Press Releases
The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of February 5, 2024
Washington,
February 4, 2024
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor this week:
Impeaching Secretary Mayorkas for Violating Immigration Laws and Failing the American People As the Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas has one core obligation: To protect our homeland. Unfortunately, throughout his tenure, Secretary Mayorkas has failed miserably at his job of keeping our country safe and our border secure. Since President Biden assumed office and appointed Secretary Mayorkas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have reported around 8.5 million illegal immigrant encounters, in addition to roughly 1.7 million gottaways, and migrants from over 230 countries were arrested in the past year. Furthermore, over 169 people on the terrorist watch list illegally entered the United States. In spite of these disastrous numbers and the obvious crisis occurring at our borders, Secretary Majorkas testified to Congress on November 15, 2022, and on July 26, 2023, that the border is “secure” and “not open” – this is a flagrant lie. Let’s be clear: These numbers do not indicate a secure border, unless your name is Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or Alejandro Mayorkas. If Secretary Mayorkas truly wished to do his duty by the American people, he would start enforcing our laws and demand the Biden Administration take the actions House Republicans have clearly laid out to secure the border in H.R. 2. As it stands, Secretary Mayorkas has demonstrated no intention to begin complying with our laws and defending our communities. H. Res. 863, introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, impeaches Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors due to violating immigration and border security laws enacted by Congress and threatening the safety of the American people. House Republicans remain resilient in our fight to secure our border, protect communities across the nation, and hold accountable those who threaten our national security. We passed our solution, H.R. 2, over eight months ago – when will the Senate and President Biden finally take action to end this disaster?  Ensuring All Americans Have Access to Quality Healthcare Quality-adjusted life years, or QALYs, is a metric used in determining whether a medical treatment is cost-effective enough to be covered by the federal government that devalues treatments for seniors, disabled Americans, and those with chronic illnesses. Over 70 disability and patient organizations agree that QALYs discriminate against individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, or down syndrome, deeming their lives less worthy of saving and denying them crucial care. Rationing healthcare through the use of QALYs hurts America’s most vulnerable, taking away their hope, undervaluing their lives, denying them dignity, and giving the government the power to determine whether they live or die. It is vital that we stop these harmful practices, expand access to lifesaving medical care, and prevent discrimination against seniors, disabled Americans, and Americans with chronic illnesses.  Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ legislation, H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023, bans federal healthcare programs from using prices based on quality adjusted life years (QALYs) to determine coverage for care, protecting Americans with disabilities and chronic health conditions from life-threatening discrimination. Every American deserves to receive quality care. House Republicans are fighting to ensure they get it.  Continuing to Stand with Our Ally Israel Against Terrorism
On October 7, 2023, the Israeli people witnessed horrific acts committed against their parents, children, and neighbors by Hamas terrorists. Over 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage, making it the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. These terrorists not only committed barbaric acts against our ally, Israel, including rape, murder, and kidnapping, but chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” while they did so – a clear threat to the safety of the American people. Meanwhile, Hamas terrorists hide in tunnels under hospitals and behind civilians from Israeli forces searching to eliminate them and the threat they pose to Israel, the United States, and freedom. We must ensure that Israel has all the resources they need to find the remorseless criminals who carried out these heinous offenses against innocent civilians and keep their homeland safe. House Republicans are bringing forward a measure that provides necessary funds for Israel, as well as funds for the U.S. military in the region who have been targeted since the October 7th attacks. H.R. __, sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert, provides emergency supplemental funds for Israel in response to the horrific October 7th attacks perpetrated by Hamas for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024. House Republicans continue to stand with our great ally, Israel, against the barbarism of Hamas and other terrorist organizations.  |