[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 9, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H3134-H3135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          A PLEA NOT TO REINSTATE THE FAMILY SEPARATION POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. And I rise because 
I love my country. I rise today on a mission of mercy.
  I am on a mission of mercy for people that I will likely never meet 
and greet. Perhaps by some fortuitous circumstance, I may encounter 
some of them, but I know not who they are currently in the sense that I 
know them personally.
  I rise on behalf of the many people who are seeking asylum, and I do 
so, Mr. Speaker, because it has been reported on many news stations--
outlets, if you will--that our President intends to reinstate the 
family separation policy.
  I rise on a mission of mercy, and I make an appeal to the most 
powerful man on the planet Earth. My appeal is that you would not--N-O-
T--you would not reinstate this policy.
  I beseech you to please, Mr. President, treat these people the way 
you would want to be treated if you found yourself in similar 
circumstances. I beg that you would understand that separating babies 
from mothers is unacceptable by any standard that we know of.
  No one supports the notion of taking babies from their mothers, 
children from their parents.

                              {time}  1015

  So I am begging and pleading with the President of the United States 
of America, the most powerful man on Earth: Please, Mr. President, do 
not reinstate this policy.
  I also appeal to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
encourage the President to do the right thing, the just thing.

[[Page H3135]]

  If we are not pleased with the laws in this country, we have a means 
by which we can address the law. If we believe that something is 
unacceptable, there is a way for us to address it. The way to address 
this problem is with immigration reform.
  I beg the President and all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: 
Please, let's try to resolve this with legislation. Let's not do what 
we have done and, quite frankly, have not atoned for.
  Some of the children are still not back with their parents who were 
separated previously. This is the United States of America. This is not 
what we do. We don't take children from their parents and then place 
them in places where we cannot find them such that we can reunite them.
  This is my appeal, Mr. President. I make the appeal because, as a 
Member of Congress, I believe that at some point we are going to have 
to account for the actions that we engage in while we are here. I don't 
want it on my record that while I was in the Congress of the United 
States of America and I had the opportunity to at least speak to power, 
to speak truth to power, and make an appeal on behalf of those who are 
among the least, the last, and the lost--I am making my appeal. I am 
doing what I can to help those who are fleeing harm's way.
  Mr. President, you don't have to do this, and I beg that Members of 
both parties would please encourage him not to do so.
  This is a moment for us to reflect and a moment for us to demonstrate 
to the world that what we preach, we will practice. We have, for years, 
encouraged other countries to take in refugees. We have gone so far as 
to pay countries to take in refugees. We have funded countries to take 
in refugees. We ought to practice what we preach.
  Those who are not qualified should not come, should not be brought 
into our country. But I would also say this, that we should not say to 
the world: Go back, refugees, asylum seekers. You are not welcome in 
the United States of America.
  This is not the country that would proclaim such a thing. Our laws we 
stand on, and I stand on those laws.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their 
remarks to the Chair.

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