underlying parts that made up those headlines? are they sustainable? people are still concerned about the direction of the economy. if you look at the polls, people say the country is still on the wrong track. although year over year, headline inflation is coming down and cooling off and that's a good thing but unfortunately, real wages are not keeping up with the rising prices. since january of 2021, real wages are down about 4%. that's making the typical worker $2200 less well off than they were in 2021. we've seen lots of headline job growth but a lot of that is subsidized by taxpayers and about 20% of the job growth in 2023 was state and local government officials. a lot of that's been subsidized by the federal government through transfers to the state

government. over the long run, that will not be sustainable. host: what numbers or metrics do you have to look for to cease attainability? guest: we want to see real rates growth area the things you want to do is see people's take-home pay rise rice -- rise faster than prices over time. the speaker pro tempore: proceed ings will resume on ordering the previous question on house resolution 996 and adoption of the house resolution 996 if ordered. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes, pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote on ordering the previous question on house resolution 996. on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 62, house resolution 996,

providing for house resolution 863, impeaching alejandro mayorkas, secretary of homeland security for high crimes and misdemeanors and providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 485 to amend title 11 of the social security act to prohibit the use of quality adjusted life years and similar measures and coverage and payment determinations under federal health care programs. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] tempore: on ts

vote the yeas are 215, the nays --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 215, the nays are 207. the previous question is ordered. the question is on the adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? mr. mcgovern: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 216, the nays are 209. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to

reconsider is laid on the table. the house will be in order. please take your seats or take your conversations outside, the house will come to order.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. green: madam speaker, pursuant to house resolution 996, i call up house res. 863 and ask for the immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. please take your seats or take your conversations outside. the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 60, house resolution 863. resolved, that alejandro nicholas mayorkas, secretary of homeland security of the united

states of america, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the united states senate. articles of impeachment exhibited by the house of representatives of the united states of america in the name of itself and of the people of the united states of america, against alejandro n. mayorkas, secretary of homeland security of the united states of america, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. article i: willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law the constitution provides that the house of representatives “shall have the sole power of impeachment” and that civil officers of the united states, including the secretary of homeland security, “shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” in his conduct while secretary of homeland security, alejandro n. mayorkas, in violation of his oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies,

foreign and domestic, to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and to well and faithfully discharge the duties of his office, has willfully and systemically refused to comply with federal immigration laws, in that. throughout his tenure as secretary of homeland security, alejandro n. mayorkas has repeatedly violated laws enacted by congress regarding immigration and border security. in large part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have illegally entered the united states on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the united states. his refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the constitution of the united states, it also threatens our national security and has had a dire impact on communities across the country. despite clear evidence that his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law has significantly contributed to unprecedented levels of illegal entrants, the increased control of the southwest border by drug cartels, and the imposition of enormous costs on states and localities affected by the

influx of aliens, alejandro n. mayorkas has continued in his refusal to comply with the law, and thereby acted to the grave detriment of the interests of the united states. alejandro n. mayorkas engaged in this scheme or course of conduct through the following means. one, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention mandate set forth in section 235-b-2-a of the immigration and nationality act, requiring that all applicants for admission who are “not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted, shall be detained for a removal proceeding.” instead of complying with this requirement, alejandro n. mayorkas implemented a catch and release scheme, whereby such aliens are unlawfully released, even without effective mechanisms to ensure appearances before the immigration courts for removal proceedings or to ensure removal in the case of aliens ordered removed. two, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention mandate set forth

in section 235-b-1-b-ii of such act, requiring that an alien who is placed into expedited removal proceedings and determined to have a credible fear of persecution “shall be detained for further consideration of the application for asylum.” instead of complying with this requirement, alejandro n. mayorkas implemented a catch and release scheme, whereby such aliens are unlawfully released, even without effective mechanisms to ensure appearances before the immigration courts for removal proceedings or to ensure removal in the case of aliens ordered removed. three, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention set forth in section 235-b-1-b-iii-iv of such act, requiring that an alien who is placed into expedited removal proceedings and determined not to have a credible fear of persecution “shall be detained until removed.” instead of complying with this requirement, alejandro n. mayorkas has implemented a catch and release scheme, whereby such

aliens are unlawfully released, even without effective mechanisms to ensure appearances before the immigration courts for removal proceedings or to ensure removal in the case of aliens ordered removed. four, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention mandate set forth in section 236-c of such act, requiring that a criminal alien who is inadmissible or deportable on certain criminal and terrorism-related grounds “shall be taken into custody” when the alien is released from law enforcement custody. instead of complying with this requirement, alejandro n. mayorkas issued “guidelines for the enforcement of civil immigration laws”, which instructs department of homeland security, hereinafter referred to as “dhs”, officials that the “fact an individual is a removable noncitizen should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against the”" and that dhs “personnel should not rely on the fact of

conviction alone”, even with respect to aliens subject to mandatory arrest and detention pursuant to section 236-c of such act, to take them into custody. in texas v. united states, 40 f.4th 205, 2022, the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit concluded that these guidelines had “every indication of being 'a general policy that is so extreme as to amount to an abdication of statutory responsibilities'” and that its “replacement of congress's statutory mandates with concerns of equity and race is extralegal and plainly outside the bounds of the power conferred by the ina.” five, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully refused to comply with the detention mandate set forth in section 241-a-2 of such act, requiring that an alien ordered removed “shall be detained” during “the removal period.” instead of complying with this mandate, alejandro n. mayorkas

issued “guidelines for the enforcement of civil immigration laws”, which instructs dhs officials that the “fact an individual is a removable noncitizen should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them” and that dhs “personnel should not rely on the fact of conviction alone”, even with respect to aliens subject to mandatory detention and removal pursuant to section 241-a of such act. six, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully exceeded his parole authority set forth in section 212-d-5-a of such act that permits parole to be granted “only on a case-by-case basis”, temporarily, and “for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit”, in that -- a, alejandro n. mayorkas paroled aliens en masse in order to release them from mandatory detention, despite the fact that, as the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit concluded in texas v. biden, 20

f.4th 928, 2021, “paroling every alien dhs cannot detain is the opposite of the 'case-by-case basis' determinations required by law” and “dhs's pretended power to parole aliens while ignoring the limitations congress imposed on the parole power is not nonenforcement; it's misenforcement, suspension of the ina, or both.” b, alejandro n. mayorkas created, re-opened, or expanded a series of categorical parole programs never authorized by congress for foreign nationals outside of the united states, including for certain central american minors, ukrainians, venezuelans, cubans, haitians, nicaraguans, colombians, salvadorans, guatemalans, and hondurans, which enabled hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens to enter the united states in violation of the laws enacted by congress. seven, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully exceeded his release

authority set forth in section 236-a of such act that permits, in certain circumstances, the release of aliens arrested on an administrative warrant, in that alejandro n. mayorkas released aliens arrested without a warrant despite their being subject to a separate applicable mandatory detention requirement set forth in section 235-b-2 of such act. alejandro n. mayorkas released such aliens by retroactively issuing administrative warrants in an attempt to circumvent section 235-b-2 of such act. in florida v. united states, no. 3:21-cv-1066-tkw-zcb, n.d. fla. mar. 8, 2023, the united states district court of the northern district of florida noted that “this sleight of hand, using an 'arrest' warrant as a de facto 'release' warrant is

administrative sophistry at its worst.” in addition, the court concluded that “what makes dhs's application of 236-a in this manner unlawful is that 235-b-2, not 236-a, governs the detention of applicants for admission whom dhs places in removal proceedings after inspection.” alejandro n. mayorkas's willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law has had calamitous consequences for the nation and the people of the united states, including — one, during fiscal years 2017 through 2020, an average of about 590,000 aliens each fiscal year were encountered as inadmissible aliens at ports of entry on the southwest border or apprehended between ports of entry. thereafter, during alejandro n. mayorkas's tenure in office, that number skyrocketed to over 1,400,000 in fiscal year 2021,

over 2,300,000 in fiscal year 2022, and over 2,400,000 in fiscal year 2023. similarly, during fiscal years 2017 through 2020, an average of 130,000 persons who were not turned back or apprehended after making an illegal entry were observed along the border each fiscal year. during alejandro n. mayorkas's tenure in office, that number more than trebled to 400,000 in fiscal year 2021, 600,000 in fiscal year 2022, and 750,000 in fiscal year 2023. two, american communities both along the southwest border and across the united states have been devastated by the dramatic growth in illegal entries, the number of aliens unlawfully present, and substantial rise in the number of aliens unlawfully granted parole, creating a fiscal and humanitarian crisis and dramatically degrading the

quality of life of the residents of those communities. for instance, since 2022, more than 150,000 migrants have gone through new york city's shelter intake system. indeed, the mayor of new york city has said that “we are past our breaking point” and that “this issue will destroy new york city.” in fiscal year 2023, new york city spent $1,450,000,000 addressing alejandro n. mayorkas's migrant crisis, and city officials fear it will spend another $12,000,000,000 over the following three fiscal years, causing painful budget cuts to important city services. three, alejandro n. mayorkas's unlawful mass release of apprehended aliens and unlawful mass grant of categorical parole to aliens have enticed an increasing number of aliens to make the dangerous journey to our southwest border. consequently, according to the united nations's international organization for migration, the number of migrants intending to

illegally cross our border who have perished along the way, either en route to the united states or at the border, almost doubled during the tenure of alejandro n. mayorkas as secretary of homeland security, from an average of about 700 a year during the fiscal years 2017 through 2020, to an average of about 1,300 a year during the fiscal years 2021 through 2023. four, alien smuggling organizations have gained tremendous wealth during alejandro n. mayorkas's tenure as secretary of homeland security, with their estimated revenues rising from about $500,000,000 in 2018 to approximately $13,000,000,000 in 2022. five, during alejandro n. mayorkas's tenure as secretary of homeland security, the immigration court backlog has more than doubled from about 1,300,000 cases to over 3,000,000 cases.

the exploding backlog is destroying the courts' ability to administer justice and provide appropriate relief in a timeframe that does not run into years or even decades. as alejandro n. mayorkas acknowledged, “those who have a valid claim to asylum often wait years for a decision, likewise, noncitizens who will ultimately be found ineligible for asylum or other protection, which occurs in the majority of cases, often have spent many years in the united states prior to being ordered removed.” he noted that of aliens placed in expedited removal proceedings and found to have a credible fear of persecution, and thus referred to immigration judges for removal proceedings, “significantly fewer than 20% were ultimately granted asylum” and only “28% of cases decided on their merits are grants of relief.” alejandro n. mayorkas also admitted that “the fact that migrants can wait in the united states for years before being issued a final order denying relief, and that many such

individuals are never actually removed, likely incentivizes migrants to make the journey north.” six, during alejandro n. mayorkas's tenure as secretary of homeland security, approximately 450,000 unaccompanied alien children have been encountered at the southwest border, and the vast majority have been released into the united states. as a result, there has been a dramatic upsurge in migrant children being employed in dangerous and exploitative jobs in the united states. seven, alejandro n. mayorkas's failure to enforce the law, drawing millions of illegal aliens to the southwest border, has led to the reassignment of u.s. border patrol agents from protecting the border from illicit drug trafficking to processing illegal aliens for release. as a result, during alejandro n. mayorkas's tenure as secretary of homeland security, the flow of fentanyl across the border and other dangerous drugs, both at and between ports of entry,

has increased dramatically. u.s. customs and border protection seized approximately 4,800 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2020, approximately 11,200 pounds in fiscal year 2021, approximately 14,700 pounds in fiscal year 2022, and approximately 27,000 pounds in fiscal year 2023. over 70,000 americans died from fentanyl poisoning in 2022, and fentanyl is now the number one killer of americans between the ages of 18 and 45. eight, alejandro n. mayorkas has degraded public safety by leaving wide swaths of the had border effectively unpatrolled as u.s. border patrol agents are diverted from guarding the border to processing for unlawful release the heightening waves of apprehended aliens, many who now seek out agents for the purpose of surrendering with the now reasonable expectation of being released and granted work authorization, and federal air marshals are diverted from

protecting the flying public to assist in such processing. nine, during alejandro n. mayorkas's tenure as secretary of homeland security, the u.s. border patrol has encountered an increasing number of aliens on the terrorist watch list. in fiscal years 2017 through 2020 combined, 11 noncitizens on the terrorist watchlist were caught attempting to cross the southwest border between ports of entry. that number increased to 15 in fiscal year 2021, 98 in fiscal year 2022, 169 in fiscal year 2023, and 49 so far in fiscal year 2024. additionally, in united states v. texas, 599 u.s. 670, 2023, the united states supreme court heard a case involving alejandro n. mayorkas's refusal to comply with certain federal immigration laws that are at issue in this impeachment. the supreme court held that states have no standing to seek

judicial relief to compel alejandro n. mayorkas to comply with certain legal requirements contained in the immigration and nationality act. however, the supreme court held that “even though the federal courts lack article iii jurisdiction over this suit, other forums remain open for examining the executive branch's enforcement policies. for example, congress possesses an array of tools to analyze and influence those policies and those are political checks for the political process.” one such critical tool for congress to influence the executive branch to comply with the immigration laws of the united states is impeachment. the dissenting justice noted, “the court holds texas lacks standing to challenge a federal policy that inflicts substantial harm on the state and its residents by releasing illegal aliens with criminal convictions for serious crimes. in order to reach this conclusion, the court holds that the only limit on the power of a president to disobey

