Press Releases

Yesterday evening, U.S. Congressman Rick W. Allen (R-Ga-12) participated in a special order on the House floor, hosted by Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-04), to highlight the significance of properly securing our southern border.

Thank you Representative Hartzler for your efforts in organizing this special order this evening as we continue to fight for the safety and security of our fellow Americans. I want to highlight “safety and security” because that is our number one role in this country.

Madam Speaker, I rise tonight with many of my colleagues to address the significance of this crisis we are facing at our southern border. Just last week, President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office for the first time about the importance of border security – and mentioned the devastating story of Robert Page, who was violently murdered by an illegal immigrant in my home state of Georgia.

A 76-year-old grandfather’s life was needlessly cut short at the hands of an individual who was in our country illegally. There are far too many families in our country who are coping with a tragic loss like this as a result of insufficient border security. Bottom line, whatever we’re doing for border security is not working – we must do more.

And that’s not to mention the illegal drugs that are coming into the United States. As the President mentioned in his letter to Congress, three hundred Americans are killed every week from heroin. And ninety percent of that heroin comes across that Southern border.

This is a humanitarian and national security crisis, my friends, and it must be addressed immediately, and it must be done properly. We are supposed to be a nation of laws – how can we stand by and let lawlessness continue?

I’d ask that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle keep the best interests of American citizens in mind as they continue to deny funds for commonsense solutions to this growing crisis. It is this body, it is the United States Congress that appropriates funds, then it is sent to the President. I say this – Congress appropriate the funds, let’s build the wall, let’s send the bill to the President, and reopen this government.

With an average of 60,000 illegals a month on our southern border, our law enforcement professionals must have the additional resources to successfully execute their jobs and keep the American people safe. From the day President Trump announced his candidacy, he has made it clear that border security is a priority, and his Administration has been built on “promises made, promises kept.”

I can tell you that the good folks in Georgia’s 12^th district want to secure our border with a wall. We want to do it the right way. We must stand behind our President – the security of our nation depends on it. With that, I yield back.

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