Beto O’Rourke

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Monday, July 16, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on Roll Call vote 329 and ``yea'' on Roll Call vote 330.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the vice-ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Takano, for this time to speak in favor of this bill. As my colleague from Texas, and the chairman of the subcommittee pointed out, by the best estimate of the VA, which many believe is a conservative estimate, every single day in this country, 20 veterans will have taken their lives. The purpose and the function and the dignity that they found as a member of the armed services, as a contributing member of their military unit, where the decisions that they made, the actions that they took, would literally save and determine the outcomes of the lives of their fellow servicemembers, to return that level of function and purpose to their lives when they come back to this country and reintegrate within our communities, that is the purpose of this legislation. I want to thank my colleague, the chairman of the subcommittee, for his diligent work on this, by convening stakeholders, veterans service organizations, veteran student service organizations, members of the VA, the Department of Labor, other colleagues from the committee to make sure that we got this right and that we help those servicemembers transition into a life that allows them to give to their full potential once back in their home community, once back in their country. I want to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure the success of this legislation; that we follow the outcome assessments that are provided for in the legislation; that we meet the intention and the purpose that is described here, so that it is not a boxes checked at the end of a servicemember's career, but something that is pursued with thought, so that when that servicemember reintegrates, they are ready to hit the ground running. Lastly, I want to thank the chairman of the full committee. Some will say that without Tennessee, there would be no Texas. Without Chairman Roe, there would be no H.R. 5649. The fact that you elevated this and that you spent so much of your time personally listening to these veteran service organizations and your colleagues on the committee, I think, helped to make it a much better bill than it would have been otherwise, and for that I am grateful.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Friday, June 15, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on Roll Call votes 267 and 268.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Thursday, June 14, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on Roll Call vote 265 and ``nay'' on Roll Call vote 266.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, on Monday of this week, I was in McAllen, Texas, a beautiful community comprised of some incredibly courageous, strong, kindhearted people in the Rio Grande Valley in the State of Texas, connected by the Rio Grande River to Reynosa, Mexico, forming one of these extraordinary binational communities that distinguish our connection with Mexico with the State of Texas for the United States of America. I was able to visit the Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, which is the busiest Border Patrol station in the country. I happened to be there during the busiest shift during that day in that busy station, and I was able to spend some time with the amazing women and men of the Border Patrol, who have one of the toughest jobs that I can imagine: keeping our country safe, protecting our communities and the families within our communities, and meeting those who are at their most desperate, most vulnerable moment in their lives, people who have fled terror and violence, death and deprivation in their countries to come to ours, to seek asylum, to seek safety, to seek refuge. In that Border Patrol station I had the ability to meet a family, a young mother and her young child, who had fled Honduras and had traveled more than 2,000 miles to come to this country. And because they presented themselves to Border Patrol agents, didn't try to flee from them, went to those Border Patrol agents seeking asylum in between the ports of entry and didn't do it at the international bridge, didn't do it at the port of entry, that young mother and her child were arrested. They were being held in that cell comprised of cinder blocks, sitting on a hard concrete bench with a number of other mothers and young children, had just been arrested within the last 24 hours and were about to go to the Border Patrol Processing Center. Through tears, that young mother was able to tell me about her journey. When I asked her why she didn't choose to cross at the port of entry, where she could have lawfully petitioned for asylum, she said: ``I was scared.'' She didn't know where to cross. And, frankly, those crossing areas in Reynosa on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border are controlled by the cartels. The cartels determined where she and her 7-year-old daughter were going to cross. Not lost on me was the fact that her daughter was gripping her mother's hand for dear life, as I imagine she had been for the last 3 weeks when they made that 2,000-mile journey, where, if they were lucky, they made it on foot. They also made it atop, not inside of, a train, known as La Bestia, or the Beast, and where they were fortunate enough to survive that journey and come to our front door of the United States at the Texas- Mexico border, and where she was arrested and, unbeknownst to her and to that little girl who was clutching her hand, they would, within hours, be separated and might not know when they would be joined again, if ever. One hundred percent of the young women and men who travel with those young children in between our ports of entry are arrested, are detained, imprisoned, jailed in those Border Patrol stations, where they next go to the next place that I went to in McAllen, which was the Border Patrol processing center, a gigantic warehouse, where I saw the children who had just been separated from their moms and dads behind cyclone