a law like the important provision at issue is congress' power to employ the weapons of inter-branch warfare.” as the dissenting justice explained, “congress may wield what the solicitor general described as 'political tools, which presumably means such things as impeachment and removal.” indeed, during oral argument, the justice who authored the majority opinion stated to the solicitor general, “i think your position is, instead of judicial review, congress has to resort to shutting down the government or impeachment or dramatic steps.” here, in light of the inability of injured parties to seek judicial relief to remedy the refusal of alejandro n. mayorkas to comply with federal immigration laws, impeachment is congress's only viable option. in all of this, alejandro n. mayorkas willfully and systemically refused to comply with the immigration laws, failed to control the border to the detriment of national security, compromised public safety, and violated the rule of law and separation of powers in

the constitution, to the manifest injury of the people of the united states. wherefore alejandro n. mayorkas, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national and border security, the safety of the united states people, and the constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law. alejandro n. mayorkas thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the united states. article 2, breach of public trust. the constitution provides that the house of representatives “shall have the sole power of impeachment” and that civil officers of the united states, including the secretary of homeland security, “shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

in his conduct while secretary of homeland security, alejandro n. mayorkas, in violation of his oath to well and faithfully discharge the duties of his office, has breached the public trust in that alejandro n. mayorkas has knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the department of homeland security, hereinafter referred to as d.h.s. principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law. alejandro n. mayorkas engaged in this scheme or course of conduct through the following means. one, alejandro n. mayorkas knowingly made false statements to congress that the border is “secure”, that the border is “no less secure than it was previously”, that the border is “closed”, and that dhs has “operational control” of the border, as that term is defined in the secure fence act of 2006. two, alejandro n. mayorkas knowingly made false statements to congress regarding the scope and adequacy of the vetting of

the thousands of afghans who were airlifted to the united states and then granted parole following the taliban takeover of afghanistan after president biden's precipitous withdrawal of united states forces. three, alejandro n. mayorkas knowingly made false statements that apprehended aliens with no legal basis to remain in the united states were being quickly removed. four, alejandro n. mayorkas knowingly made false statements supporting the false narrative that u.s. border patrol agents maliciously whipped illegal aliens. five, alejandro n. mayorkas failed to comply with multiple subpoenas issued by congressional committees. six, alejandro n. mayorkas delayed or denied access of dhs -- of d.h.s. hereinafter referred to as o.i.g. to d.h.s. records and information, hampering o.i.g.'s

ability to effectively perform its vital investigations, audits, inspections, and other reviews of agency programs and operations to satisfy the o.i.g.'s obligations under section 402-b of title 5, united states code, in part, to congress. additionally, in his conduct while secretary of homeland security, alejandro n. mayorkas has breached the public trust by his willful refusal to fulfill his statutory “duty to control and guard the boundaries and borders of the united states against the illegal entry of aliens” as set forth in section 103-a-5 of the immigration and nationality act. alejandro n. mayorkas inherited what his first chief of the u.s. border patrol called, “arguably the most effective border security in our nation's history.” alejandro n. mayorkas, however, proceeded to abandon effective border security initiatives without engaging in adequate alternative efforts that would enable d.h.s. to maintain control of the border and guard against illegal entry, and despite clear

evidence of the devastating consequences of his actions, he failed to take action to fulfill his statutory duty to control the border. according to his first chief of the u.s. border patrol, alejandro n. mayorkas “summarily rejected” the “multiple options to reduce the illegal entries through proven programs and consequences” provided by civil servant staff at d.h.s. despite clear evidence of the devastating consequences of his actions, he failed to take action to fulfill his statutory duty to control the border, in that, among other things, one, alejandro n. mayorkas terminated the migrant protection protocols, hereinafter referred to as m.p.p. in texas v. biden, 20 f.4th 928, 2021, the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit explained that “the district court pointed to evidence that the termination of m.p.p. has contributed to the current border surge, citing d.h.s.'

own previous determinations that m.p.p. had curbed the rate of illegal entries.” the district court had also “pointed out that the number of 'enforcement encounters' that is, instances where immigration officials encounter immigrants attempting to cross the southern border without documentation have skyrocketed since m.p.p.'s termination. two, alejandro n. mayorkas terminated contracts for border wall construction. three, alejandro n. mayorkas terminated asylum cooperative agreements that would have equitably shared the burden of complying with international asylum accords. in all of this, alejandro n. mayorkas breached the public trust by knowingly making false statements to congress and the american people and avoiding lawful oversight in order to obscure the devastating consequences of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and carry out his statutory duties. he has also breached the public trust by willfully refusing to carry out his statutory duty to control the border and guard against illegal entry,

notwithstanding the calamitous consequences of his abdication of that duty. wherefore alejandro n. mayorkas, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national and border security, the safety of the american people, and to the constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law. alejandro n. mayorkas thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the united states. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 996, the amendment in the nature of a substitute is adopted. the resolution shall be debatable for two hours, equal request divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the committee of homeland security or their representative designees. the gentleman from tennessee, mr. green, and the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, each will control one hour. the chair recognize thes the

gentleman from -- recognize thes the gentleman from tennessee -- recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. green: i ask unanimous -- i ask unanimous consent that all members have five days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.res. 863. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. green: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. green: madam speaker, i rise today to present two articles of impeachment against department of homeland security secretarial han droa mayorkas -- alejandro mayorkas. article 1 charges him with willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law. article 2 charges him with the breach of public trust. since secretary mayorkas took office, we've all watched the unprecedented crisis a at our -- at our borders unfold. we've seen the chaos. under secretary mayorkas' watch, c.b.p. has reported more than 8.5 million encounters at our borders, including more than seven million apprehensions at the southwest border.

even more terrifying is the president 1.8 million known gotaways that border patrol agents detect but are unable to apprehend. millions of those inadmissible aliens are eventually released into our communities. this has never happened before in the history of the country. and it doesn't happen by accident. for nearly a year, the house committee on homeland security conducted a thorough, fair and comprehensive investigation into the causes, costs and consequences of the border crisis. our members saw firsthand numerous parts of the southwest border, spent time with law enforcement officers on the front lines, and spoke with real americans about how the crisis is affecting them. we also conducted a field hearing and round table on the border that our democrat colleagues refused to attend. burying their heads in the sand as if there wasn't a crisis. we published seven total reports, totaling nearly 400 pages, to which democrats never had a single substantive

response. instead, their only response was to simply shout maga louder and louder. and if that's a meaningful response to the millions of americans suffering -- as if that's a meaningful response to the millions of americans suffering from this crisis. we held many hearings at the subcommittee and full committee level and we heard from a variety of witnesses, including former senior d.h.s. enforcement officials, state attorneys general and victims who have been impacted by secretary mayorkas' border crisis. democrats consistently claimed these hearings were a waste of time. tell that to the families of the 150,000 americans who have died from fentanyl poisoning in 2021 and 2022 alone. throughout this investigation, our subsequent -- and subsequent impeachment proceedings, we found that secretary mayorkas' willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and his breach of public trust are responsible for this historic crisis. however, for almost a year, however for almost a year

democrats turned a blind eye to the crisis while berating us spending what they believe was too much time investigating. the messenger:'s law -- secretary mayor cass' lawlessness. keep that in mind when they claim this impeachment is rushed. the truth is this process has been painstakingly thorough. unlike house democrats we take the use of impeachment seriously. while i do not wish to be standing here presenting these articles, we have exhausted all other options. our oath to the constitution now requires us to exercise this solemn duty. secretary mayorkas has explicitly refused to comply with the law. he has refused to owe kay the law -- obey the law -- his refusal to obey the law has led to the death of our fellow citizens. and he no longer deserves to keep his job. what's unique here in the history of impeachments is the

supreme court just this summer denied the effective states' judicial review on many of these issues, but with the understanding the result of doing so could mean the impeachment of a secretary. in oral argument, justice kavanaugh explained how he understood the position of the biden administration if judicial review was denied saying, and i quote, i think your position is instead of judicial review congress has to resort to shutting down the government or impeachment, or dramatic steps if some administration comes in and says we are not going to enforce laws. or at least not going to enforce the laws to the degree that congress by law has said the law should be enforced, end quote. in response, the biden administration solicitor general agreed saying, quote, while i think that if those dramatic steps would be warranted, it would be in the face of a dramatic abdication of statutory responsibility by the executive. end quote. today's articles of impeachment

outline exactly that, a dramatic abdication of statutory responsibility by secretary mayorkas has occurred. of the articles' 20 pages, six are solely dedicated to the laws second mayorkas has violated, while four more document his lies to congress and the american people. and the violation of his statutory duty to control and guard our borders. we identify numerous unambiguous provisions of the immigration and nationality act he has refused to enforce. laws requiring him to detain inadmissible aliens and limit his ability to grant people. parole. we also highlight how programs he has created such as various mass parole programs are void of congressional authority. secretary mayorkas' very type of public official, the framers feared, someone who would cast aside the passed by a co-equal

branch of government replaced those with his own references, hurting his fellow americans in the process. he has directed the release of millions of inadmissible aliens in the country in violation of the i.n.a. which requires them to be detained. he has abused the statute limiting parole to be issued only on a case by case temporary basis for very specific limited reasons. instead overseeing more than 1.5 million paroles. he's created new categorical programs he in defiance of the statute to further his mass release agenda. he has directed immigration and custom enforcement personnel not to detain all manner of illegal aliens, including criminal aliens. in his september 2021 enforcement guidance, the secretary even directed that unlawful presence in the country was no longer sufficient grounds for removal and that criminal convictions alone were not enough to warrant i.c.e. attention. this is not about policy differences.

we certainly object to secretary mayorkas' policies. but this goes far deeper. according to the democrat-led committees that investigated iran-contra, quote, government officials must observe the law. even when they disagree with it, end quote. or when they think that, quote, congress is to claim for passing laws that run counter to administration policy, end quote. again, we are here because our oath and our duty compel us to be here. the actions and decisions of secretary mayorkas has left us with no other option than to proceed with articles of impeachment. that is why we must remove him from office. the time for accountability is now. thank you. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: madam speaker, i rise in strong opposition to house resolution 863 and the republican sham impeachment of

secretary. sergealejandro mayorkas.madam sg here today is a travesty. it's an affront to the united states constitution t will do nothing to solve challenges at our border, and it's a baseless attack on a dedicated public servant. republican members of congress sworn to support and defend the constitution are rejecting the framers' intent and over two centuries of precedent in favor of a politically motivated sham impeachment. republicans have failed to make a constitutional viable case against impeach. ment neither are the etch imimpeachment charges in h.res. 863 are a high crime and misdemeanor under article 1 of the constitution. impeachment over mere policy disputes was deliberately rejected by the framers and those disputes are best settled in our court system.

in fact, the policy disputes identified in articles of impeachment have already been addressed by the courts. the courts have either decided in the biden administration's favor, or the disputes are still working their way through the system. republicans are trying to relitigate court decisions through a sham impeachment, but the constitution doesn't allow that. constitutional experts testified before the committee on homeland security that for a breach of public trust to rise to a high crime and misdemeanor it would require conduct intended to serve an official's own benefit or the benefit of a foreign power. secretary mayorkas has done nothing of the sort. republicans have misrepresented the law and secretary mayorkas' record to justify this sham impeachment. secretary mayorkas has served

our country honorably over 30 years. as a prosecutor and in leadership roles at the department of homeland security. he's been a tireless advocate for the more than 260,000 d.h.s. employees working to secure the homeland every day. he's leveraged all the authorities at his disposal while using every resource provided by congress to secure the border. under secretary mayorkas' leadership, d.h.s. removed record levels of migrants from the u.s., detained even more people than congress had provided funding for, and prevented record levels of fentanyl from entering our communities. if house republicans were serious about improving conditions along the border, they would provide the department the funding necessary to do so. they have not. at every opportunity republicans

have refused to provide resources to the department of homeland security. if house republicans were serious about improving conditions at the border, they would support the bipartisan senate border bill. they have not. republicans take their orders from donald trump. and he told them to reject the senate bill. republicans have been trying to kill the bill before they even knew what was in it. the republican majority is running a do-nothing congress. this sham impeachment effort isn't really about border security, it would do nothing to solve the border challenges we face. the truth is, the extreme maga republicans running the house of representatives don't want solutions. they want a political issue. house republicans want to distort the constitution and the secretary's record to cover up their inability and unwillingness to work with

democrats to strengthen border security. it's about republican politics and subversion of the constitution. bipartisan constitutional law and impeachment experts agree the secretary has not committed an impeachable offense. former secretary of homeland security michael chertoff agrees. even some of my republican colleagues here in the house agree. the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock, said in a memorandum to house republican colleagues, and i quote, the problem is that the impeachment articles fail to identify an impeachable crime. unquote. the gentleman from california's right. i suspect some of his republican colleagues agree. even if they won't admit it. secretary mayorkas has faithfully implemented the administration's border policies consistent with the funding congress has provided.

