'That's Not Acceptable, We Need Action Now': Dem Lawmaker Calls Out Biden Over Border Security

5 months ago

Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez joined Brittany Lewis on "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss a joint statement that she, along with a handful of other Congressional Democrats, released that called on President Biden and Congress to "bring order to the southern border."

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Transcript

00:00 To your point about immigration, border security being used as a political football, right

00:06 now we are in an election year.

00:08 Do you think there's going to be any meaningful legislation passed when it comes to the border

00:13 between now and November?

00:16 We've seen extremists try to stop it, to try to get all the credit for themselves, for

00:23 their party, for their team.

00:26 That is morally wrong and I've seen recently Speaker Johnson have some real courage of

00:36 character in bringing forward legislation that he knows is the right thing to do.

00:41 I'm hopeful that we'll come back in a session and have that same spirit of courage to really

00:49 start solving problems and regain operational control of the southern border.

00:55 But I am a freshman in the minority, so it is important for me to demonstrate and to

01:02 build a coalition of Democrats who are invested in border security.

01:09 That's the work that I can do, committed to stay at the top and operate in faith.

01:16 How have those conversations with Democrats been going?

01:19 Because you, like I said, were one of five to sign on to this statement.

01:24 Do other Democrats who didn't sign on feel similarly to you?

01:28 So many of the Democrats that joined me are from rural communities where we've seen a

01:32 real ravaging, or from working class communities from the trades, like me.

01:39 And so I think that perspective is really valuable in motivating people to come to the

01:44 table and put their shoulder behind the wheel.

01:48 But we're also, many of us are from very agricultural economies, so we need to come

01:59 to the table and support policies that would not harm our agricultural communities.

02:09 Only 40% of the fresh fruits and vegetables we consume in America are imported.

02:16 So anything that damages our farmers or our producers or leads to more consolidation is

02:22 a non-starter for us.

02:25 That said, you know, Vincente Gonzalez, who was one of the leaders on this, he's from

02:31 a border district.

02:32 He sees it all the time.

02:34 And having conversations with him, having him talk with his colleagues on both sides

02:40 of the aisle, this is how we get progress made.

02:44 Has President Biden, the Biden administration, or other members of Congress responded at

02:49 all to your statement?

02:50 He hasn't responded to our statement.

02:54 We saw him mention something about, oh, we'll get to the border security later.

03:02 That's not acceptable.

03:03 We need action now.

03:05 We need Congress to empower the president.

03:07 We need the president to exercise his full authority to address the crisis now.

03:12 later, not someday, now.

'That's Not Acceptable, We Need Action Now': Dem Lawmaker Calls Out Biden Over Border Security

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