A House Democrat told a mother who had lost her daughter to deadly fentanyl that she was being used by House Republicans during a hearing by the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday.
Josephine Dunn, whose 26-year-old daughter was killed by the use of fentanyl-laced pills, was invited to the committee’s hearing titled “Voices for the Victims: The Heartbreaking Reality of the Mayorkas Border Crisis” in order to share the story of how she lost her daughter.
The hearing was part of the impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who House Republicans say has been lax in his jon of securing the southern border.
But after Dunn gave her testimony, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) told her that he wanted to “apologize” to her “in some ways” because she was “being used as a fact witness for an impeachment investigation.”
“Obviously, given what your experience has been, you don’t have the background to understand what a high crime and misdemeanor is and how it relates to this,” he stated.
He then asked Dunn, “You would agree, would you not, that it would help to stop the fentanyl trade and fentanyl trafficking from coming into this country if we had more law enforcement officers at the border and more resources and technology to stop the fentanyl from coming in? Do you agree with that?”
Dunn, visibly frustrated by the line of questioning, disagreed with Goldman’s suggestions, responding, “Border Patrol is now being used to make sandwiches and to screen people and let them into our country. So I disagree with you.”
“I would like the border patrol to be able to do the job that they were hired to do. Every border patrol officer that I have spoken to has told me that their hands are tied by this administration and Mr. Mayorkas. I’ve been to the border, sir, have you?” she asked the lawmaker who could not provide an answer but instead pointed out that he was the one asking the questions not Dunn.
Dunn later made a post to Facebook after the hearing to fully air her view on the issue. “Pardon me sir, but you know nothing of my experience, my background or my understanding. Also, in all of my research, you have yet to travel once to the Southern Border of the United States. Is that why you avoided my question?” she wrote.
She also spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation about Goldman’s remarks, saying that he is “unaware about what my understanding, about what my education, what my experience is in any of those areas when it comes to misdemeanors or high crimes.”
“I have my opinions, and for him to assume that I want to just put more money into a system that has had plenty of money placed into it and is still broken is incorrect. Please don’t think for me. I have a brain, I can think and speak for myself,” she added, speaking to the outlet.
‘Please Don’t Think For Me’: Mom Who Lost Daughter To Fentanyl Hits Back At Dem Rep Who Said She Was ‘Used’ By GOP https://t.co/hmUmv6qYnL
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 21, 2024
