[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 156 (Thursday, September 26, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H8038-H8041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
U.S. BORDER PATROL MEDICAL SCREENING STANDARDS ACT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, further
consideration of the bill (H.R. 3525) to amend the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 to direct the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection to establish uniform processes for medical screening of
individuals interdicted between ports of entry, and for other purposes,
will now resume.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
Motion to Recommit
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at
the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. I am in its present form.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Green of Tennessee moves to recommit the bill, H.R.
3525, to the Committee on Homeland Security with instructions
to report the same back to the House forthwith with the
following amendment:
Add at the end of section 3 the following:
(c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on
September 30, 2027.
[[Page H8039]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee is recognized for 5 minutes in support of his motion.
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, many of us made the trip this
summer to Normandy to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day
landings. It was an amazing opportunity.
Standing among the rows of crosses and Stars of David in the U.S.
cemetery, I was reminded of the sacrifices of our incredible American
warriors.
Standing there ignited my memory of 24 years of wearing the uniform.
I was reminded of my driver when I was a young second lieutenant. He
was 4 foot 11 and had a heart the size of his home State of New York. I
recalled my radio telephone operators, both from California. When I was
a commander in the 82nd Airborne Division, they stuck to me like glue
and would try so often to sneak food in so that we could eat while we
were all rigged up in our airborne gear before an airborne operation.
Of course, my friends from the war flashed into my mind. I will never
forget watching the flag-draped coffin of a fellow Army Ranger carried
into the back of a C-17 in Bagram, Afghanistan for his last trip home.
Our veterans deserve everything that we can give them. However, in
the past few years, despite improvements in the VA electronic health
records system, problems and delays still remain. For example, the very
benefits that Congresswoman Underwood in this bill advances for illegal
aliens flooding across our southern border, our veterans don't have
those benefits. Let me say that again: This bill, without the amendment
I am asking this body to consider, advances healthcare services to
illegal aliens before it does to our American heroes.
The VA Secretary testified before Congress that it will take his
department 10 years to fully deploy this new system.
Mr. Speaker, I have the deployment schedule for the VA from their
website, and I will include this in the Record at a later date.
Mr. Speaker, this timeline states that our veterans will not get an
interoperable electronic health record at all VA healthcare facilities
until September 20 of 2027.
VA medical facilities serving veterans in Virginia won't get it until
2024. Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and New England won't be
fully operational until 2026. It won't be until 2027 that VA medical
facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois are fully operational.
Veterans in my home State of Tennessee won't benefit from interoperable
electronic health records until 2023.
Yet, without this amendment, without my amendment, we are going to
give it to illegal aliens within 90 days.
Mr. Speaker, these are the same men and women who, when they raised
their right hand and took that oath, wrote a blank check for America,
for every person in this room, that was cashable, redeemable, all the
way up until their life, their very life.
I think our constituents across this great country would find it
appalling that we are about to give this health record system to
illegal immigrants before our veterans receive it.
All this amendment does is ensure that our veterans get this service
first. If you vote against this motion to recommit, you are giving an
electronic health medical record to illegal aliens before our veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to
recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized
for 5 minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues in this body, medical
experts, and our neighbors and constituents all agree the humanitarian
and medical situation at our southern border has reached crisis levels.
During my conversations with health officials at the border,
including with the Department of Homeland Security, they told me that
one of the most urgent solutions they need is an electronic health
record that can be used by everyone providing medical care at the
border.
DHS recognizes this, too, and has already taken steps toward
implementation, but it is not moving fast enough. So this legislation
directs that process, setting an aggressive but achievable timeline
that reflects the urgency of the humanitarian situation. The children
and families in our care can't afford any further delays.
Now, let me be clear: As a nurse, and a member of the House Committee
on Veterans' Affairs, providing world-class care to our veterans is a
top priority. I have introduced a number of proposals to improve
healthcare delivery to our veterans, and I am working on a slate of
others.
I welcome the input of my colleagues from across the aisle who want
to work with me on modernizing the VA to better serve women veterans,
improving mental healthcare access and quality, ending the veteran
suicide epidemic, or any other way to serve our country's heroic
veterans.
But where I am from, in northern Illinois, we can walk and chew gum
at the same time because we also have a moral duty to ensure that
children in our government's custody receive the basic medical
screenings and services needed to ensure lives are not lost on our
watch.
It is simple, and we can do both. That is what we are debating here
today.
Children are dying of preventable causes in our care for the first
time in a decade. We all agree that the humanitarian situation at our
southern border presents a complex set of challenges. Congress has a
duty to address those challenges by providing, as appropriate, both
resources and oversight.
Oversight is ongoing through the excellent work of our committees, in
addition to inspectors general. We have repeatedly met requests for
additional humanitarian funding as needed, most recently with the
approval of almost $5 billion in supplemental funding this summer.
But this Congress is choosing, rightly, to provide that funding along
with additional guardrails and directions for how to spend it in a way
that is consistent with American values because the status quo is
unacceptable. Children are dying of preventable causes in our care for
the first time in a decade. My bill, along with Congressman Ruiz's and
Congresswoman Escobar's, provides the guardrails and direction to
reverse course.
Let's be clear: This is not some gold-plated package. What these
policies do is establish minimum, consistent standards that ensure that
we can effectively provide the most basic medical screenings and care.
What we are doing is making sure that children and families in our care
are asked questions like, ``Do you have a fever? Do you have your
inhaler? Could you be pregnant?'' and that their answers are recorded
and used to make sure that they are provided basic care.