fencing, sleeping on polished concrete floors with a mattress 5 or 6 inches thick directly on the ground, Mylar blankets keeping them warm, again, with Border Patrol agents who were as humane and professional as possible, given the circumstances and the conditions. Men separated in other holding pods, women behind cyclone fences in other holding pods. There was another cyclone-fenced area open for public view where you went to the bathroom and where we had to be able to see your head or your feet. Those are the processes and procedures and the laws under which those people are being held. After that, I went to the international bridge at Reynosa and, on the Mexican side, was able to talk to three different people who were seeking asylum. Two of them had made the trip from Guatemala. When they got to Reynosa, they were kidnapped by cartels, held for 12 days, without clothes, without access to the outside world, with the exception of being able to make calls to family members who could cough up the $7,500 that would purchase their freedom, allow them to leave captivity and make their way to the international bridge, literally 10 feet away from the international line and the United States of America, where, if they could step foot on our soil, they would be able to lawfully petition for asylum. But standing there were four officers of Customs and Border Protection who would not let them pass, who told them we do not have capacity within our country and, therefore, they could not lawfully petition for asylum, therefore, perversely providing the incentive for them to try to cross in between the ports of entry illegally, where they will be arrested, criminally prosecuted, and sent back to countries from which they are fleeing certain death. After that, I went to a detention center run by a private prison corporation, where I met a man who had left his home country with his 12-year-old daughter, whom he has not seen for the last 5 days. And in between 4-inch-thick Plexiglass, behind which I could barely hear what he was saying, he told me about the horrific journey that he had endured. He took off his shirt and showed me the bullet wounds that he had suffered that had caused him to make the desperate decision to leave his family, his home country, his language, whatever he knew in life, and take that 12-year-old girl and try to bring her to safety. Again, just as with that mother, he was arrested. He now was in criminal proceedings. He would now be moved to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement Removal Operations, ERO facility, where he would be sent back to his country of origin; and he had no clue where that 12-year-old girl that he had risked everything for was at that moment. Thank God for Rochelle Garza, his pro bono attorney, next to whom I was sitting, who was doing everything in her power to provide him the strength, reminding him to keep his faith and saying that she was going to do everything in her effort, in her power to track down that 12- year-old girl. Mr. Speaker, who are we to be doing this right now? I know that every single one of us, to a person, if we were standing here in this Chamber in 1939 when this country was sending back the St. Louis, which had set sail on May 13, 1939, from Hamburg, Germany, with more than 900 German Jewish refugees, including children, that all of us, to a person, would like to say, if I were here, I would have made the case to accept the St. Louis and those 900 passengers and make sure that they could find refuge and asylum in this country. Instead, this country chose not to, and we sent that ship back to Europe, where more than 250 of those 900 passengers would be slaughtered in the Holocaust. This is our opportunity to do the right thing. We will be judged by our conscience, by our children, and by history. This is our moment of truth. So I join my friend from California, with every Member in this Chamber, Republican and Democrat, in calling upon ourselves, our country, to do the right thing at the moment that we still have the chance to do the right thing. Tomorrow, legislation will be introduced to end the practice of family separation. As an original cosponsor of this bill, I am calling on my colleagues to rush the decision, the debate, and to pass this overwhelmingly so that we can send it to the Senate and, ultimately, to the President's desk for his signature and do the right thing while we still have the chance to do that.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Representative Barbara Lee, a native of El Paso, Texas, who this year is celebrating her 20th year as a Member of Congress. On June 10, her milestone will be honored with a portrait dedication ceremony at the McCall Neighborhood Center in our mutual hometown, and I rise today to note her achievements and congratulate her on a distinguished career thus far. Representative Lee was born in El Paso, Texas, where she attended St. Joseph's Catholic School. During her childhood, El Paso remained a segregated community. For instance, Representative Lee and other African American citizens were not able to enter landmark buildings in El Paso such as the Plaza Theatre due to segregation laws. Despite this adversity, her family achieved milestones for racial equality in El Paso: her mother was one of the first African Americans to graduate from Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) and her father was the first African American mail carrier in El Paso. Her upbringing and experiences in the diverse community of El Paso inspired in her a passion for justice and equality, a quality that endured when she moved away from El Paso to California when she was 13 years old. Following high school, she not only raised two sons as a single mother and worked to create a better life for her family, but also attended Mills College, served as president of the school's Black Student Union and later received her master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Her ensuing career in politics further demonstrates her resiliency and determination: she rose through Congressman Ron Dellums' congressional office over the course of 11 years, beginning as an intern and eventually earning the title of