[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 21, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2041-H2047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE BIDEN BORDER CRISIS AND SO-CALLED INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr.
Johnson) for 60 minutes.
General Leave
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of this
Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, during my Special Order
tonight, my colleagues and I will address the inaction by the Biden
administration and House Democrats to address this major crisis that we
see on our southern border, this humanitarian crisis. And, yes, that is
the right word. It is a crisis by any objective measure.
We are also going to address tonight the President's so-called
infrastructure plan. That is a lot for us to talk about. So we will
squeeze it into this hour.
When President Biden was inaugurated, the American people will
remember, Madam Speaker, that he called for unity. He promised to work
across the aisle, to work with Republicans in Congress. But so far
those words have been completely empty promises.
Everyone can acknowledge and everyone can see on television that
there is a real crisis at the southern border,
[[Page H2042]]
and it is a crisis of the administration's creation.
President Biden has stopped construction of the border wall. He
reimplemented the catch-and-release policy of the Obama administration.
He reversed the remain in Mexico policy of the Trump administration.
And he selectively is enforcing immigration laws.
The results are not surprising. Our Border Patrol is now completely
overwhelmed, and the southwest border encounters have reached a 15-year
high. I want you to look at these numbers, Madam Speaker. This is the
border crisis. The first column here is January of this year. We had
78,323 southwest border encounters. The next month, in February, it
goes up to 100,441. Last month, in March, it was 171,700. This is a
crisis. We all know the numbers for April are going to be staggering.
I know that there are Members on both sides of the aisle here--I know
there are Members, our Democrat colleagues, who want to join us to take
action to fix this. But we can't do it without the administration.
Look, here are five simple steps that we can take that would help end
the border crisis:
Number one, finish the wall;
Number two, reinstate the remain in Mexico policy;
Number three, turn away high-risk individuals at our border. These
are dangerous folks, some of them, coming across, and we know that.
Number four, require negative COVID tests before releasing migrants,
illegal immigrants, into the U.S.;
Number five, let's send a clear message to the whole world to
discourage illegal immigration.
What a concept. These aren't difficult things. The Trump
administration had it all figured out, but now politics has gotten in
the way of good policy.
In addition to finally solving the border crisis, there is another
item in the news that Americans desperately want us to address, and
that is the need for an infrastructure package. That could be a
bipartisan solution that we could all work on together. It should be
nonpartisan, but because it impacts every single congressional district
in every State, all of us, every American, wants this to happen.
But the plan that the White House introduced isn't really about
infrastructure at all. In fact, only 6 percent of the $2.5 trillion
proposal would go towards bridges, highways, and roads. The rest goes
to fund Democrat Big Government priorities, like the Green New Deal,
and payoffs to liberal special interest groups. What an outrage.
The facts are that the House majority is the slimmest of any House
majority since World War II, and the Senate is divided 50/50. Given
these facts, we just want our Democratic colleagues and President Biden
to end this partisan agenda for the sake of the American people.
I look forward, Madam Speaker, to hearing from my Republican
colleagues tonight about both of these issues.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Grothman), who represents the Sixth Congressional District of
Wisconsin.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, I would like to address the Chair with
regard to the upcoming infrastructure bill. I am going to talk about
some numbers. I don't mean to bore you with numbers.
When you put together a bill, you don't want to be an outlier. I am
going to address two areas in which I think this bill makes this an
outlier in very, very serious ways.
The first one is, you have changes in the tax law. And when you look
at the taxes that a business pays in this country, a corporation, you
have to look at kind of a double taxation. They will tax you at a
corporate rate when the business earns the money; and when the business
gives the money to its shareholders, you will be taxed at a dividend
rate.
There is a graph here comparing all of the OECD countries around the
world as to where they stand on this combined tax rate. The lowest
countries, the Baltic countries, Latvia and Estonia, are 20 percent.
Right now, the United States, even after the last tax cut, at 47
percent, is middle of the pack. Actually, a little bit higher. If the
tax hikes are put in effect that are published right now, you are going
up to 62.7 percent. In other words, of the over 20 countries here, the
United States will have the highest combined dividend, plus corporate
tax rate. That is an outlier and a dangerous place to be an outlier.
There are a lot of things that go into a decision as to where you put
a manufacturing facility, but taxes is certainly one of them. And given
one of our goals should be to bring manufacturing back to the country,
it is a bad place to be as the highest combined corporate tax rate,
plus dividends.
