Beto O’Rourke

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Chairman, I have great respect for my colleague from Texas for his leadership and service as the chair of the Homeland Security Committee and had the pleasure of serving with him on that committee in the last Congress. But I rise to oppose this amendment today because it is unnecessary. First of all, it is redundant. The Department of Defense already has the authority and ability to distribute excess military equipment to the Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol. Secondly, it is not needed on the border right now. I will give you some examples. The city that I have the honor of representing, El Paso, Texas, the largest city on the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, is the safest city today in the United States, and it was also the safest city in the United States at the time when Ciudad Juarez across the river was the most dangerous city in the world. Today, we have record low apprehensions on our southern border. We are spending record amounts--$18 billion a year--to secure it. We have doubled the size of the Border Patrol from 10,000 to 20,000 in the last 10 years, and we have hundreds of miles of walls. We have also heard from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Director of the FBI that there is not now, nor has there ever been, a credible terrorist threat on our southern border. So we do not need mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. We do not need grenade launchers. We do not need armed drones. Mr. Chairman, we do not need to militarize the border, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson).

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro).

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to recognize the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 393, a distinguished Veteran Service Organization in El Paso, Texas. Since 1932, Chapter 393 has served our veteran population not just in El Paso County but also southern New Mexico. It has also been there for our Service Members stationed at Fort Bliss. Chapter 393 upholds the tenants of the Order of the Purple Heart by assisting veterans' families, providing memorial services, and engaging the community to help better serve veterans. Chartered by Congress in 1958, The Military Order of the Purple Heart is composed of military men and women who received the Purple Heart Medal for wounds suffered in combat. Although its membership is restricted to the combat wounded, the organization supports all veterans and their families with a number of programs led by dedicated members like Robert Macias in El Paso. Mr. Macias is a national certified service officer and works tirelessly at the El Paso VA Outpatient Facility to ensure our community's veterans receive the care they deserve. I thank him for his leadership. The Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 393 is an asset to our veteran community and the El Paso area. I thank the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 393 for their commitment to honoring our veterans in the El Paso community.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise today to recognize the American Legion Post 58 located in Northeast El Paso on Vulcan Avenue, also known as the El Paso Del Norte Post. I am pleased to recognize them as a distinguished Veteran Services Organization in my district. As one of the largest VSOs in Texas, the Paso Del Norte Post's engagement with our veteran community is exemplary. Several of the officers at this post serve or have served on national committees and commissions of the American Legion. In the fall of 2014, a team from the American Legion national organization visited El Paso and worked with the El Paso VA to provide medical care to veterans in need. The visiting group of the American Legion, led by Verna Jones, Director of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Division in Washington, D.C., also hosted a town hall at the El Paso Del Norte headquarters where over 400 veterans attended. Post 58 further provided accommodations to their national counterparts for four additional days to assist veterans through their ``Veteran Crisis Command Center'' where a team known as a ``triage team'' was available to help veterans get access to the medical care they deserve. The American Legion Post 58's commitment to our community's veterans is remarkable and their team is comprised of dedicated veterans who volunteer their time to serve fellow veterans. The American Legion in my district is currently led by Richard Britton. I thank him for his leadership. The American Legion Paso Del Norte Post 58 is an asset to our veteran community and El Paso. I thank Post 58 for their commitment to honoring our veterans and for helping strengthen the bonds in the El Paso community.