[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 123 (Friday, August 1, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H7213-H7228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SECURE THE SOUTHWEST BORDER ACT OF 2014
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hultgren). Pursuant to clause 1(c) of
rule XIX, further consideration of H.R. 5230 will now resume.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 710, the
amendments printed in part A of House Report 113-571 are adopted, and
the bill, as amended, is considered read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:
H.R. 5230
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes, namely:
[[Page H7214]]
DIVISION A--SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS AND RESCISSIONS
TITLE I
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
salaries and expenses
For an additional amount for ``Salaries and Expenses'',
$71,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2015,
for necessary expenses to apprehend, transport, and provide
temporary shelter associated with the significant rise in
unaccompanied alien children and alien adults accompanied by
an alien minor at the Southwest Border of the United States,
including related activities to secure the border, disrupt
transnational crime, and the necessary acquisition,
construction, improvement, repair, and management of
facilities: Provided, That not later than 30 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland
Security shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives and the Senate an obligation and
quarterly expenditure plan for these funds: Provided further,
That the Secretary shall provide to such Committees quarterly
updates on the expenditure of these funds.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
salaries and expenses
For an additional amount for ``Salaries and Expenses'',
$334,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2015,
for necessary expenses to respond to the significant rise in
unaccompanied alien children and alien adults accompanied by
an alien minor at the Southwest Border of the United States,
including for enforcement of immigration and customs law,
including detention and removal operations, of which
$262,000,000 shall be for Custody Operations and $72,000,000
shall be for Transportation and Removal operations: Provided,
That not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit
to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate an obligation and quarterly
expenditure plan for these funds: Provided further, That the
Secretary shall provide to such Committees quarterly updates
on the expenditure of these funds.
GENERAL PROVISIONS--THIS TITLE
(including rescission)
Sec. 101. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none
of the funds provided by this title shall be available for
obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming or transfer
of funds that proposes to use funds directed for a specific
activity by either of the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives or the Senate for a different
purpose than for which the appropriations were provided:
Provided, That prior to the obligation of such funds, a
request for approval shall be submitted to such Committees.
Sec. 102. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide
to the Congress quarterly reports that include: (1) the
number of apprehensions at the border delineated by
unaccompanied alien children and alien adults accompanied by
an alien minor; (2) the number of claims of a credible fear
of persecution delineated by unaccompanied alien children and
alien adults accompanied by an alien minor, and the number of
determinations of valid claims of a credible fear of
persecution delineated by unaccompanied alien children and
alien adults accompanied by an alien minor; (3) the number of
unaccompanied alien children and alien adults accompanied by
an alien minor granted asylum by an immigration judge,
delineated by year of apprehension; (4) the number of alien
adults accompanied by an alien minor in detention facilities,
alternatives to detention, and other non-detention forms of
supervision; and (5) the number of removals delineated by
unaccompanied alien children and alien adults accompanied by
an alien minor.
Sec. 103. Of the unobligated balance available for
``Department of Homeland Security--Federal Emergency
Management Agency--Disaster Relief Fund'', $405,000,000 is
rescinded: Provided, That no amounts may be rescinded from
amounts that were designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to a concurrent resolution on a budget
or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985: Provided further, That no amounts may be rescinded from
the amounts that were designated by the Congress as being for
disaster relief pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Sec. 104. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
grants awarded under sections 2003 or 2004 of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 604 and 605) using funds
provided under the heading ``Federal Emergency Management
Agency--State and Local Programs'' in division F of Public
Law 113-76, division D of Public Law 113-6, or division D of
Public Law 112-74 may be used by State and local law
enforcement and public safety agencies within local units of
government along the Southwest Border of the United States
for costs incurred during the award period of performance for
personnel, overtime, travel, costs related to combating
illegal immigration and drug smuggling, and costs related to
providing humanitarian relief to unaccompanied alien children
and alien adults accompanied by an alien minor who have
entered the United States.
Sec. 105. Notwithstanding any other provision in this or
any other Act, amounts transferred to the Department of
Homeland Security pursuant to section 202 of this Act shall
be provided by the Secretary of Homeland Security under the
heading ``Federal Emergency Management Agency--State and
Local Programs'' to States along the Southwest Border of the
United States as reimbursement for necessary costs of
National Guard personnel activated under the operational
control of the Governors of such States and deployed for the
purpose of border security.
TITLE II
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE--MILITARY
MILITARY PERSONNEL
National Guard Personnel, Army
For an additional amount for ``National Guard Personnel,
Army'', $47,419,000, to remain available until September 30,
2015, for necessary expenses related to the Southwest Border
of the United States.
National Guard Personnel, Air Force
For an additional amount for ``National Guard Personnel,
Air Force'', $2,258,000, to remain available until September
30, 2015, for necessary expenses related to the Southwest
Border of the United States.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
Operation and Maintenance, Army National Guard
For an additional amount for ``Operation and Maintenance,
Army National Guard'', $15,807,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2015, for necessary expenses related to the
Southwest Border of the United States.
Operation and Maintenance, Air National Guard
For an additional amount for ``Operation and Maintenance,
Air National Guard'', $4,516,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2015, for necessary expenses related to the
Southwest Border of the United States.
GENERAL PROVISIONS--THIS TITLE
(rescission)
Sec. 201. Of the unobligated balances of amounts
appropriated in title II of division C of Public Law 113-76
for ``Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide'', $70,000,000
is hereby rescinded to reflect excess cash balances in
Department of Defense Working Capital Funds.
Sec. 202. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Act,
of the amounts made available by this Act for ``National
Guard Personnel, Army'', the Secretary of Defense shall
transfer to the Department of Homeland Security such funds as
may be necessary, not to exceed $35,000,000, to reimburse the
States for the cost of any units or personnel of the National
Guard, to perform operations and missions under State Active
Duty status, deployed in support of a southern border
mission.
TITLE III
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
General Administration
administrative review and appeals
For an additional amount for ``Administrative Review and
Appeals'' for necessary expenses to respond to the
significant rise in unaccompanied alien children and alien
adults accompanied by an alien minor at the Southwest Border
of the United States, $22,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2015, of which $12,900,000 shall be for
additional temporary immigration judges and related expenses,
and $9,100,000 shall be for technology for judges to expedite
the adjudication of immigration cases.
GENERAL PROVISION--THIS TITLE
(rescission)
Sec. 301. Of the unobligated balances available for
``Department of Justice--Legal Activities--Assets Forfeiture
Fund'', $22,000,000 is hereby permanently rescinded.
TITLE IV
GENERAL PROVISIONS--THIS TITLE
Repatriation and Reintegration
Sec. 401. (a) Repatriation and Reintegration.--Of the funds
appropriated in titles III and IV of division K of Public Law
113-76, and in prior Acts making appropriations for the
Department of State, foreign operations, and related
programs, for assistance for the countries in Central
America, up to $40,000,000 shall be made available for such
countries for repatriation and reintegration activities:
Provided, That funds made available pursuant to this section
may be obligated notwithstanding subsections (c) and (e) of
section 7045 of division K of Public Law 113-76.
(b) Report.--Prior to the initial obligation of funds made
available pursuant to this section, but not later than 15
days after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 90
days thereafter until September 30, 2015, the Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development, shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees a report on the
obligation of funds made available pursuant to this section
by country and the steps taken by the government of each
country to--
(1) improve border security;
(2) enforce laws and policies to stem the flow of illegal
entries into the United States;
(3) enact laws and implement new policies to stem the flow
of illegal entries into the United States, including
increasing penalties for human smuggling;
(4) conduct public outreach campaigns to explain the
dangers of the journey to the
[[Page H7215]]
Southwest Border of the United States, emphasize the lack of
immigration benefits available; and emphasize that illegal
aliens will be removed to their country; and
(5) cooperate with United States Federal agencies to
facilitate and expedite the return, repatriation, and
reintegration of illegal migrants arriving at the Southwest
Border of the United States.
(c) Suspension of Assistance.--The Secretary of State shall
suspend assistance provided pursuant to this section to the
government of a country if such government is not making
significant progress on each item described in paragraphs (1)
through (5) of subsection (b): Provided, That assistance may
only be resumed if the Secretary reports to the appropriate
congressional committees that subsequent to the suspension of
assistance such government is making significant progress on
each of the items enumerated in such subsection.
(d) Notification Requirement.--Funds made available
pursuant to this section shall be subject to the regular
notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
(rescission)
Sec. 402. Of the unexpended balances available to the
President for bilateral economic assistance under the heading
``Economic Support Fund'' from prior Acts making
appropriations for the Department of State, foreign
operations, and related programs, $197,000,000 is rescinded:
Provided, That no amounts may be rescinded from amounts that
were designated by the Congress for Overseas Contingency
Operations/Global War on Terrorism pursuant to section
251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985 or as an emergency requirement pursuant
to a concurrent resolution on the budget or the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
TITLE V
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
refugee and entrant assistance
For an additional amount for ``Refugee and Entrant
Assistance'', $197,000,000, to be merged with and available
for the same time period and for the same purposes as the
funds made available under this heading in division H of
Public Law 113-76 ``for carrying out such sections 414, 501,
462, and 235'': Provided, That of this amount, $47,000,000
shall be for the Social Services and Targeted Assistance
programs.
This division may be cited as the ``Secure the Southwest
Border Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2014''.
