On the recordJune 25, 2019
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. So, that program that my colleagues across the aisle are putting together in this bill enshrines catch-and-release. It also facilitates human trafficking--it does--just like we saw with the little girl who was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, and was going to be sent back and used by cartels as a fake family unit. That is what is unconscionable here, and I would urge my colleagues to oppose the rule. Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the gentleman from Arizona. He talks about ICE. He wants more funding for ICE. The previous speaker talked about more money for the Department of Defense. We are talking about children here. That is what this bill addresses: money for State-licensed shelters, legal services, child advocates, post-release services, Federal field specialists, case management services, and money for the Office of the Inspector General. The humanitarian crisis is that children are being mistreated at our border and we need to address it, and that is what we are trying to do with this bill. So, I appreciate all the other things that my Republican friends want to fund, but the crisis that we need to address right now is the mistreatment of children at our border. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.





