WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) delivered the following testimony in a House Committee on Rules hearing to consider House Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which includes funding advanced by the Committee to complete the border barrier system, hire, train, and retain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel, and enhance the technology at our borders.

Watch Chairman Green’s full statement here.

As prepared for delivery:

Thank you, Chairwoman Foxx, Ranking Member McGovern, and members of the Rules Committee. It is an honor to be here with you all this morning.

From day one of their administration, former President Biden and Vice President Harris systematically and intentionally dismantled America’s border security and gutted interior immigration enforcement, sending a clear message to the world that our borders were open. The consequences were staggering. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded roughly 13 million encounters of inadmissible aliens and gotaways—a number quadruple that of the first Trump administration. 

Border Patrol agents were overwhelmed and demoralized as they were tasked to process and release tens of thousands of illegal immigrants every month. Apprehensions of individuals on the terrorist watchlist illegally crossing the Southwest border spiked from 11 during 2017-2020 to 385 between FY2021-2024. Illicit narcotics, especially fentanyl, surged across the Southwest border, contributing to a national overdose crisis. ICE agents were effectively prevented from doing their jobs, and deportations plummeted to historic lows. 

But the tide has turned. President Trump was decisively elected in large part because he promised to fix the self-inflicted crisis created by the prior administration. 

Now, Border Patrol agents have returned to the frontlines, empowered to enforce the law.

Scores of criminal aliens are being detained and deported, and law and order is finally returning to our communities.

The numbers make it clear—President Trump’s approach of actually enforcing our laws works. Apprehensions at our borders have plummeted to never-before-seen levels. For example, monthly encounters at the Southwest border dropped over 97% – from a record high of over 301,000 in December 2023 to less than 8,400 in April of this year.

The Trump administration is keeping its promises, and now we in Congress need to keep ours. Just like the president, every Republican ran on securing our border and enforcing our laws. If we fail to provide the necessary funding to the Department of Homeland Security to secure our border and restore law and order, we will show ourselves to be unworthy of the trust placed in us. Every budget recommendation that my Committee advanced for inclusion in this bill is critical to maintaining the momentum that we have achieved so far.

First, Title VI (6) of this bill provides over $46 billion to finish construction of a strategically placed border barrier system. This system includes not just steel and concrete bollards, but a full suite of technology and infrastructure, such as lights, sensors, cameras, and access roads, giving agents the tools they need to secure the border and do their jobs safely and effectively. 90 percent of Border Patrol agents agree that a strategically based border wall system is a key part of their toolkit—who are we as politicians, sitting in our air-conditioned offices, to deny them this invaluable resource they say they need? 

Our reconciliation package also provides $5 billion to improve and modernize Customs and Border Protection checkpoints and facilities. These checkpoints are critical to the border security mission. 

Reconciliation funding will also be used to invest in frontline personnel by providing more than $7 billion to increase the number of Border Patrol agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers, Air and Marine agents, support staff, and eligible retired agents and officers. Without immediate and sustained investment in workforce expansion and retention, CBP risks further erosion of both effectiveness and morale, endangering not only border security but also the well-being of those sworn to protect it.

Title VI also invests in cutting-edge technology to help agents and officers interdict illicit contraband and drugs like fentanyl. 

As cartel tactics evolve, Congress must provide CBP with the cutting-edge technology they need to carry out President Trump’s successful border security agenda while safely staying one step ahead of threats. Our bill invests over $5 billion in modernizing and enhancing our border security and surveillance technologies—such as drones, ground sensors, enhanced communication systems, and surveillance towers—at and between ports of entry, which will allow CBP to efficiently detect human smuggling operations, decrease the number of gotaways, and interdict dangerous drugs before they enter our country.

The bill will also provide $450 million to Operation Stonegarden, a grant program designed to help border states and local communities enhance their own security.

Republicans are focused on what actually matters—providing proper funding so that DHS law enforcement can carry out their border security mission, protect our country, and secure the homeland. We have a historic opportunity to make the country we love safer and more secure. Let’s keep our promises and get reconciliation done.

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