objection. mr. roy: mr. speaker, last night the rules committee reported a rule to refer h.res. 503 to the committee on homeland security and judiciary. h.res. 503 lays out articles of impeachment against president joe biden for his failure to secure the southern border of the united states. now, we do a lot of things in this body, and we say a lot of things. i certainly do. about our beliefs and about what we think is happening to our country. what we are talking about here is, indeed, solemn. we are, in fact, talking about the mechanism provided by the founders in the constitution of the united states to check and hold the executive branch responsible.

the border crisis that we are experiencing today is extremely significant for the people in my home state of texas. not just texas, of course, the entire country. but in particular for the people in my home state of texas. since president biden took office, there have been well over five million illegal migrant encounters along the southwest border. bore than 2 -- more than 204,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the border in may alone. those numbers are changing post relaxing enforcement of title 42, two million aliens have been released into the interior of the united states. 1.7 million, maybe two million got aways have successfully evaded border agents. by a conservative counting. most concerning right now the data we have shows 125

individuals from the terrorist watch list have been encountered this fiscal year alone. that compares to about 98 in all of last fiscal year. and about 10 in the last year of the trump administration. the fact is that people i represent are sick and tired of a federal government that is abdicating its fundamental duty to defend the border of the united states. that is what is happening. the federal government exists primarily, border line entirely, but certainly primarily, to defend the united states. that's why it exists. and it is failing to do so. not through maladministration. not through incompetition -- incompetence. but through dereliction of duty and refusal to actually follow

the laws of the united states. the laws of the united states are there expressly and specifically laid out to ensure our border will be protected, our nation secure. that is the fundamental question before us. is when the executive branch fails to follow the law, when the executive branch fails to adhere to its duty to defend the constitution and laws of the united states, then what is it that the congress, that the people's house, is supposed to do in response? the founders gave us a mechanism. and here today we are talking about putting forward and referring these articles to the homeland security committee for determination of the extent to which the homeland is, in fact, not secure as a direct consequence of the refusal of

the administration well beyond maladministration, but very specifically the refusal to follow the laws of the united states that is resulting in the direct consequence of the death and damage to the american people. that is the truth. that is what we are experiencing. that's what we are experiencing in real time in texas. my colleagues in arizona. my colleagues throughout this entire country are experiencing that in real time. just a few weeks ago a federal judge in texas, northern district of texas, judge connor, issued an opinion, an order. in it he lays out quote defendants illegal aliens, to transport illegal aliens, shows on behalf of the juarez cartel defendants participated in alien smuggling conspiracy. the organization charged $10,000 to smuggle adult illegal aliens

in the united states between $12,000 and $14,000 to smuggle a child illegal alien. it goes on to lay out how they discovered that there was an illegal alien in baltimore who was being held for ransom so that his family wouldn't be abused by the juarez cartel in a stash house in fort worth. the member told the husband, quote, they would do things to his daughter he would not like, end quote, if he did not make this payment of $23,000 which he had not bargained for. this is the state of affairs in our country. and this is the consequence to those migrants who are seeking to come here where my colleagues in the false name of compassion state that open borders is somehow good for them. but this is causing crime to extend into our communities. this is causing us to experience the dangerous hand of cartels.

just this morning we had more news about cartels and their reach into texas, into the united states. it is an everyday occurrence. bailouts, damage to ranches, harm to texans, death to texans, fentanyl. how many more fentanyl moms, angel moms, how many more americans need suffer because this president refuses to follow the laws of the united states that he raised his hand and swore and oath to defend. that is why we are here and that's why i support the resolution. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. i would say members should reserve in using the personalities for the president. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from

texas for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: oh, my god, mr. speaker. let's get real here. nothing about this is serious. not the process, not the intentions of the resolution sponsor, not the impeachment case, not a single damn thing. yesterday republicans dishonored this house and dishonored themselves by bringing to the floor a ridiculous censure resolution against adam shift because donald trump told them to. and today they are dishonoring this house and dishonoring themselves by bringing to the floor ridiculous impeachment referral resolution against joe biden because donald trump told them to. this body has become a place where extreme, outlandish, and nutty issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all. in short, mr. speaker, the republican party is a joke. they talk about law and order

when their frontrunner for president has been indicted on federal charges. they talk about respecting law enforcement, then they come in here and down play the rye rioters who came in here on january 6 and beat up cops with fire extinguishers. i don't even know how they look the capitol police officers in the eye when they walk in this place. they talk about how important it is that we follow a good process. yet the rules committee was called in late last night, literally at a moment's notice, where they deployed emergency procedures so we could refer this measure to a committee. what a spectacular emergency. truly something that needed to be done immediately. we all know the truth. the real emergency here was that the georgia wing and the colorado wing of the maga caucus got into a fight right over there on the house floor about who gets to impeach the president first. the truth is that expharyk --