just like every other secretary of homeland security before him. democrat or republican. during consideration in the homeland security committee last week, republicans improperly shut down the markup and blocked democrats from offering amendments to the resolution. republicans couldn't bear to consider amendment to their poorly drafted articles of impeachment. they silenced democrats to attempted town entera dose of reality -- attempted to inject a dose of reality into the proceedings. yesterday before the rules committee republicans again failed to make their case. relying on partisan rhetoric and obvious misinformation before neither the law nor the facts are on their side. the truth is republicans' action show they don't have faith in their own case against the secretary. that's why they lack the courage

of their convictions to see their markup to an end. this nonsense has to stop. and it should stop here. republicans need to start doing their work americans sent them here to do. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to honor their oath to the constitution, listen to the constitutional experts, listen to your own republican colleagues who know h.res. 863 is baseless. drop this sham impeachment. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: madam speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentlelady from georgia, ms. greene. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. ms. greene: i thank the chairman. madam speaker, i rise in strong support of h.res. 863, impeaching secretary alejandro mayorkas. he's guilty of aiding and abetting the complete invasion

of our country by buy criminals, gang members, terrorists, murderers, rapists, and over 10 million people from over 160 countries into american communities all across the united states. his willful refusal to secure the border has bankrupted communities, closed down u.s. schools that our children attend, drown drown hospitals and incapacitate law enforcement while empowering criminal cartels and illegal aliens. my democrat colleagues argue that one cannot be impeached over policy differences. while i argue that breaking our laws is more than just policy differences. 300 dead americans every day from fentanyl poisoning is more than just a policy difference. it's murder. today in my own office narcotics law enforcement officers from georgia told me that seven out

of 10 oxycontin or perk set sold on the street are laced with fentanyl and that comes directly across the border from mexico. secretary mayorkas has violated numerous provisions in the immigration and nationality act, including unlawfully directings d.h.s. to mass parole illegal aliens into the u.s. when federal law specifically prohibits this. and unlawfully implementing catch and release policies when federal law specifically mandates the detention and removal of inadmissible aliens. in fact, detention facilities under mayorkas have been mostly vacant because of such unlawful policies. the largest detention facility in california, which can house almost 2,000 illegals, is currently housing only six illegal aliens. he has violated his oath of office and breached the public trust by willfully refusing to

ensure the laws passed by congress and signed into law by the president are faithfully executed as required by article 2 of the constitution. he has allowed over 10 million illegal border crossers to invade our country. approximately two million of whom are known got aways. these are people who have completely evaded u.s. authorities. and are roaming interior of the american communities, assaultings, raping, and murdering americans. and god help us if we have a terrorist attack on our land. his subversion of the law has resulted in the his subversion of the law has resulted in the high es number of illegal alien encounts for the a single day and the highest number in a sing month and the highest number of illegal alien encounters in a single year, surpassing every national record on each account. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has ex-tired.

mr. green: i yield the gentlelady 15 seconds. ms. greene: his willful refusal to enforce the law has resulted in the most egregious national security crisis in the history of our country. democrats are in a quandary. either they must own the policies of murder and crime of american citizens, or they can admit secretary mayorkas has broken federal laws and vote to impeach secretary mayorkas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. mr. green: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. though she sits on the homeland security committee, representative marjorie taylor greene has raised doubts about 9/11, to the false assertion that 9/11 was done by our own government. she said that's all true. she also thinks jewish space lasers cause wildfires. she fundraises you have a defunding the f.b.i.

she's a person whose advice republicans are taking today on this impeachment. i now yield one minute to the gentleman from california, mr. schiff. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. schiff: welcome, my colleagues, to another week of impeachment unlimited. having no legislative accomplishments to show for their 14 months in pow eric republicans are voting on yet another pointless resolution. unable to provide any evidence against president biden they have now decided to impeach someone else instead. we have serious challenges at the border, no one denies that. but these are not serious people. by this standard put forward by this hapless majority, every single d.h.s. secretary would have been impeached. this is a policy and political dispute new york city a high crime or misdemeanor. when an administration official tries to extort a foreign leader into helping them cheat in an election, or leads an insurrection against our government, then impeach them.

but until then, stop wasting everyone's time. i have known mr. mayorkas since we were prosecutors together. he was a -- he is a person of great integrity. this impeachment is baseless, unconstitution and should be defeated. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from mississippi -- from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. chairman mccaul. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mccaul: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, madam speaker. secretary mayorkas took an oath to protect our nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. he has violated that oath and the public trust. today, i intend to personally uphold the oath of office i swore to to my country. in my 25 years dealing with the border as a federal prosecutor and former chairman of this

committee, i've never seen it this broken. that's because of one man's actions. his refusal to enforce the law, his rescission of successful policies like remain in mexico. his breach of public trust. his dereliction of duty, has led to eight million encounters, 300 on the terror watch list. 2.3 million aliens released into the interior, enough to fill 13 states. 200,000 young americans have died due to fenlt nil poisoning. these numbers are clear. secretary mayorkas is the architect of destruction. and the legal justification for his impeachment is strong. and the supreme court decision, the united states vs. the state of texas, the court examined the statute that mandated, quote, the government shall take into custody any alien that has committed an aggravated felon. it's not discretionary.

it's mandatory. by failing to uphold this law, he has released dangerous and violent criminal into our communities and has put every american life at risk. supreme court justice store in 1833 said, quote, where a lord admiral has neglected to safeguard the sea that shall be deemed an impeachable offense. that's exactly the case we have here. secretary mayorkas, charged with defense of air, land, and sea, has failed to defend our borders. the founders clearly believed impeachable offenses included neglect of duty. violation of public trust. injury to society. when asked before the supreme court if impeachment is a proper remedy, president biden's own solicitor general said, quote, in the face of a dramatic abdication of statutory responsibility by the executive branch, such steps would be warranted, end of coat. -- end of quote.

secretary may consider -- secretary mayorkas is guilty of those impeachable offenses. he's destroying the fabric of this nation and today i will be voting to remove him from office. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, secretary mayorkas has invested significantly in stopping dangerous drugs like fentanyl entering the country. and launched several efforts targeting smugglers, gangs and cartels. under secretary mayorkas' leadership, we have more personnel, technology, infrastructure and resources on our borders than ever. i now yield one minute to the gentlelady from nevada, ms. titus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. titus: thank you very much. considering this impeachment resolution is the fastest i've seen the house g.o.p. all

session, that's because it's been -- there's been no collection of evidence. only the manipulation of it. there's been no meaningful, bipartisan engagement, only partisan political stunts. and there's been no due process. instead it's a deliberate disregard for the basis of our legal system. it has no constitutional precedent or basis, no real backing by senate g.o.p. counterparts who are going to hold the trial. no meaningful engagement with policy, and no support from respected legal scholars, political pundits, nor farmer d.h.s. directors. history will remember this for what it is. and appease. of the most extreme members of the maga base and put simply, the brown nosing of a man with 91 indictment, several convictions and two impeachments. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from oklahoma,

mr.berry keen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. >> i rise in support -- mr. brecheen: i rise in support of this bill. as was said, if an unworthy man continue in office of a worthy president, the congress can impeach him and the senate can remove him. this impeachment is not about policy differences, though we have them. it is because secretary mayorkas refuses to enforce the laws that are part of our nation's fabric. the rule of law matters. nobody is above it. including secretary mayorkas. contrary to what he and the president publicly claim, no new laws are needed to stop this crisis. they have created it. section 212 of the immigration and nationality act already grants them the authority to holler halt. we know that mayorkas is aware of this provision on day five of

the biden administration the president suspended entry by those coming from u.k., ireland, brazil and south africa. secretary mayorkas has left us with no other option other than impeachment because he refuses to enforce the law. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you very much. madam speaker, republicans say this impeachment is not about policy disagreements but every argument they make is about policies. secretary mayorkas has taken action to secure the border but he's used different, more humane policies that are not practical, impeachable. i now yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from massachusetts, democratic whip, ms. clark. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. ms. clark: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. we all agree, something needs to be done to fix our broken immigration system but when it comes to doing the work, finding

the solutions, house democrats have come to the table, president biden has come to the table, the senate has come to the table. but then, there's the house g.o.p. as the maga extremists hole up our national security priorities, our commitment to our allies, and to our own readiness, supposedly to strike a deal on immigration. the president says, let's get it done. and then he did. instead of pursuing a bipartisan compromise, instead of strengthening the security of our border, advancing humane solutions, and doing their jobs, they're now impeaching the secretary of homeland security without a single allegation of any impeachable crime? not one. impeaching a cabinet member without any evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors, that is

the breach of public trust here. so the plan is to impeach the secretary. and then what? the majority -- will the majority invest in border patrol? no. their dream budget fires 2,000 border patrol agents. just yesterday, speaker johnson rid could the men and women of border patrol for supporting the senate bill saying it's probably because it would give them a fair wage. this majority's contempt for working people, even those whose mission is to carry out border security, has no bounds. this extreme maga majority has repeatedly rejected funding for technology that is needed to stop the flow of fentanyl. but here we are. the extreme ma tba majority, what are they going to do about the border? only this sham impeachment. and they've told us what the future holds.

as one member of across the aisle put it, they oppose action on immigration because it would boost biden against trump. that's all they care about. that's what this sham is about. choosing extremism over country, stunts over solutions, and politics over people. that is a breach of trust we all must reject. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from florida, ms. lee. ms. lee: i rise today in support of the resolution to impeach secretary alejandro mayorkas. we are here today to address one of the most serious responsibilities that we can undertake as congress. the impeachment of secretary alejandro mayorkas. the committee on homeland security has worked dill subsequently to investigate and to consider the causes and the consequences of the catastrophe

at our southern border. and i it has concluded that it is necessary and appropriate to pursue this impeachment. since president biden and secretary mayorkas took office, there have been over 8.3 illegal crossings nationwide. we have seen the devastating effects of human trafficking, of fentanyl trafficking, and what happens when we cede operational control of our southern border to the mexican drug cartel. secretary mayorkas has refused to enforce the duly enacted laws passed by this congress. by doing so, he has endangered our homeland, a direct violation of his oath of office. even in the face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary, he has tbin false testimony to congress, claiming that the border is secure. he's defied court orders ordering the secretary to abandon the illegal programs and spoils that it has implemented which incentivized illegal immigration.

house republicans know that border security is national security. and the crisis at our border is a critical threat to national security and the safety of the american people. secretary mayorkas has willfully and deliberately refused to uphold the laws of the united states. he's violated his oath of office. and he has breached the public trust. congress has a constitutional duty to secure our border and to ensure our communities are safe. we cannot allow an executive branch agency head to defy the lawful authority of congress and of the courts in pursuit of poll sthairs contrary to law and endangering americans. and that is why secretary mayorkas must be impeached. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you very much. madam speaker, the border is not open. in fact, under secretary mayorkas' leadership this administration has removed, returned, or expelled more migrants in three years than the trump administration did in four

years. with that, i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. correa, the ranking member on our border subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. correa: thank you. madam speaker, we have something in common. with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. this country, main street, every one of our districts, has a challenge with fentanyl. we've all witnessed the deaths in our communities. good young men and women. from fentanyl from this scourget secretary his job look at this graph, seizures of fentanyl, 2018, 2900 pounds. 2023, 27 thousand pounds of fentanyl seized. ladies and gentlemen, i just got

back again from visiting the border. and again i asked the men and women in uniform, what do you need from us to double these numbers? simple answer, we want more resources, we want more personnel, more drug-sniffing dogs, we want more equipment. some of those agents were struggling. they were working double shifts. women, moms, men, fathers saying, we don't have time for our families. we have to find another job. and right now, we have a solution. we have legislation that the senate has worked on with senate republicans and senate democrats and the president supporting a solution that will bring resources to the border. and the majority party here refuses to bring that legislation forward for a vote.

who is deer like that on their duty? we must step up and make sure we protect main street and help secretary mayorkas do his job and double these numbers. thank you. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield one minute to the gentleman from alabama. mr. strong: on behalf of the local and state leaders unable to bear the weight of thousands of illegal aliens. on behalf of the thousands of families who lost loved ones at the hands of illegal immigrants and border patrol agents stripped of their tools to do their job. the situation at the border cannot continue. i have seen it firsthand during my trips to the southern border. mayorkas' refusal to enforce the

laws of our nation have encouraged millions of illegal yeas and nays yaleens to cross the border. they are being released into the united states. this is in clear violation of federal immigration law. failure to act is not an option. the investigation held by the committee confirmed what every american knew to be true, the actions that we will take today against secretary mayorkas are warranted and utterly urgent. our country is under attack and secretary of homeland security is working against america. i urge my colleagues to act on this critical time. mr. green: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: madam speaker, if my republican colleagues were serious about the border, they would drop this baseless impeachment and bring up the senate bipartisan border agreement for debate, but they

aren't serious about reform. speaker johnson made it clear the bill was dead on arrival before he saw the text of the bill. i now yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. ramirez. mrs. ramirez: on our first homeland security committee hearing, professor bowman made it clear that policy differences are not a legitimate basis for impeachment. there is no legitimate basis for impeachment, yet here we are. why? republicans believe persecution is a substitute for policy making. when you can't legislate, you punish, right? persecution has been a go-to, and omar, tlaib and mccarthy, government employees and immigrants and now secretary

mayorkas. persecution and punishment does not solve problems. republicans are not interested in policy. they shut us down and killed a supplemental they have negotiated for months. they are deflecting attention from their failure to govern to secure their own re-election. if you are serious, the root cause of migration and ep fentanyl. clearly we are not. mr. thompson: yield 15g seconds. mrs. ramirez: we are not serious about solutions, just chaos. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. bishop. mr. bishop: many have said what the issue is, many have mischaracterized it. the issue in the articles of

impeachment and should be adopted by the house is not a matter of policy or mal administration or incompetence or neglect and not even a matter of refusal to enforce the law. it was stated aptly in the district court opinion that led to the united states supreme court last summer in united states versus texas. the core of the dispute is whether the executive branch may require its officials to act in a manner that conflicts with the statutory mandate imposed by congress. it may not. you see, the secretary of homeland security, alejandro mayorkas issued guide lins and administrative law not to detain criminal aliens nor those ordered finally removed.

