<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655494921302,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-c08e-d8fe-afff-f79f16230000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655494921302,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-c08e-d8fe-afff-f79f16230000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55396918", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1034103"} }); ","_id":"00000181-732f-d082-a1ad-7bffc1880000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video Embed
Discussion of the situation at the southern border overshadowed a committee hearing on the economy and infrastructure held in the South Texas district of an endangered Democratic incumbent.
The Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth held the hearing in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border Friday to hear from locals about the infrastructure challenges that prevent them from growing the economy, specifically broadband internet access and flood damage. Committee Republicans took the opportunity to blast the response of the Biden administration and Democratic leaders to the flood of illegal immigration and drug trafficking from Mexico.
DEMOCRATS FROSTY TO GOP REP-ELECT MAYRA FLORES WHILE FIGHTING AMONG THEMSELVES
“Flood infrastructure costs millions of dollars, but instead, what’s so frustrating when I hear from folks here is that the federal government and local resources are being used to address a different crisis,” said ranking member Bryan Steil (R-WI). “And that’s the porous border that is costing the state of Texas and cities across the Rio Grande Valley millions of dollars every year.”
The hearing comes days after Republican newcomer Mayra Flores flipped Texas’s 34th Congressional District red after a century of Democratic representation in a special election. She is challenging Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D), a member of the committee, for the redrawn version of the district in November.
“My colleagues in Congress understand it is our duty as leaders to cure the prosperity of our future that our constituents deserve, and I hope through this trip to South Texas, we can make that message clear,” Gonzalez said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Prominent committee Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) did not make the trip, while some Republicans took the opportunity to visit the border.
“If we’re at the border, we clearly can’t ignore the No. 1 crisis that our nation is facing, and that is the border crisis and quite literally the invasion that we are seeing,” said Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) in a video she took Thursday night on a border trip.
Federal law enforcement at the southern border encountered 239,000 noncitizens in May, the most ever in a month. Encounters do not include others who illegally crossed the border but evaded arrest.
