U.S. Rep Kustoff discusses immigration, government spending at Jackson Rotary Club

In his first public address of the year and ahead of Congress's return to Washington D.C. on Jan. 8, guest speaker U.S. Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tennessee, 8th District spoke to members of the Jackson Rotary Club on Wednesday afternoon, discussing immigration at the southern border, national debt and conflict in the Middle East.

Kustoff shared that domestic affairs like immigration at the southern border will be maintained as a top priority in the new year along with international concerns such as the war between Israel and Hamas and U.S. relations with China.

Other high priority items for Kustoff include issues of inflation, government spending, and the national debt.

"Social security, Medicare, Medicaid — that's almost two-thirds of the [government] spending." Kustoff said. "You've got the spending problem and you've got the solvency problems, so we've got to get serious especially when it's two-thirds of all government spending."

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U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, along with more than a dozen other member of Congress visited the southern border on Jan. 3 to see first-hand how to better address immigration and border security. Kustoff shared that he declined the invitation to accompany the House Speaker to instead speak to Rotarians in Jackson.

During a discussion surrounding immigration at the southern border, Kustoff said "we're going to be talking about it all year because it's a real problem, and it's of national security."

Kustoff echoed similar notions at the Humboldt Rotary Club in February of 2023, criticizing President Biden's State of the Union address.

“I wanted him to talk about the border crisis, I wanted him to talk about China. Those were the issues I wanted to hear him say," Kustoff said to Humboldt Rotarians.

He added immigration remains a principal focus and spoke to what he described as "the strongest, and certainly most conservative bill meant to protect our borders."

Referring to the H.R.2 legislation titled "Secure the Border Act of 2023," the bill was introduced on May 2 and has yet to advance further in Congress since passing in the House on May 11.

"There's no doubt that we've seen a tremendous migrant crisis escalate over the last several years," Kustoff said.

"I've visited the border under President Trump and under President Biden. Our border control officers and agents, the national guard, everybody that's patrolling the southern border, they're doing as good of as job as they can do, but they need more of them, number one. Number two, they need more resources. Three, they need the administration to send out a different message."

Kustoff proposed improving relationships with leaders of Mexico, Central America, and South America in order to promote legal migration.

"We want people to come into this country lawfully," Kustoff said. "We are a nation of immigrants. Everybody here came from somewhere else. There's a right way and a wrong way and we've seen some of the wrong way,"

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Rep. Kustoff talks federal spending, southern border at Jackson visit