Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore (R-Utah), and Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) to discuss the Biden Administration's failure to defend American citizens at home and our allies abroad. Leader Scalise emphasized that President Biden has the authority to reverse his open border policies that have resulted in millions of illegals crossing our border, but refuses to. Additionally, Leader Scalise slammed President Biden and Democrats for turning their backs on Israel and their right to defend themselves as over 100 hostages remain in captivity.
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On the consequences of President Biden’s open border:
“We’re going to have a lot of important debates on the floor this week. We’re going to hear from the Prime Minister of Japan tomorrow, and we look forward to welcoming him into the chamber. But as you go around the country, as a number of us do to talk about a lot of the issues that people care about and want to see Congress and the President addressing. There are some very, very important issues that we're focusing on that this President has walked away from. People around the country want a secure American border, and President Biden, from his first day in office, set us on a course to have an open border to the tune of over 8 million people. More than 35 states in America don't have a population that big, of people who have come into our country illegally, because the President opened up our southern border. And he refuses to reverse course now that everybody knows how dangerous the steps he's taken have been for our country.
“You think about the national security implications when you see scores of people on the terrorist watch list who have been caught coming into our country. Those are just the ones we know of. We don't know how many haven't been caught who are on the terrorist watch list, who have come into America because they want to do us harm. And now they're able to because President Biden opened up the southern border.”
On House Republicans' efforts to fix the border crisis:
“So we're bringing a resolution to call out the President on the steps he's taken specifically to open the border. They're very well listed out in [Rep.] Tony Gonzales' resolution, and we denounce those actions because we as House Republicans want a secure southern border, just like most Americans do.
“We passed H.R. 2, a bill that would actually secure America's border. President Biden opposed that bill, because he doesn't want to secure the border. Speaker Johnson, time and time again, has tried to engage President Biden in an actual discussion about how we can work together to secure the border, and President Biden won't even meet with the speaker to talk about those specific actions because President Biden doesn't want a secure border.”
On President Biden turning his back on our ally Israel:
“There's something else that President Biden has changed his tune on, and you go back over the years, but especially in these last few months. President Biden has walked away from the strong relationship we have with Israel. You saw Majority Leader Schumer's comments calling for the Prime Minister of Israel to be replaced during a time of war. Who walks away from a friend during a time of war? That's when you stand with your friends the most, as House Republicans continue to do.
“We are proud to stand with Israel and their right to defend themselves, as [Rep.] Maria Elvira Salazar laid out not just here at the podium, but in her resolution that every member of Congress is going to have the opportunity to vote on [this week]. Do you stand with Israel or not in a time of war and their right to defend themselves from a terrorist organization who ended the ceasefire? If there's any talk of ceasefire, President Biden, that ended on October 7th, when Hamas decided to barbarically murder, not just Jews in Israel, but others. They're still holding over 100 hostages, including American citizens. And when President Biden called for a ceasefire, he didn't precondition it on Hamas releasing the hostages.”
On the Biden Administration’s refusal to denounce anti-American chants:
“You just look the other day, in Michigan, there was a rally held where they were chanting ‘death to America.' And President Biden's White House was asked, just yesterday, will you denounce those chants of death to America? And President Biden's Administration refused to denounce that.
"When you can't stand up to chants of death for America in America, and then you walk away from your ally Israel – this President has lost his way because he's worried about bowing to the radical left, who has walked away from Israel. Well, House Republicans will continue to stand by our ally, especially in this time of war. As Prime Minister Netanyahu and his whole coalition government stand united to eradicate this terrorist organization known as Hamas, sponsored by Iran. Nobody should be walking away from them. We should all be standing together, Republican and Democrat, to show our strength and solidarity with our great ally Israel, and we're going to give everybody that opportunity on the House floor.”