DIVISION B--SECURE THE SOUTHWEST BORDER ACT OF 2014
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This division may be cited as the
``Secure the Southwest Border Act of 2014''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this
division is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--PROTECTING CHILDREN
Sec. 101. Repatriation of unaccompanied alien children.
Sec. 102. Last in, first out.
Sec. 103. Emergency immigration judge resources.
Sec. 104. Protecting children from human traffickers, sex offenders,
and other criminals.
Sec. 105. Inclusion of additional grounds for per se ineligibility for
asylum.
TITLE II--USE OF NATIONAL GUARD TO IMPROVE BORDER SECURITY
Sec. 201. National Guard support for border operations.
TITLE III--NATIONAL SECURITY AND FEDERAL LANDS PROTECTION
Sec. 301. Prohibition on actions that impede border security on certain
Federal land.
Sec. 302. Sense of Congress on placement of unauthorized aliens at
military installations.
Sec. 303. Limitation on placement of unauthorized aliens at military
installations.
TITLE I--PROTECTING CHILDREN
SEC. 101. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN.
Section 235(a) of the William Wilberforce Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C.
1232(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by amending the paragraph heading to read as follows:
``Rules for unaccompanied alien children'';
(B) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking ``who
is a national or habitual resident of a country that is
contiguous with the United States'';
(ii) in clause (i), by inserting ``and'' at the end;
(iii) in clause (ii), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a
period; and
(iv) by striking clause (iii);
(C) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking ``(``8
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) may--'' and inserting ``(8 U.S.C. 1101
et seq)--'';
(ii) in clause (i), by inserting before ``permit such child
to withdraw'' the following: ``may''; and
(iii) in clause (ii), by inserting before ``return such
child'' the following: ``shall''; and
(D) in subparagraph (C)--
(i) by amending the subparagraph heading to read as
follows: ``Agreements with foreign countries.''; and
(ii) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking ``The
Secretary of State shall negotiate agreements between the
United States and countries contiguous to the United States''
and inserting ``The Secretary of State may negotiate
agreements between the United States and any foreign country
that the Secretary determines appropriate''; and
(2) in paragraph (5)(D)--
(A) in the matter preceding clause (i) by striking ``,
except for an unaccompanied alient child from a contiguous
subject to the exceptions under subsection (a)(2),'' and
inserting ``who does not meet the criteria listed in
paragraph (2)(A)''; and
(B) in clause (i), by inserting before the semicolon at the
end the following: ``, which shall include a hearing before
an immigration judge not later than 14 days after being
screened under paragraph (4) and the unaccompanid alien child
shall be detained until such hearing'';.
SEC. 102. LAST IN, FIRST OUT.
In any removal proceedings under section 240 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a) with respect
to an unaccompanied alien child (as defined in section
462(g)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
279(g)(2))), priority shall be accorded to the alien who has
most recently arrived in the United States.
SEC. 103. EMERGENCY IMMIGRATION JUDGE RESOURCES.
Not later than 14 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Attorney General shall designate up to 40
immigration judges, including through the hiring of retired
immigration judges, administrative law judges, or magistrate
judges, or the reassignment of current immigration judges.
Such designations shall remain in effect solely for the
duration of the humanitarian crisis at the southern border
(as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in
consultation with the Attorney General).
SEC. 104. PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM HUMAN TRAFFICKERS, SEX
OFFENDERS, AND OTHER CRIMINALS.
Section 235(c)(3) of the William Wilberforce Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C.
1232(c)(3)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, including a
mandatory biometric criminal history check'' before the
period at the end; and
(2) by adding at the end the following--
``(D) Prohibition on placement with sex offenders and human
traffickers.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services may not place an unaccompanied alien child in the
custody of an individual who has been convicted of--
``(I) a sex offense (as defined in section 111 of the Sex
Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C.
16911)); or
``(II) a crime involving a severe form of trafficking in
persons (as defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102)).
``(ii) Requirements of criminal background check.--A
biometric criminal history check under subparagraph (A) shall
be based on a set of fingerprints or other biometric
identifiers and conducted through--
``(I) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
``(II) criminal history repositories of all States that the
individual lists as current or former residences.''.
SEC. 105. INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL GROUNDS FOR PER SE
INELIGIBILITY FOR ASYLUM.
Section 208(b)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)(iii)) is amended by
inserting after ``a serious nonpolitical crime'' the
following: ``(including any drug-related offense punishable
by a term of imprisonment greater than 1 year)''.
TITLE II--USE OF NATIONAL GUARD TO IMPROVE BORDER SECURITY
SEC. 201. NATIONAL GUARD SUPPORT FOR BORDER OPERATIONS.
(a) Deployment Authority and Funding.--Amounts appropriated
for the Department of Defense in this Act shall be expended
for any units or personnel of the National Guard deployed to
perform operations and missions under section 502(f) of title
32, United States Code, on the southern border of the United
States.
(b) Assignment of Operations and Missions.--
(1) In general.--National Guard units and personnel
deployed under subsection (a) may be assigned such operations
as may be necessary to provide assistance for operations on
the southern border, with priority given to high traffic
areas experiencing the highest number of crossings by
unaccompanied alien children.
(2) Nature of duty.--The duty of National Guard personnel
performing operations and missions on the southern border
shall be full-time duty under title 32, United States Code.
(c) Materiel and Logistical Support.--The Secretary of
Defense shall deploy such materiel and equipment and
logistical support as may be necessary to ensure success of
the operations and missions conducted by the National Guard
under this section.
(d) Exclusion From National Guard Personnel Strength
Limitations.--National Guard personnel deployed under
subsection (a) shall not be included in--
(1) the calculation to determine compliance with limits on
end strength for National Guard personnel; or
(2) limits on the number of National Guard personnel that
may be placed on active duty
[[Page H7216]]
for operational support under section 115 of title 10, United
States Code.
(e) High Traffic Areas Defined.--In this section:
(1) The term ``high traffic areas'' means sectors along the
northern and southern borders of the United States that are
within the responsibility of the Border Patrol that have the
most illicit cross-border activity, informed through
situational awareness.
(2) The term ``unaccompanied alien child'' means a child
who--
(A) has no lawful immigration status in the United States;
(B) has not attained 18 years of age; and
(C) with respect to whom--
(i) there is no parent or legal guardian in the United
States; or
(ii) no parent or legal guardian in the United States is
available to provide care and physical custody.
TITLE III--NATIONAL SECURITY AND FEDERAL LANDS PROTECTION
SEC. 301. PROHIBITION ON ACTIONS THAT IMPEDE BORDER SECURITY
ON CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND.
(a) Prohibition on Secretaries of the Interior and
Agriculture.--The Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary
of Agriculture shall not impede, prohibit, or restrict
activities of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Federal
land located within 100 miles of the United States border
with Mexico that is under the jurisdiction of the Secretary
of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, to execute
search and rescue operations, and to prevent all unlawful
entries into the United States, including entries by
terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism,
narcotics, and other contraband through such international
land border of the United States. These authorities of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection on such Federal land apply
whether or not a state of emergency exists.
(b) Authorized Activities of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.--U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall have
immediate access to Federal land within 100 miles of the
United States border with Mexico that is under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior or the
Secretary of Agriculture for purposes of conducting the
following activities on such land that prevent all unlawful
entries into the United States, including entries by
terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism,
narcotics, and other contraband through such international
land border of the United States:
(1) Construction and maintenance of roads.
(2) Construction and maintenance of barriers.
(3) Use of vehicles to patrol, apprehend, or rescue.
(4) Installation, maintenance, and operation of
communications and surveillance equipment and sensors.
(5) Deployment of temporary tactical infrastructure.
(c) Clarification Relating to Waiver Authority.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law
(including any termination date relating to the waiver
referred to in this subsection), the waiver by the Secretary
of Homeland Security on April 1, 2008, under section
102(c)(1) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note; Public Law
104-208) of the laws described in paragraph (2) with respect
to certain sections of the international border between the
United States and Mexico shall be considered to apply to all
Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the
Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture within 100 miles of
such international land border of the United States for the
activities of U.S. Customs and Border Protection described in
subsection (b).
(2) Description of laws waived.--The laws referred to in
paragraph (1) are limited to the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C.
1131 et seq.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the National Historic Preservation
Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), Public Law 86-523 (16 U.S.C. 469
et seq.), the Act of June 8, 1906 (commonly known as the
``Antiquities Act of 1906''; 16 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), the Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.), the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et
seq.), the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act
of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.), the Fish and Wildlife Act
of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a et seq.), the Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), subchapter II of
chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``Administrative Procedure Act''), the
National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), the
General Authorities Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-383) (16
U.S.C. 1a-1 et seq.), sections 401(7), 403, and 404 of the
National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-625,
92 Stat. 3467), and the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990
(16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 101-628).
(d) Protection of Legal Uses.--This section shall not be
construed to provide--
(1) authority to restrict legal uses, such as grazing,
hunting, mining, or public-use recreational and backcountry
airstrips on land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of
the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture; or
(2) any additional authority to restrict legal access to
such land.
(e) Effect on State and Private Land.--This Act shall--
(1) have no force or effect on State or private lands; and
(2) not provide authority on or access to State or private
lands.
(f) Tribal Sovereignty.--Nothing in this section
supersedes, replaces, negates, or diminishes treaties or
other agreements between the United States and Indian tribes.
