[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H5589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE CONTINUING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Costa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
continuing humanitarian crisis that is taking place at our border 
between the United States and Mexico.
  Despite Congress' recent effort to provide relief to thousands of 
people in detention centers, children continue to be separated from 
their families, and people continue suffer from a lack of basic living 
standards that they need.
  This is not the American way.
  What is more, this administration has just announced new ICE raids in 
major American cities that will solve nothing.
  We need to do more. Congress needs to act and seek long-term 
solutions to addressing the problems forcing people to flee their homes 
and seek asylum, women and children literally moving 2,000 miles, and 
they are not coming to Disneyland.
  Congress needs to act. We should be focusing on attacking the problem 
at its source by increasing support to Central American countries like 
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where the majority of these 
migrants are coming from.
  We should not be cutting foreign aid to these countries. That just 
exacerbates the problem. I asked Secretary Pompeo in a hearing of the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs almost 2 months ago: Why does not the 
President call a meeting with the President of Mexico and bring 
together the Organization of American States to come up with a 
comprehensive long-term solution to this problem?
  I have spoken with the Ambassador from Mexico to the United States. 
She has expressed to me the problem that they are facing at their 
southern border with Guatemala. That is what we should be doing, 
cooperating and working with the Mexican Government and our other 
neighbors to the south.
  We must also work to secure a basic standard of living for the 
detention facilities to provide for immediate relief. That is why I am 
cosponsoring H.R. 3239, Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in CBP 
Custody, to provide house screening and emergency care, to improve 
water and sanitation and hygiene standards, and to improve nutrition 
and shelter standards.
  These are things that we are doing in the Middle East with the 
refugee relief programs for the Syrian refugees. Why would we not do 
this at our own border, and increase the coordination and surge 
capacity for the agencies to address what the needs are of these 
migrants?
  We really do have a humanitarian crisis at our border, to be sure. I 
think we all recognize and understand that.
  But, finally, we need to work together. We need to work together in a 
bipartisan fashion. That is how Congress should operate to achieve 
lasting, comprehensive immigration reform.
  When I first came to Congress, I supported comprehensive immigration 
reform with the Bush administration and then with the Obama 
administration.
  In 2013, we had a bipartisan package that was very close to passage. 
As a matter of fact, I think it would have passed the House had the 
Speaker at the time brought it to the floor. Unfortunately, we lost 
that opportunity.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in their commitment to working to 
resolve this humanitarian crisis that we are facing at the border. That 
is the American way. That is what we should be doing as Members of 
Congress.

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