The next area I am going to address is the money supply. To a certain
extent, because of previous bills passed during the COVID crisis, we
have had a rather dramatic increase in the money supply.
I would suggest you google ``M1.'' You will see that, in the last 6
months, the amount of dollars floating around has gone through the
roof. Some people, including me, would say M2 would be a better
measurement. But even if you look at M2, we have a 27 percent increase
in the money supply over the past year. That is just screaming we are
going to have a lot of inflation in the very near future.
It is certainly not the only reason, but we already see the rapid
increase in the cost of housing construction. We see an increase in
food prices and an increase in energy prices. This is given what we
have already done.
Now, you are going to tell us--or some people are going to say that
we are going to raise enough taxes to pay for this spending. But we are
going to be raising enough taxes over the next 10 or 15 years. We know
around here that when we say we are going to make a pay-for the next 10
or 15 years, a lot of times that pay-for never materializes.
So I am afraid we are going to have another big increase in the money
supply when we have already had a 27 percent increase in the last year,
and this is going to come back and cause serious concern. I beg the
majority to look at a graph of the combined tax rates, us compared to
the other OECD countries, and I beg them to look at the money supply
and don't make us any more of an outlier on either.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Wisconsin for that dire warning. I guess if you subscribe to modern
monetary theory, none of this is a concern, but it is for those of us
who live in the real world.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Fallon), who
represents the Fourth Congressional District of Texas.
Mr. FALLON. Madam Speaker, the Biden infrastructure plan is another
classic example of the old bait-and-switch. Much like the COVID relief
bill, where only 9 percent of the $1.9 trillion price tag actually went
to COVID relief, this plan has very little to do with infrastructure.
The definition of the word in the Cambridge Dictionary is: The basic
system and services, such as transport and power supplies, that a
country or organization uses in order to work effectively.
So we know what it really means: roads, bridges; and, in the 21st
century, broadband internet would qualify.
How much of the $2.2 trillion is actually going to infrastructure?
$115 billion is set aside for bridges, roads, and highways; just 5
percent. And under a more broad definition, if we include public
transportation and broadband, the total grows to $405 billion, which is
still just 18 percent of the new spending.
So where does the other 82 percent go?
Democrats across the country have said their definition of
infrastructure includes universal pre-K, climate action, climate
justice, eradicating right-to-work environments, caregiving, affordable
housing, police accountability, and paid leave.
This ain't infrastructure.
So we all know what this is: The largest corporate welfare slush fund
in American history.
Joe Biden will have virtual carte blanche to nepotistically dole out
hundreds of billions of dollars to curry favor with allies, supporters,
friends, and family.
This isn't the hallmark of innovation, but it will ensure that the
D.C. swamp continues to be a festering pool of corruption.
[[Page H2043]]
{time} 2000
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I thank the gentleman from Texas.
We came here to drain the swamp, but it is really difficult during
the current administration. We will get back to it soon, though, I am
confident of that.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta), who
represents the Fifth District.
Mr. LATTA. I thank my friend for yielding and hosting tonight's
Special Order.
Quite a few of us have gone down to the border in the last several
weeks, and, Madam Speaker, we do have a crisis at the border. When I
say, a crisis, I mean an unmitigated crisis at the border.
We were at McAllen and going in to see the border crossing that night
and the people streaming across, the Border Patrol was probably going
to process over a thousand people that night. A thousand people.
The next morning, we were able to go to the Donna facility. And the
Donna facility, the best way to describe it, it is a canvas building,
you might say, a very nice building. It has air conditioning and all,
but it was only built to hold 250 people. The day we were there, there
were 3,500 people being housed there, the vast majority being kids.
We went into the pods they have. These pods are only supposed to hold
33 children. One held 412. Another had 450. And the week before there
were over 600 in one.
There is a problem; it is a crisis. But it is not being seen as a
crisis down at the White House. I implore the President and the Vice
President to go down there and see what is happening. It is absolutely
essential, because these children that are being held there, according
to what they say, they are supposed to only be there for 72 hours. Some
are being held for 3 weeks. One little girl was there for over 28 days.
So we do have a crisis at the border. It has got to be noted, and the
President and Vice President have to know it. It is absolutely
essential.