speaker mccarthy has lost control of this house and it's being run by the maga fringe. this is nuts. kids get shot in their classrooms, nothing. environmental disasters destroy entire communities, nothing. our air is clogged with smoke because half the northern hemisphere is on fire due to climate change, nothing. but when the maga wing nuts say jump, speaker mccarthy says how high? according to news reports it sounds like this resolution sponsor is dictating to the speaker which committees bills should be referred to, when he should put legislation on the floor, and how he should run this house. that's who is in charge here. the maga extremists. and frankly, they can try to impeach joe biden all they want. but all they are doing is impeaching themselves. and making a mockery of this place while they are at it. i get it. they don't like that their cult leader, donald trump, will down-g down in history as one of the worst presidents we ever

had. they don't like that he was impeached twice and had a bipartisan conviction vote in the senate. they don't like that democrats tried to hold him accountable for trying to extort president zelenskyy, who is now trying to defend himself from putin. they don't like that congress tried to hold him accountable again, this time for trying to overthrow the government on january 6. they don't like that he had nuclear secrets in his math room and in his desk and god knows where else, and wave them around like it was nothing. you know what? they don't like themselves for having to stand by him time after time and defend his lies. . i know republicans think this is an embarrassment but still they are here on the floor defending a three-time loser, sexual abuser, ex-president that has been indicted more times than

he's been elected. it is pathetic. and instead of dealing with their own issues, republicans are going after joe biden to try to distract and to deflect. house resolution 503 claims president biden is intentionally facilitating a complete and total invasion of the southern border. this resolution claims that foreign cartels have complete control of our border. seriously? it's insulting to the border patrol agents that they claim to support, the ones who put their lives on the line every single day. and by the way, just to talk facts for a second, which i know my republican friends hate to do, since the end of title 42 on may 11, unlawful entries along the southern border have plummeted. customs and border protection reported 70% fewer encounters between points of entry. fentanyl seizures have increased under the biden presidency.

to make that clearer for my friends across the aisle, that means more fentanyl is getting picked up at the border before it makes it onto our streets. i mean, they are attacking joe biden for stopping more fentanyl. it makes no sense. no, they would rather talk about building a stupid wall along our southern border that they know won't work or about the nonbinding resolution they put on the floor this week that demonizes migrants but does nothing to fix our immigration system. i mean, they have a policy disagreement with president biden and their first impulse isn't, let's pass an immigration bill. their first intuls is to -- impulse is to impeach him. donald trump stole top-secret information and stored it in his bathroom, showed highly classified iran attack plans to people and bragged about

stealing classified government documents on live tv. trump is the legitimate national security risk. don't come to us with this phony b.s. about how president biden is the reason we have a crisis at our southern border. republicans can yell and scream all they want. they can rant and rave so they get on fox news tonight. it doesn't make them right. and it's doing untold damage to this institution. they have no respect for the traditions of this house. it is grotesque, it is embarrassing, and it is shameful. we aren't debating matters that help or uplift people. rather, we're debating garbage to make trump happy. it's cowardly and it's sickening. what we have here is a joke. just like the republican majority, which is clearly going to be a temporary majority. and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. roy: mr. speaker, i would

just note that this morning texas d.p.s. troopers arrested gulf cartel operative in the rio grande valley moving smugglers across the river having paid thousands of dollars, moving five illegal immigrants into the united states. this is somethbody that had bee affiliated with a dangerous cartel. it's happening every day in the state of texas because this administration refuses to do its job. i yield six minutes to my colleague from colorado, mrs. boebert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for six minutes. mrs. boebert: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of my impeachment bill that will hold joe biden accountable for the dereliction of one of his most basic duties in allowing an invasion to take place across our southern border that is xroe -- that has compromised the safety and security of the american people. with the passage of house resolution 529 today, the house is taking historic action. for the first time in 24 years, a house republican-led majority is moving forward with

impeachment proceedings against a current president. this bill allows impeachment proceedings to proceed through the traditional stoonl channels, by -- institutional channels, by building a body of evidence through the committees of homeland security and the judiciary. reporting out impeachment based on the evidence and then the house adopting a resolution so that when a trial occurs, the senate -- in the senate, there is an existing evidentiary record to rely upon when holding president joe biden accountable. since his first day in office, president biden has trampled on the constitution through his dereliction of duty under article 2, to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. instead of enforcing our immigration laws, he has lawlessly ignored them and released more than two million illegal aliens into the interior

