On the recordJune 21, 2018
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I led my colleagues in a letter to Secretaries Nielsen and Azar asking about plans to reunify the thousands of children separated from their parents. Neither the President's executive order nor the bills before us address the crisis facing these traumatized children. The American people deserve to know how and when the detained children will be returned to their parents. What is the plan to reunite children with their loved ones? What are the agencies doing to ensure this reunification? Are they guaranteeing that family members who come forward will not be at risk of deportation themselves? Shouldn't these questions be at the heart of any legislation we consider? Otherwise, it becomes a priority to build a wall instead of solving these overriding humanitarian crises. This administration continues to create problems and then scrambles to shift blame after public outcries. We saw it with the Muslim ban; we saw it with DACA; and now, these children are the latest victims. This Congress should have zero tolerance for intolerance. I look forward, Mr. Speaker, to hearing back from DHS and HHS, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this inadequate bill.





