Michael Burgess

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on the bill.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I do want to point out in this bill, probably one of the most important aspects is the collection and dissemination of data by the CDC and HRSA, the best practices that occur across the country. There is no reason why one hospital should have excellent statistics and another hospital have questionable statistics. We should be able to be good enough that every hospital has excellent statistics. I know this to be true, because where I did my residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, they have consistently had some of the best maternal mortality statistics in the country, and they take care of a population that is low income, women of color, underinsured, uninsured, the very populations you think would be at greatest risk. I know we can do it. I have seen it done, and it is so important to me that we collect and disseminate this data. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this bill is personally important to me. My grandfather, who I never knew, my father's father, was an academic obstetrician at McGill Hospital in Montreal from the end of the World War I until his death in 1939. During that time, maternal mortality was substantially reduced. The caregivers of that time, prior to the introduction of antibiotics, made great strides in reducing maternal mortality. Some of that was through the imposition of preventive medicine. Some of that was because of improved anesthesia and blood bank techniques. Of course, with the introduction of antibiotics in 1940, the rates came down even substantially more. We know it can be done. At that time the major drivers of maternal mortality were hypertension, hemorrhage, and infection. Now, the major drivers are well after delivery, and they fall into the realm of cardiovascular disease, suicide, and drug overdose. This expansion of postpartum coverage to the first year after delivery was really work that was established in our committee. We did the research on that, and we provided the guidance that now has been taken up by a great many States. I look forward to a day when we see these numbers are significantly reduced even over where they are now because of the changes that we have made as a result of this legislation. It is important work. Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, last night the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 996, providing for the consideration of two measures: H.R. 485 and H. Res. 863. The rule provides for the consideration of H.R. 485 under a structured rule with 1 hour of debate and H. Res. 863 under a closed rule with 2 hours of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking minority member of the committee of jurisdiction, or their designees. The rule provides for one motion to recommit for H.R. 485. The rule also deems passed H. Res. 995, which appoints the impeachment managers. I will also mention that all amendments offered to H.R. 485 were made in order. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying bills H. Res. 863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors; and H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023. Today, this body begins consideration of one of its most solemn constitutional duties: the consideration of Articles of Impeachment against a Federal official. H. Res. 863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors includes two Articles of Impeachment: willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust. On February 2, 2021, Alejandro Mayorkas was sworn in as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security by Vice President Kamala Harris. On this day, Secretary Mayorkas solemnly swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. He swore that he took this sacred obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and swore to faithfully discharge the duties of the office. Mr. Speaker, I submit to you that this oath of office sworn on February 2, 2021, has, indeed, been broken. Since President Biden took office, United States Customs and Border Protection has encountered more than 7 million illegal migrants along the southwest border; 3.3 million have been released into the United States interior, including 312 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Data Set. In 2003, Customs and Border Protection encountered over 2.5 million illegal migrants attempting to cross the United States southern border. That is an all-time high for a fiscal year. In December alone, Customs and Border Protection encountered 302,000 illegal migrants attempting to cross the United States southern border, the highest number of unlawful migrant crossings in a single month in recorded history. Mr. Speaker, Secretary Mayorkas has shown willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law time and time again. He has willfully refused to comply with numerous detention requirements spelled out in the Immigration and Nationality Act but has instead implemented a mass catch and release program, whereby apprehended illegal migrants are released into the interior of our country without any effective way to ensure their return before an immigration court. Secretary Mayorkas has also willfully misused parole authority laid out in the Immigration and Nationality Act that permits parole to be granted only on a case-by-case basis, temporarily, and for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Mr. Speaker, Secretary Mayorkas has not only failed in his solemn statutory duty to control and guard the border of the United States, to protect and defend this country and the Constitution, but he has also breached the public trust. Secretary Mayorkas has willfully failed to put in place or enforce initiatives that he abandoned that would enable the Department of Homeland Security to maintain operational control of our southwest border. He has also breached the trust of Congress and the American people by knowingly making false statements about the results of his refusal to comply with the law. The American people, and certainly those that I represent in Texas, have had enough of the Secretary's lies. Despite undeniable evidence that his gross negligence toward securing our southern border is endangering American families and communities across the country, Secretary Mayorkas thinks what he is doing is just fine, but he could not be more wrong. Contrary to what the Secretary says, the border is not secure. America is, in fact, less safe because of his negligence and because of his numerous failures. Since Secretary Mayorkas will not resign, Congress must take this action. Every day that Secretary Mayorkas remains as the head of the Department of Homeland Security is another day of pathetic disservice to the American people. Mr. Speaker, many of us have been to the border. I have been many times, and I have seen how understaffed, unsupported, and underresourced the Customs and Border Patrol is. My friends on the other side of the aisle might have you believe it is not because of a lack of funding. While more funding may be helpful for better technology or building and repairing the border wall, it will not make up for the time spent by Customs and Border Patrol agents at the funerals of their coworkers or time spent wondering if they are next. It is shameful that these brave men