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| Fighting for Affordable College |
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I proudly serve on the Committee on Education and Labor. This week, over the course of three days, I participated in the markup of H.R. 4674, the so-called College Affordability Act. H.R. 4674 would radically worsen the higher education system in the United States, while doing nothing to hold colleges and universities accountable. Unfortunately, key Republican amendments were rejected by the Democratic majority in the markup.
For these reasons, I do not support H.R. 4674. It is truly a shame that what could have been an impactful higher education reform bill will trap even more students in a cycle of overwhelming student loan debt. I believe that our nation's colleges and universities should educate students prior to them taking out loans and finding themselves in tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. For students already in tumultuous debt, I am an advocate for students being able to refinance their loans, just as you can with a mortgage.
Additionally, students and universities alike must acknowledge that four-year degrees do not guarantee good, high-paying jobs. While some desired career paths require traditional four-year college degrees, not all do. We need to stop the misnomer that career and technical education is not a desirable career path. Students who graduate from career and technical school can often find a good job because of the massive demand for skilled labor, and they do so with, on average, less student loan debt.
Despite the recent roadblocks from the House Democrats, I am committed to passing higher education legislation that benefits our students. I will continue to be an advocate to improve higher education and make sure it is more affordable for students.
To watch my remarks from this week's markup, please click here or the picture below.
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| Immigration Hearing w/ ICE Director |
This Wednesday, I questioned witness Matthew Albence, Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, at a House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee hearing focused on immigration.
After visiting the border three times this year, I saw firsthand the great work our border patrol agents are doing and the care taken with every individual apprehended at the border. I am appalled that anyone would disparage these brave men and women and accuse them of harming children at our southern border when they are simply trying to enforce our laws and safeguard American security.
When foreign families and children seek to come to our southern border illegally, much of the time they enlist help from Mexican drug cartels, who sometimes charge $10,000 for passage over our border. On their trip, these children and families are malnourished and quite often abused, both physically and sexually, by the cartel members. A safe and secure border will not only protect American citizens, but encourage families and children to come to our country legally and safely.
Something that is not helping, and only encouraging more immigrants to seek illegal entry by way of the cartels, are sanctuary cities. This growing number of cities do not cooperate with federal immigration laws and allow illegal immigrants to live in their jurisdiction with no repercussions. What they fail to realize is that this creates a magnet for illegal immigrants and encourages people to enlist help from drug cartels to get them there, putting more individuals in harm's way.
In the midst of this national security crisis, it is imperative that we respect those who take on the challenge of securing our southern border. I will continue to be an active voice in support of the work of the Trump Administration and all of our immigration officials.
I was privileged to discuss this hearing on immigration on the House floor. To view my floor speech, please click here or on the picture below.
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| Some Good News From Our Southern Border |
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently released the total number of border apprehensions and inadmissibles from September 2019. Thanks to President Donald Trump's leadership and June's deal with Mexico, we have lowered border apprehensions from 144,000 in May to 40,000 in September. This sharp decrease is impressive and truly needed. As I've mentioned before, when we see a decrease in the number of people trying to cross our border illegally, that means less people are being used and abused by the drug cartels in Mexico.
Something that is not well-publicized by the media is that it is not just Mexican immigrants who are crossing the border illegally. A large percentage of illegal crossers are from Central and South American countries. When I toured an unaccompanied minor facility in Texas this year, I visited a classroom where nearly half of the students were from Guatemala. A major part of President Trump's deal with Mexico, finalized in June, was for Mexico to deploy their national guard to its southern border. This way, families and individuals from Central and South America would be turned away and encouraged to immigrate legally.
I cannot stress enough how miserably people are treated by Mexican drug cartels on their journey through Mexico to the United States when seeking to come here illegally. And it's not just a few people who employ the help of cartels, it is the overwhelming majority. I was told on one of my trips to our border that cartels often have the immigrants they are leading sleep in hot, humid abandoned houses, treating them to one meal per day of processed lunch meat with little water in order to keep costs down. I was also told that an estimated 40 percent of women are sexually abused during their trip. One of my key motivations in stressing the importance of securing our border is to protect these people from the hardship and heartbreak that comes from their interaction with the criminal drug cartels.
While these decreasing numbers are encouraging and I applaud President Trump for his leadership, Congress still has much work to do to further secure our border and protect both Americans and immigrants.
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Monday was National First Responders Day. Thank you to all of the first responders who are there for us when we need them most.
The Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization prepares the next generation of farmers for career success. It was great to support this organization at the Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association banquet.
I didn’t just visit a random lake, it was THE Random Lake, Wisconsin for their fall festival.
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As your Congressman, I’m here to serve you. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to my offices in Fond du Lac and Washington. If you enjoyed this newsletter be sure to forward it to your family and friends so they can stay informed on what I’m doing in Washington and the Sixth District.
You can also stay up-to-the-minute by following me on Facebook (Congressman Glenn Grothman), Twitter (@RepGrothman) and Instagram (@RepGlennGrothman).
Sincerely,
Member of Congress |
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