are is almost radical. >> kenny rogers with her book "american woman," sunday night on c-span's "q&a". you can listen to all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. ♪ >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress from panels and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided to. with no commentary, no interruptions and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> at a capitol hill news conference, house speaker mike

johnson said he supports in vitro fertilization treatment, in response to the recent ruling by the alabama supreme court. he and others discussed border security, including president biden strip to the u.s.-mexico border, and efforts to keep the u.s. government funded.

>> given the devastating crisis at our border, this should not be the president's second visit to the border. he should have been all over this the last three years. a important aspect to recognize is also the political play for president biden. brownsville can hardly be considered one of the most challenging immigration areas. it is the 29th busiest border patrol station this month, with far less activity than san diego, tucson and el paso sectors. the american people can see through that. since president biden took office, there have been 8.7 million illegal crossings nationwide.

there are eight common sense executive actions president biden could take to address the crisis at the border that happened under his watch. our speaker articulated those. you have that information from catch and release to remain in mexico. date very simple things president biden can do to alleviate the cartels from being able to run the border the way they are. we saw with the tragic death of lake and riley last week at the university of georgia, negligent immigration policies threaten the safety of our community's pre-house republicans remain committed to passing hr to, by constantly communicating about this, showing the american people the tragedy and the crisis that is going on. this bill hr2, all the provisions within it, are the strongest border security the u.s. house has ever put together. it is passed time the administration takes real steps

to end this crisis, rather than stage the photo ops we will see today. we have a great group of members. we will share their perspective with you. i will turn the mic over. >> thank you very much. we continue to see this biden administration completely give away our country. whether that is through small things like the sba programs that we are having to force through legislation. a bill that i am happy will be on the floor this week. to have an easy way to talk about the $200 million we have given away to fraudsters. two people from other countries taking advantage of our country, of a weak administration. we continue to see this. but nowhere do you see it clearer than what's happening at our border today.

you want to talk about giving away our country? from day one, this president has all the tools on his desk to be able to maintain our secure border. what did he do from day one? immediately, he stopped work on the border wall. immediately he started directing h&s instead of having homeland security do its job, no, they became cabdrivers. the border became a bus stop where people could come illegally, get picked up, and be brought to a plane or a bus, to be shipped to other places around our country. mr. president, you are down at the border now for a photo op. your policies have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of americans. how many more laken riley's are we going to have? a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered by a venezuelan illegal immigrant who should

never have been in this country. laken riley's middle name, by the way, was hope. you have taken away her family's hope and you are down there right now for a photo op. your policies that you took off the table, such as remain in mexico, that venezuelan would never have been allowed in the country, because you would've been stopped and sent back, or remained in mexico until his asylum claim was filed. you took away the rights of immigration and customs enforcement to be able to get rid of criminal illegal aliens that were committing crimes within our country. what did you put in its place? catch and release. catch and release is great trade what that did was it allowed everybody in. over 10 million illegal immigrants come into our country since you have been in office. thousands of pounds of fentanyl have been allowed to enter our country.

killing over 110,000 americans. five texans each day. you have the power to stop it now. you have the ability, the policies that were there when you got to office, to stop this problem and you haven't done it. instead you are down at our border for a photo op. mr. president, how me more daughters, how me more sons, comedy more children -- how many more children, how many more of us will you have to kill before you take this seriously? unless you get down on the border and tell laken riley's family i am sorry, this is my response ability, and i'm going to fix it now, you have no business being president. our country deserves better. hopefully, in november, we will get it. thank you. >> thank you, beth.

today, as representative van dyne reminded us, president biden is heading to the border for what i am confident will be another cleaned up photo op. while joe biden is busy making empty promises at our border, the rest of the country is being forced to deal with the consequences of his neglect. at this point, we all know the numbers. there have been 8.7 million illegal crossings nationwide. this doesn't include the known got away's, since joe biden took office. this is what we know of. the president also knows the numbers and still does nothing to protect innocent americans from this invasion. now we need to talk about the people. we need to talk about the real-life victims of biden's border failures. to talk about the two-year-old who was shot fatally this month. the 13-year-old girl in louisiana who was raped. and we need to talk about laken hope riley who went for a run on

her campus and never came home. the alleged perpetrators in each attack, illegal immigrants. these are just a few of the innocent americans victimized because of joe biden's open border policies. i have said it before, but enough is enough. i've had enough. our majority has had enough. the american people have had enough. the question remains, how many innocent people have to suffer for it to be enough for joe biden to say it is enough and take action? the time for photo op's is over. the time for action is now. with that, i will turn it over to our great majority leader, steve scalise. >> thank you, whip emmer. as president biden goes down to the border today for a photo op, he has the authority today to fix this problem that he created. let's go back to his first day in office.