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, during the rollcall votes on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, I was absent after returning to El Paso to meet with representatives from the U.S. Army who are conducting the Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA). The SPEA is a formal review of our country's military installations in preparation for a reduction in force that will take the Army from 470,000 active duty soldiers to 420,000 by the end of the decade. Had I been present, on rollcall number 136, I would have voted ``no.'' On rollcall number 137, I would have voted ``no.'' On rollcall number 138, I would have voted ``no.'' On rollcall number 139, I would have voted ``yes.'' On rollcall number 140, I would have voted ``no.'' On rollcall number 141, I would have voted ``no.'' On rollcall number 142, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise today to recognize Jesuit Father Harold Rahm, whom holds a commendable record of service to the El Paso community. Father Rahm arrived in El Paso, Texas in July 1952 and served at Sacred Heart Parish until 1964. He was often seen traveling around the streets of South El Paso on his bicycle and was named, ``the Bicycle Padre.'' Father Rahm used this modest technique to reach out to the youth of the Segundo Barrio in efforts to deter them from joining youth gangs. During his fourteen years in El Paso, Father Rahm established organizations such as Our Lady's Youth Center, the Guadalupe Employment Office, the Guadalupe Way of Life Homes for young people and adults, and Camp Juan Diego for children who could not afford to go to summer camp. Father Rahm played an instrumental role in pacifying youth gang warfare in the 1950's by encouraging teens to spend their time in the youth center and resolving their violence through safe interaction and exercise. Father Rahm also established the Guadalupe Employment Office in 1953, the Guadalupe Thrift Store in 1954, the Tepeyac Credit Union, and advocated for decent housing for South El Paso residents. In trying to reach people that were unable to attend mass, Father Rahm would often celebrate mass in people's backyards and take breakfast to the elderly on his bicycle. Because of his devout actions, 5th Avenue was renamed Father Rahm Avenue in his honor. Father Rahm's legacy lives on through inspired El Pasoans that have carried on his work. I thank Father Rahm for being an honorable man of God to our community and to the world through his notable service. Father Rahm represents the ambition, dedication, perseverance and resilience that is so indicative of the many great El Pasoans I have the distinct privilege to represent.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise today to recognize Mr. Gustavo Sambrano, a native El Pasoan with a commendable record of service to his community and our nation. Mr. Sambrano was born on March 26, 1932. He attended Bowie High School, a local institution with a rich and distinguished history of overcoming adversity and a consistent dedication to service. Mr. Sambrano was a proud member of the 1949 Texas state championship baseball team. This team primarily consisted of economically disadvantaged, Mexican-American students from El Paso's historic Segundo Barrio neighborhood. While traveling to Austin to play in the state championship, the team faced rampant racial discrimination. Upon arrival and against all odds, the Bears beat the most favored team in the state, the Austin Maroons. Mr. Sambrano would continue to remain engaged with his teammates and participate in community initiatives throughout his lifetime. In 2006, the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame recognized the accomplishments of the team. Additionally, Sports Illustrated wrote a 2011 feature on the team further amplifying recognition of their profound accomplishment. Following graduation from high school in 1950, Mr. Sambrano enlisted in the United States Air Force. Mr. Sambrano served honorably in numerous locations throughout the world to include England, Greenland, Italy, Korea, Spain and Thailand. Following retirement after 20 years of faithful service from the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Sambrano attained a B.A from The University of Texas at El Paso. Mr. Sambrano continued to serve his local community as an educator with the El Paso Independent School District and his nation through federal civilian service in numerous capacities, with his career eventually culminating in retirement from the Defense Logistics Agency in Alexandria, Virginia. Following the completion of his civilian career, Mr. Sambrano once again returned home to El Paso, the community he held dearly. I thank Mr. Sambrano for being an honorable ambassador of our community to the world through his notable service. While his road to success was often filled with adversity, Mr. Sambrano represents the ambition, dedication, perseverance and resilience that is so indicative of the many great El Pasoans I have the distinct privilege to represent.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, during the roll call vote on Thursday, January 8, 2015 and Friday, January 9, 2015, I was absent after returning to El Paso due to a shooting that occurred on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at the El Paso VA Clinic and subsequent visit by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald to the clinic. Had I been present, on roll call number 14, I would have voted Nay. On roll call number 16, I would have voted Nay.