Date: 2014-07-31
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5230. the woefully inadequate supplemental appropriations bill that will only exacerbate the growing humanitarian crisis impacting my home state of Texas. Since the beginning of this year. nearly 60.000 unaccompanied children have crossed the Rio Grande into south Texas. The vast majority of these children are coming from three countriesEl Salvador. Guatemala. and Honduraswhere whole communities are being terrorized by drug cartels and street gangs. Honduras. the U.N. reports. has the highest homicide in the world. El Salvador and Guatemala rank fourth and fifth. Even before these children reach Texas. many of whom no more than seven or eight years old. they must make the long and dangerous journey through the remainder of Central America and Mexico. On the journey. these children are easy targets for robbers. drug smugglers. and sex traffickers. further traumatizing them before they reach our country. Once reaching Brownsville. McAllen. or one of our other communities on the border. these children are not trying to evade detection from Border Patrol. In fact. there are countless stories of these children running into the arms of our border protection officials. knowing that they will be safe from the violence and trauma once in American custody. Madam Speaker. I can speak first hand. having visited our border facilities in McAllen earlier this month. on the hard work our nations Border Patrol Officers are doing. along with their counterparts throughout DHS and HHS during this humanitarian crisis. Congress needs to respond to this crisis in the best traditions of our great nationwith open eyes and compassion and balance the needs of the American people with our nations historic role as the place of last refuge for those who are persecuted and in need. The legislation before this chamber today. shamefully. does not reflect our nations best traditions. It is a misguided. kneejerk reaction that will do little to improve. or worst. exacerbate. the growing crisis on the Rio Grande. H.R. 5230 would provide only oneseventh of the funds the President requested and would only authorize those funds through the end of September. And of these funds. Madam Speaker. the vast majority are directed towards greater border security and notas is necessarythe humanitarian aspect of this crisis. I have always been supportive of greater border security and providing our nations Border Patrol Agents with the resources they need to protect us. However. our country is already deporting record numbers of peopleover 1.2 million in the past three yearsand there is growing concern among our border communities that their towns and cities are already being negatively affected by our border surge. What these children needand our DHS and HHS officials on the border have requestedare not more boots on the ground. but more judges. health officials. asylum officers. and facilities to temporarily house these children while we determine if they need to return to their home country or are eligible for asylum. This legislation would further militarize our border. without regard to the wishes of our border communities. by authorizing the deployment of the National Guard and make null and void existing Memorandums of Understanding between CBP and the Interior and Agriculture Departments on protecting federal lands under these departments oversight. like Big Bend National Park. I urge my colleagues to demand a vote on a clean supplemental and to vote against this shameful legislation.