Let me just finish with this: The other thing that is happening, when
you take 40 percent of our Border Patrol offline and put them into the
facilities and also in processing, we have got drugs flowing across the
border. Last year we had 88,000 people in this country die of
overdoses. That is going up exponentially.
So let's get something done down there, Mr. President. It is
essential. We have got to do it today.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I thank my friend for that compelling
eyewitness account. Anyone who is looking at the evidence cannot deny
this is a problem.
I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko).
Being from a border State, she knows a whole lot about this.
Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, there is a border crisis. Let's just face
it. President Biden even slipped over the weekend and said it was a
crisis. Then the White House had to pull it back. When thousands of
people are crossing the border each and every day, it is a humanitarian
crisis, it is a health crisis, and it is a national security crisis
because we now know that at least a couple of the people that they
caught were on the terrorist watch list.
Just yesterday, the Governor of Arizona declared a State emergency
and sent National Guard to help our law enforcement in our border
communities. You know what the Customs and Border Patrol did under the
Biden administration? They dropped off 16 people, including kids, in
the middle of a park in a small community 80 miles north of the border,
Gila Bend, Arizona.
They don't have a shelter; they don't have a hospital there. They
have nothing. The mayor and his wife had to borrow a van to transport
these people to a Phoenix shelter. Now, what kind of President does
that?
If this happened, if these unaccompanied children were just left to
be handled by cartels, by a U.S. citizen, that U.S. citizen would be
charged with child abuse and be in prison right now. This is
unconscionable, and it needs to stop now.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I thank the gentlewoman for that passion.
She is right, she has been there, and she sees it herself.
I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Nehls), who represents the
22nd Congressional District and will bring another border State
perspective. He also knows a lot about law enforcement.
Mr. NEHLS. Madam Speaker, for weeks now our country has witnessed the
never-ending horrific images and stories from our southern border. We
have heard from Border Patrol that they don't have enough agents to
secure the southern border and babysit--yes, babysit--the tens of
thousands of migrant children flooding across our southern border. As a
result, criminal illegal aliens are slipping through undetected.
We are a nation of laws and law and order, or at least we used to be.
Ever since this current administration assumed control of the White
House, there has been an outright refusal--yes, refusal--to put the
American people first and address the crisis at our southern border.
The administration's inactions will cost American lives, will cost
billions of taxpayer dollars, and once again put the responsibility of
the Federal Government on individual States.
I know this. I dealt with it firsthand as a sheriff in Fort Bend
County, Texas. I had to tell dozens of residents in my home county
whose homes were burglarized by a ring of illegal aliens from Honduras
and Colombia that many of the illegal aliens had been deported multiple
times.
In January of 2020, in my office, I had to sit and tell a son whose
mother was killed in a hit and run that the illegal alien that ran his
mother over had been deported six--yes, six--times prior. That fellow
right there.
Madam Speaker, enough is enough. End this crisis. Put the American
people first and secure our southern border.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I am so grateful for those comments and for
the gentleman's expertise. This passion that you see, Madam Speaker, is
deserved. We are so concerned that the President doesn't share it, and
that is what you are hearing echoed over and over tonight.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Taylor), who
represents the Third District.
Mr. TAYLOR. Madam Speaker, as I walked through rows and rows of
children who had just made a long and dangerous journey to Texas'
southern border sitting on cots in a crowded room three times the size
of the room that we are in right now, it has never been more clear to
me than right there that illegal immigration benefits no one.
I have witnessed the heartbreaking conditions inside these emergency
intake sites. In the words of one facility commander, the volunteers
and staff that were working there tirelessly, they were operating under
a crisis level of care. A crisis level of care. There is no doubt that
we are facing a humanitarian crisis, a health crisis, and a national
security crisis, all of great proportions.
We didn't get here overnight. The Biden-Harris administration made a
reckless decision, choosing to overturn policies implemented by
President Trump. But those policies were working, and the Biden-Harris
administration had no replacement policy, no strategy, no plan to
replace it.
During my visit to this facility in north Texas, I listened to the
stories of cartels and coyotes advertising that they could get your
children across the U.S. border on television. That is right. The
cartels are advertising on television that they can get children
smuggled across our southern border.
By stopping construction and the strategic importance of the border
wall and rescinding the remain in Mexico policy, President Biden and
Vice President Harris are sending a clear message: If you come to the
United States, we will let you in.