SEC. 302. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PLACEMENT OF UNAUTHORIZED
ALIENS AT MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Secretary of Defense should not allow the placement
of unauthorized aliens at a military installation unless--
(A) the Secretary submits written notice to the
congressional defense committees and each Member of Congress
representing any jurisdiction in which an affected military
installation is situated; and
(B) the Secretary publishes notice in the Federal Register;
(2) the placement of unauthorized aliens at a military
institution should not displace active members of the Armed
Forces;
(3) the placement of unauthorized aliens at a military
institution should not interfere with any mission of the
Department of Defense;
(4) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should not
use a military installation for the placement of unauthorized
aliens unless all other facilities of the Department of
Health and Human Services are unavailable;
(5) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should not
use a military installation for the placement of unauthorized
aliens for more than 120 days;
(6) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should
ensure that all unauthorized alien children are vaccinated
upon arrival at a military installation as set forth in the
guidelines of the Office of Refugee Resettlement;
(7) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should
ensure that all individuals under the supervision of the
Secretary with access to unauthorized alien children at a
military installation are properly cleared according to the
procedures set forth in the Victims of Child Abuse Act of
1990 (42 U.S.C. 13001 et seq.);
(8) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should fully
comply with the provisions of the Victims of Child Abuse Act
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13001 et seq.) with respect to background
checks and should retain full legal responsibility for such
compliance; and
(9) in accordance with section 1535 of title 31, United
States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Economy Act''),
the Secretary of Health and Human Services should reimburse
the Secretary of Defense for all expenses incurred by the
Secretary of Defense in carrying out the placement of
unauthorized aliens at a military installation.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``congressional defense committees'' has the
meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10,
United States Code.
(2) The term ``Member of Congress'' has the meaning given
that term in section 1591(c)(1) of title 10, United States
Code.
(3) The term ``military installation'' has the meaning
given that term in section 2801(c)(4) of title 10, United
States Code, but does not include an installation located
outside of the United States.
(4) The term ``placement'' means the placement of an
unauthorized alien in either a detention facility or an
alternative to such a facility.
(5) The term ``unauthorized alien'' means an alien
unlawfully present in the United States, but does not include
a dependent of a member of the Armed Forces.
SEC. 303. LIMITATION SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PLACEMENT OF
UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS AT MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.
(a) Limitation.--The Secretary of Defense may not allow the
placement of unauthorized aliens at a military installation
in the United States if the use of the military institution
to house or care for unauthorized aliens would--
(1) displace members of the Armed Forces serving on active
duty or in a reserve or Guard status; or
(2) interfere with activities of the Armed Forces,
including reserve components thereof, at the installation.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``military installation'' has the meaning
given such term in section 2801(c)(4) of title 10, United
States Code.
(2) The term ``unauthorized alien'' means an alien
unlawfully present in the United States, but does not include
a dependent of a member of the Armed Forces.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for an
additional hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and
ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.
The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) and the gentlewoman from New
York (Mrs. Lowey) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
General Leave
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative
[[Page H7217]]
days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous
material on the further consideration of H.R. 5230, and that I may
include tabular material on the same.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to continue the debate on H.R. 5230, with
further amendments added by the rule the House just adopted. The need
to pass this bill before Congress leaves for the August break is just
as critical today as it was yesterday.
This bill, Mr. Speaker, provides funding to meet immediate border
security and humanitarian needs in response to the recent surge of
illegal immigrants crossing our southern border.
In terms of funding, this bill is essentially the same as the
legislation the House considered yesterday. It emphasizes securing our
borders, providing humanitarian assistance for unaccompanied children
in U.S. custody, and preventing further influxes of illegal
immigration, both by funding vital programs and by implementing
important policy provisions. This is also a fiscally responsible bill.
All funding is offset, so it won't add a penny to our deficit.
However, the bill differs from the version yesterday by adding an
additional $35 million for the National Guard to allow States,
including Texas, to be reimbursed for National Guard activities related
to border security and the current influx of illegal immigrants. This
brings the new total of the bill to $694 million, and, again, it is
fully offset.
In addition, the bill includes new tweaks to various policy
provisions which will help to further tighten our borders and provide
solutions that help solve our immigration challenges for the future.
Mr. Speaker, we have a crisis on our hands, and we can't simply get
up and walk away. It is our moral responsibility to protect our
homeland and to properly care for and process the thousands of
unaccompanied children who put their lives in the hands of criminals to
cross our borders. We simply can't turn our backs on this. We must pass
this bill today, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H7218]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH01AU14.001
[[Page H7219]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH01AU14.002
[[Page H7220]]
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume,
and I rise today to oppose this outrageous bill and the ridiculous
process that produced it.
Just yesterday, this House attempted to consider a bill that went too
far on policy and not far enough on funding levels, but apparently even
that wasn't bad enough for my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle.
{time} 1915
Mr. Speaker, yesterday's bill vanished into thin air, and in its
place, we now have this haphazard mess. This bill is the result of some
sort of auction with members of the majority.
The bill also paves the way for another piece of legislation to be
approved tonight--a brand-new bill on the so-called DACA--deferred
action on undocumented children program--related to young people who
were brought here as minors by 2007 and only know the United States of
America as their home. This new bill has not been approved by any
committee and contains language that would throw thousands of young
people into legal limbo.
This new supplemental funding bill would add an additional $35
million to reimburse States for deploying the National Guard to the
border, which is pointless. In other words, U.S. taxpayers will pick up
the tab for Governor Perry's campaign stunt.
The bill also would change the initial screening process used by
Customs and Border Patrol. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
opposes the change, noting:
It would make crippling changes to current U.S.-trafficking
victim protection law that we fear would send these
vulnerable children, and others in the future who have fled
trauma, exploitation, and violence, back into harm's way,
likely resulting in continued degradation, injury, and death
for many of them.
I insert the letter into the Record.
U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops,
Committee on Migration,
Washington, DC, August 1, 2014.
Dear Representative: I write to reaffirm the opposition of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to H.R. 5230
and express our opposition to H.R. 5232.
Our opposition to H.R. 5230 stems from four troubling
aspects of the measure. First, it would make crippling
changes to current U.S. trafficking victim protection law
that we fear would send these vulnerable children, and others
in the future who have fled trauma, exploitation, and
violence, back into harm's way, likely resulting in continued
degradation, injury, and death for many of them. Second, it
would not provide adequate funding for the Department of
Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement
(ORR) to enable it to care for vulnerable unaccompanied
children in U.S. custody. Third, its level of funding for ORR
is so low that it would severely hamper the agency's ability
to fulfill its responsibility to care for refugees, asylum
seekers, special immigrants, trafficking victims, and torture
victims. And fourth, the measure contains no provisions to
address the root causes that have compelled so many children
to make the arduous journey from their homes in Central
America to the United States and elsewhere in the region.
Our opposition to H.R. 5232 stems from its elimination of
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. It
is our view that this program has helped protect a vulnerable
group of children who for all extensive purposes are
Americans. It would subject them once again to removal to
countries they do not know. We urge its defeat.
How our nation responds to this humanitarian challenge is a
moral test of our national character. We ask that you oppose
H.R. 5230 and H.R. 5232, which we feel fail to live up to
that test.
Sincerely,
Most Reverend Eusebio Elizondo,
Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, WA,
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Migration.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, this House majority needs to make up its
collective mind. Do they want to provide emergency funding to enable
our Federal agencies to respond to the humanitarian crisis on the
border? Or do they wish to rewrite current law on immigration,
political asylum, and due process? We can't do both in an hour of floor
consideration.
The House should have already taken up bipartisan comprehensive
immigration reform the Senate passed more than 1 year ago, with the
support of Democrats and Republicans, the labor and business
communities, evangelicals, law enforcement, and many others.
We would have been proud to work together with our Republicans on the
other side of the aisle to give thoughtful consideration to this
immigration process. The Senate did it. We had an opportunity to do it,
and instead, we are rushing through tonight to put a bill on the floor
that has changed many times as it has proceeded through the process.
That bill, the comprehensive immigration bill, would have helped
prevent the crisis on the border today. If we had passed this 1 year
ago, we wouldn't be in the desperate situation we are in now. Now, we
are at a point where it requires emergency supplemental funding that we
should provide cleanly and quickly without the baggage of extraneous
policy that caused so much political division.
This package crossed the line from being a supplemental spending bill
and became a controversial revision of immigration policy with limited
funding thrown in as an afterthought. That is a shame. That is really
sad because we know that the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice,
Health and Human Services, and State need this money to do the job.
Mr. Speaker, just last year, this body allowed a small vocal minority
to push a government shutdown over controversial policy ideas. This
process today causes me to wonder whether many have learned the perils
of such recklessness.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this package and start over. I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, we are here with this crisis
because the President announced a policy that no one would be deported
unless they were a criminal. That word spread through our Central
American countries, and families said: hey, the gates are open; while
this President is in office, if you go there and you get in, then you
won't be deported.
The administration knew this 2 years ago. The word came out that we
were being flooded, increasingly so, from Central American countries.
So we are here trying to fix the problem that is an emergency caused by
this administration, and the administration's control of the other
body, rather than help us solve the problem, left town at noon today
without doing anything. So we are trying to clean up their mess and the
administration's mess, and this bill will do that.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs.
Granger), the chair of the Speaker's task force on border security and
the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations.
Mrs. GRANGER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for the hard
work you have put into this difficult situation.
Mr. Speaker, we are here tonight because this Congress has a
responsibility to immediately stop the humanitarian crisis on our
southern border. The President has failed to lead. The Senate failed to
lead. This Chamber has to lead.
