Joaquin Castro

I think we have to talk about the elephant in the room, which is that the President of the United States has been accused by his former national security advisor, John Bolton, of offering his support for concentration camps.

These international treaties and mechanisms are only as strong as the U.S.'s commitment to them.

The way to stand up to China is not through bluster and unilateral trade restrictions while asking for help with your reelection.

The fight for democracy in Hong Kong is not just a fight for only Hong Kongers, it is a fight for self-determination, human rights, and the advancement of freedom around the world.

I want to take this opportunity to call on the rest of the world to consider extending those same invitations to Hong Kongers who are now being oppressed and repressed.

I am a original co-sponsor of his bill, the Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act, which will protect Hong Kongers who are facing persecution.

The foundation of Hong Kong is freedom. And that foundation has been dealt a terribly damaging blow in the past 24 hours.

I have to give President Xi some credit. He has accomplished something that many thoughts was impossible, and that is unifying Democrats and Republicans right here in the U.S. Congress, citizens of the United States, all in opposition to…

The Chinese Government is not only violating the rights of Hong Kongers but also violating an international treaty, the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The Trump Administration has been woefully inadequate in setting standards, mandatory standards, that will save people's lives.

I don't think it is a strawman. I mean, I think people's lives are literally on the line.

There have been, in the last count I saw, about 11,000 folks infected because of meat-packing plants. Many folks have died.

On April 28, President Trump announced that he would issue an executive order that would use the Defense Production Act to force meat-packing plants to remain open, leaving tens of thousands of workers in unsafe conditions.

I guess, based on what we heard from folks the other day, it is quite the opposite...

The State Department acknowledges that some of those Mexican cities are cities that the State Department has advised Americans not to travel to?

I came away believing that it is an inhumane situation that we are placing these folks in.

The one thing that we actually could do to address the youth bulge is make voluntary family planning readily available to empower women.

I think in my written testimony I suggested, for example, a ban on the import of assault weapons to the United States, which make their way into the Mexican marketplace is one good place to start.

I think they certainly have a responsibility ensuring that people that want protection have the opportunity to request it, but they have not done nearly enough in this area.

AMLO ran as a reformer for President of Mexico, but there have been reports about his possible complicity with the Trump Administration in perhaps abusing the human rights of some of these asylum seekers.

Many of these Mexican cities the U.S. Government has advised Americans not to travel to.

As we speak, hundreds of people from Central America seeking refuge at our borders are forced to wait in Mexico as their asylum claims are processed.

I think for the U.S. Congress, for the President, I think it is something that we have to think about, in terms of how we dedicate our own resources.

I actually really want to commend you for being so frank.

I, like many of my colleagues, recently visited our armed forces in Afghanistan and had the opportunity to meet with many of our men and women who are working on training special forces and Afghan pilots.