Currently, as cartels are exploiting this administration's
irresponsible open border policies, the cartels are raking in roughly
$14 million a day. That is right, you heard me correctly. $14 million a
day going straight into the hands of criminals because of the reckless
policy decisions of the Biden administration.
If that statistic isn't enough on its own, DHS is projecting 117,000
children without their parents will arrive at the border this year
alone. That is a 45 percent increase over the highest we have ever had.
Madam Speaker, this is a crisis, and this administration and
Democrats in
[[Page H2044]]
Congress need to call it just that and fix it.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I thank the gentleman for that perspective
from Texas again. So we've got Texas and Arizona. Madam Speaker, we are
going to move a little further west, all the way west to California.
I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garcia), who represents
the 25th District there.
Mr. GARCIA of California. I thank Mr. Johnson for hosting this very
important Special Order hour.
I rise today to share my concerns about our crisis at the southern
border. As a first-generation American, I understand the opportunities
that this Nation provides and why every human being on this planet
should want to come to the United States. I am a product of the
American Dream, but I also value the law. I value law and order.
The first step in fixing our broken immigration system must be
securing our border. In March we saw over 172,000 migrants attempt to
illegally cross our border. That is a 71 percent increase in just one
month.
The Biden administration continues to fail to address this crisis.
This is no doubt a product of the Biden administration's policy, but
make no mistake, this is now our collective problem. It is affecting
our local neighborhoods, it is affecting our governments, it is
affecting those who have come here legally, who are now being cut in
front of by folks who are breaking the law to come here.
Communities in border towns are stretched thin and running low on
local resources as more migrants flood their communities. This isn't
just about the border. The crisis impacts all of us across America,
including my district, the beautiful 25th District, where we see a rise
in crime tied to illegal immigration and human trafficking. This is
being aggravated by the defund the police movement.
The crisis at our border is about security. It is about safety, and
it is about humanity. No human being should be experiencing in their
entire lifetime what hundreds of thousands of humans are experiencing
right now at our own southern border.
Let me be clear. We can be a welcoming nation, but we can also be a
nation that abides by its own laws and enforces them simultaneously. We
need to secure the border, provide the resources to our Border Patrol
agents, and stop incentivizing people to come here illegally. When we
do those things, we can address the rest of our problems.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I thank the gentleman for that compelling
testimony from a first-generation American. That is meaningful. We
prize immigration, the legal kind. We believe in the rule of law, and
that is what maintains order.
I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Cawthorn), the
youngest Member of Congress, but he is wise beyond his years.
Mr. CAWTHORN. Madam Speaker, if Americans like what Democrats did for
Baltimore, then they will love what Democrats will do for the planet.
The Biden infrastructure bill and the stimulus bill before it shows
that Democrats are more interested in transforming our Nation's
definitions of words than they are our physical infrastructure of roads
and bridges. We need to cut government waste, not create more.
And now the left wants to drag the Green New Deal through America's
back door without any regard for the wishes of millions of Americans.
Make no mistake, this infrastructure proposal is a wolf in sheep's
clothing. It is a Socialist wish list disguised as a roads and bridges
initiative.
This is exactly what Democrats have been doing since the day I was
sworn in. They know that America is in desperate need of infrastructure
reform, and they know that Republicans and Americans nationwide would
vote for a commonsense infrastructure proposal, but have they proposed
such an initiative? Absolutely not.
{time} 2015
They will pretend that this legislation deals with infrastructure,
and then they will stand on the steps of their multimillion-dollar
mansions and decry any votes against their Trojan horse of a bill.
Americans are fed up. Why aren't we passing legislation that does
what it claims to be doing? Why are my colleagues on the left so
excited to pretend critical race theory is the same as critically
needed roads?
Let's dispense between this false equivalency. Let's build bridges,
not just the physical but actual bipartisan bridges here in Congress.
Why aren't we working together on the pitifully few issues that we
still happen to agree on these days?
I am wondering. My constituents are wondering. America is wondering.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Cawthorn for
that perspective.
Madam Speaker, I will move briskly because we have a lot of Members,
as you can see, who are passionate about these issues and want to weigh
in tonight.
I yield to the gentleman from the First District of the great State
of Alabama (Mr. Carl), who will take the podium here.