of the united states without any enforcement mechanism to ensure they appear in immigration court. his actions and open borders agenda demonstrate that he has no intention of enforcing our current immigration and border security statutes on the books. rather, he has deliberately making a mockery of the rule of law by ignoring congressionally enacted statutes. joe biden is threatening our constitutional sacred separation of powers. the national border patrol union even noted that the leadership of the biden administration are, quote, straight-up liars. they even said, quote, we'd say they should be ashamed but that implies they have a conscience. this is the most corrupt administration in u.s. history, end quote. joe biden's lawless disregard for our federal laws have

incentivized more than 5.5 illegal aliens to attempt to cross the border, overwhelming border patrol and allowing an invasion to take place that is causing real harm to the american people. the biden border crisis and massive wave of illegal immigration has fueled a record breaking fentanyl crisis. since president biden has taken office, over 100,000 americans have died from fentanyl, including 1,800 coloradans. under his failed leadership, border patrol agents have encountered over 42,000 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border, and that's just what they have encountered. in addition to smuggling fentanyl, the national border patrol union has noted that, quote, the billions of dollars that biden's policy make them for them, end quote, support a criminal enterprise of, quote,

rape, murder, torture, child sex trafficking, and kidnaping, end quote. that is enough fentanyl to kill every american 28 times over. innocent children are dying from fentanyl overdoses, and the devastation this deadly drug is causing to families and communities cannot be overstated. president biden's decision to cede operational control of the southern border to criminal cartels have endangered our national security. in just the first few months of fiscal year 2023, border patrol has already caught 125 people on the terrorist watch list trying to sneak into our country. president biden's lawlessness is threatening the very fabric of our constitutional system. under the founders' carefully crafted plan, congress has the legislative power to pass the laws and the president has the exec executive power to enforce the

laws. the president does not have the power to arbitrarily overturn laws or refuse to enforce the ones he philosophically opposes. rather, he is under a strict duty to take care that the laws of the united states are enforced. if a law is to be modified or overturned, only congress has such power, not a rogue president taking unconstitutional unilateral action. by nullifying our immigration and border security laws through a systematic lack of enforcement, president biden has not only threatened the lives of countless americans with this fentanyl crisis and increased crime, he's threatened the very foundation of our separation of powers. when a president tramples on the constitution and ignores the laws on the books, it is congress' solemn duty to restore our constitutional balance through articles of impeachment. congress' power of impeachment was meant as the ultimate check and balance of the president.

the founders hardwired this important accountability mechanism into our constitution for such a time as this. to stand with the forgotten men and women across america who are suffering from biden's recordbreaking fentanyl crisis to take action to secure the border and to protect our constitutional separation of powers. every member should vote to hold president joe biden accountable. mr. speaker, i yield. mr. roy: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from texas reserves. and the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: wow, mr. speaker. that was a lot. the speaker pro tempore: before -- before the gentleman begins, members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: that was an awful lot. i don't have enough time to respond to the inaccuracies that

were just stated. let me ask unanimous consent to insert in the record an article from "newsweek" entitled fentanyl surged and started under trump despite g.o.p. blaming biden. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: and i also, mr. speaker, i want to talk about this accusation about open borders. mr. speaker, i don't know how many times we need to say it but the united states does not have open borders. we didn't have open borders under trump and we don't have open borders under biden and even the conservative cato institute knows that. so please, let's stop incorrectly saying our country has open borders. we do not. and i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article published by the cato institute entitled, biden's border policy is not open borders. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: and let me just read an excerpt from the article. this is from cato. practically since his first week in office, president joe biden has faced repeated criticisms

from republicans and some democrats that his border policy amounts to open borders. this criticism is not simply -- this criticism is not simply inaccurate, it is unhinged from reality in a way that distinguishes itself from normal political hyperbole. indeed, u.s. immigration policy is ekt iffively -- is effectively closed borders, and biden's immigration policies and goals are largely the same as those of president donald trump. president biden has not suddenly ended america's immigration prohibition and opened up u.s. borders to almost anyone who wants to come in, as we largely -- as was largely america's immigration policy from 1776 to 1924. instead, he has a far more vigorous enforced immigration prohibition than the law requires. narrowing the few exceptions to the universal ban on legal immigration. i point this out because this is crazy what is being talked about

here on the house floor. this is not about a policy disagreement. if it was maybe my friends would actually pass a bill that had an alternative policy. the bill they brought up on immigration is a -- this week was a bill that was a nonbinding resolution. it did nothing. it was just an opinion. it expresses the sense of congress. it was a nothing burger. you know, if they wanted to, they would legislate in a way that would change a policy. but that's not what they want to do. this is about protecting donald trump. donald trump says to them, you know, jump and they ask how high. that's what this is about. this is about covering up for the former president. it's about deflecting from the former president's criminality. the 37 felony counts that he's been indicted on. i don't like it. unfortunately, that's who he is.

