[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.
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