and women aren't getting the support that they need. The Biden administration's policy of open borders and amnesty is killing Americans, and Alejandro Mayorkas, whose primary job it is to secure the homeland, refuses to do his job. The worsening conditions of the men and women who have sworn to protect our border and actually honored that oath is unacceptable. We must hold those accountable who have willfully refused to honor their oath. Mr. Speaker, this rule also allows for consideration of H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act, that I introduced along with Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman Smith, and my friend from Ohio, Dr. Wenstrup. This bill aims to preserve access to lifesaving cures and to prevent discrimination for Americans with disabilities. I practiced medicine for nearly 30 years. I treated each patient as a human being, not just a diagnosis. Quality-adjusted life years measurements are cruel and hinder the physician's ability to care for and treat all patients with dignity. The government should never be able to decide or determine the value of a life to approve or deny care. Mr. Speaker, many years ago, the Affordable Care Act banned Medicare from using quality-adjusted life years, a metric often used in cost- effective analyses widely known to discriminate against people with disabilities. The purpose of the quality-adjusted life year metric assigns a person living with a disability a lower value of a year of life than a person who is considered to be in good health. The quality-adjusted life year often fails to consider outcomes meaningful to patients, such as the impact on the ability to work or the impact on caregiving needs. In a quality-adjusted life year base assessment, a person living with conditions like heart disease, ALS, or sickle cell disease will be considered to be of less worth than someone else. Often, quality-adjusted life years are used by countries that have government-controlled healthcare systems to devalue treatment for those with chronic conditions and disabilities. This concept has been pushed by socialist healthcare advocates for years. Thankfully, the United States of America has not fallen totally prey to these harmful ideologies, at least not yet. I remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that the first quality-adjusted life year ban within the Affordable Care Act passed with strong Democrat support. Therefore, this bill should be passed with strong Democrat support, as well. It is not the government's place to determine whether a person living with a chronic condition or a disability is of less worth. This is why we need to prohibit the use of quality-adjusted life years in all Federal programs and ensure that all human life has inherent value. Republicans will continue to work to reduce the government's hand in healthcare, and I urge colleagues to join us in supporting H.R. 485. Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong support of the rule and the underlying bills. I urge my fellow Members to support the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), a fellow member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, we can talk about existing authority that the President has today that he could use to solve the problem at our southern border. He could end catch and release, reinstate the remain in Mexico policy, enter into asylum cooperative agreements with other countries, end parole abuses, detain inadmissible aliens, use expedited removal, rein in taxpayer-funded benefits for people who are in the country illegally, and issue a proclamation to suspend or restrict entry. All those are available to the President right now, today, to solve this problem. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. It wasn't a hypothetical; it was what was said on the other side.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I think we have seen one of the worst cases of Trump derangement syndrome ever recorded. I would just remind people that I am not running for reelection, so I am not beholden to anyone. As I told the gentleman last week, I am bulletproof. I am only beholden to the constituents I represent. And the constituents I represent do not understand why Texas has had to endure basically an invasion during the tenure of this Secretary of Homeland Security, why he has not enforced the laws that he swore an oath to uphold and enforce. He won't do it. What are we left to do when we have someone who is charged with protecting our country, charged with enforcing our laws, and he says it is too much trouble, I can't do it? We know it is possible, because I was on a codel with Speaker Johnson down to the border down at Eagle Pass not but a couple weeks ago. The week before, we had seen on Bill Melugin's report on FOX News thousands of people on the riverbanks on the United States side who were there awaiting processing to be released into our country to parts unknown, for lengths of time unknown. When the Speaker of the House goes down there, there is not a soul on that riverbank. This problem can be stopped literally overnight, if the Secretary and the President would make it a priority and would do it, but they won't. What are we left to do? I agree with the gentleman that there is an election coming up. I hope people do remember that. I hope they do remember they have a President who, under 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, has it in his power right now to suspend activities on the southern border, but he won't do it. We are being invaded, Mr. Speaker. My Governor, Governor Abbott, has officially declared an invasion. I don't think there is any debate about that. The administration and this Secretary have done nothing to help Texas. Instead, they have turned around and sued the State at every turn. Mr. Speaker, $12 billion dollars is what Texas has had to spend over the last year to do the job that Secretary Mayorkas should have been doing. Just by the numbers, over 2 million illegal aliens apprehended last fiscal year, 15,000 pounds of fentanyl seized from drug smugglers crossing our border. How many families need to lose a child? How many American lives have to be cut short before Secretary Mayorkas, President Biden, and his border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, change course and actually enforce existing law? The consequences of this administration and Secretary Mayorkas' actions have been staggering: A southern border open to drug cartels, criminals, human traffickers, and potential terrorists; a record number of migrant deaths; rising human trafficking; exploitation of minors; a growing public health disaster; and an annual net burden to the American taxpayer exceeding $150 billion. Mr. Speaker, each of these consequences would have been avoidable if Secretary Mayorkas had just enforced existing law. This willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and the continued breach of public trust by Secretary Mayorkas will not be tolerated. For this, he must be impeached. I also thank Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers for her leadership in bringing H.R. 485 to the floor and Chairman Mark Green of the Homeland Security Committee for his work on a proper and thorough investigation leading to consideration of H. Res. 863. Madam Speaker, I stand in strong support of the rule and the underlying legislation.

Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 996 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, what is needed is border security. What is needed is border protection. Immigration reform can come later after border security is established. So a discussion about what is happening over in the Senate, to me, until you get the border secured, you have no opportunity to discuss any type of immigration reform. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr Speaker, I would recommend to the gentleman to enforce existing law as a starting point.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, may I further inquire as to engaging in personalities or destruction of personalities? Is that something we are now doing on the floor of the House?

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, the difficulty that we have is that President Biden will not use any of the tools he has in his toolbox, and now he is asking for additional tools. The other problem is codifying 5,000 illegal immigrants a day, 2 million a year, is not, in anyone's estimation, a solution to a problem. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record a memo prepared by the Secretary of Homeland Security, released on September 30, 2021, discussing the Secretary being there to enforce the laws.

Mr. BURGESS. In this memo, he basically says he is going to make the laws that he then purports to enforce. He bemoans the fact that there is no path for citizenship that has been established, but then goes on to say: ``The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen therefore should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.'' Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert in the Record an article detailing the number of children that the Department of Homeland Security has lost.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, that number has increased year over year. It was 100,000 kids last year. What are we doing if we are losing track of 100,000 children that have come into this country illegally? Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the exemplary leadership and public service of Chief Kevin Deaver as he retires as Police Chief for the Lewisville Police Department (LPD). Chief Deaver has served in this role for LPD since August 22, 2018, completing a 35- year career in law enforcement, 25 of which have been with the City of Lewisville. Chief Deaver began his law enforcement career with the San Angelo Police Department in February 1989, before joining the LPD in August 1998. During his career, Deaver has worked as a Patrol Officer, Motorcycle Traffic Officer, Canine Officer, Narcotics Detective, Patrol Sergeant, Narcotics Sergeant, Patrol Lieutenant, Community Services Captain, Patrol Captain, Administrative Services Assistant Chief, and the Patrol Operations Assistant Chief. In addition, he served as a field supervisor for the North Central Texas Narcotics Task Force. Chief Deaver is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts and Applied Sciences with a concentration in Criminal Justice, Public Affairs/Community Service, and Sociology. Chief Deaver is a also a graduate of the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration's School of Police Supervision and Management College as well as the FBI-Law Enforcement Trilogy Series which consists of the Supervisor Leadership Institute, Command Leadership Institute, and the Executive Leadership Institutes. Additionally, Chief Deaver holds a Master Peace Officer Certification from TCOLE. In leading the LPD, Chief Deaver has worked to build on the culture established by his predecessors, Chief McFadden and Chief Kerbow, of always ensuring the Department stood for professionalism. During his tenure, Chief Deaver advocated for the construction of the new Tittle McFadden Public Safety Center and played a major role in the design of the building. He secured STEP pay for police communication and detention personnel and worked with Lewisville Fire Chief Mark McNeal to create the City's first Mental Health Crisis Team (CoCare), implemented FLOCK technology throughout the City and commissioned a staffing study for the department that led to staffing increases over the last five years. Finally, he led the department through successful re-accreditation of LPD in 2022 as one of 50 recognized Texas Law Enforcement Program agencies while also guiding the Department through the annexation of Castle Hills, COVID-19, and the protests following the brutal killing of George Floyd. Chief Deaver has honorably carried the mantle of law enforcement leadership during one of the most challenging periods our country has witnessed. On behalf of the constituents of the 26th Congressional District of Texas, I join the City of Lewisville in appreciation of the professionalism and steady leadership he has shown, caring both for his employees and the community the Lewisville Police Department serves each day. We are all indebted to him for the character, innovation and servant heart he brought to his duties, and I wish him and his family a long and satisfying retirement.