[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 126 (Thursday, July 25, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7436-H7438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SHORT-TERM DETENTION STANDARDS ACT

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3670) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to ensure 
access to appropriate temporary shelter, food, and water for 
individuals apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3670

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Short-Term Detention 
     Standards Act''.

     SEC. 2. ACCESS TO APPROPRIATE TEMPORARY SHELTER, FOOD, AND 
                   WATER DURING SHORT-TERM DETENTION.

       Paragraph (1) of section 411(m) of the Homeland Security 
     Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(m)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(1) Access to appropriate temporary shelter, food, and 
     water.--The Commissioner shall make every effort to ensure 
     the provision to an individual apprehended by U.S. Customs 
     and Border Protection of appropriate temporary shelter with 
     access to bathroom and shower facilities, water, appropriate 
     nutrition, hygiene, personal grooming items, and sanitation 
     needs.''.

     SEC. 3. AUDIT AND INSPECTIONS OF DETENTION FACILITIES.

       (a) OIG and GAO.--The Inspector General of the Department 
     of Homeland Security and the Comptroller General shall carry 
     out regular audits and inspections, including unannounced 
     audits and inspections, of processes (including 
     recordkeeping) utilized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
     to conduct intake and process individuals apprehended by U.S. 
     Customs and Border Protection. The Inspector General and 
     Comptroller General shall, to the extent possible, share 
     information and coordinate to ensure that Congress is 
     provided timely audit and inspection information.
       (b) Congressional Access.--The Commissioner of U.S. Customs 
     and Border Protection may not--
       (1) prevent a Member of Congress or an employee of the 
     United States House of Representatives or the United States 
     Senate designated by such a Member for the purposes of this 
     section from entering, for the purpose of conducting 
     oversight, any such facility: and
       (2) make any temporary modification at any such facility 
     that in any way alters what is observed by a visiting member 
     of Congress or such designated employee, compared to what 
     would be observed in the absence of such modification.
       (c) Photographs.--The Inspector General of the Department 
     of Homeland Security, Comptroller General, a Member of 
     Congress, or an employee of the United States House of 
     Representatives or United States Senate shall be authorized 
     to take photographs or video or audio recordings of 
     conditions in a facility but may not publish photographs or 
     video or audio recordings with personally identifiable 
     information without permission.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 3670, the Short-Term 
Detention Standards Act.
  This legislation is very simple. It requires humane conditions for 
migrants detained in short-term detention facilities at our ports of 
entry.
  This legislation is premised on a very simple idea that defending our 
country's security and upholding humanitarian standards are not 
mutually exclusive. Anyone who believes that we can have only one or 
the other misunderstands America's core values.
  Under current law, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 only requires 
that migrants in short-term detention have ``adequate access to food 
and water.'' But we know from the heart-wrenching images that we have 
seen on TV and in news reports, and the findings of the Department of 
Homeland Security's own inspector general, that, too often, migrants 
are going without basic necessities.
  In the last 2 months alone, the DHS inspector general released two 
management alerts, detailing poor conditions

[[Page H7437]]

and extreme overcrowding in El Paso and in the Rio Grande Valley of 
Texas, where I just visited.
  That is why I have introduced this bill, which expands the current 
requirement under law so that Customs and Border Protection must also 
provide migrants not only food and water but bathroom and shower 
facilities, appropriate nutrition, hygiene, personal grooming items, 
and sanitation needs.
  Based on the reports we have all seen and the outcry from 
constituents in my district, I traveled to the southern border last 
week in one of the only bipartisan trips to have made it to the border. 
What I saw, from beginning to end, was tragedy and misery for every 
link in the chain.
  It was misery for migrants, who were fearing death and persecution at 
home and risked their lives to walk 1,000 miles, often with their 
children, in the heat to seek asylum in the United States.
  It was misery for the thousands of additional migrants who were just 
seeking a better life and to come to work in this country but have no 
easy, legal way to do that.
  It was misery for the Customs and Border Protection officials and the 
Border Patrol officials who were not stood up and set up to do this, 
who have been demonized in the press, many of whom are first-generation 
Americans, in a situation they were never trained for.
  It is misery top to bottom. That misery, for me, turned to anger 
because it is because of the inability of Washington to produce 
comprehensive immigration reform that that misery is happening.
  There is so much more to do to alleviate the crisis at our southern 
border. I think all of my bipartisan colleagues, when we traveled to 
the border, felt that it was our duty to work on bipartisan legislation 
so that we can create a situation where people who we need in this 
country can come here legally, people who are seeking asylum can do it 
legally, and we do not have to put our customs and border officials in 
this kind of stressful situation.
  I thank my Republican colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee 
who voted unanimously with me on this bill. I believe this is the first 
bill on standards at our southern border to be bipartisan. I am very 
proud of that. It is a commonsense proposal that I think Democrats, 
Republicans, and independents can all support.
  To my colleagues who have not yet made up their minds, the standards 
outlined in this bill are simply the same standards for our inmates in 
our prisons that the Bureau of Prisons upholds. They are the same 
standards under the Geneva Convention that any U.S. soldier must uphold 
when we take in a prisoner of war.
  Those are our bare minimum standards that represent our values, and I 
offer they should also be the exact same standards we afford people 
coming over our southern border.
  The number of migrants coming over our southern border is 
overwhelming. It would overwhelm any administration, any political 
affiliation, but it does not abrogate our responsibility to maintain 
basic humanitarian standards in alignment with our values.
  The Department of Homeland Security must do better. From my own trip 
last week, I know they want to do better.
  As I said, I am particularly grateful to my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle who voiced support for this bill and who came on as 
cosponsors.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to do the right thing, help our 
country aspire to higher standards, and support H.R. 3670, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman from Michigan's efforts on 
this bill. I admire her for her compassion. I respect her intent and 
the spirit behind this bill, and I hope that we can work together to 
move forward.
  My concern is with the letter of the law written within this bill. I 
know firsthand that showers are being provided and that personal 
hygiene products are immediately available to the unprecedented number 
of people in Customs and Border Protection custody, both from visits to 
the border myself and from regular communication with brothers and 
sisters of law enforcement who work the border, who are tasked 
with securing our border. I see regular emails, messages, videos, et 
cetera.