Since October, 58,000 unaccompanied minors have made the treacherous
1,000-mile journey from Central America, across Mexico, and through our
southern border. Tens of thousands more unaccompanied minors are
expected to come if we don't act. Doing nothing is not an option. I
repeat, doing nothing is not an option.
The members of the working group I chaired made recommendations for
an immediate short-term response. I want to recognize the hard work and
commitment of the working group members who made targeted policy
recommendations on how to end this crisis.
Our conclusions included in the bill are to tweak the 2008
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to make sure that
all unaccompanied minors are treated the same as Mexicans, prioritize
last in-first out, expedite the hearing process within 7 days after the
children are detained, and hire additional temporary judges to support
the accelerated process.
To fully support Customs and Border Protection's mission, we include
a provision to allow Border Patrol unfettered access to Federal lands.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, the supplemental includes a sense of Congress
that children should not be detained at military bases.
The Congressional Budget Office has given its assessment of the
policy changes in this legislation. They have
[[Page H7221]]
said that because the legislation allows for the children to self-
deport, it will lead to immediate savings.
I want to commend Chairman Rogers on this smart, targeted bill that
helps address the crisis immediately, and I urge my colleagues to vote
``yes'' on the supplemental.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gallego).
Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, if you read what reporters are already
saying, they are saying that this isn't a serious bill that will ever
become law--that opportunity was lost yesterday when the original bill
was pulled. They are saying this bill does nothing because it isn't
going anywhere once it leaves the House.
The perception of the press and the American people is that this is
all political theater. Why don't we prove them wrong? Why don't we
cancel our travel plans and commit to staying here until we can agree
on an actual solution to this border issue that we can put into a bill
that might actually have a shot of becoming law?
Any single one of us who is married knows the importance of
compromise. Imagine what happens if you walk in your house every day
and you tell your spouse: I really don't care what you think today, I
am not interested in your opinion, we are going to do it my way.
Well, that marriage wouldn't last very long. Anyone who is in a
marriage knows the importance of compromise and knows what happens when
a relationship is one-sided.
We can get together on this. We did it for the VA; we can, and we
should do it for this. An opportunity to sit down around the same table
and negotiate our way through in a very serious and in a very real
way--without the rhetoric, just simple reason, simple common sense--
that makes a difference every day for the people on our border. That is
what I would ask, and that is what I think the American people are
asking.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the newly elected majority whip
of the U.S. House.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky, the
chairman of the Appropriations Committee, for his leadership, and the
gentlewoman from Texas for her leadership in putting this working group
together to bring a bill to address this crisis.
Mr. Speaker, there is a crisis at our border. The President has
refused and failed to do his job to address the crisis. The Senate in
fact today failed to do their job and left town without passing
anything to address this crisis, but the House is here working.
The people's House is here working, and we are not going to stop
working until we get our job done and pass legislation that actually
addresses this crisis, and that is what this bill does, Mr. Speaker.
We have got a bill that actually allows the Governors along the
border to call up the National Guard to help secure the border. The
President ought to do this job. The President has all the tools to
secure the border, but he won't. He has failed to do one of his basic
functions in securing the American border.
Shouldn't the Governors along that border be able to call up the
National Guard to help secure it if the President won't? Not only do we
do that, Mr. Speaker, but we put the funds in place to ensure that it
gets done.
Some other things we do is end this catch-and-release program that
has been a magnet for thousands of people to come across the border and
be released throughout the country--some never to be seen again. We can
stop this, and we do in our bill.
Mr. Speaker, this is important legislation that actually sends a
strong message that we are going to take this issue seriously, and we
are going to actually solve this crisis. If the Senate wants to be
serious about doing their job and if the President wants to be serious
about doing his job, they ought to come back here and pass something of
their own, but they won't, but that is no reason to fail to lead. That
is why the House is leading.
We are going to pass this bill, and we are going to propose a
solution to this crisis. I encourage the Senate to come back and do
their job, and I encourage the President to start doing his.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), the ranking member of the
Immigration Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, we have heard repeatedly that this bill
simply treats all children the way that Mexican children are treated.
It is true that the bill would subject all children to the ineffective
border screening that Mexican children now undergo, but it actually
makes that screening much worse.
Under the antislavery law, Mexican children are permitted to withdraw
their applications for admission and return to Mexico only if the
Border Patrol screener determines that the child has the capacity to
understand what is going on and can independently agree to withdraw the
application for admission.
This bill strikes that language. Under this bill, it does not matter
whether the child can comprehend that she has been given the option to
voluntarily return to her home country because, in this bill, it does
not matter what she thinks.
This bill now says that while a child may be permitted to withdraw
her application for admission, no matter what, she shall be returned--
no matter what, once Border Patrol decides, that is the end of the
discussion, and that kid is going home.
Now, this is not just about our southern border and children from
Central America. This new procedure would apply to any unaccompanied
minor child who appears at our border seeking asylum.
{time} 1930
It could mean that the pregnant Chinese teenager fleeing forced
abortion in China simply gets turned away. It could mean that Syrian
Christian children fleeing horrific violence and persecution in Syria
simply get turned away. It would turn aside a child from Thailand being
trafficked for sex.
I don't know that this was necessarily the intention of this bill--I
would certainly hope not--but that is the way the bill is written. That
is the effect it would have, and I think it is simply unconscionable.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky, the
chairman of the Appropriations Committee for his leadership on this
issue, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5230.
There is a crisis at our southern border, and it is a disaster of
President Obama's own making. The Obama administration's lax
immigration enforcement policies have given confidence to parents who
are in the U.S. illegally that they can stay, and now they are finding
ways to bring their children who are still in Central America and
beyond to the United States unlawfully. Although President Obama has
many tools at his disposal to stop this surge at the border, he refuses
to use them and instead proposes to make the situation worse by taking
more unilateral actions to stop the enforcement of our immigration
laws.
It is ultimately up to President Obama to end this crisis by
reversing his policies that created it. However, since he refuses to do
so, we have to act to the extent we can to provide narrow and targeted
funding to meet the immediate needs of our law enforcement agencies at
the southern border. We have to enable them to do their job to secure
our border and enforce our immigration laws.
And we need to tweak the 2008 law regarding the removal of
unaccompanied alien minors. We need to treat apprehended minors from
Central America in the same expedited but humane fashion that we treat
apprehended minors from Mexico and Canada. In fact, the administration
has called for such a change.
On July 14, before the Senate Appropriations Committee, DHS Secretary
Jeh Johnson said that the Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2008 needed to be amended. He said:
In terms of changing the law, we are asking for the ability
to treat unaccompanied
[[Page H7222]]
kids from a Central American country in the same way as from
a contiguous country.
That is what this bill does, based on language written by
Representative Carter, and it makes the important clarification that
all minors from any country who do not have a credible fear of
persecution and have not been trafficked shall be expeditiously
returned home.
Because of the President's inaction, we are taking the responsible
step today of passing these narrow fixes that will help the American
people avoid billions of dollars in additional costs due to the
President not trying to solve this problem but asking for more money to
continue to resettle tens of thousands of people into the interior of
our country.
While the bill is not perfect, it does give law enforcement many
tools they have requested. For example, while I was in the Rio Grande
Valley earlier this month, Border Patrol agents cited administration-
created restrictions that bar them access to Federal lands as a
significant stumbling block to securing the border. One of the more
important provisions of this bill gives Border Patrol agents access to
Federal lands so that they can stop drug traffickers, human smugglers,
and unlawful immigrants from exploiting these gaps along the border.
Since the President isn't taking the serious action needed to address
the crisis at the border, the House is doing so today. Again, I urge my
colleagues to support this bill.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished minority whip of the House.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, House Republicans have taken two bad bills that failed
to meet the challenge of the humanitarian crisis on the border and made
them worse. They are worse for children. They are worse for women. And
they are worse for those who were brought here as children, grew up
here, and know no other home than America. These bills do not reflect
America's values and our highest ideals.
The bills that were put forward yesterday had no chance of seeing
action in the Senate. Neither do these. In fact, Representative John
Fleming is reported to have said that the supplemental bill is
``political cover'' and that ``not a single Republican in the House
believes it'll be signed into law.''
I believe that statement to be absolutely accurate.
Chairwoman Granger, my friend with whom I served on the
Appropriations Committee, said, just a few minutes ago, doing nothing
is not an option. And I very politely suggest to her what we are doing
tonight is nothing.
What we do tonight will not pass, will not solve a problem, will not
change policy, and it will not give the needed resources that are
necessary. Republicans have once again embraced their ``my way or the
highway'' attitude, the same attitude that led to last year's shutdown,
instead of reaching across the aisle and working with Democrats on
bipartisan legislation that can address this crisis and be enacted.
We are debating a bill that is not only bad in substance, but that
was brought to the floor in near secrecy in violation of the Republican
majority's own 3-day rule. How ironic. How ironic that Majority Leader
McCarthy said in an op-ed in the Washington Post today:
I will commit to the committee process and regular order.
This is neither the committee process nor regular order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mrs. LOWEY. I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the House action tonight does
not reflect those words from this morning's op-ed.
Mr. Speaker, we ought to have a responsible, bipartisan measure to
provide the needed funds to address the border crisis, but we also must
see this as a reminder of why we must pass comprehensive immigration
reform.
Speaker Boehner, himself, said the House would act, saying last May:
The House remains committed to fixing our broken
immigration system.
This is not a fix. But tonight, we must address the crisis before us.
