Dear Friend,

Tomorrow, I will land in El Paso, Texas, with a delegation of Republican members on the Committee on Homeland Security to continue the conversations that our committee has had with law enforcement on the border over the last two years. My previous trips to the border have provided critical insight into the crisis and have helped inform crucial pieces of legislation that I have introduced. 

For example, following a previous visit to the southwest border, I introduced the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) Act that would help continue the collaborative efforts between law enforcement agencies working to stop the flow of illegal narcotics on the border. As of March of last year, BEST teams initiated more than 46,000 investigations, which resulted in 56,000 criminal arrests, the seizure of 3.75 million pounds of narcotics, 32,000 weapons, and more than $860 million in cash and monetary instruments. My bill would allow them to continue these important efforts. 

By talking directly with border law enforcement agents, Members can learn more about the problems these agents face every day. After speaking with border agents about the importance of stopping drug smuggling at the source, I introduced  the Combatting International Drug Trafficking and Human Smuggling Partnership Act of 2022, which would grant Customs and Border Protection (CBP) permanent authority to operate in foreign countries. This legislation would advance CBP's mission to protect Americans from international criminal activity by taking the fight directly to the cartels instead of waiting for the drugs to be smuggled into the United States.

Additionally, our visits create trust between the law enforcement officers and the Members of Congress who represent them. While the Biden Administration continues to ignore the crisis, these officers need to know that there are Members of Congress who are fighting for them, and the fight doesn't leave when we do. In 2021, many of our border patrol agents felt like Washington had abandoned them when the Biden Administration falsely and publicly accused mounted agents of using horse reins to "strap" Haitian migrants. These allegations were untrue, but the Biden Administration launched a full investigation into the incident to try to draw attention away from the ongoing border crisis.  

Thankfully, Republicans defended our border agents, and I introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives that expressed support for U.S. Border Patrol agents and condemned the Biden Administration for politicizing the measures taken by mounted Border Patrol agents to respond to the influx of illegal Haitian immigrants. The investigation found that agents did NOT use their reins in an inappropriate manner.

Visiting with border agents has been crucial in Republican efforts to craft policy that would help secure our border. I look forward to speaking with border agents this week to learn more about the issues that they are facing and what legislation Members of Congress can craft to help address the crisis. I plan to give a complete update on my trip in next week's newsletter, but, in the meantime, you can get updates on my border visit by following my Facebook and Twitter pages.

If you have friends or family who would be interested in learning about my trip to the border, forward this email to them and encourage them to subscribe to my newsletter by clicking on the red button below. 

Thank you for the opportunity to continue to represent you in Congress.