KRISTEN WELKER: You have been calling for legislative change to actually deal with this problem. You are now the Speaker of the House. Do you not have a responsibility to your voters, to the people who put you in office, to address what you have called a crisis and catastrophe? Isn't something better than nothing?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Kristen, we did that. We did that. Nine months ago. And since we passed our measure in the House to solve this problem- and the reason we had to do it is because we saw that President Biden was not fulfilling his obligation under the law. That’s why it is such a failure of leadership, but we did our part. And by the way, since then, in the nine months since that bill sat on Chuck Schumer's desk collecting dust, 1.8 million illegals have been allowed into this country- welcomed into the country. Sent around the nation into every community- communities near everyone listening and watching this morning. And that is a catastrophe.
WELKER: But you…
JOHNSON: …and the American people know it and that's part of the reason that Joe Biden has the lowest approval rating of any president facing re-election.
WELKER: Even former President Trump, though, called for legislative change on this issue. You have one of the slimmest majorities in the House in history. Don't you have to compromise to get something done? What you passed in the House can't pass in the Senate, Mr. Speaker. You know that.
JOHNSON: We are willing to work- we are willing to work with the Senate. I am not disclosing that, and I've been very consistent for the hundred days that I've had the gavel. We are willing to work, but they have to be serious about it. If you only do a few of those components, you are not going to solve the problem and Kristen, that is not a Republican talking point. That's what the sheriffs at the border, the Border Patrol agents, the Deputy Chief of U.S. Border Patrol, a 33-year veteran of the agency told us, he said that it's as though we're administering an open fire hydrant. He said, “I don't need more buckets”, like the president’s proposed. I need to stop the flow and we know how to do that, but Joe Biden is unwilling to do it.
WELKER: Let me ask you about your decision, and by the way, Joe Biden said he would shut down the border. He’s calling for more funding, he’s calling for you to pass this legislation.