mr. speaker,

she cautioned. commence would be revolted if we

engaged upon this process for petty reasons. congress has a lot to do. appropriations, tax reform, health insurance, campaign finance reform, housing, environmental protection, energy sufficiency, mass transportation. pettiness cannot be allowed to stand in the face of such overwhelming problems. the words could not ring more true today. common sense is revolted by the political grandstanding and petty stunts allowed by the house majority. days on end wasted catering to

the whims of an extremist minority. we are marking six months of one of the least productive congresses in history. under the control of this maga majority we made no progress in addressing the most pressing issues facing americans. whether gun violence, hunger, opioid abuse, housing, immigration, health cost, tax reform, or the environment. so i must oppose both this rule and the resolution because in the words of congresswoman jordan, my faith in the constitution is whole. it is complete, it is total. i am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the continue new news -- diminution to the subversion or destruction of the constitution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. and the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. roy: i thank the speaker. i moved -- i'm moved by the references to solemnity after the chantding on the floor of the house yesterday for five minutes for the speaker of the house. also moved by the references to how we have not passed

legislation despite the fact we passed h.r. 2, the most impactful border security legislation that's been moved off the floor of the house without a single democrat vote because they are ignoring what the administration is doing to the state of texas, to migrants, and the security of our country. i am moved by the concerns for climate change which will assuage the angel moms and fentanyl moms who lost loved ones and the 72 americans dead from fentanyl because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and the president of the united states refuses to secure the border. i yield two minutes to my friend from arizona, mr. crane. mr. crane: thank you, congressman roy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. mr. crane: i come to the floor today in support of the rule to consider representative boebert's articles of impeachment against the president of the united states before the house of homeland security committee.

under or r article 2, section 2, of the u.s. constitution the document joe biden swore an oath to defend, the president of the united states is charged with serving as the commander in chief, defending the nation against threats and ensuring the safety and security of all american citizens. joe biden has utterly failed to fulfill his responsibility to we, the people. our southern border faces a daily barrage of illegal aliens, human trafficking, and deadly fentanyl. it's an outright invasion and joe biden is not only letting it happen, he's encouraging it. back in 2019 joe biden during his presidential campaign said this, we are a nation that says, you want to flee and you are fleeing oppression, you should come. he invited this invasion by sending up a flare and signaling that anyone from anywhere could come and exploit and abuse the american homeland. now 2 1/2 years later the biden regime we are seeing the effects of his complete dereliction of duty. since he took office more than 1.5 million illegal aliens have evaded apprehension. in f.y.22 alone, 150,000

unaccompanied children crossed by themselves. this fiscal year nearly 100 members of the terror watch list have been incentivized to cross so far. and i remind the people of this house that it only took 19 individuals to commit the attacks on 9/11. tons of fentanyl have poured across the border with more than 17,000 pounds coming across since just october 2022. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. roy: another 15 seconds. mr. crane: joe biden is the patriarch of a political and corrupt dynasty who is more interested in profiting off his position than protecting our nation. his time in the oval office has been a disgrace and he deserves to be impeached which is why i support the passage of this rule. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized.

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert in the record an article from plity fact entitled are biden's border policies to blame for fentanyl deaths? experts say no. fentanyl deaths in the u.s. were rising before biden took office. in fact, he's intercepting more dependal than the previous administration did. and i think we need to have the republicans get their facts straight. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: the other thing i want to point out to my friends. maybe they should read the constitution but impeachment is about high crimes and misdemeanors. not about policy disagreements. and mr. speaker, it is clear that republicans would rather the american public pay attention to anything, literally anything other than the latest charges that their leader has been slapped with. i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from "the washington post" entitled here -- -here are 37 charges against trump and what they mean. the speaker pro tempore: without

objection. mr. mcgovern: i insert in the record the entirety of the charges, apparently i'm told it's too long to be able to put into the congressional record. let me say a couple of things. trump is charged with 31 counts of violating a part of the espionage act that bars willful retention of national defense information by someone not authorized to have it. and he is basically charged with, among other things, conspiracy to obstruct justice. tampering with grand jury evidence. concealing evidence in a federal investigation. and false statements. mr. speaker, i get it. if i were them i would want to talk about anything other than that. but those are the facts. and no matter how you want to distract and deflect, the american people are not going to ignore what i believe will ultimately prove to be criminality of the former president. mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield

two minutes to the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, very much, mr. speaker. i appreciate the gentleman from massachusetts giving me time. mr. speaker, this resolution is simply the latest attempt by extreme maga republicans to distract from the legal peril facing their twice impeached, twice indicted party leader. this cynical resolution has nothing to do with border security. it does nothing to stop fentanyl deaths. and it has nothing to do with the constitutional law. extreme maga republicans hope for chaos at the southwest border when title 42 pandemic restrictions ended. the migrant encounters last month actually decreased 15%. according to customs and border protection. now since maga republicans have

no policy solutions, they are attempting a backdoor maneuver to advance a baseless impeachment of president biden, something they openly admitted they wanted to do from day one. under this rule, my committee will have to put aside as homeland security oversight and authorization activities to deal with the resolution which is predicated on phony policy differences rather than any allegations that the president committed a crime. let that sink in. the house homeland security committee is going to become a venue for a little presidential impeachment. i have proudly served on this committee from its creation and i guess if you are around long enough you'll see everything. but this distraction for a disgraced ex-president, the best way for the homeland security committee to spend its time?

no, it's not. we know their answer and it doesn't have to be that way. mr. chairman, i urge my colleagues to vote no on the rule and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. roy: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to my friend, from donalds, from florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. donalds: i rise in support of h.r. 529. let's be very clear. the issue that is happening on our southern border, not the name-calling or talking about former president trump, what is happening at our southern border today and for the last two years under president biden has been a dereliction of duty with respect to immigration law in the united states. if you want to speak to the actual issues at hand, it is the facts that the asylum provisions under joe biden are a

bastardization of asylum procedure as set forth in federal law by congress. congress never anticipated you would have six million plus people come through the asylum process in two years. congress never contemplated that you would have an asylum procedure where you would have people on a seven to 10-year wait list to go through an asylum procedure. the president knows this is the case and it is being done on purpose. that is a congressional purview and a dereliction of his duty to faithfully execute the laws of the united states. so if the minority party wants to ask about why we are here, it is that. because it is my belief and the belief of many members on our side of the aisle that this resolution should go to the homeland security committee so they can fully debate and go to the depths upon which joe biden has been dirt lict in his

duty--derelict in his duty to execute the laws with respect to immigration in the united states which has major impacts on the american people. there are 100,000 americans who have died from fentanyl overdoses because of his dereliction of duty. we have a drug cartels on our southern border who have operational control of the southern border because of his dereliction of duty. and if the president and congressional democrats actually took the time to investigate this like going to the southern border, they would know this, too. i support this resolution -- members should be in support. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. i would remind members to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, let me say to the gentleman who just spoke. i know exactly why you are here. don't think this is -- none of us -- the american people know this is not a serious effort. i know my friends don't want to

talk about trump. they want to talk about biden. let's talk about joe biden. i want to make something clear. not only is any talk of impeaching president biden absurd as many house republicans know, but president biden has been a historic success over the first 2 1/2 years in office. he took office in the throws of the pandemic -- throws -- throwe pandemic. and his predecessor trying toil legally hold on to power. that hasn't stopped democrats from making huge strides to improve the lives of earn american. democrats jumped into act by enacting the american rescue plan in the president's first month of office. that law changed the course of the pandemic and set the course of our economic recovery to be the envy of the rest of the world. it lifted more than five million children out of poverty, safely reopened our schools, and put money back in the pockets of middle class americans. every republican voted against those things. president biden signed the

bipartisan infrastructure law which makes historic investments in our roads and bridges in transportation networks while improving public safety and creating jobs across the country. we passed into law the biggest piece of gun safety legislation in decades, and we enacted the inflation reduction act less than a year ago. president biden is now busy implementing that law which will cut prescription drug cost force our senior citizens, cloaer the cost of health care for -- lower the cost of health care for millions of americans, and make historic investments in clean energy and american made solutions to our climate crisis. it will do all of that while lowering our deficit. unlike so many of the bills this republican majority brought to the floor which would do the opposite. this isn't just me saying how great all this is. during the financial services committee hearing yesterday, fed chairman jerome powell was asked about inflation, he said, i quote, everybody has very high inflation. the e.u., united kingdom, and many countries within europe. end quote. he made one more point, i quote.

our recovery is by strongest of any country period, ends of quote. look at the results more broadly. more americans have jobs right now than any point in american history. over the past two years more small businesses have been created than at any other period on record. more americans have health insurance right now than ever before in our history. i could go on and on. let me be clear, no one's saying things are perfect. there is a lot we need to do. we need to do more to keep our children fed. we need to do more to ensure every child gets the education they deserve. we need to do more to make sure the richest americans pay their fair share. we need to more to get guns off the street. . i'd rather them do anything that means anything. instead, we are here to have the speaker keep the most radical behind him.