Chief of Staff. Similarly, she was elected a California State Assembly member in 1990, a California State Senator in 1996, and a Congresswoman for California in 1998. During her time as a state representative and the 20 years she has served as a Member of Congress, she has made it a priority to represent some of the most underserved Americans by fighting for justice, equality, and peace. Through that desire, she helped found the Out of Poverty Caucus and the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus. She also began serving as chair of the Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty, Income Inequality and Opportunity in 2013. Furthermore, she has consistently been a leader in opposing our involvement in endless war, even when it was not politically popular to do so. She was the only member of the House to vote against the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which demonstrated her foresight on the open-ended authorization. To recognize her work on these issues, she was nominated, as part of a group of 1000 women around the world, for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 to recognize her dedication to peace and human welfare. Please join me in recognizing Congresswoman Lee's successful and distinguished career and her roots in El Paso, Texas.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on Roll Call votes 231, 232, and 233.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on Roll Call votes 210 and 211, and ``yea'' on Roll Call vote 212.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Monday May 21, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on Roll Call votes 207, 208, and 209.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Tuesday, May 15, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on Roll Call votes 181, 182, and 183.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor El Paso Community Development Week, held by the Community and Human Development Department (DCHD) of El Paso from April 2 to April 6, 2018. El Paso has celebrated Community Development Week for 42 years to commemorate the success of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the HOME programs in creating safe, affordable housing opportunities for the El Paso community. Since 1975, these programs have brought nearly $500 million in grant money and private and public funds to the city of El Paso, which provide essential public services, economic opportunities, street and drainage improvements, public facility and infrastructure improvements and other quality of life improvements to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. These successes are thanks to public and private partners, community volunteers and neighborhood associations who work to support continued funding for the programs. Even after Community Development Week comes to a close, the work of El Paso DCHD will continue to ensure the city of El Paso can respond to current and emerging community development needs, including job creation, development of affordable housing, improvement of existing housing stock, the delivery of vital services, and the development of important infrastructure improvements. Please join me in recognizing the employees and volunteers that make El Paso Community Development Week a success.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Tuesday, February 13. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 70 and 71.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Monday, February 5. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on Roll Call votes 51 and 52.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to congratulate my friend, Dr. Robert Gunn, for being awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Award for Faculty for his work on American Horologics. Literature, Timekeeping, and the Production of Space in Early Western North America. Though it will be above my level of comprehension, given Dr. Gunn's past work and the success it has achieved, I am confident that this will be an important addition to the study of North America and the indigenous cultures of the American West. Dr. Gunn's work at the University of Texas at El Paso has helped to distinguish UTEP and the larger El Paso-Juarez community. It has helped to deepen and expand our insight of the people of North America, and it has contributed to a richer understanding of America and the American West. I am extraordinarily fortunate to represent Dr. Gunn in Congress and to have the opportunity to congratulate him for this high achievement. Even better, I have the pleasure of calling him a friend and personally bearing witness to his kindness, wit, wisdom and the inspiration he takes from, and love he gives to, his beautiful children, Frances and Henry, and his wife Jonna, incredibly accomplished in her own right as the Director of the English Education Program at UTEP. We are lucky to have Dr. Gunn in El Paso, lucky to count him and his family as friends, lucky that he has contributed his outsized talent and drive to a better understanding of who we are. Congratulations Robert.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Monday, December 18. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 685 and ``yea'' on rollcall votes 686 and 687.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Like so many Texans, I grew up in a household that honored a tradition of gun ownership for hunting, for collection, and for sportsmanship, and also honored gun safety. I was taught to shoot by my uncle, Raymond O'Rourke, jail captain and the chief marksman in the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. I also live in a State that has a license to carry process which requires safety training, though 18 States do not. Texas requires that someone who has a license to carry be 21 years or older, though 15 States do not. Texas requires that those who abuse their partners not be allowed to have a license to carry, though 14 States do not. Texas does not grant licenses to violent offenders, though 22 States do. Texas does not grant licenses to people convicted of stalking, though 21 other States do. What H.R. 38 does, Mr. Speaker, is it subjects every Texan and every El Pasoan whom I represent to the lowest common denominator in the United States. It will make our State less--not more--safe. That is why I oppose H.R. 38, and I ask all my colleagues to join me in doing the same.