On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) stated that the border is “a threat” because terrorists can cross it and the composition of border crossers has changed and “It’s also a threat just because so many of our cities and communities are being overwhelmed by migrants that we cannot support.” And “we need the Republicans to come to the table in an honest way” to get needed border reforms.
Host Erin Burnett said, “I spoke the other day with the former DNI for President Obama, James Clapper. And I asked him whether he was worried about the border, the southern border, in particular for whether — you’ve got a quarter-million people in December crossing over illegally, whether that really is a risk of people who wish to do America harm, whether it be from Russia or from Yemen or wherever it might be. Here’s how he responded:”
Burnett then played clips of Clapper saying, “I’ve gotten very concerned about it. The nature — the composition of the border crossers has changed a good bit since my day, and now, it’s much more international. There are Chinese, Russians, and others. … [T]his is a serious national security concern.”
She then asked, “Congressman, do you agree with him?”
Smith responded, “Absolutely. I completely agree. The border is a threat for that reason. It’s also a threat just because so many of our cities and communities are being overwhelmed by migrants that we cannot support. Look, we need to reform border policy, ironically part of the block now is you have House Republicans saying that they don’t support the negotiation that the Senate Republicans are engaged in to get a border policy deal because they don’t want to lose the political issue against President Biden in this election year. Yes, we need border reform, but we need the Republicans to come to the table in an honest way to get us there.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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