i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. roy: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to my good friend, mr. good from virginia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. good: thank you, mr. speaker. it's refreshing to hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to be so sober about the issue of impeachment coming after being in the majority for two years and the first time in the history of the country when there were two impeachment charges brought in this very house. no, impeachment should not be political, it should not be cavalier or flippant. that is bringing impeachment from a phone call, something this president is being investigated by the house oversight committee as we speak. that would be a cavalier, flippant impeachment investigation would be based -- with just one week left in someone's term just to tarnish or attack their personal legacy with no opportunity for that to move forward other than just the charges. it would be cavalier to announce after an election to impeach the

m.f.er. there does need to be more consideration whether or not impeachment is justified for depleting our strategic petroleum reserve. there should be more consideration as to whether or not a president should be impeached for taking authority that he says he doesn't constitutionally have the power to do, such as the eviction moratorium or the student loan transfer scheme. more consideration might be warranted for the very things that are being investigated by the current oversight committee relative to bribery allegations, influence peddling allegations. but what more investigation is needed for the border invasion? what more investigation is needed for the violation of article 4, section 4 responsibility to protect the states from invasion? how long will we let this border invasion continue? are we to let it go on for a year and a half? how many is too much after two million illegals have invaded this country? those criminal got-aways, if

only 1% is dangerous individuals, that's 15,000 reckless, dangerous individuals intending harm on this country. would anyone take this odd that 1% of that 1.5 million got-aways are indeed bad actors? and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i would say to the gentleman, we are well aware that the previous president was impeached twice and justifiably so. the first impeachment dealing with his efforts to try to extort zi lens key to get -- zelenskyy to get dirt on joe biden so they can defend themselves against putin. i guess no one should be surprised because the president seems to have this -- the former president seems to have this obsession with putin. i ask unanimous consent to insert in the record a 2020 "roll call" article entitled senate report outlines grave russian threat in 2016 election interference probe. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: and despite the former president's repeated claims that russian interference

in our 2016 election was a democratic hoax, a bipartisan senate investigation report -- and report released in 2020 made clear that there were extensive communications between senior trump officials and people with strong ties to the kremlin. senator marco rubio, last time i checked he was still a republican, said, and i quote, we found irrefutable evidence of russian meddling, end quote. the report is damning. the facts are clear. russia interfered in the election. the second impeachment was really in response to what happened here and everybody saw what happened here. you know, a violent mob broke into this capitol. 140 capitol police officers were injured. they destroyed property, property, sacred property in this building. they tried to overturn a legitimate election. they attempted an insurrection.

and i was in the chair. the last people off the house floor. i saw some of my republican colleagues here hiding and cowering behind capitol police because they were afraid what was going on that day. and now they come to the floor and say nothing happened. it was a perfectly wonder day. a typical day of tourism at the capitol. if is disgusting at the revisionism that we see -- it is disg disgusting at the revisionism. he needed to be impeached. if that's not an impeachable offense i don't know what is. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. roy: i will yield two minutes to my good friend, mr. biggs from arizona. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. biggs: i thank you and i thank the gentleman for yielding. i find it fascinating to listen to someone who lives in the northeast in the nice enclave protected from the border to stand up and say nothing about this is serious.

tell that -- tell that to the victims of this border crossing invasion. tell that to them. oh, we say, oh, the fentanyl being stopped at the border is critical. what's going on between the ports of entry? sure, we catch it at the ports of entry. why? we have massive amounts of resources there. between the ports of entry, wide open spaces. last time i was down there -- when was the last time you were there? i go down often. often. i live in arizona. i get down to the border. last time i was there, we were driving along. we don't see border patrol for miles. but you know what we come upon? 21 individuals. there's no town, no village. we ask them, how did you get here? the coyotes dropped us off and told us keep walking north. in that group, two babies under

the age of 1 year. i'm telling you, this is the result of the dereliction of duty that has put this country in jeopardy. and that's why this needs to go to the homeland security committee so they can further investigate this. that's why it needs to be there. laugh if you will because that's the reality. you don't appreciate the seriousness of this, the gravity of it. laugh at it, if you will. but you get to the go to the angel families and explain to them why their kid or their member of their family was killed by an illegal alien who came into this country. you get to go to the parents. you get to go to the partents o individuals who lost their lives due to fentanyl that you apparently claim is all being interdicted. it's dangerous. we got terrorists. we got criminal gang members coming in. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. mr. biggs: i yield. mr. roy: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i reserve, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. roy: i yield two minutes to my good friend, mr. norman. the speaker pro tempore: i'll remind members that they are to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president and direct their remarks to the chair. the gentleman is recognized. mr. norman: i find it humorous for those watching on tv and those in the balcony, they keep talking about president trump. they won't talk about the current president, joe biden. i will start off with a compliment. he's been able to accomplish being the worst president and has replaced jimmy carter as the worst president this country has of all-time and it's because of his policies. i support this going to homeland security because as has been

