Press Releases

Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) delivered the following remarks, as prepared, during debate on H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, vitally important legislation to fix the Biden administration’s southern border disaster and support the dedicated men and women of our Customs & Border Patrol, thousands of which are veterans:


Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Chairman McCaul.

Just last month I was down in the Del Rio sector of the U.S. – Mexico border to visit with our dedicated border patrol agents.

Over 15 thousand frontline border patrol agents are veterans.

Serving their country and communities again, working to keep America safe.

However, their commander-in-chief has failed to give them the resources and structure they need to effectively do their jobs.

They’re pulling drowning children out of the river.

They’re finding bodies left behind by smugglers in the brush.

Mr./Madam Speaker, these agents are fighting a new battle back home.

And the mental strain on them as a result of President Biden’s open border policies cannot be ignored.

So much so that V.A. had to deploy a mobile Vet Center to the border to offer mental health services to veteran and non-veteran agents.

Mr./Madam speaker, I heard it firsthand, these brave men and women need this bill.

Securing our borders shouldn’t be a Republican or Democrat issue.

And the people who suffer the most when we make doing so hyper political are the veteran law enforcement officers who are simply trying to do their job.

That’s a disservice to them.