that is what he did. and that was flatly contradictory to statutes passed by the congress in the mid-1990's. we are a nation of laws. the supreme court has said it cannot referee this dispute. it is up to congress. and the congress has but one means in this situation to vindicate the law. it cannot help the situation by shutting down the government, by cutting off funding. there is no new cabinet secretary to refuse to confirm in the senate. there is one means, the impeachment of the secretary who purported to issue law defying the congress that must result in his impeachment. the if law is to have any force and the congress is to remain of any significance in the jurisprudence of the law of the united states.

mr. green: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: republicans highlight the secretary's enforcement guidelines as an example of breaking the law. they fail to mention that the conservative sixth conservative court of appeals, the guidance doesn't violate a single word of the statute. the 6th circuit also found that the provisions of immigration law that republicans frequently cite does not create a judicially enforceable mandate that the department arrest none citizens. i yield one minute to the gentleman from maryland, mr. ivey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ivey: the power to impeach is one of the greatest constitutional powers granted to the house of representatives. this awesome responsibility should be reserved for high

crimes and misdemeanors. but house republicans have decided to abuse that responsibility for a cheap political stunt. house republicans have not alleged an impeachable offense. policy disdreements are not impeachable. that does not provide grounds to remove a cabinet official. former republican secretary michael chertoff said mayorkas hasn't committed an impeachable offense. and not impeachable and fail to quote to high crimes and misdemeanors. republicans offered no constitutional scholars as witnesses during their two impeachment hearings but relied on states attorney general's testimony one of which did not

say the word impeachment. this unconstitutional process has been predetermined and unjust since it began. it will lower the constitutional bar for future impeachments and will not make our border more secure. therefore, i urge my colleagues to vote no. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield one minute to the gentleman from arizona, mr. crane. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. crane: article 4, section 4 of the constitution often known as the invasion clause says that this government will protect every state from invasion. that is something that clearly this secretary is incomplete dereliction of duty of and i know he swo swore an oath to protect that constitution. i'm not sure how many americans

have to die of fentanyl, ms-13 gang members having their kids raped and murdered. we had one in martha stewart a -- we had one in homeland security. but it is high time that this individual be held accountable for his complete dereliction of duty at our southern border. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution. and i think it tells you everything when my colleagues says it doesn't matter if you impeach -- another 15 seconds. we are going to have someone come in and do the same exact job. thank you for saying the quiet part out loud. your policies are so bad, no matter who you put in there will

cause the same amount of damage. the american people are watching. let's get this done. mr. green: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. and the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: 90% of fentanyl seized is interdifficulted from ports of entry in vehicles dwriffen by u.s. citizens and lawful citizens. if we invest in our ports of entry instead of pursuing this sham impeachment we can scan more of these vehicles. i yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: smoking mirrors has never been the foundation of the constitution. that is all we have today to misrepresent to the american people that we are doing serious work. it comes to mind as to whether or not secretary mayorkas is

being charged with articles of impeachment because he is a cuban immigrant who came to the united states with his family as political refugees and spent time fleeing the nazis and came here to do his very best for the american people. and yet, we attempt to charge him with willful violation of the law. operational control of the border means zero persons coming across. this has not been the case as relates to any secretary no matter what administration. and yet, we failed in this process of false smoking mirrors to allow the secretary to be able articulate any charge that might constitute high crimes or misdemeanors. we fail to provide evidence to support the charges. failed to name -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: failed to name

the proper target for impeachment in a policy dispute or anything against secretary mayorkas. we cannot in any way to suggest that he violated the law or that he benefited from any aspect of his work. this secretary has been denied due process. this is smoking michiganors. the constitution is true. there has been no high crimes or mids or bribery. this is an impeachment that should be immediately dismissed. i ask my colleagues to vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentleman, mr. pfluger. mr. pfluger: this is a sad day. sad day that we have to be here, but the framers of our constitution that this could occur. we are going to hear this is a

policy difference but this is systemic refusal to enforce the law. egregious breach of public trust. and there are no other avenues here that must be a consequence and accountability and that's why we are moving to impeach peach alejandro mayorkas for endangering our country. what is being allowed to happen is a catastrophe but a national security crisis. 9 million illegal aliens have entered our country since president biden has been in office. 300 people have matched the terror watch list. took less than 20 it took less o do the attacks 9/11 which sent me into 20 years of service to

protect our country overseas. yet we're letting the trojan horse into our country that threatens us, yet we have a secretary who refuse tones force the laws on the books. it is the responsible of congress to ensure we are led by individuals committed to upholding the rule of law. the failure to secure the border has been so severe we have to provide accountability. not only is it the system i think refusal to follow the because to but the deconstruction of the rule of law that will eat away at this country. i'm concern. our country should be concerned. i urge everyone in this house to do something that actually gets accountability, to impeach alejandro mayorkas and get our country secure once again. i yield back. mr. green: may i inquire how much time remains on each side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee has

37 1/4 minutes. the gentleman from mississippi has 39 3/4 minutes. mr. green: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you very much. madam speaker, daily removals are nearly double what they were compared to prepandemic averages. the vast majority of individuals encountered at the southwest border throughout this administration have been removed, returned, or expelled. secretary mayorkas is enforcing the law. i now yield one minute to the gentleman from california, dr. ruiz. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ruiz: thank you. i rise to call out the hypocrisy and extreme lil stunts republicans are displaying with its baseless and unconstitutional impeachment against the secretary of homeland security, alejandro mayorkas. instead of seeking bipartisan solution they voted to cut border security funding, let me

repeat, cut border security funding, and are now bringing an impeachment that lacks basis in law just to pull another one of their political stunts. secretary mayorkas has dedicated his career to public various and our country. during his time in the department, he led the development and implementation of daca and led the department's successful response to ebola and zika outbreaks. he's worked tirelessly on combating human traffic and developed an emergency relief program for orphaned youth following the tragic january 2010 earthquake in haiti. secretary mayorkas has done the work he was tasked to do by the president and more. stop wasting time on yet another extreme political farce. start working with democrats for a bipartisan, real solution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia, mr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. wittman: i rise today to urge support of h.res. 863, articles of impeachment against homeland security secretary mayorkas. it is clear secretary mayorkas has willfully and systematically refused to comply with u.s. immigration law. an average of 5,000 illegal immigrants are being released into the united states each day which is a flagrant abuse of immigration laws passed by congress, governing the parole, detention and removal of illegal imgrans. for three years, secretary mayorkas has refused to enforce the laws passed by congress. abused his authority as cabinet secretary. and misled congress and the american people about the crisis and the role his actions and decisions have played in sparking and facilitating it. as a result, we see record amounts of daily fentanyl flowing into our community, rising crime across our country and a massive strain on our localities, school, and community services. since secretary mayorkas' ten uric over 300 individuals on the

terrorist watch list have been apprehended by border patrol agents trying to illegally enter the united states at the southern border between ports of entry. cartels in mexico -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. green: 15 seconds. mr. wittman: and cartels across mexico are able to smuggle across a porous southern border. it's led to a complete humanitarian and national security catastrophe. congress must hold the executive branch accountable when they fail to uphold the oath of office and i urge my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of h.res. 863. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: madam speaker, republicans ignore the fact that no idea mrgs has ever had the resources to detain all border crossers. president trump released over 500,000 people without ever detaining any of them.

i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, ranking member of the judiciary, mr. nadler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: i rise in opposition to the sham impeachment of secretary mayorkas. this resolution is filled with false and misleading statements that amount to nothing more than policy disagreements. even if it were based in truth, however, policy disagreements are not a legitimate basis for impeachment. impeaching a cabinet secretary is serious, unfortunately, house republicans are not. this sham impeachment ran roughshod over congress. this is not a serious effort. nor is it a serious resolution. republicans allege that secretary mayorkas should be ill peached simply because he failed to meet the impossible standards set out in our law, standards that no administration, not even president trump's, has ever come close to meeting. for example, they allege that secretary mayorkas has filed detain everyone that the law requires to be held in mandatory detention. but to do so would require

congress to appropriate over $35 billion a year, a number 10 time highser than what president trump ever requested. that's why president trump released over 500,000 people at the border and released 1.1 million people from immigration detention into the united states. did we hear from the republicans to impeach those secretaries of homeland security in of course not. president -- republicans never campaigned when president trump used his authority. what's different now? maybe it's an election year and republicans have no accomplishments to run on? they're cheapening the serious and awesome power of impeachment to score political points. that's shameful. our immigration system has been broken for decades. impeaching a cabinet secretary because you don't like their policies won't repair it. only bipartisan reform can do that. i urge my colleagues to vote no on this resolution and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman -- the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from texas, ms. van duyne. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. van duyne: i rise to support the impeachment of secretary mayorkas. his actions support law breaking and lawlessness and have inflicted a horrificle to on our country. the kind of damage he's done to cities and families is something you expect from a hostile adversary looking to destabilize and destroy america. our cities are overrun, forcing vital services to be cut off or reduced, shutting down schools to house illegal migrants, turning community centers into refugee camps. all while ignoring the needs of our own citizens. there are more than 110,000 dead americans from fentanyl that's being smuggled by mexican cartels. we see criminal illegal immigrants committing murder, rape, and beating our police in broad daylight. this is far more than a policy

difference. this is the death and destruction of our can'try and our people. and i will not stand by and just politely ask the biden administration to please stop the chaos and devastation. in a functioning government, people need to be held accountable when they have deliberatery inflicted harm on our nation and that's exactly what we are doing today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, if my republican colleagues were worried about the impacts of migration on our local communities, they should support d.h.s.'s shelter and services program. this is the only program that can provide direct assistance to cities an organizations responding to arriving migrants. instead, they are trying to gut this program and impeach secretary mayorkas, which would accomplish nothing. i now yield one minute to the gentleman from california,

mr. swalwell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. swalwell: this is not about secretary mayorkas. this is straight up sabotage. maga republicans have never accepted president biden as the president from the day they let an insurrection into this chamber to this day where they're trying to sabotage solution at the border. any shortcomings with mayorkas are your fault. you won't give him the authorities that he needs to carry out more security at the border. and all we've heard for years is noun, verb, border. so you get your border deal. led by the second most conservative in the senate, and you're walking away from it. you're walking away from it because trump says you can't have it. and this place with you all in charge is looking less and less like the house chamber and more and more like trump's echo chamber. what we need right now is solutions. not chaos. and with you all in charge, you're a party of followers. and with president biden's

leadership, democrats continue to show we're a party of leaders. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: i want to remind members that they're to address remarks to the chair. the chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation of the house rules. the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. fallon: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, madam speaker. i find it interesting that -- how many democrats or open border caucus member, i apologize for my redundancy there, are willing to house migrants in their own homes, madam speaker. none. zero. nada. they seem to all be for providing sanctuary, provided they don't have to provide it. alejandro mayorkas under oath

testified before congress and claimed the border is no less secure than it was previously. does anyone in this chamber actually believe that? does anyone in this country believe that? so let's compare the first three years of president trump and biden's tenures. president trump first three year1, .63 million imlegal crossings. president biden 5.3 million. terror watch list suspects apprehended? president trump, eight in three years. joe biden, 361. chinese nationals, mostly of military age, military age men, entering illegally, last year under president trump, 450. you should joe biden over 24,000. a 5300 percent increase. no less secure. is that the new math? opioid deaths have doubled. mexican drug cartels are

enjoying record profits. alejandro mayor has did this he's weak, he's impotent, he's undermining his own border patrol agents. he's showing the world who he is. he's a sheep in sheep's clothing and the cartel wolves and our enemies across the world are circling. this impeachment is richly deserved and we must fire this bum, this second coming of benedict arnold, forthwith. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, let's look at the facts. since may 12, 2023, when tower . removed more than 500,000 individuals. that's more people than when donald trump removed in any given year. the border is not open.