  My concern with this bill is that it does not solve the problem, in 
my opinion.
  Customs and Border Protection processing facilities are outdated. 
Many facilities were built decades ago. They were neither designed to 
process children and families nor the massive numbers of illegal 
immigrants arriving at our border on a daily basis.
  Without providing funding for new Customs and Border Protection 
facilities, I am concerned that this bill would not fix the real 
problem, despite its obvious compassionate intent.
  Instead of forcing Customs and Border Protection to provide a long 
list of amenities to illegal immigrants, we should be focused on 
quickly processing migrants and moving them out of Customs and Border 
Protection custody.
  Unfortunately, many of my colleagues across the aisle have resisted 
providing funding for additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
bed space. People are being held at CPB much longer than was ever 
envisioned.
  My colleagues across the aisle have supported policies that, in my 
opinion, have exacerbated the crisis by refusing to provide ICE with 
the resources it needs to get people out of short-term detention and 
into more suitable facilities for long-term holding.
  This bill is attempting to solve problems that, some would argue, are 
caused by a Democratic policy decision to restrain funding for ICE and 
degrade its ability to hold illegal immigrants.
  We should provide ICE the resources it needs to conduct its mission 
rather than imposing those responsibilities on Customs and Border 
Protection, men and women who are tasked with a completely different 
mission.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to address the specific points raised by the 
gentleman across the aisle.
  The gentleman is correct. This bill is not meant to fix everything. 
It doesn't get to the root of the problem.
  What it does is establish very basic humanitarian standards similar, 
almost exactly, to what we have for our prisoners of war and our 
prisoners. That is taken from the Geneva Convention. That is the 
international standard, and I want to meet those standards.
  In many cases, the men and women of Customs and Border Protection and 
Border Patrol are absolutely meeting those standards. I think probably, 
at this point, most areas are. So, then, it shouldn't be a problem to 
enshrine it in actual law.
  I also agree that we have a major problem in our immigration system. 
I believe that strongly and even more strongly after I went to the 
border this past week, and I look forward to my colleague working with 
us on bipartisan immigration reform.
  I think this is a minimum standard. It is a humanitarian standard in 
line with our values. It is what our law enforcement officers and our 
uniform military already have to provide whenever they are in a 
position of detention.
  I think this isn't difficult if we are already achieving, in most 
cases, these standards across the board.
  Regarding the complaint that it doesn't solve every problem, it was 
never meant to. So let's focus on the bill at hand.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with the gentlewoman, for whom I 
have deep respect, that I believe that the humanitarian standards that 
the gentlewoman referred to are alive in the hearts of the men and 
women, the American men and women, who serve in Customs and Border 
Protection on the border. These Americans struggle to accomplish their 
mission despite overwhelming, almost impossible conditions and 
situations, masses of humanity, wave after wave of children of God.
  Indeed, the role of this body, as envisioned by our Founders and 
supported

[[Page H7438]]

through the generations, is to allow the American spirit to manifest 
itself without regulation and enforced traditions and principles that 
are exhibited by the very Americans whom we serve.
  I deeply respect the intent of this bill, although I have voiced my 
concern regarding the letter of the language of this bill and the 
purposes of my concern.
  I would share with Congresswoman Slotkin that I am prepared to close. 
I have no further speakers.
  Mr. Speaker, I deeply respect her effort, while standing in 
opposition, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  In closing, I appreciate the gentleman's comments and the spirit with 
which they were delivered.
  Let me say, as someone who is from Michigan, we depend upon our 
Customs and Border Protection agents, our Border Patrol agents, every 
single day for our own security, for awareness of what is coming over 
our border.
  Mr. Speaker, we are a border State, so you are never going to find a 
bigger fan of Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol. I was 
visiting with them in the past 10 days. They are doing yeoman's work, 
and I asked for their advice before I went to the southern border.
  But we know that, despite their best efforts, the overwhelming number 
of people, combined with the complete inability to be prepared for such 
numbers, means that people were going without showers, and people were 
going without access to medical care. People were going without.
  That is not what anyone wanted. I do not believe at all that people 
wanted that, but that was the reality. So I felt it was important to 
lay down a clear standard. I think the vast majority are adhering to 
that standard, and I think it is the bare minimum.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1615

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Payne). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3670, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________