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Norton for her work in managing this bill on the floor today and for yielding me this time to speak in support of it. And I especially want to thank my colleague Mr. Chaffetz from the State of Utah for his work on the House version of this bill. On behalf of my community in El Paso, Texas, and especially on behalf of the Border Patrol agents, more than 2,500 in my community, I want to give you our thanks from the largest city on the U.S.-Mexico border. I support this bill because I do represent more than 2,500 agents in El Paso. In addition, for the more than 21,000 agents on our northern and southern borders, this is an important bill that provides a consistent and reliable pay system that addresses problems in administratively uncontrollable overtime and provides more predictable work schedules for our Border Patrol agents. We ask these brave men and women to put their lives on the line to do what I think is the toughest job in Federal employment, but so far we have failed to provide financial certainty both to those agents and to their families. I want to remind my colleagues that El Paso, Texas, the community I have the honor of representing, which is conjoined with Ciudad Juarez to form the largest truly binational community in the world, is the safest city in the State of Texas today. It is the safest city in the United States, and that is not an anomaly. It has been the safest city in America 4 years running, and we have, in large part, to thank the Border Patrol agents who help to secure our border for that. Not only do they keep our communities and our country secure, they do it in a very professional way. In 2013, there were exactly zero complaints filed against the Border Patrol in the El Paso sector. So I want to thank them for the great job that they do. This bill creates a reliable pay system that responsibly secures our border. Supporting our agents, which this bill does, is the key to keeping our border communities and our country safe.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to recognize the Honor Flight of Southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, a distinguished Veterans Service Organization in my district. The Honor Flight of Southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, is comprised of dedicated volunteers in our area who go above and beyond in serving veterans. The group develops new relationships and cultivates existing bonds among our veteran community, elected officials and government agencies; honors the memory of service members who died in service; and assists in fulfilling a lifelong goal of visiting our nation's capital. Honor Flight sends World War II and Korean veterans to Washington, D.C., to see their memorials at no cost to the veterans. This year, the Honor Flight of Southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, will take off on October 6 and return October 8, 2014. Sixty- five veterans will participate, most of them World War II veterans. The group will depart October 6 on two planes and will receive a memorable departure assisted by the Fort Bliss Quintet Band and the Red Cross ladies in vintage uniform. The group will also receive a Hero's Welcome Home along with an honor guard, families of participating veterans and a bagpipe and drum corps. Honor Flight of Southern New Mexico was established in 2008 by business and community leaders who were devoted to honoring our Veterans. Honor Flight of Southern New Mexico added El Paso, Texas, in October 2013. This year will mark their seventh flight back to Washington, D.C., allowing Veterans the opportunity to see their memorial. I thank the Honor Flight of Southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, for their commitment to honoring our veterans and for helping to strengthen the bonds among veterans in the El Paso community. I am glad that Veteran Service Organizations like these exist in our area and I thank them for their selfless service to honor many of those we call the ``Greatest Generation.'' Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor and recognize the Honor Flight of Southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to recognize the Disabled American Veterans, Northeast Chapter 187, a distinguished Veterans Service Organization in El Paso, Texas. The Disabled American Veterans, Northeast Chapter 187 is comprised of former service members. The chapter develops new relationships and cultivates existing bonds among our veteran community, elected officials and government agencies; honors the memory of service members who died in service; and informs its members of state and federal legislative changes and policy ideas relevant to veterans. With 1,508 members, the Disabled American Veterans, Northeast Chapter 187 is the sixth largest chapter in Texas. Their leadership includes three Combat Related Special Compensation ambassadors; four VA and Disabled American Veterans-certified service officers; a past District 1 Commander, who oversees El Paso, Midland, Lubbock and as far as Big Spring and Amarillo, Texas; and the Past-State Legislative Chairman. The Disabled American Veterans, Northeast Chapter 187 has members from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and up to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The chapter includes multiple POWs and Purple Heart recipients. Chartered in July 1972, Disabled American Veterans, Northeast Chapter 187 is an asset to our veteran community. I thank the Disabled American Veterans, Northeast Chapter 187 for their commitment to honoring our veterans and for helping to strengthen the bonds in the El Paso community. I am glad that Veteran Service Organizations like these exist in our area, and I thank them for their selfless service. Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor and recognize the Disabled American Veterans, Northeast Chapter 187.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington for his leadership and the chairman for his on this very difficult issue. I want to make one point clear to my colleagues. We are essentially declaring war through an amendment to a budget resolution. Let's make no mistake. We are not simply training rebels in another country, Saudi Arabia, which, by the way, has been the most successful exporter of extremism and extremists in the world. We will reinsert those trained and equipped rebels back into Syria, and we will then be their air force. We will, through all intents and purposes, be a co- belligerent in a civil war. So, if we are declaring war right now, I think we should do it with our eyes wide open, as my colleague just said, with a full debate, and only through the power vested in Congress through the U.S. Constitution. The logical conclusion of our participation in this war, if successful, is to depose the Assad regime and replace it with one of our own making in concert with these rebels. That will be the third country in 13 years whose regime we have deposed and whose government we have replaced with one of our own choosing. It is the fourth that we have been involved in, if you include Libya, in whose government we have successfully deposed. In not one of those instances can I say that this has been a success. We also have no Muslim-majority countries contributing ground troops to this operation. I think we owe wide deference to the President in matters of foreign affairs, but when it comes to declaring war, our Founding Fathers reserved that power for the people through their representatives in Congress. This amendment to a budget resolution, which would enter us into this war in a formal manner, makes a mockery of that and does not do justice to the servicemembers who will be asked to put their lives on the line for this U.S. policy. For those reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California, to honor and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the El Paso Branch of the NAACP. Founded in 1914 by civil rights activist Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon, the El Paso Branch was the first branch of the NAACP established in the state of Texas. The El Paso Branch's long history is rich with examples of El Pasoans taking the lead to end discrimination in Texas. In 1923, the Texas legislature passed a law which prohibited African- Americans from voting in Democratic primaries. On July 26, 1924, with the sponsorship of the NAACP, Dr. Nixon took his poll-tax receipt to a Democratic primary polling place and was refused a ballot. Thus began a twenty-year struggle in which Dr. Nixon and his El Paso attorney, Fred C. Knollenberg, twice carried their case to the United States Supreme Court. It was not until the landmark decision in Smith v. Allwright ended the white primary that the way was cleared, and on July 22, 1944, Dr. and Mrs. Nixon walked into the same El Paso voting place and voted in a Democratic primary. In 1955, the El Paso Branch sought to challenge the segregation clause contained within the state constitution. The NAACP asked Thelma White, valedictorian of segregated Douglass High School in El Paso, to challenge the law. With the assistance of the NAACP, she submitted her application to Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso). Texas Western returned Ms. White's application along with her unopened transcripts. Ms. White's attorneys, including Thurgood Marshall, filed suit in federal district court in March 1955, claiming White's rights of equal access to an education had been violated. That summer, in anticipation of an adverse ruling from the court, the University of Texas (UT) Board of Regents voted to allow Texas Western to admit African-American students, while promising to investigate desegregating the main university in Austin at a later date. Ms. White's attorneys refused to abandon her suit, and on July 18th, Federal District Judge Robert E. Thomason issued a declaratory judgment on her behalf, permanently enjoining the UT system from denying her or any other African-American student the right to study at Texas Western. He further ordered all Texas universities to immediately desegregate. That fall, both Texas Western College and the main university in Austin admitted their first black students. In El Paso, twelve students gained admission to the school. Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor the El Paso Branch of the NAACP and the extraordinary work they have done to make our community, the State of Texas and our country a more just world.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 15, a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill to properly address these humanitarian issues.

