[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4787-S4788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, tomorrow I will join some of my
colleagues from the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as the Vice
President, for a trip to McAllen, TX. It is a beautiful city, nestled
in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley.
This region is home to a lot of history, a vibrant culture, and
people whose generosity has made national headlines over the last
period of time as they have worked to manage the humanitarian crisis
that has ended up on their doorstep.
For each of the past 4 months, more than 100,000 migrants have
crossed our southern border and presented themselves to the Border
Patrol. This has placed an unbelievable strain on Federal, State, and
local law enforcement, as well as the cities, the counties, and
nongovernmental organizations that have tried to step in to help.
After 10 weeks from the point when it was requested by the President,
Congress finally passed a bipartisan bill to provide funding for the
Federal departments and agencies working to manage this crisis and make
$30 million available as reimbursement to local governments for paying
bills that legitimately and fairly should be those of the Federal
Government. This is an important step to help manage this humanitarian
crisis, but it is far from a permanent solution. You can say we are
really dealing with the effects and not the causes. The truth is, we
need to pass legislation in Congress that makes lasting changes to our
immigration system, particularly our system whereby people apply for
and receive asylum, so we can prevent this humanitarian crisis from
becoming the norm.
We can run, but we cannot hide from the fact that only Congress can
solve this problem. To that end, I have introduced bipartisan
legislation called the HUMANE Act, with my friend and colleague in the
House, Henry Cuellar, that would make significant progress in doing
exactly that. This is the only bipartisan, bicameral bill that I
believe would help staunch the flow of humanity across the border and
deal with the underlying causes. Our bill would close a major loophole
that is being exploited by the human smugglers that serves as a pull
factor for those who want to come to the United States illegally. It
would also ensure that migrants in our custody receive the proper care
and streamline the processing of those who cross our border. It is an
important step to address this crisis at its source as well as to
provide relief for folks along the entire U.S.-Mexico border who have
been impacted. We need to pass this bill and pass it quickly and get it
to the President's desk for his signature.
While the compassionate response of our local communities has become
national news in recent months, Texans
[[Page S4788]]
have long known they have been the ones left alone to step up to assist
migrants who arrived in poor health, many times with nothing but the
clothing on their back. They provide warm meals, a safe place to sleep,
and some of the basic necessities of life before these individuals head
off to communities across the United States where they await their
court dates with immigration judges.
Sadly, those of us who live in border States have also seen the toll
this treacherous journey takes on migrants, and we have had to face the
dark reality that many don't survive the journey from Central America
across Mexico into the United States. Migrants travel with human
smugglers known as ``coyotes,'' who are all too willing to leave their
customers for dead if they become sick or injured. I have seen photos
and, of course, heard heartbreaking stories from the Border Patrol, as
well as local officials and ranchers, about finding the remains on
ranches or open terrain along the border of those who died in the
desert trying to make their way to the United States.
I have been to Sacred Heart Cemetery in Brooks County, TX, near the
Falfurrias checkpoint, where I saw graves of these unknown who are
labeled with terms like ``skull case,'' ``bones,'' and ``unknown
female.''
Here is a chart of a photograph depicting one of those graves. As you
can see, it is marked ``unknown male.'' Literally, the remains are
identified not by the name but, in this case, by the sex, obviously
listing the fact that they are unknown.
This is not a rare occurrence. While exact figures are hard to find,
there is no question that thousands of migrants have died while
attempting to enter the United States illegally. It is one of the
toughest parts of the job for Border Patrol, and it takes a toll on
communities as well that are obligated to do what is right to ensure
the dignity of the deceased.
The process of identifying these remains is expensive, and it also
often falls on local taxpayers, like the taxpayers of Brooks County,
TX. Frankly, they don't have the tax base and can't afford to deal with
this without our help. We know they have limited staff and budgets, and
it puts serious strain on local resources. It is an issue I have worked
on for a number of years.
I will soon be reintroducing a bill I authored last year to provide
some relief. It is called the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains
Act. It will provide local jurisdictions with the resources they need
to identify the remains of those who died along the border and solve
missing persons cases. This bill will expand the eligibility for
jurisdictions to receive grants through Jennifer's Law and make
desperately needed funds available. With this expansion, State and
local governments, forensic labs, medical examiners, nonprofits, and
others will be eligible to receive funding to support their work. They
will be able to use these grant funds to support transportation,
processing, identification, and reporting.
These funds can also be used to hire additional analysts,
technicians, and examiners to support identification as well as
purchase the necessary state-of-the-art equipment.
This legislation would take steps to improve the recording and
reporting of missing persons and unidentified remains, which is a major
challenge, particularly when it comes to notifying family members.
I have the great honor of representing more than 28 million Texans. I
know that in order to do my job--as all of us attempt to do--we need to
listen to our constituents and act on suggestions they make to us. The
Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act is a prime example of
that. Border communities have borne the brunt of the humanitarian and
security crisis at the border, and they are often forced to do the job
of the Federal Government without any help from the Federal Government.
This bill would go a long way helping to defray some of those costs.
It would provide additional resources to local communities working to
identify those who have gone missing as well as process unidentified
remains and invest in the forensic equipment needed to provide closure
to families in the United States and abroad.
I appreciate the feedback of the folks who live and work in our
border communities, and I look forward to heading to the Rio Grande
Valley tomorrow with the Vice President and a number of my colleagues
on the Judiciary Committee to hear more about the challenges they are
facing.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, as I begin my remarks, I would like
to thank the Senator from Texas for the work he has done on arranging
our travel to the border tomorrow. I am one of those committee members
who will make that trip.
How wonderful it is that he is working with Chairman Graham to make
certain that we are going to be able to visit with the Border Patrol to
see and hear firsthand what is going on, making certain that we all
focus on the security of this great Nation and provide the resources
that are needed. I thank him for that good work.