i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. raskin, the ranking member of the oversight committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. raskin: thank you, madam speaker. mr. chairman. we are here because the madcap wild goose chase to impeach joe biden has produced no wild geese. even fox news is lampooning the fact that they're own expert witnesses repeatedly say president biden did nothing rock and there are no grounds for impeachment. more than a dozen g.o.p. members in biden majority districts don't want to go anywhere near that fancy production, so the trump-putin-maga faction, headed up by the distinguished gentlelady from georgia, has been given this worthless trinket of a consolation prize, the opportunity to bring a slapstick impeachment drive against a cabinet member of unimpeachable integrity who has commit nod treason, no bribery, no misdemeanor, nothing indictable or even in-dict-able

if you prefer. what makes this farce a tragedy is that secretary mayorkas and others have been working to achieve the border compromise the g.o.p. has been demanding. miraculously they got a bipartisan agreement for billions of dollars more in border patrol officer, immigration judge, fentanyl detection machines, a far tougher border. it was good enough for senator mitch mcconnell and dozens of g.o.p. senators. it was good enough for "the wall street journal." but the house magas would not take yes for an answer. why? because donald trump doesn't want a border solution, he wants a border problem, nothing else to run on. and vladimir putin certainly doesn't want $60 billion going to the heroic people of ukraine, defying his filthy imperialist invasion. democracy and freedom are under siege and all our colleagues can think to do is sell out our democratic allies and sell out

the cause of human rights and impeach a cabinet secretary working diligently to solve the immigration problem that they claim to care about. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield one minute to the gentleman from tennessee, mr. rose. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. rose: secretary mayorkas swore an oath to defend the u.s. constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. unform it seems as though he hasn't defended it from a single one. since president biden took office there have been more than 7 million illegal encounters and more than 1.7 million got-aways. not once has he signed a policy or taken an action to discourage this from happening. he has doubled down and endorsed

catch-and-release policies, ending title 42 and stopping remain in mexico. this version of our constitution willful disregard of our country's laws and unfeathered dedication to help this crisis has left the house with no other option than to impeach secretary mayorkas. i urge the house to join me in impeaching secretary mayorkas and urge the senate to do the same. mississippi mississippi madam speaker, i remind my colleagues that they voted to terminate the covid-19 national emergency and thus voted to end title 42. in addition, d.h.s. has no role in ending this policy. i now yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from rhode

island, mr. magaziner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized. mr. magaziner: the american people want us to work together to solve our challenges at the border. we could be working together to vote on president biden's proposal of 14 billion that would add over 1,000 border patrol and working with the senate on real border reform until donald trump to stop. instead, we are wasting time and energy on an impeachment with no legal basis just because it's what donald trump wants. here are the facts. congress has allocated funding for 34,000 beds at detention centers. the average daily census was 37,000. the centers are full. the secretary under the law uses his legal discretion decides to who to detain and release, the same discretion that all of his

predecessors have used. 52% of migrants were released. nearly a million people. i didn't hear my republican colleagues calling to impeach that homeland security secretary. this is about one thing. politics. no high crimes, no mids, no treason, no bribery. and i would remind our colleagues our oath is to the constitution and not to donald trump. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield one minute to the gentleman from oregon, mr. bentz. mr. bentz: it has been said that secretary mayorkas is dishonest and deer like that in his duties and has refused to comply with our nation's immigration laws and instructed his employees not to enforce these laws. he has obstructed inquiries

regarding entry of illegal aliens. the constitutional standard for impeachment for secretary mayorkas has been satisfied. i want to commend chair green for his excellent work in obtaining this constitutional matter and following regular order in doing so. i yield back. mr. green: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: despite the republicans want us to believe the courts at the highest level have not found that secretary mayorkas violating the law and courts are where we go to determine whether cabinet secretary is following the law congress wrote not a partisan impeachment. i yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from texas, ms. escobar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. escobar: i rise in strong opposition to the g.o.p.'s political stunt of the day impeaching secretary of homeland

security moshings moshings -- alejandro mayorkas. the real problem is on immigration reform. my community el paso has been on the front lines of this issue and living with the consequences of congressional failure to act. our federal personnel, local governments and shelters are all overwhelmed. and republicans continue to withhold vital funding that would help address this issue. as a border legislator, i never met a more committed accessible cabinet member than secretary mayorkas. he is a great public servant doing everything he can with the limited resources congress has given to him. i invite my republicans colleagues who really want to support this. stop playing games and do your

job. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from, mr. guest. guest: i rise today to express my support for impeaching homeland security secretary moshings for reasons outlined in both articles of impeachment, article 2, breach of public trust. secretary mayorkas has repeatedly testified falsely misleading congress and the american pep. he has had said that the southwest border is secure and his department has operational control of the border. secretary mayorkas in his previous appearances before the department ofhomeland security has told me multiple times testifying while under oath that the border is secure.

and i know that time and time again secretary mayorkas has appeared before congress but the united states house of representatives and the u.s. senate and has repeated the security of our southwest border. these declarations, madam speaker, are patently untrue and contradict statements made by both his former border patrol chief. president biden who just recently said and admitted that the border was not secure and he went on to say that the border has not been secured for almost a decade. madam speaker, secretary mayorkas deals with congress and indicate a lack of transparency and attempt to mislead the public on the true conditions that exist at the border. and we as congress must hold

secretary mayorkas accountable. this is a gray day in our history, grave day in this nation and not one we take lightly. however in light of all the facts, i urge my colleagues to join me in voting to impeach secretary mayorkas. i yield back. mr. green: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. thompson: my republican colleagues won't admit that this impeachment is a sham, but their favorite conservative legal experts will. president trump's impeachment attorney, alan deer shall witnesses accused republicans of quote, distorting the constitution and republicans favorite legal witness, jonathan turley said there is no evidence that secretary mayorkas is corrupt or committed an

impeachable offense. i yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. menendez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. menendez: i rise today to oppose the partisan sham impeachment proceedings against a public servant secretary alejandro mayorkas. he has done his job while operating within a broken immigration system that this congress has refused to fix. instead of working with house democrats and the biden administration on serious solutions, house republicans are focused on one thing apiecing former president trump. this is an unconstitutional abuse of power. policy differences are not grounds for impeachment. even worse are the alleged facts that they are bassed on. house republicans worked with groups for center of immigration

studies, a southern law poverty designated hate group. when i introduced an amendment it was rejected once in homeland and once in rules because republicans don't want americans to know -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. >> ant thy migrant hate groups form the case that we are listening to today. i urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote no. thank you. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. green: i yield one minute to the gentleman from arizona. mr. biggs: you know james ayerdale talking about this impeachment clause saying the power of impeachment are bringing great offenders to

punishment a crime that is not easy to describe but for instance corruption. its exercise, the impeachment will arise from acts of great injury to the community and such cannot be reached by an ordinary tribunal. it is necessary here because what you have is a secretary who came in to judiciary. given the language from the safe and secure -- of 2006 said the border is under operational control. he said no, we have redefined it ourselves. we are comfortable with the new definition. that is a violation of the separation of powers. same secretary to tells his i.c.e. agents you cannot -- mr. green: additional 30

seconds. mr. biggs: he tells the i.c.e. agents you cannot remove 1.2 million people who had due process through the courts and andtive removal orders. he said we don't have to adhere to title 8. that has resulted in great injury to our communities. and that is why he must be impeached because he falls in the definitions that one of the founders said and he is right on the money and i urge everyone to support this movement to impeach. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: the deficient thinkings of operation control in the secure fence act of 2006 has never been achieved under any administration including the trump administration. this is not grounds for impeachment. i now yield one minute to the

gentleman from california, mr. garcia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlemanfrom california is recognized. mr. garcia: the the majority wants to attack president biden and secretary mayorkas the insane leader claims that immigrants like me and i quote pollute the blood of this country. donald trump's rhetoric is like hitler's and he wants the chaos to continue. border patrol apprehensions more than tripled in the last few months. let's remember donald trump and maga. donald trump wants to build alligator motes and shoot migrants in the legs and maybe electrify the fence. these are cruel and ridiculous ideas but proposal of donald

trump and the maga right. this political stunt should fail and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. green: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. higgins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. higgins: i thank my colleague, chairman of the homeland security committee. and i respect my colleagues across the aisle who have voiced their opposition. it's important that we clarify the legacy that some of us would condemn by impeaching the secretary responsible for this legacy and my contrast the legacy that my colleagues who oppose the impeachment of secretary mayorkas will support. 300,000 americans dead from cartel drugs. .

. . . 100,000 teenage boys and girls lost in the system across the filthiest corners of the criminal organizations in our cities, american sovereignty disintegrated and american soil lost to drug trafficking and cartel bases. millions of single military aged men from over 100 countries, unvetted and released into our country and creeping in every corner of the american society, every city, every town. our schools overrun by illegals granted free access to american education, infrastructure, and hundreds of reports with no room left for our own children. hundreds of thousands of violent criminals released into our nation despite federal law stating d.h.s. shall detain known criminals who enter america illegally.

1,000 or more known or suspected terrorists allowed to pass freely into the heart of our nation, into my state, into yours. this is the legacy of alejandro mayorkas and by our oath we must impeach this man who has presented an arrogant, defiant tone of denial and lies to congress for three years, seemingly content or even proud to destroy america day by day. so it is that on this day, it shall be written in the historical record of the peoples house that secretary of department of homeland security alejandro mayorkas has been impeached. so shall it be written, so shall it be done. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you,

mr. speaker. my republican colleagues are starving d.h.s. of necessary border resources while accusing secretary mayorkas of not doing his job. house republicans refuse to consider the white house's $13.6 billion border supplemental border request that would pay for more offices and detention beds. i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from washington, ms. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. jaypal: i rise against this resolution to impeach secretary mayorkas. it has no evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. are we really debating impeaching a cabinet secretary because house republicans don't like the policies that he advances under a democratically elected president?

far from alleging true high crimes and misdemeanors, this resolution relies on the same tired and untrue republican talking points that democrats have demonstrated for months are not true. with this marjorie taylor greene sham impeachment resolution, the majority is bending to the will of the most extreme members of their conference simply because they don't like the policies that secretary mayorkas is pursuing. secretary mayorkas is an excellent and dedicated public servant working tirelessly to protect our national security and to address a broken immigration system. and this republican congress, the least productive congress in the history of the united states, having passed only 27 bills that have been signed into law, despite over 700 votes in this body is simply trying to distract the american people from the fact they're not doing a single thing to address the lives of ordinary americans

across this country. i keep thinking that the house cannot debuts itself further -- debase itself further. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. biggs: i recognize mr. ciscomani for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. ms. ciscomani: thank you for yielding me time. the house is pursuing impeachment because there's no option left. secretary mayorkas has abandoned his job and he has abandoned the american people. as the charges describe, the secretary has willfully and systematically refused to comply with the law. he's put our communities and our country at risk by doing so.

this is not an action we take lightly. the last time a cabinet secretary was impeached was in 1876. this is a historic impeachment for someone with historic failures. the time has ran out for secretary alejandro mayorkas to be able to do his job. in order to secure our communities, protect our homeland, and keep americans safe, secretary mayorkas has got to go. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you very much. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to include in the record op-eds from frequently conservative commentators from mr. dershowitz despite his

policy disagreements with the biden administration. i also include in the record january 30,2024 editorial by the conservative "wall street journal" entitled "impeaching mayorkas achieves nothing." the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: mr. speaker, i recognize the gentleman from california for two minutes, mr. issa. the speaker pro tempore: the distinguished gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker. this is so frustrating because today we are in fact impeaching a pawn. we're impeaching a pawn for the president. the secretary is being impeached for what he did wrong. he is in fact guilty as alleged. but in fact, he is just part of the high crimes and misdemeanors

of the president of the united states. it was the president's decision to undo policies that were working and make a systematic change that in my district with over 55 miles of mexican border, my border agents of reduced to being uber drivers for everyone coming over the border. i'm perfectly willing to listen to people say well, this is a policy difference, but it is not. to faithfully execute the mission, you can have differences in how to do it. to thwart the very execution of that mission which secretary mayorkas has done is in fact a impeachable offense. i have some sympathy for him because i believe he's justo baying the orders of his boss but that's been said before. that excuse has been used. the fact is he took a oath. he must faithfully execute that oath. if he cannot because the

president will not let him do it, then he needs to resign. as we impeach the first cabinet officer in well over a hundred years, the fact is, he should have resigned rather than to do things which were adverse to the constitution, adverse to his oath. but upon the orders and duty of the president, the president can be wrong. the president can order high crimes and misdemeanors. the president can be guilty of them. this president is in fact guilty of that which we are impeaching the secretary for today, but so is the secretary. and for that reason, i urge a yes vote and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: may i inquire how much time remains for each side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee has 22 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from mississippi has 24. the gentleman from tennessee reserves.

the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thanks very much. this baseless sham impeachment fails to articulate a single charge that rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. the constitutional standard for impeachment, mere policy differences do not amount to impeachable offenses. i ask unanimous consent to include in the record a letter by imminent constitutional scholars opposed to this political stunt as well as a "washington post" op-ed by joshua metz and norm issen, entitled "why impeaching secretary mayorkas is against the constitution." i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from oklahoma.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. >> earlier in this debate the gentleman says there's been more fentanyl seized at the border than ever before. ms. bice: what he didn't say is there's more fentanyl deaths than ever before and it's a direct result of what's happening across our southern border. i rise in support of the impeachment of secretary alejandro mayorkas. this is one of the most solemn and consequential actions the united states house of representatives can take. and i do not take it lightly. however, under the watch of secretary mayorkas, we've witnessed the degradation of our border and the willful denial of following laws. fentanyl is the leading cause of death for those 18-45. terrorists on the f.b.i. watch

list are being released into the country and the cartels are a multibillion dollar business. the crisis we face today is a threat to every single american causing our communities to be less safe, and it is a direct result of secretary mayorkas' actions. a clear message must be sent to the executive branch that they no longer get to break the law without consequences. secretary mayorkas must be held accountable. with that, mr. speaker, i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yields back. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you very much. mr. speaker, today three bipartisan former secretaries of homeland security wrote to speaker johnson voicing their opposition to impeach secretary mayorkas. they agree that impeachment for a policy is not constitutionally permissible. they further warn that allowing

impeachment of cabinet officials over policy differences would jeopardize our national security. i ask unanimous consent to include in the record the letter from secretary chertoff, napolitano, and johnson. and i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. goldman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. goldman: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you to my friend, the ranking member, for yielding. i rise today to condemn this rushed, baseless, sham impeachment of secretary mayorkas that will go down in history as one of congress' darkest moments. the republican argument for impeachment boils down to their view that secretary mayorkas has intentionally caused the influx of immigrants over our southern border.