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, looking at the underlying bill, I have to wonder what my colleagues are afraid of. Are they afraid of these kids, children who are fleeing brutal violence in their home countries to come to our country to seek asylum? Are we so afraid of them that we would shortcut due process and send them right back into this violence? Mr. Speaker, are they afraid of the border, that they would send the National Guard when we are already spending $18 billion a year; more than on all Federal law enforcement combined; at a time when El Paso, Texas, the largest Texas city on the Mexican border, is also the safest city in this country; at a time when we are 70 percent lower in apprehensions at our southern border; and at a time when these apprehensions of children have fallen by almost 60 percent? Mr. Speaker, I ask us not to be motivated by fear or anxiety, but instead the best traditions of this country: courage, compassion, and strength to do the right thing.

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 475, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' Personal explanation

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, allow me to address some of the concerns raised in the underlying bill concerning unaccompanied alien children. If our concern is with a secure border, you can talk to someone such as myself who represents El Paso, Texas, the largest city in Texas on the Mexican border which, today, is also the safest city not just in Texas, but in the entire United States. You can talk to other elected leaders, to the folks who actually live on the border, and you can look at the facts. Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border are down nearly 70 percent over the last 15 years. In the year 2000, we had 1.6 million apprehensions. This last year, 420,000. And even with this spike of refugees from Central America, we are not expected to get to half a million this year. The border, by the numbers, is as secure as it has ever been. If your concern is with the welfare of these children once they enter this country, then I say let's increase the amount that we are spending with Health and Human Services which, in this current bill, is a pittance against what is necessary and what should be required. And if your concern is with the welfare of these children in Central America and along this journey, then I ask you to do what this country's proud history, what our conscience, and what the law already mandates, which is to accept their applications for asylum, to help them once they are in this country, and to work with our neighbors in Central America and this hemisphere to resolve the underlying problems. I urge my colleagues to reject this rule, to reject the underlying bill, and to come back together in September and to work on something that is rational, that is humane, and that is in the best interests of all concerned.

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I enter into the Record the story of a 4- year-old Honduran girl whose body was found in a nylon bag showing signs of torture. [From La Tribuna, July 20, 2014] Kidnap and Kill a Girl in Olancho (This is a Google Translation) SAN FRANCISCO DE LA PAZ, Olancho. A heinous crime committed against a minor, has shaken an entire community that is not answered the savage and ruthless attitude of those involved in the sadistic action. A little of just four years had disappeared last Thursday afternoon a little after 2:00 pm, according to the account of his father Anibal Cardona, about 30, who wept inconsolably so the tragedy. Apparently a family would have caused neglect subjects mysterious little girl lifted backyard to lead to an unknown destination Quiscamotelugar the community, the origin of the parents of the unfortunate infant. inside sack The body of the girl was placed inside a nylon bag and left abandoned near the home where a day earlier had kidnapped. Showed signs of torture and was handcuffed, and the conditions under which the body was giving signs of having been killed on the day she disappeared. The crime involves a mystery, which generates various speculations in the whole population and in the same family, which not only repudiate what happened, they also believe that someone close may be linked to macabre done. The house where he carried the creature is roughly an area of half acre of land, fenced with cyclone wire mesh and only one entry and when the body was found no one saw who placed it on the site though many neighbors accompanied the family at that time. rescue The other uncertainty that goes through the head of the citizens, is related to an alleged phone call asking for ransom, which the authorities are already investigating and could become the thread from the skein that leads to the true origin of what happened. It was learned that the police is on the trail of four subjects, which might be collusion, or have enough information from individuals who committed the detestable fact. Those who were arrested in a nearby village and that from the beginning of the alarm mentioned that they were responsible, but last night only two people were detained for investigation. The girl's father, Anibal Cardona, and uncle, Luis Alonso Duarte. In less than a year, this olanchano municipality has been involved in two violent incidents that result in death left two young children, who still has shaken society. On 11 October last year, another toddler died a brutal hands of a mentally alienated, brutalized by the effect of alcohol and drugs, committed a heinous murder. At that time, parishioners wanted to take justice into their own hands hours after police stopped the confessed responsible, a young 22 year old named Carlos Peralta. Today, the San Franciscan people revive those feelings of grief, sorrow and helplessness, and calls to the appropriate speed in the latter investigations mourns another family event. (FS)

