Press Releases

Prepared remarks of Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) from today’s House Floor consideration of H.J. Res. 46 (National Emergency Declaration Termination Resolution):

The President very clearly laid out the case for a declaration of a national emergency in his State of the Union address.

National security is the President’s highest priority, and I support his efforts to build a border wall.

There is a crisis at the border that could have been addressed much sooner, or prevented.

The open border policies of the last administration compounded this growing problem.

Schools, hospitals and other services have become overcrowded, and American workers have been hurt by reduced job opportunities and lower wages.

At the same time, human and drug traffickers have thrived.

In many of our communities, the notorious MS-13 gang has grown, and we’ve seen tragic cases of crimes committed by illegal aliens who have been deported – not once, not twice…but multiple times.

I want to cite just one example from my home state of Missouri.

A man named Pablo Serrano-Vitorino was deported to Mexico after a felony conviction in 2003.

He later returned to the country illegally and was arrested again in 2014 and 2015 after several more violent incidents – but he remained in the U.S.

Then in 2016, this man – who had no right to be in this country – was charged for murdering five people in Kansas City, Kansas, and Montgomery County, Missouri.

Stories like this aren’t unique to Missouri. These horrifying events are happening across the country. That is a crisis.

Just last Congress, we enacted legislation to deal with what all of us characterized as an opioid crisis, because opioids have devastated American communities and families from all walks of life.

We must do more – everything we can to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the country.

The men and women who put their lives on the line every day to bring order and security to our borders deserve all the tools they need to do the job.

Now, the president is taking decisive action to finally address this crisis using the authority provided by Congress.

The National Emergencies Act is very clear.  The provisions the President will use under title 10 explicitly provide the President with that clear authority.

I support the President’s efforts and believe he is well within the law in making this declaration.

I urge my colleagues to oppose House Joint Resolution 46.