Mr. CARL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my concern for the
unprecedented crisis at our southern border because of the Biden
administration's reckless open-border policy and failure to enforce our
Nation's immigration laws.
We are seeing thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the border
every single day, and there is no sign of letting up. The President and
the Vice President are nowhere to be found.
That is not leadership. We need leadership. We have a crisis at the
border, and leadership, we are making a call for help, please.
The Vice President was appointed as the border czar weeks ago and has
yet to take a single trip to the southern border. That is unacceptable.
We must have strong border protection for the health, safety, and
security of American citizens. It is time for this administration and
the far left to put America first by enforcing our immigration laws and
putting an end to this horrific crisis at our southern border.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman
from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louisiana for
yielding and for holding this Special Order tonight.
The American people are frightened by what they are seeing unfold at
the southern border. That fear is real, and it is only amplified by an
administration that has chosen to sit back and do absolutely nothing.
For months, the Biden administration has struggled to decide what to
call this situation, often scrambling to find the newest and less
severe synonym to the word ``crisis.'' The word ``crisis'' suits this
situation perfectly, but apparently, that word is too harsh, according
to the White House.
Pretty soon, this administration won't have any words left to use,
and they will accept the reality that they need to own up to the crisis
they created.
Republicans are not interested in letting complacency take hold while
the country we love is left open and vulnerable and changed forever. We
will continue to call out this administration for its failures, and we
will continue to fight to protect America and its citizens.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
North Carolina for her remarks, and we do call out the administration.
That is what this Special Order is all about.
I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee's Second District (Mr.
Burchett).
Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I thank Vice Chairman Johnson for
yielding.
Madam Speaker, the crisis at the southern border is a problem of the
Biden administration's own creation. As soon as they took office, the
Biden administration slapped an ``open for business'' sign on our
southern border. They scrapped commonsense immigration policies that
were keeping our country secure. Now, our southern border is
overwhelmed with immigrants who expect to enter the country without
proper vetting.
Hiding among those massive crowds of people are drug smugglers, child
traffickers, and terrorists who have no intention of positively
impacting American communities.
We need to know who is coming into our country and why, for the sake
of national security.
[[Page H2045]]
Ironically, even though Joe Biden and Kamala Harris decried this
practice, children are still being packed into overcrowded detention
facilities and sleeping in cages. They were outraged about this back
when they were campaigning for President, but now they are actually
silent on the issue.
We need to get back to the successful border security policies of the
Trump administration, including construction of our border wall. I am
an original cosponsor of the Finish the Wall Act, which would resume
construction of the border wall and make it more difficult for folks,
especially the bad actors, to cross the southern border illegally.
House Republicans are ready to secure the border, and I am proud to
join my colleagues on the floor this evening to call out the Biden
administration's ongoing inaction. If President Biden is not physically
or mentally capable of addressing this problem, he should step down.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Tennessee for those bold words, and he is right. I think that expresses
the sentiment of a lot of Americans.
I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gimenez), who knows a lot
about immigration as well as infrastructure because he is a former fire
chief and mayor and now a Member of Congress.
Mr. GIMENEZ. Madam Speaker, over the past several weeks, I have
joined Leader McCarthy and House Homeland Security Committee
Republicans on two separate trips to our southern border. What I saw on
the ground is heartbreaking: countless unaccompanied minors, often very
young girls, left at the hands of international cartels, many of them
violated; migrants packed into cramped processing facilities; and
seizures of illicit narcotics being trafficked into the United States.
Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris White House has drastically shifted
from the previous administration's policies on immigration and border
security through executive order. At no point during the crafting of
these executive orders were congressional Republicans consulted, nor
have Republicans had a proper venue for input on plans from the White
House. The result? Day by day, the crisis along our southern border is
getting worse.
It has been a month since President Biden named our Vice President,
Kamala Harris, as the border czar. What have we seen so far? Zero media
appearances about the border, no press conferences, no trips to the
border, radio silence for the Vice President.
She said she is going to the Northern Triangle to meet with
Guatemalans and Hondurans. She doesn't need to. She can come to the
southern border and talk directly to Guatemalans and Hondurans, and
migrants from many other countries, while they are illegally crossing
the border.
While she is at it, Vice President Harris should speak with Customs
and Border Protection agents who are on the ground handling the
situation instead of Federal bureaucrats sitting in their offices in
Washington.