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, from the day that I was sworn into office, I have heard from the veterans that I have the honor of representing that while--when they can get into the VA to seek care--the care is great and the providers are wonderful, it is too hard to get an appointment, and that appointment, once given, is often canceled. The VA, on the other hand, was telling me something far different, that there were no problems with wait times. To resolve the differences, we surveyed the veterans themselves. What they told us was that more than 36 percent of the veterans that I represent cannot get in to receive a mental health care appointment. This is at a time when we have 22 veteran suicides every day in this country. That is why I join my colleague from across the State and across the aisle, Mr. Flores, to introduce the ask veterans act, so that we do this in every community and VHA district in this country, so that veterans help us lead the VA out of the crisis that we are currently in. We cannot trust the VA to tell us how the VA is doing, but we can certainly trust veterans to do just that.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Maestro Phillip Gabriel Garcia, founder of the El Paso Youth Symphony Orchestra (EPYSO). As the conductor and head of operations for this organization, Maestro Garcia provides a valuable service to the children of El Paso and its citizens. Through the development of ``The Band Against Bullying Tour'', the EPYSO built a bridge between music and social justice awareness. EPYSO helped raise consciousness of the negative effects that bullying has on the victims and the community's quality of life with their performances throughout El Paso. By using music as a means to educate the community, Maestro Garcia demonstrates his creative and passionate work ethic to improve his community. With over 200 concerts performed, EPYSO gives kids the opportunity to see how music can positively reinforce their self-esteem through personal achievements as musicians and performances to their community. While performing at the Child Crisis Center, the Battered Women Shelter, Ft. Bliss, and La Fe Community Health Center, kids experience the joy that their music brings to the public. More so, EPYSO champions community service, raising money to feed the homeless at the Feeding the Nations Homeless benefit concert and serving food to the homeless for Thanksgiving. EPYSO continues to impact its participants and the rest of the public by remaining viable and relevant to their community. EPYSO and Maestro Phillip Garcia will continue to profoundly impact the El Paso community by continuing to connect their artistic endeavors with service. I am proud that this organization and Maestro Garcia are using music to contribute to the El Paso community, and I hope their message continues inspire our young citizens' enthusiasm for serving their community.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the bipartisan Border Enforcement Accountability, Oversight, and Community Engagement Act with my friend from across the aisle, Congressman Steve Pearce. This is a policy that will disproportionately impact the border and one that is humane, fiscally responsible, and rational. It is also a bill that reflects the best values, experiences, and expertise of the people who live along the border. And it is, in fact, written by people who live on and represent border communities. Madam Speaker, today we spend $18 billion a year on border security and immigration enforcement. That is twice what we were spending just 10 years ago. We have a surge in border security, a surge in border personnel where we have seen a doubling of the size of the Border Patrol from just 10,000 10 years ago to more than 20,000 today. But this surge in resources and personnel and enforcement has not been accompanied by an adequate regime of oversight, accountability, or transparency. Tens of millions of our fellow Americans live along our borders with Canada and Mexico, and millions more cross them on a regular basis. In the community I represent, El Paso, Texas, we have 22 million border crossings a year; 99-plus percent are legal with people who are crossing for legitimate purposes with all of the appropriate travel documents. But when you combine the millions of people who live and cross our borders with this unprecedented surge of resources and law enforcement without the necessary oversight or accountability or transparency, this will lead to predictable abuses of power that we have seen not just at the borders themselves but at interior checkpoints that are up to 100 miles into the interior of the United States: detentions, interrogations, and retention of personal property, all without probable cause. While the vast majority of our border protection agents and our CBP officers are professional, and all of them face very difficult challenges in their job in terms of the level of vigilance they must maintain, the territory through which they must patrol, the unpredictable threats they must guard against, our office hears on a day-to-day basis from constituents who are harassed and hassled or otherwise treated with less