Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Yes, I am a member of the Rules Committee. I am also a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee has under their jurisdiction the Office of Refugee Resettlement. So, the Department of Health and Human Services is tasked with caring for unaccompanied children who are transferred from Customs and Border Protection at their processing centers. I have seen this firsthand on many trips to the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters. HHS personnel work hard. They provide quality, compassionate care to children who cross the border without legal status. These facilities have security to protect the children inside, but a child who wants to leave may request to be returned to their home country, and they may do so with on-site social work. In my experience, all shelters I have visited are designed appropriately for the ages of the children who are occupying them. If an older teen decides, of their own volition, that they need to leave, they are neither detained nor restrained. So, it bothers me when I hear these facilities referred to as detainment centers or child prisons. Office of Refugee Resettlement are shelters to protect these children while they are awaiting placement in homes in this country. And I do need to add one other thing. This is a closed rule. It is a shame we are doing it as a closed rule.…”