Roy Blunt: “I want to talk principally in the next few minutes about a bill that Senator Boxer and I have introduced this week on…”

“I want to talk principally in the next few minutes about a bill that Senator Boxer and I have introduced this week on Israel and talk about what is going on in Israel, but on the work that is the bill before us right now, I am always hesitant to disagree with the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, my chairwoman, my good friend, Senator Mikulski. I just think we are headed in the wrong direction here. Providing money, and not trying to solve this problem, not sending the right message, I think is a mistake. People are leaving these dangerous countries--if they are dangerous to be in, they are also dangerous to travel through, they are dangerous to leave. One of the concerns I have had during this whole debate is how many kids leave their home country and never get to the American border? What happens to those kids? We have heard stories in briefings that were not classified about kids who never get here because they get sold into some sort of terrible situation, even kids whose organs are harvested and sold that way. This cannot be something we need to continue to encourage. In fact, if you do qualify for asylum in the United States, there is a way to do that. That is why we have embassies. That is why we have consulates.…”