than the appropriate dignity or respect. But there is no clear process that exists for these individuals to resolve their complaints. I will give you two examples, one from the northern border and one from the southern border. Pascal Abidor, an Islamic studies Ph.D. student and one of our fellow U.S. citizens, was crossing the Canadian border on an Amtrak train when he was questioned by CBP officers. He was taken off the train in handcuffs and held in a cell for several hours before being released without charge. His laptop was confiscated and held for 11 days following his detention during which time his private messages and photos were reviewed by CBP officers. We have a case, unfortunately, in the community I represent, a woman who has not released her name but a fellow U.S. citizen who lives in New Mexico who was crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. She was suspected of carrying drugs. She was detained, frisked, strip searched, and taken to a hospital. There she was invasively searched, X-rayed, and made to perform a bowel movement against her will by doctors at the request of CBP officers looking for drugs. At no time was she read her rights or given access to an attorney because even at the hospital, miles away from the physical border, Customs and Border Protection maintains that they are still in the process of a border interrogation. No traces of illegal drugs were found, and she was billed $5,000 for the exams. While stories like these are exceptional, they should never happen. As a result of a more militarized border, we are also seeing migrants who are pushed away from community ports of entry into harsher and more dangerous terrain, leading to a jump in the number of deaths. Two years ago, we saw the second-highest number of migrant crossing deaths on record, even though we saw the lowest number of crossing attempts across our southern border. We have had over 5,500 migrants die in the attempt to cross into the United States over the last 15 years. It is not just the individuals who have been victims of unfounded searches and seizures or who have perished in the desert who are failed by our current border policy. The Border Patrol agents and CBP officers who perform these toughest jobs in the Federal Government do not always receive the training or support they need to be safe in the field or to do their jobs effectively. For the taxpayers who deserve to have their tax dollars spent responsibly, secrecy and lack of transparency has prevented a sober accounting of whether the $18 billion a year that we are spending on the border is money well spent. Our bill addresses these issues in five concrete ways: First, robust oversight of all border security functions; Second, a transparent and timely complaint process that is independent of the existing chain of command; Third, increased and improved training resources for our agents and officers; Fourth, engagement between CBP and border communities; Fifth, new transparency measures. So I urge my colleagues to join me in a humane, rational, and fiscally responsibility approach to the border.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am very honored to be here with my colleagues from California and from Maryland. I am especially honored that my colleague from Maryland would invite me to say a few words today. He has been, truly, one of the real bright spots for me in my first session in Congress. To give you a little context and a little background on why that is the case, like my colleague from California, I had the privilege of serving on the city council in El Paso for two terms. I represented there a constituency of between 60,000 and 70,000 people, so about a tenth of the constituency that we represent here in Congress. To win those elections to be able to serve on the city council, like my good friend from California, I went door-to-door to meet my constituents--to meet those who were likely to vote in this election-- to make my case for why I might be the best alderman or council member to represent their interests on the city council. Then, by Election Day, after having spent maybe $40,000 or $50,000 total--a tenth of what you would have to spend in a very conservatively managed congressional race--we ended up having the good fortune to win and serve in the city council. Not only was that the best way to get elected, but it was for me, as a new member of the city council in El Paso, Texas, the best way for me to understand what my constituents' interests were, the questions that they wanted to have answered and what their expectations were of me as their representative on the city council. So, when I made the decision to run for Congress, I chose to run for a seat that was currently held by an incumbent Member of Congress. I ran for that seat in the primary, which was going to be the decisive election in that election cycle. Precisely because we didn't have access to the kind of big money that we are talking about today--the political action committee money, the big donor money across this country and even the big money in El Paso, Texas--as the mother of invention with the necessity of finding those voters and in being able to connect with them, we went door-to-door again, this time in a constituency of 700,000 people. It was a very broad and a very long canvassing effort that lasted over 9 months and had me knocking personally on more than 16,000 doors. While my good friend from Maryland has actually modeled the Government by the People Act concept in his own district, I think, more out of virtue and