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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of January 20, 2025

Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor this week:
 
Protecting Our Communities from Biden’s Border Crisis

On Thursday, February 22, 2024, Laken Riley, a Georgia college nursing student with a promising future and loving family, was brutally murdered by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant while she was on a jog. 

The suspect, Jose Ibarra, had been paroled and released into the United States after crossing the border illegally in August 2022 – one example of how the Biden Administration has abused “humanitarian parole” to allow the mass release of illegals into our country with tragic consequences. Then, a year later, Ibarra was arrested in New York for “acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17.” Again, he was released. And in October 2023, Ibarra and his brother were arrested for shoplifting – only to be released yet again on citation.




Unfortunately, this wasn’t an isolated incident. In the past few years, we’ve seen several stories come out about the victims of Biden’s open border. In South Louisiana, an illegal immigrant was arrested for raping a 14-year-old girl at knifepoint and brutally stabbing a man multiple times. In Maryland, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant was arrested in connection to the murder of a 2-year-old. He’d been released from custody after multiple arrests in 2023 when local jurisdiction decided to ignore the ICE detainer. Additionally, Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was raped and murdered by another illegal immigrant from El Salvador. In Houston, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was brutally murdered by two illegal immigrants from Venezuela.

These are just a few tragic examples of how communities across the country have suffered because Biden refused to close the border. Between Feb. 5 and Feb. 16, Enforcement and Removal Operations officers arrested 275 illegal immigrant sex offenders nationwide. This is unacceptable. These criminals should not be allowed to enter our country, and especially should not be released from custody after committing horrific crimes here. 

Under the Biden Administration, more than 8.8 million illegal immigrants have been encountered at the southern border. As our communities continue to suffer under the weight of Biden’s dangerous open border policies, it is more critical than ever that we stop allowing criminals to flood into our country and put American lives at stake. 

S. 5, the Laken Riley Act, sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt, holds the Biden Administration accountable for their role in these tragedies through their open border policies, requires detention of illegal aliens who commit theft and mandates ICE take them into custody, and allows a state to sue the Federal government on behalf of their citizens for not enforcing the border laws, particularly in the case of parole. 

House Republicans won’t stop fighting to secure the border and protect American communities. When will Democrats finally decide enough is enough?



Improving Forest Management and Restoring American Forest Health

Thanks to regulatory burdens that hinder the ability to responsibly manage federal lands, over 117 million acres of our nation’s forests are currently overgrown, fire-prone, unhealthy, and in need of active management, contributing to the growing threat of wildfires. Forest fires are becoming more devastating and frequent, burning more than twice as much tree cover today as they did 20 years ago. 

As we have seen with the tragic fires plaguing Los Angeles, which have killed at least 27 people, razed more than 12,000 structures, and burned more than 60 square miles, these dangerous fires not only threaten our forests and environment, but the lives and communities of Americans, destroying homes and devastating families and workers. 
 

House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to reduce regulatory burdens that hinder active forest management, improving the health and resiliency of our forests, ensuring forests continue to supply clean drinking water and wood products, protecting wildlife habitats, making sure Americans can enjoy our forests through outdoor recreation, and keeping our communities safe.

Additionally, this commonsense bill works to prevent destructive wildfires and improve response, such as by offering new tools and advancing technologies, cutting burdensome regulations, enhancing transparency around wildfire mitigation investments, and ensuring communities are equipped to recover after a wildfire.

We must restore the health of America’s forests to reduce the number and severity of forest fires, keep our communities safe, and preserve the natural beauty of our great nation.

Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman’s legislation, H.R. 471, the Fix Our Forests Act, expedites and improves forest management activities on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands, tribal lands, and National Forest System lands, deters frivolous litigation that delays important projects, promotes collaboration across jurisdictions, prioritizes treatments in the forests with highest risk of wildfire, and encourages active forest management. 

With the increasingly widespread and frequent fires threatening American lives, communities, and environment, we must take the steps to ensure we are doing what we can to restore our forests to health and keep American lands safe and beautiful.



Requiring Medical Care for Born-Alive Abortion Survivors

Currently, the law does not require health care practitioners to administer lifesaving medical care to babies born alive after an attempted abortion – instead, some abortionists will just supply “comfort care” or “let” the baby die by not taking any action to save its life as the baby struggles to survive after birth. 

Providing medical care to babies that survive an abortion should not be a partisan issue – it’s a moral one. Babies born alive after an attempted abortion are no less deserving of lifesaving medical care than any other baby, and we must ensure that they receive the care and treatment they deserve.

House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to protect the fundamental right to life of abortion survivors by requiring health care practitioners that witness a live birth during or after an attempted abortion to administer the same care to preserve the health and life of the baby that they would administer to any other child born at the same gestational age. 

Our legislation also adds federal criminal penalties for health care practitioners who fail to administer care to a baby born alive or report violations through fines and up to five years imprisonment, and penalizes the intentional killing of a born-alive child as murder.

It’s time we pass legislation that protects the right to life of our most vulnerable and stands up for the sanctity of life.

Rep. Ann Wagner’s legislation, H.R. 21, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, secures medical protections for babies that survive an attempted abortion, requiring health care providers to administer the same medical care they would to a fetus born prematurely at the same age, transport the child to the hospital, and report violations to law enforcement. 

Every single Member of Congress should be able to agree that newborn babies deserve protection regardless of the circumstances under which they are born.