[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.