Our Republican friends should work with Democrats on a solution that
can pass the House--this probably can--pass the Senate--this cannot--
and be signed by the President. Nobody here, as Congressman Fleming
indicated, believes that will be the case.
Tonight will be a loss for rational humanitarian action and a victory
for partisan, negative policy. How sad. How wrong. How disappointing to
the American people.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I
may consume to say at least the House is putting a bill on the floor
and passing it, which solves the problem. If we had the Senate here to
work with us, we might be able to get a bill the President could sign.
But the Senate is gone. They have left. So I would hope that the leader
of the Senate would recognize that his body is getting severely
criticized for leaving town without offering a solution to this crisis
on our border.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Carter), who chairs the Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee.
Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Appropriations
Subcommittee on Homeland Security and as a native Texan, I am uniquely
familiar with our southern border. I am also uniquely familiar with the
national security crisis and law enforcement nightmare erupting on that
border, primarily in my State of Texas.
Mr. Speaker, as I have often said, and said yesterday, lawlessness
breeds lawlessness. The crisis unfolding on our border is in very large
part a result of the President's political decision to not enforce the
immigration laws of this Nation. The House intends to correct that
tonight.
In many ways this bill is similar to the legislation the House
considered yesterday, but it has some important improvements. Once
again, the funding in this package is fully offset and provides the
resources needed to address the immediate crisis. This bill also
includes the necessary policy changes to bring parity to the
adjudication and repatriation of these children. Many of these
provisions are borrowed from a bill I drafted along with Robert
Aderholt and Jack Kingston, H.R. 5143, the Protection of Children Act.
This bill expands the tools available to our Border Patrol agents and
allows them to better and more quickly screen the influx of migrant
children. It ensures a timely trial so that no child will have to wait
in limbo for months or years to find out whether or not they will be
able to stay in the United States. It includes crucial language to
prevent these children from being placed with criminals, sex offenders,
or human traffickers. And finally, this bill provides additional
resources for our border Governors as they work to assist Federal
officials and keep our citizens safe.
I urge my colleagues to join me and others in supporting this strong
bill. Lawlessness has bred this lawlessness. We must stop it and secure
our border.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to
remind the distinguished chair of the Appropriations Committee that the
reason the Senate could not bring a bill to the floor was because not
one Republican will allow the procedural vote of cloture to bring it to
the floor. Therefore, we are having a very important debate, but this
bill, as you know, is going nowhere.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina
(Mr. Price), the ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee
on Appropriations.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition
to this so-called appropriations bill. I say ``so-called'' because it
really is mainly about ill-advised and mean-spirited policy changes.
Rather than providing the necessary funds to deal with the humanitarian
crisis at the border, this bill mainly reduces protections for young
people facing violence that we can hardly imagine.
For awhile, it looked like we might do better than this. As the
ranking member of the Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, I
was pleased to take part in a recent delegation to Central America ably
led by Chairwoman Kay Granger. But as successive versions of the
Republican bill have surfaced over the past 2 weeks, in
[[Page H7223]]
a quest for votes only among Republicans, they reflected less and less
of what we learned on that trip. That was true when I said it
yesterday, and it is even more true of the bill before us now.
By the way, to respond to a claim we have heard tonight: Not a person
we talked to any time, anywhere blamed the surge in unaccompanied
minors on the President's decision to prioritize the deportation of
dangerous criminals. That is just not a credible proposition.
The bill under consideration provides less than $1 billion to the
Departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Justice,
and State, far below what is required to deal with this crisis. And
what of the money that is in the bill? Most of it reflects a
fundamental misunderstanding of the issue before us. This isn't a
border security crisis; it is a humanitarian crisis. We don't need to
deploy the National Guard or surge our border capacity, because we are
not failing to catch individuals as they cross. In fact, these young
people are turning themselves in!
This new, worse bill brought before us mere hours ago would entice
Texas, and potentially other border States, with Federal dollars, to
use the National Guard to militarize the southern border. At the same
time, it underfunds the additional judges that I thought we agreed were
needed. We all know that we need to deal with the claims put forward by
these young people who present themselves.
So, Mr. Speaker, let's pass an appropriations bill that reflects our
country's values and actually addresses the problems we face. Let's
also face up to our responsibility to pass comprehensive immigration
reform, as the Senate did a year ago. This bill moves us in exactly the
wrong direction. I urge its rejection.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson), the distinguished chairman of the
Military Construction-VA Appropriations Subcommittee.
{time} 1945
Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I have heard several of my Democratic
colleagues tonight say this bill does not reflect American values. I am
disappointed to hear them say that because it really reflects a
fundamental, probably one of the most fundamental differences between
our two parties, as we on our side as Republicans believe in the most
important American value and that is enforcement. The first design on
the first coin minted in the Republic of Mexico after the Revolution
said: Liberty in the Law. We all understand as lawmakers, as Americans,
that there can be no liberty without law enforcement.
The bill before us tonight is very simple, this is not complicated.
This is a law enforcement issue. This is a law enforcement bill.
Without respect for the law there can be no liberty, without respect
for the law there can be no peace and quiet, there can be no
prosperity.
My good friend Henry Cuellar, who represents the city of Laredo, whom
I served with in the Texas legislature, understands better than most
that, because Laredo is the largest inland port in the United States,
his constituents need law and order in order to be prosperous, to be
able to trade with Mexico, our most important trading partner. That
relationship with Mexico is essential to the Texas economy, to the
United States economy, and for that relationship to thrive there must
be law and order, there must be respect for the law, and there must be
peace and quiet on the streets of Laredo so children can play in the
streets, so people don't have to worry about whether or not they can
send their kids down to the corner store, whether or not they can
thrive in the future. It is a tragedy what has happened in Nuevo
Laredo. One of the most beautiful cities on the border is now
essentially a ghost town because there is no respect for the law.
The bill before us tonight that the Republican majority has put
together reflects our core value as Americans to respect the law, to
enforce the law, with a kind heart and commonsense. We believe in the
good judgment of our law enforcement officers and our National
Guardsmen to use their good hearts and their commonsense as Americans
to distinguish between the widow and her child who is escaping a
terrible situation at home. We are trusting the good hearts and good
sense of our immigration officers to know the difference between a
tattooed criminal and a drug dealer and a smuggler, and the child who
has come here innocently, brought up in the trust the President of the
United States has made inviting them all up here. It is a tragedy for
them, it is a tragedy for our border communities, it is a tragedy for
the country to let these folks come into the country.
This is a law enforcement issue, it is a law enforcement bill. I
encourage folks to vote ``yes.''
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I am proud to be a Member of the Congress of the United States of
America because I have respect for the law. The comprehensive
immigration bill has been sitting out there for over a year. If we
could work in a bipartisan way, if we could show that we have respect
for the law, we would have had a serious debate and really passed a
law. This bill is going nowhere. As you know, the Republicans in the
Senate wouldn't even bring a bill to the floor.
That is why I am proud to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Becerra).
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.
The corrosive effects of shutdown do-nothing politics is on full
display here tonight in the House of Representatives. Stripping the
rights and protections of children is never a good solution in any
legislation, whether it is the children huddled at the border alone and
afraid or now including the young DREAMers of America who believe in
this country. They have now become the targets of this legislation.
They are the ones who are being told, it is because of you that we must
change the law and treat human beings so harshly.
Mr. Speaker, if I could speak to those frightened children and our
DREAMers of America and those working for a fair solution on their
behalf, this is what I would say:
(English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
Is there any doubt what Republicans' intentions are for the migrant
children at the border?
Is there any doubt what Republicans' intentions are for young
DREAMers and their families?
Is there any doubt why immigration reform remains shackled?
Is there any doubt what we must do with our vote, our voice, to
defend the rights and dreams of our children?
Queda duda de las intenciones republicanas hacia los
ninnos migrantes en la frontera?
Queda duda de las intenciones republicanas hacia los
muchachos sonnadores y sus familias?
Queda duda de porquee la reforma migratoria queda
encadenada?
Queda duda de lo que tenemos que hacer con nuestro voto,
nuestra voz, para defender los derechos y los suennos de nuestros
hijos?
Mr. BECERRA. Tonight, with this bill, we see what happens when, for
more than 390 days, our Republican colleagues refused to allow a vote
on the Senate's bipartisan solution to a broken immigration system. But
for the shutdown do-nothing politics in this House, we could have
tackled the humanitarian issues we face down on the border a year ago,
but we haven't been able to get a vote to do this the right way.
It is time to have that vote to fix the broken immigration system,
not blame children and punish them by changing the law to strip them of
their rights and of their protections.
We can do better. This bill will not become law, and we will have a
chance to do better for those children, for those DREAMers, and, quite
honestly, for America.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California will provide a
translation of his statement for the Record.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Kentucky has 14\1/2\
minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from New York has 12 minutes
remaining.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).
[[Page H7224]]
Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, this border crisis is one of the
President's making.
We are here on a Friday night in August because the President has not
done his job. His failure to enforce the law and failure to secure the
border have encouraged tens of thousands of children to make a
dangerous journey to the United States. On the way, they are exposed to
traffickers, health risks, and other dangers. That is not fair to these
children. This is just the latest example of the President's lack of
regard for the rule of law and how it has very real consequences.
This legislation before the House addresses the crisis with solutions
that prioritize resources to expedite the processing of cases, provide
temporary housing and humanitarian assistance, return children to their
countries of origin, and deploy the National Guard.
Importantly, it will prevent future humanitarian crises by amending
current law to allow children to be promptly returned to their native
home.
