Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) slammed Democrats for their handling of the crisis at the southern border during a recent hearing before the House Oversight Committee.
“What we’re going to hear from Democrats this morning is astonishing. It will be truly astonishing. For months they’ve declared there wasn’t even a crisis on the southern border” Jordan began his remarks. He quoted previous comments from the Democrats, who’ve called it a “fake crisis” and “fear-mongering of the worst kind.”
“But weeks later, Democrats sure have changed their tune. The Chairman just recently said ‘Congress cannot ignore the humanitarian crisis at the border.’ For years now, Republicans have been warning about the crisis and working to find solutions, and all the while Democrats have denied there was even a problem. This is not about politics. It’s always been about preserving the integrity of our border and preventing the humanitarian crisis that we are all now witnessing,” Jordan continued.
He criticized Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD-07) for failing to hold a hearing on the border earlier in the year.
“Instead he prioritized political hearings like, well, like the hearing we first had—Michael Cohen. Think about this. The president made his emergency supplemental request only two days after that hearing. We knew even then that it was urgent. Instead of giving a platform to a convicted felon, we could’ve come here to address the border crisis,” Jordan said.
Jim Jordan goes off on Democrats:
"For years now Republicans have been warning about the crisis and working hard to find solutions and all the while Dems have denied there was even a problem…the House Democrats finally agreed after waiting eight weeks." pic.twitter.com/y5dNa0VvjY
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) July 12, 2019
“After months of the problem being pointed out and urgent calls for more funding, it wasn’t until just before the July Fourth recess that the House Democrats finally agreed—after waiting eight weeks—to pass the $4.6 billion supplemental emergency funding bill to provide some of the resources needed at the border,” he continued.
The Ohio congressman said Democrats would “rather play politics with the border than work on solutions.”
“They’ve now gone from denying that there’s a crisis to accusing those working to stop it, our border agents, of actually creating a culture of cruelty, as some have said,” Jordan added. “Fabricating stories of cruelty and besmirching the hard-working civil servants who are protecting the border and providing humanitarian assistance does nothing to help solve the problem.”
“I hope the Democrats will stop their obsession with attacking the president and actually work collaboratively to fix this crisis,” he concluded his opening remarks.
Prior to Thursday’s hearing, Jordan sent a letter to Chairman Cummings after learning that he had invited four Democratic members of Congress to testify during the hearing and no Republicans.
#NEWS: @Jim_Jordan sends letter to @RepCummings requesting the Chairman invite @RepAndyBiggsAZ, @RepCloudTX, @RepDLesko, & @RepChipRoy to testify at tomorrow's full committee hearing examining the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. pic.twitter.com/XCvcZnmT9S
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) July 11, 2019
“Therefore, for fairness and to ensure a balanced presentation tomorrow, we respectfully request that you invite the following Republican members to testify about the unprecedented humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border,” Jordan wrote. His request was ultimately granted.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
