Bonnie Watson Coleman: “I want to thank the chairman for yielding, and I want to thank my colleague, Ms. Underwood, for her work on this very…”

“I want to thank the chairman for yielding, and I want to thank my colleague, Ms. Underwood, for her work on this very important issue. For nearly a year now, we have watched with growing horror and outrage as the cruel and inhumane combination of xenophobia, malicious policy from the White House, and indifference to people in need has built into a crisis at our southern border. We have let this come to a point where children have died, children fleeing violence and persecution and horrors in their home countries seeking to come here, the land of opportunity and promise, children we separated from their parents and loved ones, children that we failed entirely here on our soil and in our custody. We cannot allow that to continue, and this measure that we are taking up today will take important steps to address gaps in medical screening at the border so that we don't fail any more children. It pushes us to find new ways to handle the unique needs of health screening at the border, with special emphasis on children and vulnerable groups. Just as importantly, it mandates implementation of an e-record system so that we are not letting anyone slip through the cracks. An e-record system is not something we have never heard of before.…”