This legislation is not a blank check for the President. It is a
carefully crafted response to the chaos that the President has allowed
to develop on the border and in these children's lives.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman
from California (Ms. Lee), a member of the Labor, Health and Human
Services and Foreign Operations Subcommittees of Appropriations.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, let me thank our ranking member,
Mrs. Lowey, for yielding and for her tremendous leadership.
Let me just start by saying that, yes, as an appropriator, I am very
troubled by the shameful, first of all, inadequate funding levels and
the dangerous policy riders in this bill.
Let's be honest: the bill before us in no way is a genuine effort to
address the humanitarian crisis on our borders. We should be trying to
help these children by making sure that they are safe and receiving due
process, rather than militarizing our southern border.
Instead, this bill strips protections for children and accelerates
deportations of children back to nations with some of the highest rates
of deadly violence on the planet.
According to a report by the United Nation's High Commissioner for
Refugees, nearly 60 percent of affected children would qualify for
international protections and stated that they were fleeing violence.
This bill is shameful and does not reflect our country's proud legacy
as a Nation of immigrants. We should be debating real proposals like
comprehensive immigration reform that could really improve the lives of
people and the American economy. We could pass it today. Instead, we
are here playing politics with the lives of children.
This bill flies in the face of our values and does nothing, once
again, to address due process for these children. This was a terrible
bill yesterday; it is worse tonight. It will not become law, thank
goodness. Hopefully, all of us will vote ``no'' and come back and begin
to look at how we really address the needs of these children. They need
our help desperately.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New
Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter).
Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, how did a $35 million earmark for 2012
and maybe 2016 Republican Presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick
Perry get into this bill and why? If Texas Governor Rick Perry chooses
to send the Texas National Guard to the Texas border on his own, not as
a national decision or response, that is his right, but he should pay
for it. It is wrong to tax New Hampshire taxpayers and taxpayers around
the country to pay for a $35 million earmark for a Texas Governor who
acted on his own and now should pay for his decision.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi), the minority leader of the House.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
The time is late, the cause is great. We must, we must have clarity
in how we understand what is before us.
Today, we had an opportunity to work together to address humanitarian
emergency at the border. Instead, it is a day of missed opportunity.
The Republican leadership has rejected our hand of friendship to
compromise on this supplemental. Instead of bringing legislation
forward that could solve this problem really and truly, it has resisted
the appeals of humanitarian and religious leaders across all faiths.
The Evangelical Immigration Table calls on us to ensure that our
response strengthens our country's tradition of providing safety and
refuge to the vulnerable.
This legislation that we have before us does not do that. It is
wrong. But don't take my word for it. The U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops urges Members to oppose H.R. 5230 and work together to craft
legislation that is more befitting the United States of America and the
American people's history of compassion and generosity to vulnerable
children and refugees.
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, speaking on their behalf, has
said of this legislation, the two pieces of legislation before us:
This is a sad day for our country. A Chamber of Congress is
poised to send vulnerable children back to danger and
possible death. It violates our commitment to human rights
and due process of the law, and lessens us as a Nation.
In their letter, the bishops further state their opposition to H.R.
5232 and say that it ``stems from its elimination of the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program,'' otherwise known as DACA.
In conclusion, the bishops write:
How our Nation responds to this humanitarian challenge is a
moral test of our national character. We ask that you oppose
H.R. 5230 and H.R. 5272, which we feel fail to live up to
that test.
Others, such as the American Bar Association, write:
Due to their age, lack of education, language, and cultural
barriers, and the complexity of U.S. immigration law, these
vulnerable children face insurmountable obstacles to proving
their claims before an immigration judge on their own.
It is the children who are most likely to be eligible for
some relief under the law who may be least able to articulate
their experiences under this proposed procedure.
They have been through a lot of trauma, and we want to add to that.
Yet, this has not been enough to stem the path that the House
Republicans are going down. To further poison the pie they offer their
caucus the chance to even be less compassionate in their vote to end
DACA and to deport the DREAMers.
It is not enough for Republicans to send desperate children back to
the violence of their home countries. They must also vote to deport the
best young immigrants and brightest in our schools, vote to send
victims of domestic violence back to their abusers, vote to hand
witnesses back to drug lords, vote to remove the parents of American
children.
These pieces of legislation dishonor America. They are a rejection of
our values. But don't take it from me, take it from the bishops, the
Evangelical Table, and others. They run counter to the respect for the
spark of divinity that we believe exists in every person, the respect
for the dignity and worth of every person that we share, but these
pieces of legislation ignore.
{time} 2000
House Republicans have truly lost their way. I certainly hope that
you will consider rereading the parable of the Good Samaritan who
helped a stranger. He did not ignore or harm a stranger he saw on the
road. Perhaps that may be a path back for you. I pray that it is so.
Mr. Speaker, I will submit for the record letters from the bishops,
the Evangelical Immigration Table, and the ABA who oppose these pieces
of legislation.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
Committee on Migration,
Washington, DC, August 1, 2014.
Dear Representative: I write to reaffirm the opposition of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to H.R. 5230
and express our opposition to H.R. 5232.
Our opposition to H.R. 5230 stems from four troubling
aspects of the measure. First, it would make crippling
changes to current U.S. trafficking victim protection law
that we fear would send these vulnerable children, and others
in the future who have fled trauma, exploitation, and
violence, back into
[[Page H7225]]
harm's way, likely resulting in continued degradation,
injury, and death for many of them. Second, it would not
provide adequate funding for the Department of Health and
Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to enable
it to care for vulnerable unaccompanied children in U.S.
custody. Third, its level of funding for ORR is so low that
it would severely hamper the agency's ability to fulfill its
responsibility to care for refugees, asylum seekers, special
immigrants, trafficking victims, and torture victims. And
fourth, the measure contains no provisions to address the
root causes that have compelled so many children to make the
arduous journey from their homes in Central America to the
United States and elsewhere in the region.
Our opposition to H.R. 5232 stems from its elimination of
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. It
is our view that this program has helped protect a vulnerable
group of children who for all extensive purposes are
Americans. It would subject them once again to removal to
countries they do not know. We urge its defeat.
How our nation responds to this humanitarian challenge is a
moral test of our national character. We ask that you oppose
H.R. 5230 and H.R. 5232, which we feel fail to live up to
that test.
Sincerely,
Most Reverend Eusebio Elizondo,
Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, WA,
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Migration.
____
Committee on Migration,
Washington, DC, July 30, 2014.
Dear Representative: I write on behalf of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to express the
bishops' opposition to H.R. 5230, a measure making
supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2014 and making a number of changes to U.S.
immigration and human trafficking law. We strongly urge
Members to vote AGAINST H.R. 5230 when it is brought before
the full House of Representatives and that the House,
instead, work with the Senate to craft legislation that is
more befitting the United States' and the American people's
history of compassion for and generosity to vulnerable
children and refugees.
Our opposition to H.R. 5230 stems from four troubling
aspects of the measure. First, it would make crippling
changes to current U.S. trafficking victim protection law
that we fear would send these vulnerable children, and others
in the future who have fled trauma, exploitation, and
violence, back into harm's way, likely resulting in continued
degradation, injury, and death for many of them. Second, it
would not provide adequate funding for the Department of
Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement
(ORR) to enable it to care for vulnerable unaccompanied
children in U.S. custody. Third, its level of funding for ORR
is so low that it would severely hamper the agency's ability
to fulfill its responsibility to care for refugees, asylum
seekers, special immigrants, trafficking victims, and torture
victims. And fourth, the measure contains no provisions to
address the root causes that have compelled so many children
to make the arduous journey from their homes in Central
America to the United States and elsewhere in the region.
Return of Vulnerable Children to their Harm or Death
In a recent message, His Holiness Pope Francis called on
nations to exercise compassion for and care of the growing
number of children fleeing violence in Central America who
are seeking shelter and protection in the United States and
elsewhere in the region. In his message, the Holy Father said
of these children and their plight: ``Such an humanitarian
emergency demands as its first measure the urgent protection
and proper taking in of the children.'' We believe that H.R.
5230 fails that test.
We fear that the deprivations of basic due process
contained in Title I of Division B of H.R. 5230 would result
in the United States sending children who have relief
available to them in the United States back to the conditions
that they fled, and that this would result in many children
being harmed and some being killed upon their return.
As we have stated in congressional testimony and in
previous letters to Congress, this vulnerable group of
children is fleeing violence from organized criminal
networks. Many are likely to be eligible for a variety of
forms of immigration relief, including asylum, trafficking
visas (``T Visas''), visas for victims of crime (``U
Visas''), Special Immigrant Juvenile visas (``SUS Visas''),
and withholding of removal. As we have stated, sending these
vulnerable children back into the hands of their persecutors
and exploiters without a meaningful immigration hearing would
severely decrease their opportunity for legal protection and
possibly lead to their bodily harm or even death. We oppose
the changes to the Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2008 and the Immigration and
Nationality Act contained in Title I of Division B of H.R.
5230 and believe that these provisions alone strongly warrant
a vote against H.R. 5230.
Inadequacy of Funding to Care for Unaccompanied Alien Children
As you know, the Administration requested $1.8 billion in
supplemental fiscal year 2014 funds to adequately and
appropriately care for unaccompanied alien children in the
United States. We are disappointed that Title V of Division A
of H.R. 5230 would provide only $197 million for this
purpose, a fraction of the funds requested by the
Administration.
