The committee on Homeland Security will come to order. The committees meeting today for consideration the Border Security for america act of 2017. Chair announces that any request for recorded votes may be rolls and reset the committee at any point. Without objections, so ordered. They plan to acquire adequate notice and will have the court apply notees to members. I recognize myself for an Opening Statement. This morning our committee has gathered to markup the Border Security for america act. Before we begin id like to extend my thoughts and prayers to all the victims and the family members who have lost a loved one in the horrifying tragedy in las vegas sunday night. This kind of hatred deserves no place in our society. Now is the time to come together and heal as one nation. Going forward we must stand united and reject this kind of senseless violence. Id also like to take a brief moment to recognize the curages First Responderse, coast guard, National Guard, fema, countless volunteers who continue to work and rebuild communities in my home state of texas, in florida, in puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands in the wake of recent hurricanes. Were extremely thankful to their dedication. To their fellow citizens we pray everyone effected can make a full recovery. Today we will be reviewing legislation that will protect our homeland by strengthening the security of our borders. The American People are threatened by international terrorists, human traffickers, drug smuglers and transnational gangs like ms 13 to try and sneak into our country, bring harm to our communities and disrupt our way of life. Allowing this to continue is completely unacceptable. Our southern border is roughly 2,000 miles long. We must do more to keep it secure and this markup will allow us to begin that process. The legislation before us is a 21st century multilayered approach that authorizes 10 billion for tactical infrastructure, including the construction of a wall were practical and effective. It provides new Cutting Edge Technology and empowers the dshs secretary to take necessary actions. While advanced technology are important parts of achieving our goal, this bill goes even further and provides an additional 5 billion to modernize ports of entree while facilitating trade, deploying the National Guard on the ground to assist with intelligence operations and aviation support and it insures the identification of visa over stays with a full implication of an exit system, something the 9 11 Commission Recommended that was never fulfilled. This bill also adds 5,000 officers and 5,000 Border Patrol agents. Theyre our strongest assets as they serve on the front lines of the fight to control our border. The Additional Resources provided in this bill will allow tuse defeat drug car tells, stop leet lething gang members from infecting our neighborhoods. Under the leadership of the president weve already begun to make progress in these areas by cracking down on illegal immigration. Id like to commend the white house for a stricter vetting process from conflict zones and nations unwilling to meet basic informationing for the purposes of minimizing the terrorist threat. In written testimony provided to the senate last week, acting secretary elaine duke highlighted the dangers posed by Transnational Criminal Organizations, stating that they quote provide a potential means of transferring weapons of mass destruction to terrorists or for fac facilitating terrorist entry into the United States. End of quote. The worlds most dangerous terrorists are only one plane ride away and theyre always testing new ways to penetrate our borders. Well never successfully secure our homeland until were capable of controlling who can lawfully inter our country. The issue brings out a lot of emotion and presents many challenges. Going forward the best way to prevent these challenges from reoccurring is by securing our border. And while we debate and discuss these topics, we must not forget that the United States is the most welcoming country in the world. However, we cannot allow our adversaries to exploit. We only endanger the people we are sworn to protect by ignoring the problems along our border. As a representative from texas ive seen these problems first hand. As a member of congress we all have a solemn obligation under article one of the constitution to protect our homeland and keep the American People safe from anyone who wishes to bring us harm. Today we have an important opportunity to Work Together and to pass this commonsense bill ourt of our committee and move it to the house floor. We have been talking about Border Security for so many years. And now we finally have a chance to get this done. We finally have a partner in the white house who has prioritized this issue. Time for congress to do its part and get this job done. Im proud to acknowledge this legislation has co sponsored by 70 of our colleagues and we have momentum in both chambers of congress. Several outside groups have submitted letters of support for this legislation. They include the federal Law Enforcement association, the Border Patrol union, the border trade alliance, the National Fraternal ord of police among others and i ask unanimous consent to enter those letters into the record without objection. So lets work to get this bill to the president s desk so we can provide the American People with the security they have long demanded and deserve. With that i now recognize the Ranking Member, mr. Thompson. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Before i share my thoughts on this bill, id like to express my deep condolences to the nearly 60 families that lost luvled ones and the over 500 people who were injured by a man armed to the teeth earlier this week in las vegas. I urge my colleagues to join me and other gun owners to pass commonsense reforms to prevent further mass casualty attacks. While the fbi has found no link to isis, this is clearly a domestic terrorist attack. Turning to the matter at hand, a simple promise inputs campaign was that he would build a big, beautiful wall across the entire southern border and mexico would pay for it. That was a time in a not too distant past when this committee cared about farkcts, data and results. We supported them having a border strategy, presenting matrix and deploying personnel and equipment to adjust to threats. Last month the department of Homeland Security provided evidence that our responsible approach to Border Security is paying off. In a 20page report dhs concluded available data indicates that the southwest land border is more difficult to illegally cross today than ever before. Dhs found that inflow is down and as our apprehension rates t is getting harder and harder to cross and less people are trying. I ask unanimous consent to place that in the record. Without objection, so ordered. We are today considering a fiscally irresponsible measure to formally authorize president froms wall at all cost. We would hear throughout the day that this is a 15 billion bill. Actually the cost is much higher and one thing is for sure. They will not be born by mexico. It will be american taxpayers, land owners, the environment and native americans that will bare these costs. Ive seen estmats that Construction Costs for the wall would be between 20 to 70 billion and since hr 3548 does not include any mileage limitations, spesification or cost control, theres no telling how much it will actually cost to build. To date the federal government owns a third of those sections of the southwest border that do not have physical barriers. As such, to fulfill President Trumps promise of a big, beautiful wall, it would trigger the most expensive federal take ins that this nation has seen. This is not my expectation. The president made it clear he expects to pursue legal actions against ranchers and land owners and wants to hire a team of imminent domain attorneys to do it. If history is any indication when the federal government wants land to build barriers, its ranchers and small land owners who bear the biggest cost. A decade after the secure fens fence act, theres still 93 americans waiting to get paid for land taken by the federal government. The federal government may see a quarter acre as worth a couple hundred dollars. But to a land owner whoseler had it in their family for generations, requirits pricele. Santa ana wildlife refuge and other federal lands would be cogged up. Also cogged up would be the habitat and endangered species that they protect. It would make it difficult for wildlife to move across the border, including american jaguars, and which have begun to return to various parts of the u. S. After a long absence. A 28thousand member native american tribe would also pay a steep price. Their tribe controls 75 miles along the u. S. Mexican border and one tribe member explained the wall would cut through our Ancestral Lands and it divides families that have been able to go back and forth freely since before the border line was drawn. This bill has hidden costs too. On the top of page 73, it states there are authorized to be appropriated to u. S. Customs and Border Protection as may be necessary to increase the annual rate of basic pay for employees. Mr. Chairman, i believe cbt personnel should be adequately paid but the way this bill goes about it, calls into question the seriousness of that effort. The absence of offsets for the 15 billion authorization violates the general protocols issued by the Republican House leadership for bills to be considered and the 115th congress. I ask unanimous consent to submit the general protocols into the record at this time. So ordered. Mr. Chairman, this bill would authorize trumps border wall at all cost. It is a 15 billion boon doggal that abandons past bipartisan efforts to stop throwing money that border in favor of strategically deploying resources. I hope that after today we can have a serious conversation about the border and move Forward Together in a productive manner. With that i yield back. Other Committee Members reminded statements may be submitted later for the record. Mr. Chairman. Reserving the right to object and i will not object, would the chair please explain our Agreement Regarding the amendment roster . I yield to the chairman. I thank all Committee Members for agreeing to the use of the roster. Weve agreed that the amend mntd and the nature of the substitute is open at any point and that we shall take up amendments in the order listed on the roster. The chair will allow members to offer amendments listed on the roster out of order to the extent practable and in a manner not prohibited by rules. It may be considered at the conclusion of the consideration of the roster. I thank the chair for this explanation and withdraw my reservation. I recall hr 3548 the Border Security for america act of 2017 and discharge the subcommit canny on border and maritime for further consideration. It was circulated in advanced. Hr 3548. Without objection, the reading is dispensed with and the bill is considered read and open to amendment at any