As an immigrant, I call on Vice President Harris to do her job and
fix this crisis.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
speaking with such authority.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania's Ninth
District (Mr. Meuser).
Mr. MEUSER. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from
Louisiana, Vice Chair Mike Johnson, for yielding.
Madam Speaker, we can all agree our Nation's transportation and
infrastructure system is in need of investment to improve our quality
of life and economic competitiveness. Very unfortunately, the Biden
administration has thus far chosen a go-it-alone approach in solving
this problem with a $2.3 trillion proposal, whereby less than 8 percent
would go toward improving our Nation's roads, bridges, highways,
airports, ports, and waterways, traditional infrastructure.
The rest is filled with provisions that have nothing to do with
traditional T&I as we all know it, including $173 billion for electric
cars and car electrical ports for powering; $400 billion to expand
Medicaid programs, which is not infrastructure; and hundreds of
billions of dollars to implement provisions of the Green New Deal.
As a means to pay for it, the Biden administration and Democratic
leadership plan to raise taxes by over $2 trillion. At a time when our
economy is in recovery, and we are supposed to be on the side of
American manufacturing and repatriating jobs, bringing these companies
back to America, the idea of significant tax increases is another
upside-down policy and will certainly not attract business but only
export them.
Additionally, our infrastructure plan needs to be supplemented by
private capital investment. That is where accountability comes from.
That is why I plan to introduce the Infrastructure Bank for America
Act, which would add to existing government funding with private
investment, increasing access to capital for worthy infrastructure
projects that deliver on R&I and deliver value to the American people
at a fraction of the cost to the taxpayer.
Contrary to the Biden infrastructure plan, IBA investments would not
be restricted and would help finance surface transportation projects,
grid security, broadband, and revitalization of cities and towns across
America and my district.
Thus far, the Biden administration has failed to reach across the
aisle in a meaningful way to accomplish anything. We should unite to
fix our roads, bridges, highways, airports, and other gateways to
growth and innovation, not exploit this opportunity and pass a $2
trillion liberal wish list that will raise taxes, impose Green New Deal
mandates, and add trillions to our national debt.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
mentioning just one of the many Republican ideas we have. And as he
said, we are not there at the table.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee's Sixth
District (Mr. Rose).
Mr. ROSE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a critical
need for infrastructure for all of America, and especially in my home
State of Tennessee.
I believe it is past time that we build new transportation systems
and refurbish structures to accommodate our modern economy and our
growing workforce. I am a strong proponent of fixing our crumbling
roads and bridges and expanding access to broadband internet in
unserved areas.
In Tennessee, over half a million residents only have access to one
internet service provider, and 274,000 Tennesseans still have no access
at their place of residence. These are real infrastructure projects
that desperately need our attention.
Unfortunately, President Biden's most recent multitrillion-dollar
giveaway has little to do with actual infrastructure, with only 6
percent of this bill going to projects that fund roads, bridges, or
highways.
Even if we use the most expanded definition of infrastructure, which
might include upgrading wastewater and drinking water systems,
expanding high-speed broadband internet service to 100 percent of the
Nation, modernizing the electric grid, and improving infrastructure
resilience, infrastructure in this plan is only 24 percent of its total
cost.
President Biden is attempting to redefine infrastructure to include
all of the Democratic Party's pet projects and extreme priorities. In
this case, it means enacting Green New Deal-style programs
and implementing job-killing tax hikes on Americans and their
businesses.
Since this proposal has little to do with infrastructure and grossly
inflates the number of jobs it would actually create, we should call
this proposal what it really is, a con job.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, it is a con job, indeed.
Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Louisiana has 32 minutes
remaining.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman
from Michigan's First District (Mr. Bergman), who is the highest ranked
military officer ever elected to the United States Congress and also my
dear friend and classmate.
Mr. BERGMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Johnson for
yielding. It is an honor to be here on the floor with him tonight.
Our country recognizes leadership at all levels, regardless of party
ideology,
[[Page H2046]]
and I see here on the floor real leadership, committed leadership.
I rise today to express deep concern for the state of our Nation's
southern border. Words matter, and it is time we start calling this
situation what it really is: a crisis. In simple words, it is what it
is. Don't try to paint it in many different ways.
President Biden has invited this crisis through his words and in his
executive actions, including terminating construction of the wall on
our southern border.