We believe that the Administration's request of $1.8
billion would have better ensured that these vulnerable
children are placed in the least restrictive and most child-
friendly setting in an expeditious manner. Among other
things, such an amount would have permitted a portion of the
funds to be used for post-release services, including home
studies and case monitoring for children placed with
families. These services would ensure that children are
placed in a safe environment and that they are provided
information about their immigration proceedings. The amount
also would have provided for mental health counseling for
children, who are traumatized from their long journey.
In contrast, H.R. 5230 provides $262 million to Interior
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody operations, which would
help fund an expansion of detention for children and families
arriving at the border. We oppose this funding. Unaccompanied
children and families with children should be placed in a
least restrictive setting, not be detained in prison-like
settings. We urge that some portion of these funds be used
for community-based alternatives to detention for families.
Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Special Immigrants, and Torture and
Trafficking Victims
As you may know, ORR recently announced its intention to
reprogram $94 million of funding that was appropriated in
fiscal year 2014 for refugee services and to use that
funding, instead, to care for unaccompanied alien children.
We commend the drafters of H.R. 5230 for their decision to
partially reimburse ORR for its planned reprogramming refugee
services funding. However, we are disappointed that the
measure would designate only $47 million of the supplemental
appropriations bill for this purpose, leaving the ORR account
short of the funds it will need to carry out vital refugee
resettlement activities for refugees and other vulnerable
populations under ORR care.
We believe that any supplemental appropriations bill passed
by Congress should provide a full reimbursement to ORR for
any funds that are reprogrammed so that the agency can
fulfill its mandate to resettle these groups, which includes
refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian Entrants, Special
Immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan (who are now endangered
after helping the United States with its mission in those
countries), torture victims, and trafficking victims.
Because ORR ordinarily distributes much of its funds in the
last quarter of one fiscal year to provide refugee services
during the first quarter of the following fiscal year, ORR
program money lost to reprograming in fiscal year 2014 could
result in critical loss of services to refugees and other
vulnerable populations in fiscal year 2015. The reprogrammed
fiscal year 2014 money comes from a number of line items,
including Refugee Social Services and Targeted Assistance
Grants. These items provide critical programming to help
refugees learn English and find jobs so that they can support
themselves and their families. They also fund programs for
the elderly, intensive case management for torture survivors
and victims of trauma, home child care, and school impact
grants to help both the children and their schools. Besides
harming refugees and ORR's other vulnerable populations, the
inadequate level of funding provided in H.R. 5230 could also
contribute to depleted local refugee programs and the loss of
local infrastructure that provides critical ORR support for
refugees, children, and the above mentioned vulnerable
populations, and for the communities that welcome them.
Failure to Address Root Causes
We are disappointed that H.R. 5230 contains no funding to
address push factors in Central America that are compelling
children to leave their homes and make the arduous journey in
search of protection in the United States and elsewhere in
the region. We believe that funding to address the root
causes in the countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El
Salvador is essential if we are to assist those governments
in protecting their citizens and in providing hope for young
people. We support funding for re-integration programs for
these children and urge that funding be adequate to ensure
that follow-up services are provided, including employment
training and education. Moreover, we believe that funding
should be provided to invest in at-risk youth in danger of
gang recruitment, including mentoring services, skills
training, and social support services. Catholic Relief
Services, which is present in these countries, operates
programs serving at-risk youth that have helped to prevent
children from migrating to the United States. Funding also
should be provided for improving youth employment in the
region. The United States will need to make a long-lasting
commitment to the region in order to make it safe for these
children to live and flourish.
If the humanitarian and refugee crisis posed by children
fleeing violence in Central America were happening anywhere
else in the world, the United States would appropriately
implore nations in that region to protect them from harm. We
have done so in the case of Syrians, Iraqis, and Afghans
fleeing persecution in the Near East; Somalis, Congolese, and
Sudanese in Africa; and Burmese, Hmong, and Vietnamese in
Southeast
[[Page H7226]]
Asia. In these and many other cases, we have urged the
countries to which refugees and vulnerable migrants have fled
to open their hearts and protect these vulnerable souls. We
should do no less when the United States is itself faced with
this humanitarian challenge.
How our nation responds to this challenge is a moral test
of our national character. We ask that you oppose H.R. 5230,
which we feel fails to live up to that test. Instead, we urge
you to support the appropriation of supplemental fiscal year
2014 funding to address the increased number of unaccompanied
children fleeing violence in Central America, without
provisions that would undermine current legal and
humanitarian protections for them and others.
Sincerely,
Most Reverend Eusebio Elizondo,
Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle,
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Migration.
____
Evangelical Immigration Table,
July 22, 2014.
Dear Member of Congress, In a matter of months, more than
50,000 unaccompanied children have arrived in the United
States. Millions of Americans have been moved by the plight
of these children who are currently awaiting processing, with
many asking how they can help.
Children are vulnerable even in the best of circumstances
and warrant special protection beyond that offered to adults.
This vulnerability is compounded among children who flee
situations of criminal gangs, sexual violence, trauma and
extreme poverty, without their parents to accompany them.
Evangelicals are guided by Jesus' admonitions to welcome
and protect children (Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:37, Luke 18:15-
17). As our nation responds to this humanitarian crisis, we
are thankful for laws that protect children and provide for
their needs. While our systems are currently stretched, our
laws uphold basic child protection principles.
Accordingly, we are concerned about potential weakening of
protections afforded by the William Wilberforce Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) which was
enacted in 2008 and reauthorized in 2013. The TVPRA ensures
that victims of trafficking are not only identified and
screened properly but that traffickers are penalized and
brought to justice. It also appropriately assigns
responsibility for the care of unaccompanied children to the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and ensures
that children are placed with their families when possible.
By making the legal process clearer and more efficient for
children, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops found that
since the passage and implementation of TVPRA 23 percent more
children were assisted. The TVPRA is working according to its
design. It should not be changed to address the current
temporary situation. The law allows for responses to
exceptional circumstances.
Additionally, we urge you to provide the necessary
resources and policy guidance to address the current crisis,
and then hold the Administration accountable for fulfilling
its responsibilities under the law. Robust funding is needed
for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in HHS which has
extensive experience with vulnerable immigrants, including
UACs, refugees, and victims of trafficking. To respond to
this crisis, ORR is considering reprogramming funding from
other refugee programs. Funds must not simply be transferred
from one vulnerable population to another. More funding is
needed. There should also be increased funding for
immigration courts and judges to more quickly screen the
children and counsel for children going through legal
proceedings so they know their rights and can understand the
process. More robust investment in effectively addressing
root causes of migration in Central America and Mexico is
also imperative.
As we pray for these children and also our nation, we are
reminded of Matthew 19:13-14 in which Jesus said, ``Let the
little children come to me, and do not hinder them.' Churches
and faith-based organizations have long partnered with the
federal government in serving immigrant children and families
in the United States. Many churches and faith-based
organizations are ready and committed to provide the same
type of assistance and pastoral care in the case of these
unaccompanied children.
We offer our prayers and service as you make important
decisions about our nation's response to migrant children. We
hope that any response you make will strengthen our country's
tradition of providing safety and refuge to the vulnerable.
Sincerely,
Leith Anderson, President, National Association of
Evangelicals; Stephan Bauman, President and CEO, World
Relief; David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World;
Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development
Association; Russell D. Moore, President, Southern
Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission;
William Robinson, Interim President, Council for
Christian Colleges and Universities; Samuel Rodriguez,
President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership
Conference; Gabriel Salguero, President, National
Latino Evangelical Coalition; Richard Stearns,
President, World Vision U.S.; Jim Wallis, President and
Founder, Sojourners.
____
American Bar Association,
Washington, DC, July 31, 2014.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the American Bar
Association and its nearly 400,000 members nationwide, I
write to urge you to oppose H.R. 5230, the Secure the
Southwest Border Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2014.
Additional resources are surely needed to address the
challenges created by the increased number of unaccompanied
children entering the country. However, the funding provided
in H.R. 5230 is grossly inadequate to meet many critical
needs and the bill contains misguided provisions that would
significantly diminish the legal protections provided to
these children under current law.
H.R. 5230 would subject these children to an expedited
screening process and require them to present their case
before an immigration judge in just seven days. It further
requires immigration judges to issue an order within 72 hours
of the conclusion of each proceeding. These requirements
place unfair and unrealistic burdens on both the children and
the judges. Although the bill provides some additional
funding for the immigration courts, it is not sufficient to
avoid severely increasing the strains on this already
overburdened and chronically under--resourced adjudication
system. These provisions elevate speedy procedure over due
process--an anathema to our system of justice and they are
unnecessary.
In addition, H.R. 5230 provides no additional funding for
legal representation. Due to their age, lack of education,
language and cultural barriers, and the complexity of U.S.
immigration law, these vulnerable children face
insurmountable obstacles to proving their claims for
protection before an immigration judge on their own. Many of
these children also have suffered traumatic experiences
before or during their journey to the United States; it is
the children who are most likely be eligible for some relief
under the law, such as victims or trafficking or persecution,
who may be least able to articulate their experiences under
this proposed procedure. This creates the likelihood that
those children with a valid claim to asylum or other legal
protection are the ones most likely to be returned to their
home countries to face serious harm or even death.
There is no question that the rapid increase in
unaccompanied children entering our country presents many
difficult challenges that require our nation to respond.
However, in the rush to address the current crisis, the
United States cannot abandon the principles of fairness and
due process. H.R. 5230 fails in this regard and we strongly
urge you to vote against it.
