U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) says that he is not on board with his fellow Republicans' border security bill. 

The because, in Crenshaw's view, the bill - which the congressman described as "crazy" - has one really important omission: it does not address the Mexican drug cartel problem.

Crenshaw revealed that he is a "no" vote on the bill in an interview that he recently did with the Washington Examiner. 

The interview comes as Crenshaw's fellow Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives - led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) - are set to soon bring the border security bill to the House floor for a vote.

"No"

Crenshaw told the Examiner, in the interview, that the border security bill is "not good right now" - that he cannot take it "seriously" - because it does not address the Mexican drug cartel problem.

Crenshaw said:

[The bill] doesn't talk about the cartels. So, the people who have operational control of the border, the people who are killing 80,000 Americans a year by trafficking fentanyl through the border — are completely unaddressed in this bill.

Just to be clear, those whom Crenshaw says "have operational control of the border" are the Mexican drug cartels.

What Crenshaw says about the Republicans' border security bill - that it "doesn't talk about the cartels" is not entirely true - as Crenshaw himself admitted. Crenshaw admitted that "there is one provision in this bill that talks about the cartels," but Crenshaw claims that the provision would have the Biden administration conduct a study on whether or not to designate the cartels as terrorist organizations.

Crenshaw argued, in the interview, that this is a "terrible idea" because it gives President Joe Biden and his administration too much leeway. And, on top of this, Crenshaw argued that, if the cartels are designated terrorist organizations, then "you create an asylum claim for millions of people who are even close to these terrorist organizations that would make our immigration crisis worse."

Looking ahead

With all of that said, Crenshaw clearly indicated that he is a "no" vote on the Republicans' border security bill as it is in its current form - and Crenshaw is not alone here.

But, Crenshaw did express optimism that the issues that he and other House Republicans have with the border security bill can be addressed.

Crenshaw, for example, said that he would vote for the bill if it included "bigger penalties for cartels . . . going after their finances, going after people who aid and abet them, sanctions, things like that."

We'll see if the changes Crenshaw desires are made.

The bill is expected to reach the House floor next month.