We need real leadership now. Now is not the time to be hiding. We
need the leaders to step out and step up. It is time to put up and put
out the political gamesmanship, put that all behind us and take a
serious look at what is happening on the southern border. When I say a
serious look, I mean that literally.
Vice President Harris, let alone President Biden, has yet to visit
the border since being charged with addressing the crisis there. The
United States is and must always remain a free and welcoming Nation.
We are all immigrants. We are immigrants by generations who came here
for one of two reasons, for an opportunity or fleeing persecution. That
hasn't changed.
{time} 2030
We are also, and by all standards measured, a Nation of law and
order, and our laws must be followed.
Madam Speaker, I urge Congress to take up critical legislation, such
as Representative Andy Biggs' Stopping Border Surges Act and
Representative Jeff Duncan's H.R. 88, Build up Illegal Line Defenses
with Assets Lawfully Lifted Act of 2021. These bills will begin to
address the root cause of our immigration issues.
In addition, the bureaucracies here in D.C. can play a positive role,
such as Department of Labor and DHS. They can help. Because when you
look at those who seek to come here legally and work as guest workers,
we can bring good people from around the world here through the H2B and
H2A programs. They do not seek permanent status; they come here to
work, and they go home. The bureaucracies can get involved to help
good, legal immigration occur after you separate out the guest worker
programs.
Madam Speaker, we can secure our border, protect those wishing to
come here legally, and crack down on those who wish to do us harm--and
I mean, crack down on those who wish to do us harm. It is time this
body gets to work to address this critical issue immediately.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the general. I
appreciate that so much.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird),
Fourth District, another American hero, another hero of mine, a
gentleman who sacrificially served his country and deserves to speak
here tonight and has great insight for us.
Mr. BAIRD. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louisiana for
yielding. I appreciate the opportunity to be here.
Madam Speaker, this evening I really rise to voice my concerns over
the President's $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
One concern is the steep price tag, but a bigger concern is what the
administration is trying to classify as infrastructure. These attempts
from some on the other side of the aisle to classify their partisan
priorities as infrastructure, is inexcusable and it is irresponsible.
The President is asking American taxpayers to fork over $2 trillion.
If the President is asking Americans to make a substantial investment,
it is Congress' responsibility to ensure that these tax dollars are
spent wisely.
Unfortunately, the President's proposed bill doesn't do this. How can
it be infrastructure legislation when less than 6 percent goes to roads
and bridges and less than 5 percent goes to broadband infrastructure?
There is a true need for infrastructure. For instance, in my
district, our rural communities need help getting their last mile of
broadband. This pandemic has proven that high speed broadband must be
addressed.
Madam Speaker, I hope we can remove the partisan approach to this
bill and solve the real infrastructure challenges of our country.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. It is so
sad that broadband needs are not being met because politics are in the
way.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise today with serious reservations about the
proposed infrastructure policies coming before this body.
Every Member in Congress represents a district with infrastructure
needs. Urban or rural, conservative or liberal, we all represent
communities that have dire infrastructure needs we should be
addressing.
That is why President Biden's recent discussion about infrastructure,
along with his comments about wanting to establish a bipartisan
legislative effort were encouraging.
Unfortunately, none of this would come to fruition. We didn't see a
bipartisan push. We didn't see significant input taken from Members and
Senators on our side of the aisle. We didn't see a willingness to want
to work together.
The $2.2 trillion plan wasn't released after significant back-and-
forth discussions. No, it was released after development by the White
House and then pushed out in a media blitz.
As anticipated, the package was a partisan exercise. Just 5 percent
goes to repairing roads and bridges. As the core definition of
infrastructure, there is very little attention shown. Only 1 percent
goes to airports. Other countries around the world continue to build
state-of-the-art airports, as airports here in the United States
struggle to keep up with demand. Ports and inland waterways, an issue
important to me as the representative of two major seaports, is even
more astounding. Just one percent of this bill goes to ports and inland
waterways. Ridiculous.
Now is the time for real infrastructure investments, but this isn't
the plan Americans need.
I urge my colleagues to start from scratch and focus on the real
issue here: Our Nation's infrastructure needs.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman so
much for that.
Madam Speaker, I am delighted to go back across the country again to
the great State of California's Eighth District. I yield to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte).
Mr. OBERNOLTE. Madam Speaker, infrastructure is a bipartisan issue.
