(The Center Square) – The U.S. House passed a resolution condemning border czar Vice President Kamala Harris for her role in the ongoing border crisis.
After an hour of debate Wednesday night, on Thursday morning, the resolution passed largely along party lines by a vote of 220-196. Six Democrats joined 214 Republicans to pass the measure condemning Harris. No Republicans joined 196 Democrats voting against it. Sixteen members didn't vote.
The six Democrats who joined Republicans were Reps. Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Jared Golden of Maine and Mary Peltola of Alaska.
Peltola voted for the resolution, her spokesperson told The Center Square, because the vote "isn't about any one person - it's about our border not being secure and fentanyl destroying Alaskan communities."
Golden also issued a statement saying he hopes Harris "affirms her commitment to public safety and the rule of law," including "securing our border and stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl into our communities.”
Golden, a Marine Corps veteran who's running for reelection, said, “I expect to have to work to earn Mainers’ votes and our candidates for president should expect the same. Kamala Harris has been a candidate for president for less than a week and I look forward to learning more what kind of leader she would be. … Our choice in leaders should never be a knee-jerk decision driven solely by party loyalty."
The resolution was introduced by U.S. House Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Neal Dunn of Florida, with cosponsors Greg Lopez of Colorado and Mike Bost of Illinois.
The resolution “strongly condemns” the Biden administration and “its Border Czar, Kamala Harris’s, failure to secure the United States border.”
It states that on March 24, 2021, Biden asked Harris to serve as border czar to address the ‘‘root causes’’ of illegal entry into the U.S., but it took roughly 90 days for her to visit the border. She first met with officials at a port of entry in El Paso, Texas, on June 25, 2021, roughly 800 miles from the crisis occurring in the Rio Grande Valley at the time.
The resolution also cites former Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz saying he “never had one conversation with the president or the vice president” in the two years he held the job. It also cites examples of violent crimes being committed against Americans, the record number of illegal border crossers, more than 12 million, and the record amount of fentanyl pouring through the border under Harris as border czar.
Claims made in recent days by numerous media outlets that Harris was never Biden’s border czar are verifiably false, The Center Square reported. The president tapped her as border czar, numerous outlets reported in March 2021.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was also the first governor to call on Harris as border czar to help secure the border and stop the alleged trafficking and abuse of children, The Center Square first reported.
After the resolution passed the House, Stefanik said, “Let me be clear: Harris and every elected Democrat owns this historic border crisis that has turned every community into a border community. It is time that we return to President Donald Trump’s border security policies that put the safety of American citizens first.”
She also highlighted security threats at the busiest Customs and Border Protection Sector, which The Center Square first reported on, as record numbers of known or suspected terrorists, illegal border crossers, crime and drugs poured through under the Biden-Harris administration.
“At our Northern Border in the Swanton Sector, I have seen firsthand with the Border Patrol the disastrous consequences of Kamala Harris’ failed Far Left open border agenda, which caused a historic surge in illegal crossings like we have never seen at our Northern Border before, including individuals on the terrorist watchlist,” Stefanik said. “Kamala Harris didn’t just create a national security crisis, but a humanitarian crisis that has endangered the lives of millions. House Republicans will secure the border.”
“As Border Czar, Kamala Harris is just as complicit in the crisis at our southern border as Biden or Mayorkas,” Dunn said. The House impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February for his role in creating the border crisis.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., filed two articles of impeachment against Harris, the second time he’s done so. He first filed impeachment charges against Biden and Harris last June.
Harris “disgraced the Office of the Vice President,” “willfully disregarded her oath to uphold and defend the Constitution,” “intentionally ignored her responsibility to enforce the laws of the United States and protect the American people,” leading to violence committed against Americans and creating a national security crisis, Ogles said.
After the vote on the resolution condemning Harris as border czar, U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said Harris was “not just a failed Border Czar – she is an extremist on border security and immigration enforcement, as her record as a senator, presidential candidate, and vice president makes abundantly clear.”
Green led the charge to impeach Mayorkas who was never tried because the Democratic-led Senate refused to hold a trial.
Green also pointed to Biden’s March 24, 2021, announcement tapping Harris as border czar, claiming she was “the most qualified person to … lead our efforts” to respond to the beginning of what would escalate to become an unprecedented border crisis.
“No rational person could look at the years since, and conclude anything except that she was utterly unqualified, and has completely failed,” Green said. “While Democrats and their allies in the media rush to excuse Vice President Harris’ catastrophic failure to end the crisis she and President Biden created, Congress has shown with this resolution that we want the American people to know the truth.”
