congressional Democrats confirms that they know it. They have demonstrated that they have no concrete defense for the Biden administration or Vice President Harris' disastrous handling of the unprecedented border crisis, which the vice president was supposed to help resolve. They're more upset about colloquial titles for the vice president than the deadly chaos she has blatantly ignored.
"They think one month of slightly less disastrous border crossing numbers compared to the numbers of the past three and a half years is their 'get out of jail free card' on this issue. The American people are not so easily fooled. However, it is time to pass H. Res. 1371 to call out Vice President Harris'abysmal failure, and for the Senate to move on the mountain of border security bills that we've sent them this Congress, as well."

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