We all agree that one of the primary functions of government is to
provide for the people collectively what they are unable to
individually provide for themselves. I am talking about things like
highways and roads and dams and harbors and airports. Things that
represent long-term investments in the future of our country.
Unfortunately, the infrastructure package we are currently
considering only devotes 12 percent of the over $2 trillion of spending
to infrastructure projects like those.
To give you some egregious examples, the proposed infrastructure
package devotes substantially more money to subsidizing the purchase of
electric vehicles than it does to building the roads and the highways
that those vehicles would drive on.
The proposed infrastructure package devotes over ten times as much
money to expansion of Medicaid than it does to the construction of
water infrastructure, of dams and of airports put together.
It is not to say that these other projects are without merit, but the
problem is that almost every dollar of this spending contributes to our
national debt. That means that we need to consider only the projects
that represent a true, long-term investment in our country.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to
pare this package down to the projects that accomplish exactly that.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
that California perspective.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Thompson), the Republican leader of the House Agriculture Committee.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman
for yielding.
[[Page H2047]]
Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the Democrat's infrastructure
bill.
We have seen a lot in the news over the last few weeks about
President Biden's not-so-much infrastructure plan. There is so much
unrelated pork in this bill that even Washington reporters are hesitant
to call it an infrastructure plan.
When we think of the word ``infrastructure,'' we think roads,
bridges, highways. We can expand further and think of ports, waterways,
and airports. Democrats so-called infrastructure plan is not really
about infrastructure--6 percent is allocated to roads, bridges, and
highways, and a mere 2 percent for airways, waterways, and ports.
Together, we are just barely getting to 8 percent of the $2.3 trillion
plan to focus on infrastructure.
But what is the rest focused on? Well, it is a wish list of
Progressive policies and it is an excuse for Democrats to give $600
billion--over half a trillion dollars--to the Green New Deal.
While I believe there is an opportunity for bipartisanship--a
successful infrastructure bill must be bipartisan--the majority must be
willing to make reasonable concessions to address our reasonable
concerns. If we do this right, it should look like a bill that we wrote
together.
This bill has the chance to fix our infrastructure, provide jobs, and
jump-start our economy following COVID-19, but it will only succeed if
Democrats choose to include Republicans and bring us to the table.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman. That
went so well, I think we will stay in the State of Pennsylvania, going
to the 12th District.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Keller).
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for
yielding.
Madam Speaker, improving America's infrastructure should be
bipartisan. Revitalizing our Nation's roads and bridges, delivering
broadband to rural America, and working together to build a more
connected society are all things we can and should strive to
accomplish.
The Biden administration's so-called infrastructure plan is not
infrastructure, and it is definitely not bipartisan. Less than 2 months
removed from the last multi-trillion-dollar bill, the American people
are about to be saddled with another massive tax-and-spend package--
this time with a price tag of $2.3 trillion and a bag of empty
promises.
With only a fraction of the $2.3 trillion going toward things like
roads, bridges, waterways, dams, airports, and broadband, the majority
of the plan is instead filled with non-infrastructure items.
Case in point: Joe Biden spends 74 percent more of your money on
subsidies for electric vehicles than it allocates for rural broadband.
It is ironic that Washington Democrats talk about improving
infrastructure while simultaneously working to dismantle and eliminate
American energy jobs. Make no mistake, it takes American energy to
build American infrastructure.
While Washington Democrats talk about improvements to American
infrastructure, they fail to recognize that Biden's $2.3 trillion plan
is not the answer. Instead, we must embrace America's domestic energy
industry, which has made greater strides in investing in our Nation's
infrastructure than Joe Biden's wasteful spending plans ever could.
If Joe Biden truly believes this is an infrastructure package, it is
evidence that he has been in Washington, D.C., for far too long.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman. And
he has indeed been in Washington too long.
Madam Speaker, there is a common denominator tonight. The crisis at
the border and the problems with the infrastructure package were both
entirely created by the Biden administration.
They were both thus completely avoidable, completely predictable, and
they have done and are doing an extraordinary disservice and real
damage to the American people.
We ask, again, of all of our Democrat colleagues and President Biden
and his administration, please, please, for the sake of our country,
put the partisanship aside. Let's govern with common sense, let's fix
these problems before they become so great that we are unable to do so.
Madam Speaker, we end the Special Order, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
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