Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., agrees with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's characterization of the drug cartels along the United States-Mexico border being de facto "terrorists."
The Oregon congressman also said he believes the Biden administration could end most of the chaos at the southern border rather quickly, in terms of curbing undue violence and halting human and drug trafficking, if they weren't so committed to open-border policies.
"Without order, you cannot have any laws," Bentz told Newsmax Thursday afternoon, while appearing on "American Agenda" with hosts Bob Sellers and Katrina Szish.
In Oregon, Bentz says the drug cartels have taken over large sections of the state, "aggressively" growing marijuana and pushing other hard drugs to consumers.
"They're making billions [of dollars] in my little state of Oregon, many miles from the [southern] border," says Bentz. "We have repeatedly asked the federal government to aggressively pursue these folks, but we have not been successful."
From Bentz's standpoint, federal agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have "turned a blind eye to this activity," because progressive states like Oregon have already legalized the sale and use of marijuana, "along with other hard drugs."
As such, Bentz says federal agents are ignoring the damage cartels are bringing to Oregon communities, big and small, urban and rural.
"We've had great difficulty" in getting Democrats and federal agencies to confront "these basically terrorist organizations. We've failed to get them to do it," says Bentz, who oversees Oregon's 2nd congressional district, which covers a sizable chunk of land east of Portland.
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