point. I have an amendment. The court shall report the amendment. Amendment in the nature of substitute for hr 38. It shall be considered base texet for purposes of amendment. Its notees to all members in compliance with the committee rules. Is there any discussion on the amendment in the nature of the substitute . There being no further discussion on the amendment, the committee will move to considerati consideration. Colemans recognized. Thank you for recognizing me, mr. Chairman. Considering the past, the president s commitment to build a massive wall along our southern border, i cant say its surprising this committee has chosen to follow his lead in the misguided effort. But it is disappointing, nonetheless. Because theres so many things we can do with this 10 billion that would be a better use of the resources in building a border wall. Id suggest sending the money to gateway project because we certainly could use it or we could partially rectify our failure last week to fund the Health Insurance program and instead of authorizing 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents, we could take advantage of the massive decline to sthift resources away from Border Control and i. C. E. Where there are real and growing threats rather than and instead of wasting a day debaiteding a bill that wont become law, hopefully, we could be having what Domestic Violence extremism hearing that weve always been asking for or just a discussion with Emergency Responders on how to deal with the threat to our homeland that is a madman with eetzy access to assault weapons. But obviously i dont set the hearing topics or choose the bills to be marked up so ill briefly discuss this very flawed piece of legislation. My colleagues have already laid out some of the problems in the amendments they will be offering and will continue to do so throughout. I want to highlight a couple of specific provisions in the bill. Section 120 c 2 gg and 120 c 2 hh, these provisions are waver. From complying with the American Indian religious freedom act and religious freedom restoration act. This is considered odd considering ive been hearing a lot about religious freedom these past few years. Indeed last congress, seven members, including you, mr. Chairman, the sponsor of this bill co sponsored the First Amendment defense act which is widespread in the name of religious freedom. So when we seek to protect lgbt individuals from discrimination, my republican colleagues say religious freedom doesnt allow that. And when we seek to insure women have access to contraceptions, they say religious freedom doesnt allow that. And when we seek to the insure nonprofits dont abuse their tax exempt status, my republican colleagues say religious freedom doesnt alow that. But suddenly when were looking to build a massive wall by republican my republican colleagues couldnt care less about religious freedom and the First Amendment. But its not even just that they dont care, theyve gone out of their way to specifically put into statute that our existing federal freedom laws dont apply when theyre controlling the border detaining individuals or constructing the border wall. I hope that before voting for this bill our Committee Members will think about how they will explain to their constituents and Community Religious Leaders why this bill was worth abandoning their commitment to religious freedom when theres so many other cases they view it as an absolute right and given what weve experienced over the last month, i cannot end this point of concern without mentioning the hurricanes, the devastation to our islands, to our states. What happened in las vegas, we could be using the resources today to a better use. So due to these provisions, i urge the committee to reject this legislation. I yield back. Is there further discussion on the amendment. Thank you to the chairman and the it Ranking Member for their presentation of the underplying legislation. I recall in times past, mr. Chairman and to the Ranking Member, we worked oen a Border Security initiative in a bipartisan manner and that bill was enormously effective. It was an enormously effective construct of how the individuals, citizens, ranchers and others that live at the border felt and could perceive that the United States was doing something about and Something Real about Border Security. It did have some enhancement of staffing, but it used an important construct of technology and intelligence to be able to insure the safety and security of the people of the United States of america and particularly the border. I come from a border state. As does the chairman. And i know that in our many visits, we have heard a number of reactions to a border wall. Which this particular legislation seems to put without tongue and cheek in concrete. This is a wall enormously difficult. I have been discussing Border Security with texans for a very long time. I have interacted with universities who have rejected and contested the federal government taking their land. And so we now are going to go on what i believe will be not a joy ride but a ride to no end and of no consequences. This is not a good use of the needs of the American People to be secure. I hold an article that says the massacre in vegas, an act of pure evil and to the commentators on the local cable, you are misdirected to not note that this is an act of domestic terrorism. Plain and simple. The perpetrator used military weapons. Weapons of military force. Used a bump kit intended to massacre as many people as he could. This is an issue that if the