Strong first floor speech: Resume building wall

WASHINGTON — Rep. Dale Strong took to the House floor Thursday for his first speech as a congressman to introduce legislation pertaining to the Southern border.

In it, Strong (R-Monrovia) called for the current presidential administration to resume building the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“My bill will resume border wall construction and ensure the president cannot withhold resources while sending our troops to the front lines,” said Strong.

The bill will also ensure that soldiers deployed to the border with have all necessary tools and resources to complete their task, he said.

“I am proud to introduce this legislation and other measures ensure that if the administration expects our troops to defend our border,” Strong said. “Then we expect them to provide every tool, resource, and means of support to each of the brave men and women protecting our homeland security.”

Strong recently returned from a trip to the border with other members of the House Committee on Homeland Security. On the floor, he described what he saw.

“On our [recent] visit to the  border we met with: Texas National Guard, Homeland Security, [Customs and] Border [Protection] (CBP), [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], Homeland Security Investigations, and Texas State Troopers,” he said. “Not one of these agencies or officials could say that the U.S. border was secure.

“During our trip, I was reminded that on his first day in office, the president terminated the emergency declaration at the southern border and halted border wall construction. Over the last two years, CBP have encountered over 4.7 million illegal immigrants trying to enter our country. That doesn’t include the 1.2 million that have evaded border patrol.”

Strong claimed the Biden administration is misleading Americans about what’s happening at the border.

“The administration tells the American people that the border is under control,” he said. “If our border is secure, then why – over the last two years – has the administration continued to send our troops to the border?

“That alone signals to every American that we have a problem.”