These changes are urgently needed. Children are dying of preventable
causes in our care for the first time in a decade, children like
Darlyn, Jakelin, Felipe, Juan, Wilmer, and Carlos.
Medical care for these children has huge, unacceptable gaps. We have
a responsibility to implement commonsense, effective policies that we
know will fix that because children should never die from a preventable
cause in our care.
We have a responsibility to ensure that the Department of Homeland
Security is better prepared for future challenges to ensure the
failures that contributed to these deaths are never repeated.
Children in our care have been separated from their families. They
have been denied toothbrushes and blankets. They have been saddled with
trauma that can affect them for their entire lives.
We must make sure that these children and their families have access
to basic medical care and screening while in custody. That is why we
have to reject this procedural gimmick, which could delay essential
tools and resources from getting to officials at the border who need
them.
I urge all my colleagues, vote ``no'' on the motion to recommit and
vote ``yes'' to pass this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the
distinguished majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, read the bill, read the amendment that they
offered.
Eric Cantor called MTRs a gimmick. This is the gimmick of gimmicks.
It
[[Page H8040]]
does nothing for veterans' healthcare, not a single thing. You know it.
I know it. Everybody in this House knows it. All it does is try to
delay this bill for 10 years, and they are going to all vote against
the bill.
Mr. Speaker, this does nothing for veterans' care. If the gentleman
cared about veterans' care, he would have offered it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the motion to recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on
the question of passage.
This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 202,
nays 213, not voting 18, as follows:
[Roll No. 551]
YEAS--202
Aderholt
Allen
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Axne
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (NC)
Bishop (UT)
Bost
Brady
Brindisi
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cline
Cloud
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Conaway
Cook
Crenshaw
Cunningham
Curtis
Davidson (OH)
Davis, Rodney
Delgado
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duncan
Dunn
Emmer
Estes
Ferguson
Finkenauer
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx (NC)
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Golden
Gonzalez (OH)
Gooden
Gosar
Gottheimer
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hagedorn
Harris
Hartzler
Hern, Kevin
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Hill (AR)
Holding
Hollingsworth
Horn, Kendra S.
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunter
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Katko
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lesko
Long
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McAdams
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McKinley
Meadows
Meuser
Miller
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (NC)
Newhouse
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Peterson
Posey
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (SC)
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose, John W.
Rouzer
Roy
Rutherford
Scalise
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sherrill
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spanberger
Spano
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Timmons
Tipton
Torres Small (NM)
Turner
Upton
Van Drew
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Waltz
Watkins
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Wright
Yoho
Young
Zeldin
NAYS--213
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Amash
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Davids (KS)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Engel
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Fletcher
Foster
Frankel
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Haaland
Harder (CA)
Hastings
Hayes
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Hill (CA)
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McBath
McCollum
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
O'Halleran
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Perlmutter
Peters
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (WA)
Soto
Speier
Stanton
Stevens
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wexton
Wild
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--18
Abraham
Boyle, Brendan F.
Cheney
Crawford
Cummings
Escobar
Gallagher
Higgins (LA)
Himes
Hurd (TX)
Johnson (LA)
Kind
McEachin
McHenry
Norman
Ratcliffe
Rooney (FL)
Walker
{time} 1712
Mr. MAST changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the motion to recommit was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 230,
nays 184, not voting 19, as follows:
[Roll No. 552]
YEAS--230
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Amash
Axne
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brindisi
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Cunningham
Davids (KS)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Engel
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Finkenauer
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Foster
Frankel
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Golden
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Haaland
Harder (CA)
Hastings
Hayes
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Hill (CA)
Horn, Kendra S.
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McAdams
McBath
McCollum
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
O'Halleran
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Perlmutter
Peters
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sherrill
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (WA)
Soto
Spanberger
Speier
Stanton
Stevens
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
[[Page H8041]]
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres Small (NM)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Upton
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wexton
Wild
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NAYS--184
Allen
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (NC)
Bishop (UT)
Bost
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cline
Cloud
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Conaway
Cook
Crenshaw
Curtis
Davidson (OH)
Davis, Rodney
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duncan
Dunn
Emmer
Estes
Ferguson
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx (NC)
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Gonzalez (OH)
Gooden
Gosar
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hagedorn
Harris
Hartzler
Hern, Kevin
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Hill (AR)
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunter
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Katko
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lesko
Long
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McKinley
Meadows
Meuser
Miller
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Murphy (NC)
Newhouse
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Peterson
Posey
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (SC)
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose, John W.
Rouzer
Roy
Rutherford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spano
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Timmons
Tipton
Turner
Van Drew
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Waltz
Watkins
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Wright
Yoho
Young
Zeldin
NOT VOTING--19
Abraham
Aderholt
Brady
Cheney
Crawford
Cummings
Escobar
Gallagher
Higgins (LA)
Himes
Hurd (TX)
Johnson (LA)
Kind
McEachin
McHenry
Norman
Ratcliffe
Rooney (FL)
Walker
{time} 1721
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been
present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 550, ``yea'' on
rollcall No. 551, and ``nay'' on rollcall No. 552.
Personal Explanation
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, due to a family obligation, I unfortunately
missed today's vote series. Listed below is how I would have voted had
I been in attendance: Previous Question--``Nay''; Adoption of the Rule
Providing for Consideration of S.J. Res. 54--``Nay''; Republican Motion
to Recommit--``Yea''; and Passage of H.R. 3525--``Nay''.
____________________