more out of an effort to prove that this works and to understand what the opportunities and limits are of a different campaign funding paradigm--and I can't thank him enough for doing that because he has tested it and has proven it--we did something similar but out of necessity. Again, as with the city council races, we were fortunate enough that the case we made to the voters prevailed. We were fortunate enough to be elected to sit here in this Congress with these great colleagues I serve with now. I will tell you that a very rude awakening was delivered when after I had won this seat through the primary election, which was the dispositive election of the two in our election cycle, the number one issue that anyone wanted to talk with me about was not what policies were I likely to support, what committees did I want to serve on, what did I want to get done in my first term in Congress. Most of the conversations, unfortunately, revolved around money. Where was I going to raise my money from? Who was I going to give the money that I raised to? Who was I going to hire as the campaign person in Washington, D.C.? I didn't know that the creature existed until that point because we had had the good fortune of being, in some ways, buffered from money in that first race. So much centered around money as I came to Congress. You don't run for Congress to raise money. You don't run for Congress to spend money. You don't run for Congress to meet lobbyists and to meet those who run political action committees; although, there are plenty of nice people in those categories. You run for Congress because you want to get something done, because you believe in ideas that are bigger than yourself--things that are going to help the communities that you serve, issues that are going to help define your country that you want your communities to have a voice in. Those are the reasons I ran for Congress. Unfortunately and sadly, those were not the things that most people up here wanted to talk about. I was able to talk with Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard, who is somebody, if you haven't seen his lectures, you can find on YouTube--or if you have the chance to see one in person, you really should. He is someone who has put a lot of thought into and who has written about this subject and who has delivered some very compelling lectures about the influence of money in politics. So, as I was met with this challenge of how to respond to the demands for money in politics and in my new career as a Member of Congress, I started to do some searches on the Internet, and I found one of Lawrence Lessig's lectures. He brought up a really important point, which was, when we have an election for Congress, there are really two elections. There is the election that we all think about when we think about an election for Congress, and that is the election that takes place at the ballot box, but there is also an election before that for the money. How do you convince the people who have control and access of the money that typically goes into a congressional race that you are a good bet, that you fit within their interests, and that you are going to be accessible to them should you win that second election at the ballot box? That first election, in most cases, is really the decisive one. So one of the things I like so much about the Government by the People Act is it opens up that first money election to not just the special interests, not just those who have legislation pending before Congress, who have an ax to grind, literally, here on the floor, but to those people that we represent in all of the different precincts in El Paso County and all the different neighborhoods, the streets, the homes. Those people, through a refundable tax credit, are able to have their voice heard and help decide who the field will be in a congressional race. I think that is awfully important and desperately missing right now to encourage truly competitive congressional elections. When you look at the reelection rate for a Member of Congress from 1950 to today, when you look at the rate, I think it is somewhere around 93 percent. That really shouldn't be the case. We want this body to reflect the diversity, the difference of opinion of race and gender, and all the great things that make up who this country is. By and large, it is very difficult to do today, because once you are in Congress, you have access to that money. You win that first election for the money, almost deciding that second election at the ballot box, and it makes it very difficult to have competitive elections against incumbent Members of Congress. I am sure that we are in the minority of our colleagues here who want to encourage more competition for our jobs. I really think that is the right thing to do. If we want to renew our democracy, have a Congress truly reflective of this country, I think we want to make sure that every single person has a voice in the elections that decide the makeup of this body. In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I am just very honored to be an original cosponsor on this bill, honored to join in this effort, and honored to join all the great grassroots organizations across this country that are raising the level of awareness about the need to change our campaign finance and our election system in this country. I am very hopeful that we will be able to prevail upon our colleagues, especially those on the other side of the aisle, to see that it is in everyone's interest to have a body that truly reflects the American people.