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber on Monday, November 13. Had I been present, I would have voted Yea on Roll Call votes 623, 624, and 625.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, the tax bill that this Chamber voted on 2 weeks ago was bad enough, added $1.5 trillion to the debt, 36 million middle class households will see their taxes go up, and 50 percent of those tax cuts would go to the wealthiest 1 percent in this country. But the Senate bill that is being debated on the other side of this Capitol right now is even worse. In addition to what I just described, we will see 13 million Americans lose their ability to see a doctor, to stay healthy, to take care of themselves, and even to live their lives. For those lucky enough to have healthcare, their premiums in Texas, for example, will go up, on average, $1,700 a year. We will see 1 million of our fellow Texans lose their health insurance if this bill passes. Now, many people have called my office to ask what they can do to help. The number for the Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. It will be the public pressure that will help to form the political will for our colleagues in the Senate to do the right thing and to vote ``no'' on this tax bill.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota, our ranking member on the committee, for yielding. Mr. Speaker, we have a crisis in suicide among veterans today in this country. The official estimate, which I agree with the ranking member, is probably an estimate that is too low: 20. I think the real number is much higher than that, but 20 a day, we know for sure, are taking their own lives in this country after they have put those same lives on the line for this country. Amidst that crisis, we know that those veterans who have an other than honorable discharge are taking their lives at twice the rate of those veterans who have an honorable discharge. Thanks to Mr. Coffman, my colleague from across the aisle, thanks to the bipartisan support of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, and the leadership from the chairman and the ranking member, we are beginning to address that, in ensuring that the 22,000 veterans who have an other than honorable discharge since 2009, who incurred post- traumatic stress disorder or military sexual trauma while in service to this country will now be able to see mental healthcare providers. Before this, they were precluded from that. I want to thank the Trump administration and especially Secretary Shulkin for doing the most that they could administratively to see these veterans in crisis in emergency rooms, but we need to take the next step and ensure that they have preventative care, continuous care, and continuity in that care going forward so that we save more of these lives. Given what these veterans have laid down for this country, what they have done for the United States, making us stronger and better, serving at less than 1 percent since 9/11 so that so many others do not have to serve, the least we can do is to make sure that they have access to the care that they have earned. I want to thank Mr. Coffman and his team, the minority and the majority staffs for incorporating the best ideas from both sides of the aisle to make sure that we have a bill that will become law that ensures that we do our best for our veterans. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol, in the Senate, especially Senator Murphy, who worked on the companion legislation of this, to make sure that we have something to bring to the President's desk.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Thank you. I cannot think of a better way to spend it than to be here with you.

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Weber for bringing us today. I also want to extend my condolences for the loss of life and the devastation that was visited on the communities that he represents. I know that he is doing his best to unite those communities in every way possible to ensure that they get back on their feet, they rebuild, and are bigger and better than ever. Party difference doesn't mean anything at this moment. It is all of us as Texans. I join Chairman McCaul in agreeing that we cannot have a better moment as a State. I am grateful to him for bringing us all together today. As he said, I have really had an opportunity to spend some time traveling Texas, and especially southeast Texas, starting around the time that Harvey hit. I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that in Austin, Texas, on the 25th of August, I was there as the first evacuees were leaving southeast Texas, coming from Victoria and Corpus Christi and other places that were under mandatory evacuation orders. They were arriving at Red Cross shelters that were staffed both by the professionals and the volunteers. I was told by the head of Red Cross in Austin that they had never seen a greater turnout of volunteers on the first day of a disaster. In fact, I met a young man named Luis Zamora, who at the time was a rising junior at Tarleton State University and a member of the National Guard, and who was so disappointed that his colleagues in the Guard were called up, but he was not. He drove himself down to the Red Cross headquarters so that he could sign up, volunteer, and help staff one of these shelters, welcome those who were fleeing this storm, and help try to make their lives a little bit better. It reminded me of visiting some of the shelters in San Antonio, where I had a chance to see their great Mayor Ron Nirenberg in action personally welcoming people coming from other parts of the State. To every one of them, his message was: We are so glad you are here. Stay as long as you need to. We are going to make things better for you. You focus on you. We will do our best to take care of you. That really was the message we heard everywhere that we went. When we found ourselves in Victoria helping to transport some medical supplies for