said, the border is wide open. the gates are open. how many more deaths do we have to have? how many more of our young people have to die? 100,000 last year of record. and as a border patrol agent said, there are no drug treatments in a morgue. how long are we going to have an administration that's going to take the handcuffs and put them on the police? how long are we going to have an administration that is going to deplete our oil supplies and buy it from countries that don't like us? how long are we going to have an administration that's going to support abortion regardless of the term? how long? ask the average business owner in this country if he's having a good year or a bad year or prices coming up or going down. we have the worst inflation that we've had in a long time. and it simply cannot go on. the election cannot come quick enough. this man has sold out. this man has got to be replaced, and homeland security is the

right way for this resolution to go because we'll get the facts. i fully support it. mrs. boebert, thank you for taking the lead on this. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. roy: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from reserves. -- from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: well, the gentleman said something i agree with. the election cannot come soon enough. they are sick and tired of supporting an ex-president that's been impeached more times than he's been elected. we should work on matters that help people. that's why democrats have been fighting, not only for commonsense gun safety legislation, investments in job creation, environmental protection, but also we have been insisting that we get a guarantee from the majority here that they don't go after social security and medicare. and so i want to urge that we defeat the previous question and we will offer, as we always do, an amendment to the rule to

provide for consideration of a resolution assuring our constituents that the people's house will protect and preserve social security and medicare for our future generations and reject any cuts to these essential programs. i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: and i would just say to my friends that while you want to distract and deflect from all of donald trump's legal problems -- and they continue to mount. i think there will probably be more charges in the coming weeks, coming months, and while you do not want to talk about things like social security and medicare because you're the party of privatization, you're the party of trying to undercut medicare, we are going to fight you on those things. and we are going to continue to be a voice for the people of this country, for our senior citizens, for those who believe that social security and medicare are important, and we will not be deflected or

deterred by whatever this circus is that is going on here today. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. roy: i yield two minutes to my good friend from tennessee, mr. ogles. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ogles: mr. speaker, joe biden's border policies have led ton an all-out land invasion at our southern border, which is why homeland security should be investigating. joe biden's border policies have led to a drug crisis and thousands of fentanyl overdoses across our nation. again, the jurisdiction of homeland security. and joe biden's border policies have led to the murders of countless americans at the hands of illegal aliens. again, a priority for homeland security. his blatant dereliction of duty to preserve, dereliction to protect, and dereliction to defend the united states of america and american people deserves impeachment. instead of joe biden, he's

demonstrated time and again policymaking and political decisions that he prioritizes illegal aliens over american citizens, over our wives, our daughters, and our children. his gross neglect and refusal to take action at the border warrants removal from his post and, again, why homeland security must investigate. that's why i support congressman boebert's articles of impeachment and referral to committee. the c.b.p. had a record number of encounters with terrorists at the southern border. the security of our nation is being undermined by foreign enemies because they know we have weak leadership. we need to remove joe biden from the oval office and ensure that americans are safe. we need a leader that puts america and its people first, not illegals. thank you, congressman boebert, thank you, speaker mccarthy, thank you, chairman greene, for

taking this up. i ask my colleagues to support the referral of articles of impeachment to committee. and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas reserves. members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. and the gentleman from massachusetts is once again recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i have to say, my friend on the other side of the aisle look small and pathetic. and like losers. and when they lose this house, this is going to be a reason why. you know, mr. speaker, my friends keep on talking about open borders. that's an insult to the men and women in our border patrol who are risking their lives to protect our borders. it's just not true. i entered into the record an article by the conservative think tank, the cato institute. but the facts don't matter. facts don't matter. it's what plays on fox news and how we can distract and how people can make things up.