never mind that even if true, this is not a high crime or misdemeanor that has ever been used before in the history of our country. never mind that no court has found the secretary or the department of homeland security to have violated the law. and in the united states versus texas case, which my friends on the other side of the aisle like to cite so frequently actually reversed a district court hearing and held there must be discretion given to the secretary as there has been given to every single department secretary for 27 years. and never mind that every one of those department of homeland security secretaries has interpreted the law the exact same way that secretary mayorkas has, never mind that republicans have sued him to stop him from implement hadding the policy --

implementing the policy changes that the administration tried to put into effect at the border. never mind the republicans are impeaching him for failing to address the problems at the border while, while he has spent months negotiating a bipartisan bill in the senate to do just that. the reason for this partisan stunt is simple, donald trump and house republicans want to use the border as an election year issue rather than actually solve the problems through necessary legislation. i urge my colleagues who care about the constitution, the rule of law and this institution to vote no. you will otherwise come to regret this and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi reserves. mr. green: i yield two minutes

to the gentleman from michigan, general breg man -- bergman. mr. berg: once described the crisis of more than 1,000 border cries sees per day. in december of last year we averaged 10 times perhaps most worryingly, saw 860,000, just a little bit shy of a million got-aways, border crossers who were detected, but were never apprehended. that's nearly a million potential felons, cartel members, terrorists and drug traffickers allowed into our

country. mr. bergman: this crisis has been aided and abetted through the dereliction of duty of secretary mayorkas. as the house homeland security committee has uncovered, mayorkas has violated, subverted and ignored multiple laws by congress while ignoring court orders and lying to congress and the american people. the evidence of his wrongdoings is damning. it goes well beyond incompetence and his actions which have put our nation at extreme risk cannot, cannot go unanswered. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized.

mr. thompson: republicans are exploiting impeachment power to distract from their inability to pass legislation. here's what republican representative chip roy said in november, quote, i want my republican colleagues to give me one thing, one that i can go campaign on and say we did. one. explain to me one material meaningful, significant thing the republican majority has done. i now yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, democratic leader, honorable hakeem jeffries. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. jeffries: let me thank the distinguished the gentleman from from the great state of mississippi for yielding for his leadership, for his dignity, for

his deeseens shy and continued defense of our. mr. sempolinski: in the face of the extreme attacks coming from the other side of the aisle. mr. speaker, i rise today in strong opposition to this political stunt, this reckless republican effort to impeach secretary mayorkas. let's be clear. secretary mayorkas is a good man, a patriotic man, and a hard-working man doing the best he can under very difficult circumstances. that's not an impeachable offense. extreme maga republicans have produced no evidence that secretary mayorkas has engaged in a high crime or misdemeanor, no evidence that secretary

mayorkas has engaged in an impeachable offense. and no evidence that secretary mayorkas has broken the law or violated the constitution. not a shred of evidence, not a sin tila of evidence, nothing. but extreme maga republican chaos and confusion. and the effort to avoid doing the hard work necessary to find common ground, to actually address the challenges at the border. what do these impeachment articles have to do with the issue of addressing our broken immigration system? nothing. what do these impeachment articles have to do with building a healthy economy tore

every day americans? nothing. what do these impeachment articles have to do with addressing the inflationary challenges and the affordability issues that the american people are experiencing day after day as we work to continue to emerge from a once in a century pandemic that shut down the economy? absolutely nothing. extreme maga republicans have spent this entire congress not advancing any ideas, acting on any agenda, deciding to work together with us to solve problems for the american people and so you've brought articles of impeachment that are not anchored in reality. you have brought articles of impeachment for one simple

reason, because you really want to impeach joe biden. that's what you were directed to do by the puppet master, the former president of the united states, donald trump. you really want to impeach joe biden, but you realize that that is politically unpopular. and so you have brilliantly come up with in your minds, plan b. let's go after secretary mayorkas. no evidence that he's engaged in wrongdoing, committed a crime or violated the constitution, but let's go after secretary mayorkas. maybe that will satisfy the quest for revenge of the puppet master, because when the puppet master, donald trump says jump, extreme maga republicans say how high.

we just got evidence over that the last few weeks. maga republicans have been lecturing america that we have to deal with the challenges at the border. we agree, a bipartisan process has been underway in the senate for months to try to fix our broken immigration system. but as soon as donald trump says no, we actually don't want to do anything about the challenges at the border because politically that might not be good for us, you've walked away from working together in a commonsense fashion to fix our broken immigration system. instead, what you have to offer the american people is this sham impeachment, this political stunt, this waste of time. but you will not fool the american people. you will actually be held accountable for your inaction

and your affirmative-leaning in to doing things that don't advance progress in any way shape or form for the american people. no reasonable american can conclude that you're making life better for them with this sham impeachment. but you will live with this like a scarlet letter. it may succeed, it may not. secretary mayorkas should wear this like a badge of honor. it's worthless. it's flake and fraudulent and foolish and i urge everyone to vote no so we can get back to doing the real business of the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. the gentleman from mississippi

reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. green: i yield three minutes to the the gentlewoman from north carolina, mrs. foxx. ms. foxx: i thank the gentleman for yielding and his great work. secretary mayorkas career is on the chopping block where it rightfully belongs. he has failed to apply the laws that would stop this invasion at the southern border. to those who claim this impeachment is for purely political purposes, you are dead wrong. this is upholding the rule of law that governance our republic, the same rule of law that secretary mayorkas has ignored and information saken every day. he has had opportunities to enforce the laws that are on the books but has chose i don't know not to. he has earned his own

impeachment. let's be clear our constitutional system is predicated on the idea that congress creates laws and the executive branch enforces those laws. allowing this abuse of our constitutional system to go unchecked could spell the beginning of the end for our republic. i am proud to serve as a co-sponsor of these impeachment articles. the rule of law must be restored at the border immediately. and with that, i yield back my time to the gentleman from tennessee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. mr. green: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mississippi mississippi republicans use the language of invasion and great replacement theory. but, look, invasion in the constitution means invasion during an act of war by a foreign nation or narks from --

snarks from within. i direct your attention to federalist paper 43. the entry migrants of escaping crisis for a better life is not invasion. i now yield -- i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, chairman arrington. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. arrington: just a comment about this not being an invasion. no honest or objective american from sea to shining sea could characterize what is happening at our southern border as an invasion and destroying our country and because of the willful neglect and the dereliction of duty and because

of the faithlessness to this constitution and first job to provide a common defense. i thank chairman green for restoring the dignity and integrity of the impeachment process. i think it is important that we are careful that we make the fullness of due process an important feature restoring what has happened over the last two impeachments. this is a year-long process. and i appreciate your fidelity to the constitution and integrity of this institution. bottom line, mr. speaker, i believe that the impeachment clause in the constitution according to our founders was to give remedy for this very circumstance to remove someone who had violated their public trust in a way that resulted in systemic injury to society. chairman green, thank you for your leadership.

i stand with you. this is the right and responsible thing to do in faithfulness to the constitution and the protection of the america n people and sorchtd of the greatest nation in human history. i yield back. mr. green: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: the extreme maga republican stunt to impeach secretary mayorkas is baseless. the democratic staff of the committee on homeland security thoroughly documented the failures in fact and law in the articles of impeachment contained in house resolution 868. i ask unanimous consent that it be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: i yield to the gentlelady from texas, two minutes, ms. jackson lee.

ms. jackson lee: in the time we have had to debate one of the most sacred and deliberative responsibilities of the united states congress and that is impeachment proceedings, there has been not been one i oatha truth and/or facts that suggest that secretary mayorkas is in fact guilty of the articles of impeachment against him. one, the willful violation of the law, and the benefit to himself from anything that he might have done or that he did not do. but what it has done is given to this nation, a nation of laws and nation of immigrants the sense that you cannot flee naziism, cannot flee cuba and for more than two decades come to this country to serve your beloved adopted country. you cannot be the u.s.

department of justice attorney or deputy secretary and now the secretary of homeland security without those who find it strange to have you lead in this way with your diversity. this is a question of stunts over solutions. the constitution was created to create a more perfect order and that is that under that constitution, precious rights fall under the fifth amendment and 14th amendment. due process. let me say, mr. speaker, this secretary of homeland security was not allowed to bring his own witnesses. the majority did not allow the minority to have its day of witnesses. there were no constitutional scholars who pointed to the facts in large numbers as they would have that this is in fact a fraud and froth with misrepresentations. operational control is zero people crossing the border.

that means they're not crossing for entertainment or business, but that they are just there. this is wrong, this is wrong-headed, this is a stunt and does not bequeath or equal to the constitution which is to create a more perfect union. vote against these articles of impeachment. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from montana, mr. zinke. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. zinke: montana is about the same size as here to chicago plus two miles. it's a long, long border. and the few border people we have are generally deployed down south. so my friend and gentleman from new york said what evidence do we offer.

what evidence of negligence? what evidence of wrongdoing? i'd say it's pretty easy to find. it's found in every street, every county, every state across this nation. the evidence is found in every fentanyl pill and death. the evidence is found in every woman that's raped along our border. the evidence is found in every child trafficking case and in every city to include billings, chicago and washington, d.c. he it's found in every evidence of children being sex trafficked. and i can go on. the evidence of negligence is the willful and blind turning of this horror that we have on our southern border.

our northern border, while not discussed a lot is wide open, as this country doesn't have a border. and in montana this administration can't even prevent a balloon. so the evidence is clear, compelling, and not in dispute. the lack of action and blindful and willingness to do nothing is deserving no less than impeachment. mr. speaker, i yield back. the gentleman from the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. mayorkas is doing his job by the resources adotted by this -- adotted by this department. congress never appropriated sufficient resources to detain all individuals who should be detained under the republicans'

reading of the law. i now yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. castro. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. castro: thank you. this impeachment against secretary mayorkas is a sham. the process was a sham. the charges are a sham. you might wonder if that's the case, why go through all this trouble? well, last november, a colleague of mine from the state of texas stood up in this chamber and asked for one meaningful accomplishment that the republican congress has accomplished this session. the answer was nothing. that colleague was not a democrat on this side of the aisle but a republican, a republican who asked the question whether somebody could name one meaningful accomplishment.

so the answer to my question is why does this happen when you have no record of accomplishment to run on, nothing on education, nothing on health care, nothing about creating jobs, nothing on the environment, nothing about keeping people safe. this is what you do. you put on a circus. that's why we're here today. if you need an example, let's look to the last few days for years, republicans have used immigrants as political scarecrows. using them like scarecrows to put up in the face of americans and scare americans that every single one of these people, including the 6-year-old child is coming to harm you and hurt you. and because they have no positive policy solutions, man, they sell that really hard. you hear it on every radio interview, every television

interview, you hear it on television on fox news, every single place they use these people to scare americans. that's how they want to win. that's why we're here. because there's nothing else, nothing else left. and on the border -- i would as- mr. thompson: additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. castro: even when president biden made the comment he'd be willing to shut down the border because it's overwhelmed, the republican speaker says that that proposal that would allow for it, what they've been asking for supposedly for years, they say it's dead on arrival, they're not going to do it. this is a show trial. it's a sham. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. the gentleman from mississippi reserves. mr. green: i yield two minutes to mr. izel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i spent time as a sheriff and 42 years as a law enforcement officer. if i hadn't done my job as a sheriff, i would have been fired and removed from office. mr. speaker, secretary mayorkas has not done his job. he has willfully ignored immigration laws passed by the congress and allowed our southern border to turn into utter chaos. his breach of the public trust cannot go unanswered. mr. ezell: i vote to hold him accountable in committee last week and will do so today on the floor. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this impeachment and hold secretary mayorkas accountable for his actions.