two of those hospitals, we met an extraordinary young woman named Lisa Price, who had been up for the last 72 hours, as many of the people working in those hospitals were, trying to coordinate care for those in need, coordinate the evacuation of those who were no longer able to be cared for in hospitals that only had backup generator power and did not have reliable water and could not keep those medicines and vaccines chilled. There were volunteer ambulance corps from all over the State of Texas who had driven down to Victoria to help transport these patients out. Lisa and others were helping to coordinate that. Her husband, Jason, a Department of Public Safety Trooper was out on those roads that had no streetlights, that had no working traffic signals, trying to ensure the safety of his fellow Texans. Two extraordinary heroes who exemplify the way that Texas met this challenge. I certainly spent some time in Houston, where we heard tale of all of the first responders, certainly folks who were working under the great fire chief there, Chief Pena. But also first responders who came from across the State. El Paso sent folks from the El Paso Police Department and the El Paso Fire Department. They made over 100 rescues not just in the Houston area, but also in the greater Beaumont area, including rescuing a 1-month-old child from chest-high waters. Again, we saw that both from first responders and everyday citizens who risked their own lives to save the lives of fellow Texans. We were in a parking lot in Victoria, where we were picking up supplies to take to Rockport. We knew, however, that Rockport was under a mandatory curfew, enforced by DPS. So I approached two DPS cruisers that were in the parking lot at Walmart, where we were going in to buy ice and water and diapers and other supplies that they might need in Rockport. I wanted to ask these two DPS officers if they could help us to get into Rockport under the curfew. As they were rolling down their window and I began to introduce myself, they said: I know exactly who you are. You are Beto O'Rourke. We are from El Paso. We were one of the first volunteers from the Department of Public Safety in El Paso to come out to Victoria, and we have been working this community, communities like Cuero, Port Lavaca, Rockport, and other places. They wanted to be where the action was. They wanted to be out there saving lives. And it made me so extraordinarily proud of El Paso and Texas once again. It is like the 90 soldiers from Fort Bliss from one of the aviation brigades who were in southeast Texas as well trying to facilitate the rescue of their fellow Texans, being where the need was at its moment of greatest importance, again, making us so proud. Congressman Weber, I will conclude by telling you that, as we came in to Rockport and were able to successfully get in under curfew to make our delivery, we were blown away and inspired by the volunteer fire department, 20 people strong, 8 of whom had lost their homes and literally everything in their homes but had not lost a minute's service to their fellow community out of that Rockport fire station. They were living in the fire station because they had nowhere else to live. They were responding to triple or quadruple the service calls. The rains had now ended. The fires had begun. There was some question about the viability of those structures, and they wanted to be there to save lives. That fire chief, Steve Sims, and the men and women who serve under him are the absolute best of us as Texans. I am so glad that you and every one of our colleagues from Texas, Republican or Democrat, House Member or Senator, are focused on making Chief Sims, the members of that fire department, and every Texan affected by Harvey whole again. We have got to use their inspiration and their example to do the important work that is here before us. So I thank you once again for bringing us together, allowing me to join you and work with you and our colleagues to make sure that Texans fully recover from Hurricane Harvey bigger and better than ever. Thank you.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, this last Sunday, I had the opportunity to go to Port Arthur and the El Vista neighborhood. Pictured here is the Channel family flanked by the amazing Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens and County Commissioner Sinegal. You have Tomeka, McKenzie, and their father, Quincy, who are trying to find something to save out of a house that was all but destroyed. Ms. Tomeka showed me these pictures of McKenzie who is now a college student at TSU. His first grade picture and his kindergarten picture were just about all that they could save from their house. But I will tell you, the Channel family, like Texas, was undefeated and promised me that they were going to build their house back bigger and better than ever. That is the spirit of our State. It is the spirit of the people in southeast Texas in communities like Port Arthur, Orange, Beaumont, Houston, Port Lavaca, Victoria, Rockport, and so many others. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you and the other Members of this body for voting to support our State and other areas hit by recent storms to the tune of $15 billion. It is going to help us build back bigger and better than ever.