but i also want to say, mr. speaker, try as they might deflect from the former president, we can't turn our back on what he has done. look, he can't -- trump literally can't help himself. he's admitted multiple times on air during interviews and to others that he stole and shared top-secret government information. talk about a national security threat. the call is coming from inside the house. i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from "rolling stone" entitled, "trump all but confesses to miss handling classified -- mishandling classified docs on fox news." the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. roy: i yield two minutes to my friend, army veteran, mr. mills. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mills: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm here in support of representative boebert's request for this to be referred to the

committee of homeland security with regards to the dereliction of duty under this administration and this president's policies. as an united states army combat veteran, i fought abroad for the majority of my adult life. i spent over seven years of my life in iraq. over three years of my life in afghanistan, kosovo, pakistan, northern somalia, been blown out twice, a bronze star recipient. i went overseas for the purpose of protecting this nation and ensuring that terrorists do not have the ability to come and threaten our lives and threaten our children, but under the failed policies of this president, just this last year, in the last seven months, we had over 96 people who are on the known terrorist watch list who has crossed our borders. just in the last seven months. now, i would love to know from this president and from everyone else here, why did my brothers go and die in the thousands, why did we waste 20-plus years of our lives fighting terrorism, why did we go ahead and botch the afghan withdrawal and leave our allies behind if we're just

going to open our borders anyway to them. tell me why it was that we were going to vote to fight in these wars to protect this nation when this president and these failed policies would open up the borders to the terrorists that are coming across daily, daily? we will see another 9/11-type attack if we continue this unsafe policy and we do not get a hold of this right now. with that i yield back. . soap the gentleman from texas reserves. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i want the record to reflect that the previous president of the united states supported an insurrection to basically steal the election. my friends think it's funny, but i will tell you this. laugh in the face of the capitol police. 140 of them who were injured. people lost their lives. and that's the best you can do? is laugh?

is laugh about what happened that day? that is disgusting. mr. speaker, i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. roy: mr. speaker, prepared to close. the chair reminds all personses 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 rules of the house. the gentleman from texas. mr. roy: prepared to close. reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. mcgovern: how much time do i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: four minutes remaining. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself the remaining time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, we are now in week three of an ongoing temper tantrum by the radical right because they didn't get to cause a catastrophic default. first, they ground the house floor to a complete halt.

now they are jumping over each other to circumvent regular order and diminish this institution in order to look as extreme as their most fervent supporters. what's getting lost in the meantime is any legislation that would actually help the american people. we could bring more jobs back to america. we could expand the middle class and further fight inflation. we could provide every student with the opportunity to receive a quality education. we could ensure every patient has access to affordable and quality health care. we could make sure every single person has a roof over their head and food on the table. we could do more to keep our communities safe. we could invest in mental health and substance abuse programs. we could fund projects that will make our air cleaner and water pure. we could pass a bipartisan immigration bill if it's such a big issue to my friends on the other side of the aisle. there is so much we could do if

given the chance, but this republican majority is clearly fire more concerned about scoring political points than they are about making life better for everyday americans. and because the speaker is not in control of this chamber anymore, they are wasting the house's time with the debate whether to send this extreme maga resolution to an extra committee instead of voting to table it. and one final word from my republican friends, mr. speaker. everything that donald trump touches fails. this guy has a reverse midas touch. trumpka seenos, trump university, trump steaks, trump vodka, trump hotels. and now the trump republican party. we can't let him destroy our democracy or institution. as my mother case it's never too late to do the right thing. i urge a no vote on this ridiculous, pathetic rule.

with that i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized for closing remarks. mr. roy: i thank the speaker. we are here today not actually talking about the botched exit from afghanistan that my friend from florida rightly raises as a massive criticism of this current administration, nor the biden crime family syndicate we are dealing with with the son of the president of the united states, nor are we dealing with the weaponization of government against the american people, including scott smith of loudoun county for standing up in the defense of his daughter. on leaving people stranded with high inflation unable-to-a forward energy and prosper. we are talking about the border. talking about a dereliction of duty. we are here talking about the violation of the fundamental first principle of the executive branch of the federal government of the united states led by the president to actually secure and defend the united states of america. all obstructions to execution of

the law under whatever plausible character with the real design to direct, control, counteract the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities are destructive of this fundamental principle and the fatal tendency, washington's farewell address. energy of the executive power is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks. it is not less essential to the administration of the laws to the protection of property against those of regular and highhanded combinations which sometimes are interrupt the ordinary course of justice. hampton, federalist 70. let every american, every lover of liberty, well-wisher to his posterity never to violate in the least particular the laws of the country and never to tolerate their violation by others. lincoln, 1838. we are here precisely because the constitution contemplated separation of powers which are being violated every sing daily

by an executive branch -- single day by an executive branch undeterred. our job in the house of representatives is, in fact, to deter the overreach and abuse of authority by the president of the united states. refusing to carry out the laws of the united states in detriment to the well-being, security, and lives of the people of this country. that is our job in the house of representatives. that is why we are here. that is why i support this rule. that is why i support this resolution. that is why i support this inquiry if we are just beginning. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time.