joe biden with a pen undid the policies president trump had in place that were working. remain in mexico was a negotiated agreement between our two countries. joe biden says it is hard because mexico doesn't want to do it. mexico didn't want to get into the agreement when president trump was in office. but president trump made it abundantly clear to the president of mexico why it was important to have it. ultimately, it did happen and remain in mexico stopped a lot of that illegal flow, ending catch and release was something else president trump did that worked effectively. joe biden reversed that policy on his own. there were no laws passed to that. it seems like he forgot he had that legal authority for a while. speaker johnson actually pointed out to the president on multiple occasions, that he has the legal authority today to fix this

problem. we took our own action in the house. we came together as house republicans to say we are going to fix this problem, and show the country how you can secure the border, when we passed hr2, a critical piece of legislation that combined all the elements we gathered as we spoke to border patrol agents and other experts that know what is at stake to say let's fix this problem. it's a shame that not a single democrat voted for that failed. because they are not serious about the problem. they don't want to fix the problem. look at what happened just a few days ago with laken riley. that woke the country up to just how bad this is. sadly, in my backyard in louisiana, as the whip pointed out, a 14-year-old girl was raped by someone who is here illegally just days ago. this is happening in the news all across america and people are rightfully outraged. not just because it is happening

but because it is preventable. it was created by joe biden and joe biden does not want to fix the mess he created. he will go down to the border. he might talk about taking action. mr. president, we have shown you the steps you can take. i will give you a question you can ask the white house today. if the president daresay he really wants to secure the border, but won't take the steps we have been talking about today. ask president biden why today he has still got a lawsuit against the governor of texas who is trying to secure his own state's border because the president won't do his job? governor abbott put up some razor wire to at least give some protection to the state of texas to stop the flow of illegals coming in. you would think job biden would apply at -- applaud him and thank him for at least doing something. no, president biden is in court to force governor abbott to take that barrier down so more

illegals can come in. clearly, joe biden once more illegals to come into this country. whatever he says at the border today, he should be asked, mr. president will you drop your lawsuit against the state of texas so they can at least protect their border if you won't take the necessary action to do it? we in the house have continued to stand for border security and pass legislation, even without a single democrat vote because we care about this problem. we will continue to fight for those families. we are sick and tired of an open southern border. the man at the front of that fight has been our speaker every step of the way leading that charge, mike johnson. >> thanks, steve, blake and beth, tom and all of you for being here. it's another busy week on capitol hill. there is a lot going on for he let me give you a couple of days. tuesday, i went to the white house and met with the president, the vice president, leaders schumer and mcconnell and hakeem jeffries. i told the obvious truth.

it is simple, you have heard it repeated multiple times this morning. we hear it all over the country. i've been in multiple states over the last week all over the country. the obvious truth is we have to take care of america's needs first. we have to. the border is the issue to every american, no matter where the state is because every state is a border state. if we take care of america's needs first, that means securing the border. i will repeat it 10 times for emphasis. you understand what we are saying, we have to do it. we have to fund our government. this week we're working hard to do but those things. ours the president to use executive authority to do something meaningful to stop the hemorrhaging at the border. stop the flow. the white house talked to him about this specifically. i reiterated the specific provisions of federal law that give him broad authority to do that. to unwind the extraordinary, unprecedented damage he has done with his policies.

this is a catastrophe of their design. as mentioned earlier, vice chairman blake moore said we documented 64 actions beginning on the day he took office, of agency orders and actions that opened that border wide and created this chaos prayed everybody in america knows it. the president has the authority to do something and he won't. and i cannot understand why he won't. i pleaded with him to do that. we are getting government funding. i wish we could say the same about border security. the president is going to the border. this is only his second visit in three years. with everything going on, with statistics as horrible and catastrophic as they are, the effects in every community, he has only seen fit to go twice great he is going for a photo op to brownsville, the 20 ninth ranked hotspot on the border. why would he go to the 29th ranked hotspot? he doesn't want to see the

reality. we tried to explain it to him. the national border security council themselves called his visit quote too little, too late. that is an understatement. former president trump is visiting eagle pass where i led a group of 64 house republicans on january 3. many of us have been to the border many times but that was largest group to go together. the side-by-side image of these two presidents could not be a greater contrast. one president was building a wall, president trump was cracking down on those trying to cross the border illegally. he was supporting our agents, he used executive authority to stop illegal immigration. the current president biden is doing the exact opposite. he stopped construction on the wall, he halted deportations. he seated operational control to the cartels and traffickers. he did everything he could to incentivize illegal immigration. one president showed strength and the other showed weakness. that is what it is. one president stood for control,

the other stood for chaos at the border. house republicans continue to fight for strength and control. we want to keep criminals out and our family safe. the american people deserve it from the congress. that's why we're pushing for enforcement of the law. last week, laken riley, the u ga nursing student tragically cope by an illegal immigrant from venezuela. he committed mobile crimes and was not deported and went on to take her life brutally. that story has been repeated across the country in community's all across the country. and it sadly will continue we fear. multiple americans have been victimized in the last week by illegal immigrants, many of them minors. every week, 22 kids per week die from drug overdoses, the overwhelming majority are from fentanyl poisoning.

it is the leading cause of death for americans 18-49. some say those are anecdotes. it is the foreseeable result of biden's open borders and catch and release policy. we told the president tuesday he needs to take executive actions now. he needed to take it yesterday and the day before. he needs to protect community's because lives are being lost and we cannot wait. with that, we will open up for questions.

