{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://strong.house.gov/media/press-releases/strong-committee-report-shows-biden-administration-has-emboldened-cartels", "Strong Committee Report shows Biden Administration has emboldened cartels, criminals, and America's enemies\u2014fueling the border crisis", "2023-09-08", "2023", "2023-09", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Dale W. Strong", "S001220", "strong.house.gov", "strong", "https://strong.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Congressman Dale W. Strong (AL-05), member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, is joining Republican colleagues in holding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas accountable for the crisis at the Southwest border.\n\nThis week, the committee released a second interim report as part of its comprehensive oversight investigation into the crisis at the Southwest border. The report provides firsthand testimony from law enforcement officials and insight from the frontlines of the border crisis. It outlines how cartels gained control at the Southwest border and how the current policies set forth by President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have fuel the cartels\u2019 human smuggling and drug trafficking operations.\n\n\u201cPresident Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas\u2019 ongoing border crisis has escalated into a national security nightmare. It\u2019s no secret that the Biden administration has handed over control of our Southwest border to the Mexican cartels. Something must be done, and I will not stand idly by,\u201d said Representative Dale Strong.\n\nSee highlights from the report here:\n\n\u201cNumerous law enforcement veterans, local officials, and national security experts agree that the cartels have seized an unprecedented level of control at the Southwest border. This control represents a significant challenge to CBP\u2019s national security mission, the safety of American communities, and the sovereignty of the United States.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe testimony of experienced border security and law enforcement professionals, to say nothing of the sheer number of illegal aliens and illicit drugs being moved across the border every day, together demonstrate that the cartels now possess a historic level of control at the Southwest border. Despite their heroic efforts, the men and women of federal, state, and local law enforcement have been overwhelmed by the onslaught, and are only able to mitigate some of the consequences of that control.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe cartels have seized control as a result of the open-borders policies of Mayorkas and the Biden administration. These groups have seized on the millions of people streaming through Mexico to the Southwest border to take advantage of Mayorkas\u2019 radical \u201ccatch and release\u201d policies, confident in the knowledge that if they gain entrance into the United States, they will never be sent home. The cartels have capitalized on this eagerness, and devised insidious new ways to take advantage of vulnerable populations to ensure an effectively endless stream of revenue.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:35:26Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://strong.house.gov/media/press-releases/strong-committee-report-shows-biden-administration-has-emboldened-cartels"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.649803016334772, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}