and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you very much. mr. speaker, i know yield two minutes to the gentleman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. >> i rise to oppose this impeachment of secretary mayorkas by extreme maga republicans. house republicans failed to meet the constitutional standard for impeachment. they've failed to provide evidence for high crimes and misdemeanors because no evidence exists. mr. barragan: the republicans ramp about the challenges at the southern border and the only plan is to remove the person from the room working on a bipartisan basis to get tough on border policies i don't agree with? republicans are not serious about border security, this is all about politics for them. they've consistently opposed

legislation to increase funding for more border patrol agents at the southern border, more customs and border protection, more money to combat fentanyl from coming across the southern border, something they love to talk about but don't want to put in resources to make sure they're not coming over and even said no to $1 billion in i.c.e. detention beds. this is a republican talking point. and they've said no to this, too. so why are we wasting floor time on political games with the fact-free impeachment resolution instead of legislation to improve the lives of americans? because house republicans can't govern. they want to distract from their weekly embarrassments. their own members admit they haven't accomplished anything. this sham impeachment is not a accomplishment but another embarrassment because they're a do nothing congress. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: may i inquire how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee has 12 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from mississippi has 12. mr. green: i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. green: i'd like to address some of the misinformation that's been provided by my colleagues on on the other side of the aisle. they said republicans cut border patrol. it's been the administration that brought district of columbia decrease -- brought decreasing requests and we've given them more than they asked for. our bill, house resolution 2 would provide 3,000 new border patrol agents and the

supplemental request by the president is like 1,400. you can't say we're resourcing less when we're providing numbers for more. that's just disinformation. it's false. this notion that seizures are up, if you pour more water through a small pipe, you're going to catch -- there's more volume coming at the fence, they're going to seize more, i get that. but tell me why a hit of fentanyl went from $95 to $28 a hit when this president took office? it's because the supply and demand of fentanyl. it's supply and demand curve. and that's because it's pouring across our southern border. it's pouring across the southern border because cartels are jamming folks through the crossing sites and border patrol agents are having to move off

the border to control that and we have a wide open border and have shown this in our five phases of investigation, videos of camouflage wearing, carpet shoe wearing people with backpacks full of drugs coming through the remote parts of the border. to suggest that just because seizures are up somebody is doing their job? that's meaningless. i want to make a point here because several people have said if we were concerned about border protection, we would bring up the senate negotiated bill. well, you know, i thought they had to pass it over there before we could bring it up. i thought you had to actually pass -- i haven't heard the bill has even passed the senate. so this ago youization we -- accusation somehow we aren't for border patrol because we haven't taken up this bill is false because it hasn't even passed the senate yet.

i heard someone say secretary mayorkas has done his job. the last poll said 85% of americans think the secretary is failing. yeah, keep singing that song. we've been at this for almost a year. rushed? some gentleman said no court ruled mr. mayorkas is not disobeying the law? the fifth circuit court did rule. and then they said it's been overturned. and no, they decided they aren't going to decide and said you don't have standing here. so the case wasn't technically even heard. you don't have standing, have a nice day. to suggest that that was overturned -- the fifth circuit court's ruling on the lawlessness of this secretary is just wrong. it's wrong. i now yield two minutes to the

gentleman from mississippi, mr. guest. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. guest: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to push back and tell you what is happening here is not political theater as my friends on the other side of the aisle wish to make this. the democrats have sought to blame republicans saying that our inaction has helped cause this border crisis, but i will tell you that nothing is further from the truth. almost a year ago, this body passed h.r. 2, a border security bill. a border security bill that would find a record number of customs and border patrol agents, a bill which would give raises to those men and women who are there on the frontlines trying a bill which would invest in technology to stop the illegal flow of drugs coming across our

borders, a border which would have started wall reconstruction. that bill has sat in the other chamber and sat in the senate and schumer has refused to bring that bill to the floor. this body also passed the homeland security appropriations bill, giving the homeland security department more money than that department has ever received. we funded those additional agents. we funded those pay raises. we funded additional detention beds. and what has happened to our proposings bill? it also sits in the senate waiting for the senate to take action. and today my friends across the aisle, they seek to hide behind this senate bill that was crafted behind closed doors in the cover of darkness, a bill that did not include anything from the house of

representatives, did not include homeland security chairman mark green or ranking member bennie thompson. three senators out of 100 sat down and crafted a bill. mr. green: another minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. guest: that bill with no input on behalf of the house of representatives. we are now supposed to adopt that bill before it even passes the senate. i want to give you a number, mr. speaker. that number is 370,000. that is the number of immigrants who came into our country last month alone. that's not a year, that's not six months. that is a single month, 370,000. yet our homeland security secretary continues to maintain that the border is secure.

and my friends across the aisle seek to blame republicans for this crisis. their blame is misplaced. if they want to blame someone what is happening the on the southwest border, they need to look in the mirror and look at what their secretary and president has done. they can no longer blame republicans for their failures. and i will close with this, mr. speaker, if we are unable to hold secretary mayorkas for his failures, for his failure to enforce the law we can hold no one accountable. secretary mayorkas must be impeached. mr. green: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: the administration is enforcing the law. i.c.e. is detaining over 38,000

people, 4,000 more than congress has provided funding for. if republicans want d.h.s. to detain more people, they should provide the funds that the administration has asked for in the supplemental request. former president trump, they cheered the doubling of drug seizures and now view it as a problem. this is hypocrisy at its finest. d.h.s. has seized more fentanyl and arrested more criminals for fept nil-related crimes in the last two years than in the previous five years. this impeachment has been a preplanned political stunt from the beginning. i request unanimous consent to include in the record a "new york times" article detailing how secretary of homeland

security -- excuse me, i request unanimous consent to include in the record "new york times" article detailing how homeland security committee chairman mark green promised donors that the house would impeach secretary mayorkas prior to launching any inquiry. get the popcorn, he said. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i would yield to myself as much time as i would consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. green: mr. speaker, i think that most of my colleagues here and a lot of people back home certainly know that i had the unbelievable privilege to introduce saddam hussein on the night of his capture. and as i was sitting there talking to saddam hussein i asked him why he invaded kuwait and gave me justifications about

who owned which oil field and he pointed to the palm of his hand, all of civilization comes from the tigris and euphrates river. what he was saying he was the king of the world. how does a person get there. the old adage comes to mine, absolute power, if you get tyranny. our founders were brilliant and following that they would divide power out and separate three branches of and separate power between the federal government and the states, local governments. but they did develop three equal and separate branches of government with the legislative branch writing the laws and the executive branch executing the laws and in the

iran-contrahearing, the democrats said you can't pick and choose which law you want to enforce. also fascinating that you know, here we are, they say it's about policy, this is about a systemic, planned mechanism to undo the immigration laws passed before just because the current secretary doesn't think that ought to be. he is supposed to execute those laws. criminal felons and he has directed his employees not to do that. violating the laws passed by this body, telling this separate but equal branch of government, i don't care what you say or have passed as law, i don't care that you represent the voice of the american people. i'm the guy who knows the best way to do it and i'm going to do

it my way. that is the road to tyranny. that is power and one man's hands and that is not what our constitution says it's supposed to be. and he took an oath to that constitution to defend that constitution that says this branch writes, that branch executes. he has violated his oath of office. he has subverted the laws that this body has passed and thus basically said i don't care about the congress. that is unacceptable. and whether he were a republican or a democrat, standing that way, i would be here today doing everything i could to remove him from office, because when i was 17 i took an oath to the constitution and i was willing to take a bullet for the people of this country and he throws it

in the garbage. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mississippi mississippi even some house republicans have acknowledged that there is no constitutional basis for impeachment. representative mcclintock called this effort an unconstitutional abuse of power and reckless partisan and unserious. representative buck said, it's he not an impeachable offense. this is a policy difference. besides failing to articulate a single charge that would meet the constitutional impeachment standard of high crimes and mids, this sham impeachment has been marred by procedural failures. i ask unanimous consent to include in the record documentation of those

procedural failures. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from mississippi reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i have no more speakers and am prepared to close after the gentleman from mississippi closes. mr. thompson: i have no more speakers and am prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: i yield myself the balance of my time. mr. speaker, the statements from the other side this afternoon have misrepresented the facts and the laws of this baseless sham impeachment. this extreme maga republican majority is about stunts rather than solutions. this political stunt is about play indicating extreme elements within the republican conference rather than doing what's right for america. because it's clear that republicans have failed to make the case for impeachment, they

have tailed to articulate a single high crime or misdemeanor, the other side of the aisle reeks of desperation. sadly, many republicans appear willing to undermine the constitution they claim to hold dear to achieve cheap political points. i am hoping my colleagues across the aisle will join us in upholding the oath we all swore to the constitution. i urge my colleagues to reject house resolution 863. vote no on this sham impeachment. and with that, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. green: i yield the balance of my time. as you heard the evidence that is compelling. the constitutional history and the framers' intent are clear,

we the people representatives have no option but to exercise this duty when executive branch officials refuse to comply with the laws we have passed, imperil the constitutional order and this historical record is unambiguous, the framers believed that executive pramp who failed the constitution should no longer hold office. secretary mayorkas refused to comply with the law and lied to congress and breached the public trust and in closing, my question to my colleagues is this if secretary mayorkas plate ant disregard for the laws we have passed is not enough to warrant action, why are we here? what is the point of passing laws if we awe lot the executive branch to violate those laws with impunity? do we care for our

responsibilities and allow an official to defile laws passed by the people's house. that would be dangerous precedent and abdication of our duty. and opening our border to migrants and breaching the trust. our constitution and our constituents. it is therefore incumbent upon us on this will solemn day to fulfill our ocean to the constitution and exercise the power to impeach. i urge my colleagues to join me. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee yields back. all time for debate has expired. the previous question is ordered on the resolution as amended. further consideration of house resolution 863 is postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or votes

objected to under clause 6 of rule 20. the house will resume proceedings on postponed questions at a later time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 7217. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 7217, a bill making supplemental appropriations to respond to the attacks in israel for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2024, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. calvert, and the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. calvert: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. calvert: mr. speaker, i rise today to offer house resolution 7217, the israel supplemental

appropriations act of 2024. this bill provides $17.6 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations which provide needed military assistance to america's great ally israel and support u.s. military forces operating in the region. on october 7, 2023, hamas carried out a brutal, unprovoked terrorist attack on the people of israel. the horrific acts committed on this day resulted in 1,200 deaths, thousands injured, and 240 houghsages, 136 remain in captivity and over 30 are pleved to be dead. israeli people are still reeling if the horrors of october 7. but have bravely pushed their sorrow aside to root out and fight hamas and ensure that the people are never threatened again. last november, the house passed a $14.3 billion supplemental to shore up our ally. the bill included $5.2 billion in missile defense systems such

as iron dome, david's sling and iron beam. $4.4 billion to backfill u.s. stocks. $1 billion for u.s. munition production such as 155 rounds and small iam tear bombs. $3.5 billion for foreign military financing of u.s. systems ammunitions. and $200 million for the protection of u.s. personnel and emergency evacuations of american citizens in the region as a result of the conflict. these requirements remain unchanged and are aligned with the biden administration's supplemental request and are included in the bill we're considering today. unfortunately, the situation in the middle east has continued to deteriorate since november. the houthis have launched dozens of missile drone and boat attacks on military and other ships in the red sea osmen january 28, three u.s. soldiers killed -- kainld 40 injured by a drone -- three u.s. soldiers were killed and 40 injured in a

drone attack in jordan caused by an iranian-backed militia. we are putting our military in an untenable situation and attacks continue to escalate. new we must shore up our ally israel and provide military -- our military with the resources they need to protect our troops in the region. the new funding in this bill addresses that changing reality by providing $3.3 billion for u.s. military operations in the region funded through december 24. this includes $1 billion for low-cost defensive capability to thwart future attacks u.s. forces in the region. in many instances, we have been intercepting low-cost iranian-backed drones with multimillion dollar munitions this. funding will protect our forces and put us on the right side of the cost curve. this funding bill resupplies israel's defensive capability,

restores american defense industry to replenish our stock, funds necessary operations for our forces in the region, and sends a strong signal that the united states will not back down. i am grateful for the support of chairwoman granger, chairman diaz-balart, republican leadership, and dozens of members who have co-sponsored the bill. i'm also grateful for the support expressed by many of my friends across the aisle. we have and tun today to come together and send a strong message, the united states stands with israel. i want to address the position of the democratic leadership, including president biden -- biden's veto threat. assertion that this bill plays politics are patently false. last november, democrats said they wanted a clean bill. that's exactly what this is. this bill simply provides necessary resources to our closest ally in the region and our own military. i introduced this bill because it's the right thing to do. the only people making it political are those who oppose

it. tomorrow is the four-month anniversary of the horrific october 7 terrorist attack, an act of war. israel knows we stand with them. today we can send a clear message that we support the efforts to eradicate hamas and the only way to truly bring peace to the region. likewise, our american military men and women should know, their government stands fully behind them and will respond to -- and respond to these numerous attacks. terrorists and those supporting them should have no question of american resolve. i encourage all members to support the israel security supplemental and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: mr. speaker -- mr.

speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. delauro: thank you. 122 days ago, hamas terrorists murdered over 1,000 israelis and at least 30 americans in cold blood. they took hundreds hostage in the worst attack on jewish people since the holocaust. president biden's supplemental funding request for israel, ukraine, the indo-pacific and for our border has gone all but competely unanswered by this historic do-nothing majority. for months, our colleagues in the majority insisted that any foreign assistance bill must include border policy changes. so spoke speaker johnson at the white house several months ago. and said we needed a bipartisan border security agreement that would open the door, unlock the door, for funds for foreign assistance.

