On the recordAugust 1, 2014
As chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I rise again in opposition to this rule and against the martial law bill which has not been given to us to read, and I believe that that is the wrong thing to do to solve this problem. Instead of working with Democrats to come up with a viable and bipartisan solution to deal with the vulnerable Central American children who are fleeing from violence and death, my Republican colleagues are apparently drafting a bill that is even worse than the one they proposed yesterday, on Thursday. This new bill presumably continues the failed policy of enforcement only and will send thousands of these children back to certain death. If the funding levels remain the same as yesterday, the bill will not provide adequate funding to care for them while they are here. We should instead be spending our time debating and voting on the bipartisan Senate comprehensive immigration bill that the Speaker has refused to bring up for over a year. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the rule and the martial law.
