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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Thursday, May 11, 2023

Washington, May 11, 2023
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor today:
 
Ending Biden’s Border Crisis

“The border is secure.” That’s what we’ve heard from President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary Mayorkas over and over again. But Americans know the truth: the border hasn’t been secure since President Biden took office.

Now, after years of denying the existence of a problem at the border and refusing to address one of the greatest threats to our country, President Biden is sending 1,500 troops to the border. Flashback to 2018 when his Vice President, Kamala Harris, attacked President Trump for sending troops to the border, calling it ‘inappropriate’:


The crisis at our border is self-inflicted – President Biden’s disastrous open border policies have encouraged the unprecedented surge of illegal immigrants and enabled drug traffickers to flood our streets with fentanyl.

As of this February, encounters at the southern border already surpassed one million for Fiscal Year 2023. Around 80 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have been stopped attempting to cross into the United States between southwest ports of entry since October 2022 – how many have we missed?
 

In 2022, the DEA seized over 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl – and that's just what was seized. Federal officials say CBP seizes just 5% to 10% of illegal drugs smuggled across the southwest border. No one knows how much more has come into the United States and devastated our communities. 

Meanwhile, Border Patrol agents lack the numbers and resources to secure the border because President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas refuse to support them. With Title 42 ending today, the surge at the border is only going to get worse.


President Biden could fix the border crisis today by re-implementing the successful policies under President Trump, but he won’t. Instead, he continues to cater to the radical left. Thankfully, House Republicans are taking action and fulfilling our Commitment to America to secure our borders and keep our communities safe.

H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, introduced by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, would fix our broken asylum system, hire more Border Patrol agents and provide them with resources they need, reinstate Trump-era policies like Remain in Mexico, and force the Biden Administration to resume building the border wall. 

House Republicans are working to undo the damage done by the Biden Administration and secure our borders once again. We will continue leading to stop the flow of fentanyl, crack down on human trafficking, and restore our national security. 


Recovering Fraudulent Payments and Protecting American Taxpayers

During the COVID-19 pandemic, American families suffered while criminal organizations and foreign fraudsters stole hundreds of billions of dollars in unemployment insurance payments. 

Now, taxpayers are on the hook for up to $400 billion in fraudulent payments that should have gone to families who needed the funds to support themselves during a national health crisis. 

Instead of looking for solutions to recover those funds, Democrats just wanted to continue to spend more money, rejecting reforms that would have protected taxpayers and making the covid funds even more vulnerable to fraud. 
 

We owe it to American taxpayers to do everything in our power to recover these funds and bring the criminals who defrauded the American people to justice.

H.R. 1163, the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act, sponsored by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, protects taxpayers by incentivizing states to recover fraudulent payments, improving program integrity to prevent future fraud, and extending the statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud.

House Republicans won't stop fighting to make sure we recover as much of the stolen funds as possible. Now, Democrats will have to choose between American taxpayers or letting criminals off the hook.