U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) on Monday delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor calling for border security and chastising the Democrats for partisanship.
The C-SPAN video clip is available here.
“We could spend our time debating what a physical barrier should consist of, but let’s make one thing clear, whether it’s in the form of a wall or a fence or some barrier, combined with 21st century surveillance technology and increased border security agents, a barrier is an effective defense against entry by criminals, gang members, drug smugglers, and yes, even terrorists,” Green said.
He chastised Democrats for saying physical barriers are ineffective and “immoral.”
“Now this is not the position they held in the recent past,” he said, and added Democrats were willing to spend $40 billion under President Barack Obama but not $5.7 billion under President Donald Trump.
“What’s changed?”
He pointed out that ISIS is encouraging followers to cross over the United States’ “porous” border.
“That leads me to direct some questions to my colleagues and friends across the aisle,” Green said. “Is it worth the risk?”
“I’d pay 5.7 billion to stop the next 9-11.”
In 2017, an estimated 72,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, Green said. Fentanyl and heroin accounted for the largest increases. Most of that comes from across the border.
He questioned whether those deaths are worth laying aside political differences.
“Would it be worth it if we saved a thousand lives,” he asked. “A hundred. A dozen.”
Green on Saturday posted a Facebook video recapping his first two weeks in Congress, The Tennessee Star reported. He took the Democrats to task for shutting the government down and federal workers not getting paid, and he called for border security. He also highlighted the tragic death of Ronil Singh, an officer from Newman, California, who was allegedly murdered the day after Christmas by an alien with a criminal background who would have qualified for deportation if not for the failure of the Senate to pass the September 2017 Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act.
On a recent Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked to Green about his recent rise to fame of Congress’s Freshman class, the transition, and how he’s leading the way in declining a paycheck while the government is in a shutdown.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Photo “Mark Green” by CSPAN.
Rep. Green, the voice of common sense. Something that is very lacking in DC.