yet republicans have rejected a bipartisan bill that would accomplish exactly what they have asked for. while declaring that bill dead on arrival in the house, the majority has opted to consider a bill that we know the president will veto. this is a political stunt that makes it less likely that israel gets its funds while endangering u.s. national security. this accomplishes nothing and delayed agetting out to our allies and provide hugh mantarian relief. our allies cannot wait. our border communities cannot wait. our cities cannot wait. i wholeheartedly support funding for israel. i have written aid to israel supplemental appropriations over the last several years. however, i cannot support this bill, which falls dangerously short of what this moment calls for. our allies are facing

existential threats and our friends and foes around the globe are watching. waiting to see how america will respond. putin is watching, xi is watch, the ayatollah khomeini is watch, russia, china, and iran are watching. and our allies are watching. this bill does not provide a penny in humanitarian assistance. we cannot abandon the innocent civilians caution in the crossfire of these conflicts. particularly in gaza. the cost of hamas' rule over gaza and the war against israel are borne by innocent palestinians. israel's harsh response has raised these costs further. family, children, are facing unthinkable circumstances. millions facing starvation because of this conflict. no one with clear eyes would say otherwise. furthermore, p if this bill were

to become law there's no path to support ukraine. we are witnessing the first land war in europe in a generation and throw inaction this congress risks handing a sovereign nation over to a ruthless autocrat. jeopardizing u.s. national security. vladimir putin wants ukraine, if he evertakes ukraine and moves against a nato ally we'll see u.s. troops in a ground war. if we do not provide ukraine with what they need, the ultimate legacy of the 118th congress will be the appeasement of a dictator and the destruction of a free nation. our allies and our enemies in europe and around the globe will know that the united states is no longer a trusted partner in the security of the free world. yet, we know that a supermajority of this body supports ukraine. there are unquestionably more

than 218 votes in the house for a supplemental appropriations that includes israel, humanitarian assistance, ukraine, and indopacific assistance. yet house republicans are choosing to take that path. the senate bill acts now to address the border that's in congress. -- in crisis. the status question is unacceptable but republicans say no to moving forward. we should reject this unserious effort, this political ploy, and insist on a bipartisan product that supports our allies and protects the integrity of our border. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. calvert: i thank the speaker. that is a bipartisan effort. that is a bipartisan bill. with that, i yield to the gentlewoman from texas, the chairwoman of the appropriations committee, ms. granger, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. ms. granger: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 7217, a

bill that will provide additional support for israel. i want to thank chairman calvert for the leadership on his bill that he's given. nearly four months ago, we watched hamas brutally attack the israeli people. unfortunately, the situation in the region has only gotten worse. israel and now u.s. forces have been attacked by terrorist groups backed by iran. funding is needed to address the growing threats we face. the bill before us provides a total of $17.6 billion in emergency resources, specifically the bill includes funding for iron dome, david's sling, iron beam, defense -- iron beam defense system, and other weapons through the

foreign military financing program. to ensure that u.s. support does not impact our own military readiness, the bill restocks the items we have already sent to israel. it is also providing $3.3 billion to support our military operations in the region. now more than ever, we must stand firm with israel. the bill sends a strong message that the united states support ours great ally. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the important bill. thank you, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from minnesota, ranking member of the defense subcommittee, ms. mccollum. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. mccollum: mr. speaker, our nation faces two immense

national security challenges and congress must address them both. russia's illegal and unjust invasion of ukraine which threatens their territorial integrity, and the security of europe, and israel's response to the hamas terrorist attacks on october 7, which has spiraled into a regional conflict between the united states and iranian proxy. tragically three u.s. service members have lost their lives in this conflict. our nation and the world need decisive action from congress. the hamas attacks on october 7 were barbaric and israel does have the right to defend itself. i've long supported missile defense priorities like iron dome in the defense appropriations bill. but this is not the way to get more aid to israel. the senate and the white house do not support this action. this bill was introduced to get ad of the senate's bipartisan security supplemental which does address all of our national

security priorities. the republican house bill plays politics with our national security and that's wrong. it's a nonstarter for those of us who seriously want to address these crises in a comprehensive manner. and here's how we do that. we do provide assistance to israel. but it's equally important to get more life-saving humanitarian aid into gaza, because if we don't, the situation for civilians will continue to deteriorate. starvation will grow. disease will spread. and palestinian civilians, most of them children, will continue to suffer and many die. because israel's security situation will worsen if we don't do the humanitarian aid. we need to support our national priorities around the world. our service members are working nonstop. they deserve our support. we must provide additional

security assistance to ukraine. the situation there is desperate, mr. speaker. ukrainian civilians will continue to be murdered, their military faces serious shortage of ammunition, and we must remedy that. congress cannot afford to ignore any of these challenges because america cannot afford to ignore them. we must lead and the republican majority in my opinion is failing to do just that. if we fail here, the national security consequences we will face abroad are, we will need both israel and troops in the middle east, we will condemn more palestinian civilians in gaza to die, and we will doom the ukrainian people to face a dark future with their democratic aspirations crushed by putin's boot. and we will leave our european allies who have just approved $50 billion euro package for

ukraine to face a resurgent russian military on their borders. the majority has left us no choice but to vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from connecticut reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. >> i thank the speaker. the bill before us today is regarding israel. we have time to debate ukraine at a later date. but today this is regarding aid to israel which we need to do immediately. with that, i yield to the gentleman from arkansas, a member of the defense appropriations committee and chairman of the financial services committee, mr. womack. two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: for how long? the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. womack: thank you, mr. speaker. and i want to thank my friend, chairman calvert, forgiving me -- for giving me an tighten to speak on this -- forgiving me the opportunity to speak on this very vital piece of legislation. it is our solemn duty, mr. speaker, our solemn duty to protect our allies and defeat our common enemies.

i think we have agreement on both sides of the aisle that we need to do that. october 7, 2023, hamas launched a brutal attack on our friends in israel and we've all seen the carnage and the assessment of damage and the terrific loss of life in israel. this unwarranted and unprovoked attack was a cruel display of the worst of humanity. we should all agree to that. israel is a stabilizing force in the middle east. it has to be supported at all costs. from my time as a commander of forces in the sinai peninsula, where i had a close working relationship with the i.d.f., to my time as a member of congress and this important subcommittee, i've always been a strong supporter of israel and will continue to advocate on its behalf.

this $17.6 billion appropriated will save israeli lives, it will work to defeat hamas terrorists, the funding will replenish and procure advanced weapons systems, defense articles and defense services provide for the procurement of the iron dome, david's sling and iron beam defense systems to combat short range rockets and support u.s. military operations in israel. in short, mr. speaker, we need to pass this bill and so i encourage all of my colleagues to take a serious look at it. pass the bill, let's get it to the senate, get it to the white house, and with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, the ranking member of the military construction and veterans affairs -- veterans' affairs subcommittee. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to support israel's absolute right to exist, to defend itself and to bring home its citizens and ours who are

still held captive after 122 days. over those 122 days, president biden has firmly backed israel's response to genocidal hamas terror. he helped free over 100 hostages and continues working tirelessly to bring them all home. and he has forcefully countered maligned forces who attack our troops and oppose any future peace. meanwhile, for 122 days, republicans have ignored president biden's urgent request to safeguard our democracy and our allies fromme adversaries wo seek chaos, death and destruction. this abdication of responsibility fails our constituents, our allies and our national security interests. after months of waiting, i won't hesitate to vote for israel's defense in this moment of crisis. but i'm enraged that republicans are playing political games, caving to trump and the extreme fringe of their party at the expense of our most sacred national obligations. they cynically pound the table about iran, but they're suddenly

blind to putin's wrath in ukraine and death to xi's threats against taiwan. they callously disregard the humanitarian tragedy facing gazzans who are also victims of hamas, eroding our credibility and undermining future prospects for a just and lasting peace. and i'm appalled that after 3,300 anti-semitic attacks in this country in just three months, they will pass a dozen nonbinding resolutions only to turn around and defund basic protections for jewish americans. we could have passed the president's emergency request months ago in a massive bipartisan show of strength. but instead republicans are needlessly weaponizing these vital efforts to score cheap political points. it took far too long to get here. yet this bill still falls short of our needs. as a jew, as a proud zionist, my conscience demands that i vote with israel in her hour of need, in this moment of crisis. but i won't pretend that this bill comes close to meeting our security needs. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from connecticut reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. calvert: i thank the speaker. i yield to the gentleman from north carolina, dr. murphy, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise in support of 7217, this israel security supplemental appropriations act. in the face of terror and absolute unprovoked aggression, israel is in the fight for its existence. the united states must not shirk its duty and must support israel. israel has the absolute right to exist. mr. speaker, the world is essentially on fire. if you do not combat dictators, if you do combat terrorists, we are shirking our duty. so today, now, with the united states being israel's greatest ally, we must support them. we already sent the senate a

support bill. we sent them a support bill for israel. we did that barely a month after hamas -- the hamas attack on october 7. what has senator schumer and democrats done? they sat on it. now they want to send us a bill to try to fix their crisis, their crisis at the border in guise of support of israel. their crisis at the border, president biden's crisis at the border has cost this nation $450 billion. that pails in -- pales in comparison to the $17 billion that we're asking for israel. we don't need gimmicks, we don't need a bill that hasn't even been passed by the senate which will allow more and more and more illegals to come into this country. what we need is a singular bill to support israel, our greatest ally. with that, i ask my colleagues to support h.r. 7217. with that, i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, a member of the appropriations committee, ms. frankel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. frankel: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of this bill for emergency funding for israel and for u.s. military operations in the middle east. on october 7, 2023, hamas terrorists brutally attacked israel, murdering, maiming and raping innocent women, men and children, taking 240 hostages, many who remain in dark tunnels, being starved and abused. and adding fuel to the fire, iran proxies are shooting rockets into israel, jeopardizing commerce in the red sea, and killing american soldiers on military bases. funds from this bill will enable

israel to defend itself and the u.s. to protect our own military personnel. mr. speaker, i recognize and i respect the concern of friends who support israel, but want other issues also to be addressed. but, mr. speaker, the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. and let me be clear. my vote will be for what is in this proposed bill and not a rebuke of what is left out. i fear that a divided congress will embolden israel's adversaries and put our own military in harm's way. israel's security is our security. i stand with israel, i stand with humanity, and i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from connecticut reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. calvert: i yield to the

gentleman from new york, mr. lawler, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. lawler: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. today i rise to show my strong support for this aid package that will support our closest ally, israel. providing much-needed assistance for israel and for u.s. forces in the middle east region reaffirms our unwavering commitment to democracy, security and peace in the middle east. this is a funding package that will enhance israel's defense capabilities, specifically in the area of missile and rocket defense, with significant allocations for the iron dome and david's sling systems and the innovative iron beam system designed to counteract shorter range threats. all of these are made even more necessary due to iran's investment in weapons for terrorists around the region, including hamas, the houthis, hezbollah and others. and these groups are expanding their attacks on u.s. troops. this aid package should

transcend partisan lines. it is about more than supporting israel's right to defend itself. it is about securing our strategic interests and showing support for our closest ally, israel. that's why i was shocked to see that president biden swore to veto this legislation, which provides our ally israel with essential aid. there are no policy riders or poison pills. it is a clean bill supporting the state of israel. this should not be political and it shouldn't be that complicated. yet for whatever reason, joe biden has indicated he would veto this bill and house and senate democrats are falling all over themselves to oppose it. it has been 122 days since the terrorist attack of october 7. the house passed an aid package months ago. the senate did not act. and according to r senate may not even have the votes tomorrow to pass their supplemental bill.

therefore this may end up being the only bill in town. and i just can't understand why my democratic colleagues, whether you think it's political or not, vote yes. what, are you crazy? i just don't even understand the logic. it's a clean bill. vote yes. even ultimately if the senate does pass their bill and it does come here, then we'll deal with that. but why would you ever want to be on the record on a clean bill opposing aid to the state of israel? it's foolish. it's my sincere hope that all of my colleagues will find the moral courage to support this funding package and support israel in her time of need, while providing critical resources to our troops overseas. a little common sense here. vote yes. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. members are reminded to direct their remarks to the chair. the gentleman from california

reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from connecticut, the ranking member of the intelligence committee, mr. himes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. himes: i thank ms. delauro and maybe i can help my confused friend from new york. so that he might understand what is at stake here and why democrats are going to vote no. i stand here with some trepidation because for a decade and a half, i have stood here and proudly voted to support israel and israel has been attacked and i know that we will pass israel aid. but make no mistake, what we're seeing today is a profoundly cynical political maneuver. and for my friend from new york, let me explain it. mr. calvert, ms. delauro and i were in the white house when the speaker, all of who days as speaker of the house, looked at the national security advisor and said, we will do border first, ukraine, taiwan and israel. he demanded that. the white house said no. we shouldn't bind those things up because that creates the possibility that we don't get any of that done.

and then we made very real progress. we have a bipartisan package which does all of those things. it counters putin's murderousness in ukraine. it supports taiwan. it stands with israel. it provides humanitarian aid and it offers a once in a generation opportunity to do a border and immigration deal. an immigration deal that the border patrol union has endorsed. my republican colleagues trot out the border patrol every day and say, look at these poor guys. the border patrol union has endorsed this bill. this should pass. it's a historic opportunity to stand for what we believe as americans. but then something happened. donald trump called. donald trump donald trump call. donald trump called the speaker. the speaker said it. we know how he feels about ukraine, don't do the border deal. a deal with one of the most conservative members of the

united states senate, mitch mcconnell said this is a better deal than we get if the republicans have the house and senate. duh but donald trump call. i need to put another name out there. neville chamberlain in 1938. peace for our time. because he kowtowed to a dictator. we will hang the legacy of neville chamberlain around our necks if we don't seize this historic opportunity to do a comprehensive security bill and reject this, political, cynical maneuver. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. play calvert: the house was executed -- excluded from all negotiations regarding the senate supplement and today we're talking about assistance to israel. that's needed immediately. i yield to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. rouser, 1 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rouser: i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of thill be offered by my good friend from