Bill Nelson: “I say to my colleagues that this is a very substantive discussion. This Senator is enormously impressed with the quality…”

“I say to my colleagues that this is a very substantive discussion. This Senator is enormously impressed with the quality of the commentary from the two who have preceded me and those who will follow. We are addressing the treatment of this issue in a comprehensive way. I was so glad the Senator from Virginia mentioned the initial legislation from years ago protecting children once they reached the border is named after William Wilberforce, a Parliamentarian in England in the late 1700s and early 1800s whose sole mission--it took him 20 years as a politician and a member of Parliament--changed the course of history because he singlehandedly, through his legislative efforts, abolished the English slave trade, and it changed the course of the history of the world. When we think of that kind of quality of parliamentary endeavor, it is time for the Senate to rise to this occasion in what is considered a humanitarian crisis but is so complicated as to the reason it is causing hundreds and thousands of children to appear at our border. Right off the bat this law says we are going to treat these children in a humanitarian way. They are going to get medical treatment and a safe place to stay. When Senator Heinrich showed the picture of the little boy named Alejandro--doesn't your heart go out to him? Taking care of a little boy like that is at the heart of America. We don't want all of these children coming to our border, begging for entrance.…”