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Susman.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Stutzman).
Mr. STUTZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for
his dedication and hard work in finding a solution to a problem that
none of us created here in this Chamber.
I rise today in strong support of this supplemental appropriations
bill for the crisis that is going on at our border. I am very proud of
our Conference this week, seeking input and solutions from Members,
taking the time to make sure that this legislation deals with the
problem, and crafting this legislation to make sure that there are no
loopholes and that we deal with the specifics and actually put a bill
on the floor that should be supported.
Mr. Speaker, the Obama administration has ignored the law and
unilaterally established immigration policy without the consent or
counsel of Congress. Unfortunately, the humanitarian crisis on our
Nation's southern border is the result of a lack of leadership.
To solve this problem, the legislation that we are debating provides
critical funding for the National Guard in those States that are seeing
an influx. It also authorizes additional judges to hear the increasing
caseload that they are seeing grow and grow, more and more everyday. It
also makes important reforms to current law to ensure equal and timely
due process for all of those unaccompanied minors.
Mr. Speaker, common sense doesn't often prevail here in Washington,
but I can tell you that commonsense Hoosiers in my district understand
that, first of all, our border needs to be secure, so that our
immigration system can then be reformed.
We are a Nation of immigrants. We all have a history in our families
of those who have made the effort to come to this great country, and
legal immigrants are looking for those opportunities that they have
dreamed of.
I thank Chairman Rogers for his work, and I encourage my colleagues
to support this legislation.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Marino).
[[Page H7227]]
Mr. MARINO. Mr. Speaker, I sat here quietly listening to the argument
from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and I find it
absolutely amazing that they say because the President would not sign
this bill and because the Senate would not pass this bill--they are
right, the Senate wouldn't pass it. There are hundreds of bills on
Harry Reid's desk that he will not bring to the floor for a vote, and
certainly the President would not encourage that to be done.
But we are doing our job here in the House. We have put a lot of time
and effort in this. We looked at this law and realized what had to be
done. I come from a law-and-order background, and we don't have law and
order. We have distrust, we have gangs coming across, we have drugs
coming across the southern border, and my colleagues on the other side
don't want to do anything about it.
Something that I find quite interesting about the other side, under
the leadership of the former Speaker and under the leadership of their
former leader, in 2009 and 2010, they had the House, the Senate, and
the White House, and they knew this problem existed. They didn't have
the strength to go after it back then, but now we are trying to make a
political issue out of it now.
What we need to do is pass this legislation, make sure that these
children get back to their families, and we need to line up and protect
this border from people coming across.
Yes, it is true. I did the research on it. You might want to try it.
You might want to try it, Madam Leader. Do the research on it. Do the
research. I did it. That is one thing that you don't do.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will address his remarks to
the Chair.
Mr. MARINO. It works both ways, Mr. Speaker.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The House will be in order. The gentleman is
recognized.
Mr. MARINO. With that, I urge my colleagues to vote for this
legislation because, apparently, I hit the right nerve.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Washington, Adam Smith.
Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this
bill and also to the bill that will follow. We have a humanitarian
crisis on our border in this country, and neither this bill and
certainly not the next bill on DACA does anything to address it.
These children are fleeing unimaginable violence and fleeing a life
that they simply can no longer bear. It is not a problem of border
security. These children are turning themselves in. They are simply
fleeing the violence in their home countries, and they are not just
coming to the United States. Belize, Costa Rica, and other countries
have seen an uptick from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras because
of the unimaginable violence there.
Instead of dealing with this, we have a bill that is hopelessly
inadequate in terms of funding. We will not provide enough judges and
enough people to give these children the due process they deserve, and
even worse than that, we are stripping them of any rights and any
protections by sending them back as quickly as possible without the due
process that this House voted for in 2008, was signed by President
Bush, that gave these children the due process they deserve.
Then we are going one step further to undermine the ability of
children who were brought into this country through no fault of their
own, the DREAMers that we have long supported, and we are telling them
that now they will not be allowed to stay in this country. This is a
humanitarian crisis, not a border security issue.
I urge us to vote down both of these pieces of legislation.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt), the chairman of the Agriculture
Subcommittee on Appropriations.
Mr. ADERHOLT. Thank you for yielding, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Speaker, it has been discussed throughout this debate this
afternoon and this evening that we do face an unprecedented
humanitarian emergency with literally thousands of unaccompanied alien
children that are crossing our southwest border monthly, a number that
has more than doubled since the last year.
It has been said by some that it is due to President Obama's mixed
messages and the administration's unwillingness to enforce the law, but
regardless of what the reason is, we have a crisis that is growing.
The bill that is before us this evening represents a simple, measured
approach to the crisis at the border. It is not comprehensive
immigration reform; rather, its focus is on fixing the issues within
the context of the law, issues that have fueled the influx of these
children.
It also streamlines the process to ensure that those who are not
eligible for asylum are quickly and safely repatriated to their
families while, at the same time, adding protection to make sure that
children who have been trafficked or genuinely in need of asylum get
that protection they need.
Like many of my colleagues, I appreciate the leadership's willingness
to listen and address these matters in the bill that is before us. I
think we have all come together and done a great job to craft this
legislation. I believe this version now provides the necessary and
appropriate language needed to move forward and to address the crisis
that we are seeing.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).
Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank all the people
that worked so hard to put this language together, and it makes me feel
good to see the team that has done so. But I also think there is a
misunderstanding as to what happened with how we got to this OTM
language, the Wilberforce language, that is current law that we are
seeking to amend here.
There was a bill that was introduced in December of 2007 which was
called Wilberforce. It had two provisions. One of them was that if you
violated Federal law, you were exempt from the provisions that would
have been beneficial to an unaccompanied alien child, and the other one
was if you were a threat to national security.
Those provisions were taken out of it. A new bill was introduced on
December 9, 2008. The next day was the last day of this session. We all
put up our last votes, left the Capitol, and headed for the airport.
There was a unanimous consent request that called the bill up.
They asked unanimous consent to discharge it from committee, called
the bill up, passed it by voice in the House, sent it over to the
Senate, where they took the lateral. They passed it by voice to the
President of the United States. No Republican voted for this bill.
This is a bill that is the foundational excuse for the President, and
this is what we are trying to fix here tonight.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, as we close this debate, I would like to
address my remarks to our distinguished chairman with whom I have
worked for quite a while, and just once again, I would like to say this
bill deserves a ``no'' vote.
I look forward to working with you in a bipartisan way to pass a real
comprehensive immigration reform bill, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, this is a fair bill. It solves a
crisis on our border. It does so in a financially safe and responsible
way. It strengthens the border. It humanely treats those who are in our
custody now and arranges for them to be humanely returned to their home
families, where the Presidents of the three countries told us, We want
these children back; and so this bill will do that.
I urge an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, as a nation, Americans have always
valued children and families.
If we pass this inadequate, irresponsible bill tonight, we will be
breaking from that tradition and turning our backs on America's
enduring commitment to fairness and justice.
Two weeks ago, I visited the border with a bipartisan group of House
and Senate colleagues.
There we saw small children as young as seven years old crowded into
tiny cells, and
[[Page H7228]]
forced to sleep on cold concrete floors and benches.
What I saw shocked me as a mother and disappointed me as an American.
I left that day determined to do everything I could to ensure that
these children, many of whom fled horrific violence, are treated with
care and compassion.
That's why I'll be voting ``no'' on the bill before us.
Joining me and others who oppose this destructive legislation are
faith leaders, anti-trafficking groups, and women's organizations.
This diverse coalition is united in the belief that children escaping
violence and persecution deserve to be protected and treated with basic
human dignity.
The influx of refugees from Central America has put a strain on our
border and immigration agencies. These agencies need greater resources
to handle the heart-wrenching situation at our border in a way that is
consistent with our American values. When things get tough, and when
our resolve is tested, we must not abandon the ideals that make America
so special.
Instead, we must live up to our ideals, and back our lofty rhetoric
with meaningful action. Passing a clean supplemental spending bill that
addresses the causes and consequences of the humanitarian crisis at our
border would be meaningful and effective action, because the Senate
would pass that bill and the President would sign it.
The tired, scared, helpless kids I saw in that overcrowded Border
Patrol station are counting on us. Instead of playing political games
and falsely claiming our borders are at risk, we need to act like
Americans and stand up for these vulnerable children.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this irresponsible and
shameful Republican supplemental.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 710, the previous question is ordered on
the bill, as amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third
reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 223,
nays 189, not voting 20, as follows:
[Roll No. 478]
YEAS--223
Aderholt
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Clawson (FL)
Coble
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cotton
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Farenthold
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jolly
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
McAllister
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IN)
NAYS--189
Barber
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera (CA)
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Broun (GA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Caardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Crowley
Cummings
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Edwards
Engel
Enyart
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fincher
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garcia
Green, Al
Grijalva
Gutieerrez
Hahn
Hastings (FL)
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujaan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Massie
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters (CA)
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velaazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--20
Blumenauer
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Davis (CA)
DesJarlais
Ellison
Fattah
Garamendi
Grayson
Green, Gene
Hanabusa
McDermott
Miller, Gary
Nunnelee
Ruiz
Rush
Saanchez, Linda T.
Schock
Speier
{time} 2037
Mr. GOSAR changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated against:
Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 478 I was caught in traffic
and couldn't reach the floor. Had I been present, I would have voted
``no.''
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall vote 478 (On Passage of H.R.
5230), had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''
____________________