Dale Strong, the freshman congressman representing north Alabama, will be taking part in a sort of rite of passage for Republican newcomers in Congress: Visiting the Mexican border.

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, also in her first term, made her first trip last month and has since made a second trip to the border. Strong said he will be accompanying Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., who is chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Strong is a member of the committee.

Tightening the Mexican border has been a long-running priority for Republicans and a favorite talking point on the campaign trail. And members of Congress routinely make visits to the border.

“We’ve got an issue down there,” Strong said Wednesday.

Strong echoed growing concerns about illicit drugs entering the country through the southern border.

“The numbers of how many have come across this border varies from time to time,” he said. “But the thing that everyone knows is what’s coming with that and that’s fentanyl and heroin.”

Strong referenced hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs that have been seized of late at the border and said, “But what I’m worried about is what hadn’t been seized at the border. From EMTs, paramedics, emergency rooms, they’re seeing this firsthand across the 5th Congressional District (Strong’s north Alabama district) and across our country. And so I don’t think you have to be a U.S. Congressman to see that we’ve got a problem with that southern border that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.”

Britt last week sponsored three bills in the Senate aimed at curtailing illegal immigration at the border, including allocating funds to complete a border wall long advocated by former President Donald Trump.

Even as Strong spoke about the issues at the border, he said there is knowledge to be gained in visiting the area.

“The big thing is speaking first person I think would be the thing, to be able to communicate with my district what I’ve witnessed there,” he said. “The other thing is you look at the funding and what we’re doing, serving as a member of Homeland Security, those are things that we will be dealing in the days ahead with markups, with budget recommendations, testimony, hearings, things of this nature. I think it’s going to be good to see firsthand exactly how this process is working or not working at the border.”

Strong cited the strain on resources at hospitals and schools near the border that are “inundated” with non-U.S. citizens.

Strong went on to say he believed the border is “a threat to the United States of America and I believe it needs to be addressed immediately.”