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, later this evening, perhaps early tomorrow morning, this body will be voting on a series of appropriations measures to fund our armed services and the VA. Tacked on to that, at the whim of the chairman of the Rules Committee, in what I can only describe as the most undemocratic, unrepresentative fashion, is a provision to fund a border wall between the United States and the country of Mexico to the tune of $1.6 billion, a mere down payment on total construction costs which are estimated to be over $20 billion. I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, that we keep in mind some very basic facts; the first being that the border between the United States and Mexico has never been safer or more secure. Last year and the year before, we saw record-low levels of northbound apprehensions from Mexico. If you look at where we were in the year 2000, you had 1.6 million apprehensions from Mexico. Last year, you had a little over 400,000. Do you know who so many of those apprehensions were? They were kids, young families, scared and frightened, leaving the most horrific brutality that we can imagine from the Northern Triangle countries of Central America, literally fleeing for their lives to this country, which is comprised of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and is the very foundation of our success. Apparently, this is who we are trying to wall off and protect ourselves from with this $1.6 billion boondoggle. We now see, in the last 4 years, that more Mexican nationals are leaving the United States for Mexico than are coming north from that country into ours. We have twice the Border Patrol agents that we did in 2001: 20,000 Border Patrol agents. Today, you and I, the American taxpayer, are spending $19.5 billion a year. We are long past the point of diminishing returns with this very precious public resource. We are trying to solve, Mr. Speaker, a problem that we don't have. Case in point: the city that I have the honor of serving and representing, El Paso, Texas, is regularly ranked the top, the second, or the third safest city, not just in Texas, but in the entire United States, using FBI crime statistics as crunched by CQ Press. We are the safest community, yes, because we have excellent local and Federal law enforcement, including the Border Patrol. But we are also the safest city because of, and not in spite of, the fact that a quarter of the people who I represent were born in another country, most of them in Mexico. They are not, Mr. Speaker, the rapists and criminals that then-Candidate Trump would have us believe that they are. So, if there is no rational, logical, fact-based case for a wall, why in the world would we be spending $1.6 billion on this, instead of creating more jobs or ensuring that more Americans can see a doctor or that more kids can go to a great school with excellent public school teachers? Here are some of the other consequences. There was excellent reporting in The Texas Observer, followed up by the LA Times, on the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. It is about 10 miles southeast of McAllen, Texas. It is the last refuge for the ocelot, for 400 different species of birds, bobcats, and armadillos. They are planning to build the wall right through that refuge. That belongs to you, me, our families, and our descendants. That is our heritage that we are about to wall off and destroy. We are dividing communities; we are diminishing our relationship with Mexico, who should be our closest partner; and we are making our communities, including El Paso and other communities in Texas, less safe, as we militarize them and as people who live amongst us question whether they can go to local law enforcement to report a crime, serve as a witness, testify in a case, or help contribute to the safety of our communities. Let me bring this fact to your attention, Mr. Speaker. On Sunday, in a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio, Texas, the bodies of nine dead immigrants were found in the back of a trailer. A tenth died later in the hospital. Tuesday morning, in El Paso, three bodies, including those of children, were dredged out of the canal that joins us with Cuidad Juarez and Mexico. Mr. Speaker, since 1998, 7,000 people--human beings--have died trying to cross into the United States. As we further militarize and wall up and make it harder for people to come as legitimate asylum seekers; refugees; folks who want to work in our economy; people who want to join their families, be with their moms, dads, brothers, and sisters, their children, we ensure greater suffering and death. Mr. Speaker, we do not need a wall. We need comprehensive immigration reform. We need to treat each other with dignity and respect. That ensures our safety, security, and success.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand against a proposal that we will vote on later this week to spend more than $1.6 billion to build a wall that we don't need at our border with Mexico. We have never had lower apprehensions coming from Mexico in my lifetime. We had 105 apprehensions per Border Patrol agent 10 years ago; last year, it was 25. The border has never been safer. We have never spent more money-- $19.5 billion a year--and instead of putting this $1.6 billion toward jobs or healthcare or reducing student loan debt, we are trying to solve a problem that we don't have in this country. We need to instead look to the example of El Paso, Texas, one of the safest cities in the United States. It is the safest not in spite of its connection with Mexico, not in spite of the fact that so many people whom I represent in that community were born in another country--most of them Mexico--but because of those things. When we treat each other with respect, dignity, and compassion, we also create security, safety, and success. Mr. Speaker, that is the example that we should be following, not a $1.6 billion investment in a wall that we don't need.

Mr. O'ROURKE

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, there are tens of thousands of veterans in this country who have served this country; put their lives on the line, literally; and saved the lives of countless other servicemembers who, because of their service, have mental healthcare-related conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which contributed to them having an other than honorable discharge. Mr. Speaker, with an other than honorable discharge, those veterans are unable to go into a VA and see a mental healthcare provider, despite the fact that they are more than two times likely to take their own lives. Now that we all know this, I hope that Members will join me in cosponsoring the Honor Our Commitment Act, which I introduced with Mike Bost in the House and Chris Murphy in the Senate. It is bipartisan and bicameral. It honors our commitment and obligation to those servicemembers who did right by this country, and it will save lives. I look forward to the full support of this Chamber, passage of this bill, and having the President sign it into law.