components that matter. if the president announces that he will take some executive action and says i will do a little bit on the asylum reform, that will not solve the problem. the reason the components of hr two are important because they are interlocking pieces. you need multiple pieces of this or you will not stop the flow. when we were in eagle pass on january 3, 64 house republicans, we had 30 plus year veterans of border patrol. they told us they are being asked to administer an open fire hydrant. they don't need more buckets, they need to reduce the flow. how do you reduce the flow? you reinstate remain in mexico. that would reduce the flow by 70%. i told the president at the white house. he acted as if he didn't understand. said he couldn't do it. mexico doesn't want that.

mr. president, we are the united states, mexico will do what we say. president trump did it. why can't you do it? remain in mexico. end catch and release. the reason we have violent criminals, that are free ranging around the country committing atrocities, they have been turned loose on the country. this is happening every day. you do need reforms to asylum and the pearl process and you need to build sumwalt. you can pick and choose among the menu, but if you don't have components, you will not solve the problem. we don't need political topping points. we need to stop the flow. that is why we are so insistent and determined to get those provisions through. we are looking at every option. we will continue to press this and work on it every day. as i said, i'm not with hr2, it is the components that will fix it. that is the problem. yes, sir. >> how you respond to criticisms

from some of your members saying they have been left in the dark and haven't been seeing a transparent process when it comes to government funding? >> the appropriations process is ugly. democracy is ugly. this is the way it works every year, always has, except we instituted new innovations. we broke the omnibus which is how washington has been run for years. we are trying to turn the aircraft carrier back to real budgeting and spending reform. this is important to break it up in smaller pieces. we have been working on separate individual appropriations bills. 12 bills that our appropriations committee, and the chairs of the subcommittees have had hands on the wheel, all the members and staff have worked around-the-clock for weeks to get this done. we were able to have that innovation to break it up. by having the laddered cr approach, you have separate

tranches of bills instead of one big omnibus that nobody can read or understand. the house passed 80% of our bills through the house, 80% of federal funding came through the house, the senate passed three bills. the house did our work. most of them made their way all the way through committee. members had a process and when it gets to the final negotiation of the final provisions in each of them, that's a smaller subset of members because it is complex, but that bill text will be posted this weekend. all members will have 72 hours to review it. that is our rule. that is why we need the cr to allow time to do it. if i did it the way speaker pelosi did, we just drop that bill and vote on it within hours. we want members to have their review and to see all that. it's been a long road to get here. this is a bipartisan agreement in the end but it sticks to the numbers of the agreement on spending.

it does not go above that. it will increase of it defense spending, but there will be real cuts to nondefense discretionary spending, that is what was agreed upon. the remaining six appropriations will be finalized by the march 22 deadline. then what i am excited about is turn the page on fy 24 and get immediately to fy 25, to change the way it is done, back it up on the calendar. to do everything we can to get that job done by summer so we are not coming up at september at the end of the fiscal year having to talk about cr and omnibuses. we will do every thing we can determine that aircraft carrier around. [reporter question] remember, the senate took four months to put a bill to do that.

the house is considering options on a path forward. our first responsibility is to fund government. our overriding responsibility has been the last three years to secure the border. we are getting government funding done. we can walk and chew gum at the same time, but we made clear when the president came out with his national security supplement, he had four components in it. border, ukraine, israel and indo-pacific. the reason there were four components is the white house things that is important. we said among those things, if we will fix around the world, we have to fix america first. we have to focus on america's security. i don't think there is an american out there who disagrees with that. it is inexcusable that the president has not taken action on the border and we will continue to insist on that every day. last question, front row. red coat, how about that, that will work. [laughter] >> happy thursday slash friday.

there are many critical issues to american life you are deciding. on ivf, you favor a built to protect ivf and do you believe discarding embryos is murder? >> i believe in the sanctity of every human life, i always have. because of that i support ivf and its availability. these statistics is amazing. since the technology became available in the mid-70's, an estimated 8 million births in the u.s. have been brought about because of that technology. kelly and i have many close friends who have had trouble with fertility issues and they have had beautiful families as a result of ivf. it needs to be readily available and something every american supports and handled in an ethical manner. we will continue to support that. i don't think there is a single person in the republican conference who disagrees. there is a lot of misunderstanding about it but i think it is something we ought to support.

thank you so much. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> c-span "washington journal", our live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy. from washington and across the country. friday morning, we will talk about government funding deadlines, border security and u.s. aid to israel and ukraine first with democratic congresswoman, and then a florida republican congressmen. author and former presidential candidate ralph nader will talk about the presidential race and the launch of his newspaper, capitol hill citizen. c-span's "washington journal" join the conversation live at 7:00 eastern friday morning on c-span, c-span now, or online at

c-span.org. >> friday, health policy advocates discuss the future of the affordable care act and the differences between the initial goals of the act and how it has been implement it. hosted by the american enterprise institute. watch the discussion live at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. when citizens are truly informed, a republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word from the nation's capital to wherever you are to get the opinion that matters the most, your own. this is what democracy los like. c-span, powe