colleen again. fromll in again, claire san francisco. continue with your tweets at c-span or on facebook at /c-span..com the first oval office address was herbert hoover in 29 -- in 1929. president nixon had the most and second was president ronald reagan, who had 40 during his years at the white house. talkrow, nicole briscoe to about the impact on federal workers, and two members of congress, gerry connolly, democrat from northern virginia, and congressman don bacon, republican from nebraska. from the oval office as we move into day 19 of the shutdown tomorrow, the president's address to the american people.

trump: my fellow americans, tonight i am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. every day customs and border patrol agents and thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country. we are out of space to hold them, and we have no way to promptly return them back home. america proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich our society and contribute to our nation. but all americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration. it strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages. among those hardest hit are african-americans and hispanic americans. our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including math, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl.

every week 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin, 90% of which floods across our southern border. more americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire vietnam war. in the last two years, ice officers made 200 66,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records, including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes and 4000 violent killings. over the years thousands of americans have been killed by those who illegally entered our country, and thousands more lives will be lost if we don't act right now. ais is a humanitarian crisis, crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.

last month 20,000 migrant children were illegally brought into the united states, a dramatic increase. these children are used as human pawns, by vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs. women are sexually assaulted on this dangerous trek up through mexico. women and children are the biggest victims by far of our broken system. this is the tragic reality of illegal immigration on our southern border. of humanhe cycle suffering that i am determined to end. my administration has presented congress with a detailed proposal to secure the border and stop the criminal gangs, drug smugglers and human traffickers. it is a tremendous problem. our proposal was developed by law enforcement professionals and order agents at the

department of homeland security. these are the resources they have requested to properly perform their mission and keep safera safe, in fact, than ever before. the proposal from homeland security includes cutting-edge technology for detecting drugs, weapons, contraband and many other things. we have requested more agents, immigration judges and dead space to process the sharp rise in unlawful migration, fueled by our strong economy. contains an urgent request for humanitarian assistance and medical support. we have asked congress to close border-security loopholes so that illegal immigrant children can be safely and humanely returned back home. finally, as part of an overall

approach to border security, law enforcement professionals have requested $5.7 billion for a physical barrier. itthe request of democrats, will be a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall. this barriers critical to border security. it is also what our professionals at the border want and need. this is just common sense. the border wall would very quickly pay for itself. drugsst of illegal exceeds $500 billion a year, the 5.7 billion dollars we have requested from congress. the wall will be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with mexico. senator chuck the 5.7 billion dollars we have requested from congress. schumer, who you will be hearing from later tonight, has repeatedly supported a physical barrier in

the past, along with many other democrats. they changed their mind only after i was elected president. democrats in congress have refused to acknowledge the crisis, and have refused to provide our border agents with the tools they need to protect our families and nation. the federal government remains shut down for one reason, because democrats will not fund border security. my administration is doing everything in our power to help those impacted by the situation, but the only solution is for democrats to pass a spending bill that defends our borders and reopens the government. this situation could be solved and a 45-minute meeting.

i have invited congressional leaders to the white house tomorrow to get this done. hopefully we can rise above partisan politics in order to support national security. some have suggested a barrier is immoral. then why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences and gates around their homes? they don't build walls because they hate the people on the outside, but because they love the people on the inside. the only thing that is immoral is the politicians to do nothing and to continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized. america's heart broke the day after christmas, when a young police officer in california was savagely murdered in cold blood by an illegal alien who just came across the border. the life of an american hero was

stolen by someone who had no right to be in our country. they after day, -- day after day, precious lives are cut short those who have violated our borders. in california, an air force veteran was raped, murdered and beaten to death with a hammer by an illegal alien with a long criminal history. in georgia, and illegal alien was recently charged with murder for killing, beheading and dismembering his neighbor. membersand, ms 13 gang who arrived in the united states as unaccompanied minors were arrested and charged last year after viciously stabbing and beating a 16-year-old girl. over the last several years i have met with dozens of families whose loved ones were stolen by illegal immigration.

i have held the hands of the weeping mothers and embraced the grief stricken fathers. so sad. so terrible. i will never forget the pain in their eyes, the tremble in their voices and the sadness gripping their souls. how much more american blood must we shed before congress does its job? refused too compromise in the name of border imagine, i would ask, if it was your child, your husband, or your wife whose life was so cruelly shattered and totally broken. to every member of congress, passed a bill that ends this crisis. to every citizen, call congress and tell them to finally, after

all of these decades, secure our border. this is a choice between right and wrong, justice and injustice. this is about whether we fulfill our sacred duty to the american citizens we serve. when i took the oath of office, i swore to protect our country and that is what i will always do, so help me god. thank you and good night. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] pelosi: good evening. i appreciate the opportunity to speak to the american people tonight about how we can end this shut down and meet the needs of the american people. sadly, much of what we have heard from president trump during this senseless shutdown has been full of misinformation and malice. the