Securing the Border and Protecting our Rights
Friends,
The crisis at our border continues to get worse and the fallout continues to mount.
In the House Energy and Commerce Committee, we held a hearing last week on the opioid epidemic. We discussed how fentanyl-based substance use has skyrocketed over the past year while we have dealt with lockdowns and the pandemic. We also learned the Biden Border Crisis is only making this problem worse.
Agents I met with at one station on my recent trip to the border told me they have seized 55 pounds of fentanyl this year. It's hard to imagine, but that's enough to kill up to 10 million Americans - or the entire population of North Carolina! Overall, Border Patrol has seized 5,500 pounds of fentanyl this fiscal year, an increase of 322% from last year. This astonishing amount is only what we know about. But there is no telling what cartels and smugglers are successfully getting across our porous southern border. Cartels are taking advantage of the lack of leadership from President Biden and Vice President Harris and making millions of dollars in the process.
Last week on Fox Business Network, I outlined House Republican solutions that would actually end the border crisis. These include finishing the wall, reinstating the ‘remain in Mexico' policy, maintaining Title 42 authority to protect our public health, requiring a negative COVID test before releasing migrants, and sending a clear message around the globe: don't come to the United States illegally. We have solutions that have been proven to work and I will continue pushing to end this crisis.
Another issue I continue to care deeply about is protecting the life of the unborn. Last week, I was proud to sign a petition to force Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to the House floor for a vote. The Born-Alive Act would ensure that any child who survives an attempted abortion receives the medical care they deserve. It's a shame we need this common-sense legislation in the first place. However, Washington Democrats have so far refused to allow a vote on it. As a dad and Christian, I firmly believe life is a sacred and precious gift from God that begins at conception. I am unapologetically pro-life and will continue to defend the most vulnerable.
In another display of their desire to overturn protections for the unborn, Washington Democrats also unveiled legislation last week to pack the Supreme Court.
Washington Democrats are determined to expand the Supreme Court to protect their power and would threaten rights including life, as well as the Second Amendment. In 1983, then-Senator Joe Biden called this a "bonehead idea" and "terrible mistake." In 2020, Biden said expansion would, "begin to lose any credibility the court has at all." Former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said nine was "a good number," and court packing "would make the court appear partisan."
While Washington Democrats demonstrate they will do anything to hold onto power, rest assured I will continue to defend the Constitution and the rule of law. I am a cosponsor of an amendment to our Constitution to keep the Supreme Court of the United States at nine justices. Just like securing our border, I will continue to work to protect the integrity of the Supreme Court and your rights.
Until next week,
Richard Hudson
Member of Congress