On Tuesday, Speaker John Boehner announced the formation of a Member-level working group to address the national security and humanitarian crisis occurring at the southern border. The Speaker has asked Congresswoman Kay Granger (TX-12) to lead this effort. Granger issued the following statement regarding the announcement of the working group.
“I want to thank Speaker Boehner for recognizing the urgency of the national security and humanitarian crisis that has developed at the southern border. Every day, between 250 and 500 unaccompanied children are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, which has overwhelmed and strained the resources of the Border Patrol, local officials and the states. The Border Patrol cannot do their primary job of securing the border, and there are not enough adequate facilities to house, feed, or treat the health care concerns because of the increasing number of unaccompanied children being apprehended at the border on a daily basis. The border states, including my home state of Texas, deserve solutions and the resources necessary to alleviate the serious issues they are currently having to manage.
“This dire situation along the border requires that immediate solutions be developed and implemented. This is a crisis that cannot be allowed to continue to grow. I look forward to getting to work to develop meaningful solutions that will immediately begin to address this crisis.”