[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 172 (Friday, October 2, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5645-H5652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 0915
CONDEMNING UNWANTED, UNNECESSARY MEDICAL PROCEDURES ON INDIVIDUALS
WITHOUT THEIR FULL, INFORMED CONSENT
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1164, I call
up the resolution (H. Res. 1153) condemning unwanted, unnecessary
medical procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent,
and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1164, the
amendment to the resolution, printed in House Report 116-557, is
adopted and the resolution, as amended, is considered read.
The text of the resolution, as amended, is as follows:
H. Res. 1153
Whereas there is a shameful history in the United States of
Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrants, poor people,
and people with disabilities being subjected to medical
procedures without their informed consent;
Whereas 32 States passed eugenic-sterilization laws,
resulting in the sterilization of between 60,000 to 70,000
people beginning in the early 1900s;
Whereas 25 percent of Native American women of childbearing
age were sterilized over the course of 6 years after the
passage of the Family Planning Services and Population
Research Act of 1970;
Whereas incarcerated individuals have continued to face
sterilization practices, including nearly 150 incarcerated
women in California prisons sterilized between 2006 and 2010;
Whereas, on September 14, 2020, a coalition of
organizations, including Project South, Georgia Detention
Watch, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and South
Georgia Immigrant Support Network, filed a complaint to the
Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General
expressing concerns about the Irwin County Detention Center
in Ocilla, Georgia, including detained immigrant women
receiving unnecessary hysterectomies and a lack of informed
consent for gynecological procedures;
Whereas a growing number of women are coming forward to
share stories of unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures,
including full or partial hysterectomies and other procedures
involving their reproductive organs, performed without their
knowledge or consent;
Whereas, on September 16, 2020, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement nearly deported a woman who was formerly
detained at Irwin County Detention Center who had one
fallopian tube removed without her knowledge or consent;
Whereas, on September 18, 2020, 4 women came forward saying
that they did not approve of the procedures they received;
Whereas an initial review of available medical records by
independent gynecologists raises serious questions about
whether patients detained at the Irwin County Detention
Center provided informed consent and whether prevailing
standards of care were adhered to in their care; and
Whereas these allegations indicate a failure by U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct rigorous
oversight to protect the health and safety of people in its
custody: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns performing unwanted, unnecessary medical
procedures on individuals without their full, informed
consent;
(2) recognizes that everyone deserves to control their own
reproductive choices and make informed choices about their
bodies;
(3) recognizes that further accountability, oversight, and
transparency is necessary to protect people in the custody of
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and
(4) calls on the Department of Homeland Security to--
(A) pause the removal of any individual who experienced any
medical procedure at the Irwin County Detention Center;
(B) allow individuals who may have experienced an
unnecessary or nonconsensual procedure to have immediate
access to adequate, safe, and consensual medical treatment or
to seek a second opinion from an independent medical
professional;
(C) immediately comply with all investigations and records
requests related to investigations about the Irwin County
Detention Center;
(D) ensure impacted individuals are able to freely
participate in any investigation and share their stories
without fear of reprisal; and
(E) hold all individuals found to be involved in any
unnecessary or nonconsensual medical procedure at the Irwin
County Detention Center accountable and bring them to
justice.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution, as amended, shall be
debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and
ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary.
The gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal) and the gentleman from
California (Mr. McClintock) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Washington.
General Leave
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and insert extraneous material on H. Res. 1154.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Washington?
There was no objection.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, imagine this: You are an immigrant woman detained in a
detention center. Perhaps you have been
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asking for help for months about a painful medical condition or perhaps
you have had no medical complaints at all.
You are suddenly woken up early in the morning. You are put in
shackles and taken not to a general practitioner, but to a
gynecologist.
That gynecologist performs ultrasounds, inserts tools, even his own
hands into your body without any consent or any lubrication. You are in
pain. You do not know what is being done to you. You feel violently
sexually assaulted.
The doctor tells you that you have a major problem, cysts that must
be operated on, from that simple examination he did. You don't want
surgery and you even say so. He says: Okay, I will give you a shot
instead.
And because you are scared, you take the shot, but you don't know
what it is. You haven't been told what it is. You certainly have no
idea that, in fact, this is a shot that is an injectable contraceptive
that temporarily prevents you from having children and can have other
serious side effects, including bleeding.
Now you are bleeding. You are scared, and you don't know what is
happening. You go back to see the gynecologist, and he tells you this
is why he said you must have surgery.
You have doubts. You want a second opinion. But you are told you
cannot have a second opinion, and it is either this or you will never
get any care again--after all, you are in detention.
You finally, perhaps in some cases, agree to the surgery thinking
that you are just having cysts removed, but you wake up and you find
out that you have had a full or partial hysterectomy, one of your
fallopian tubes has been removed or perhaps some other surgery that you
weren't expecting.
Imagine that someone has just taken away or severely compromised your
ability to have children without ever telling you or asking your
consent for what they are doing.
Mr. Speaker, that is why we are here today, to vote on House
Resolution 1153, to condemn unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures
conducted on women without their full, informed consent, to ensure the
safety, health, and presence of the women at the Irwin County Detention
Center, and to mandate full compliance of ICE with the requirements of
the ongoing investigation.
The story I just described is just one of the many stories we have
now heard from women who are either currently or were formerly detained
at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia.
Please understand that 90 percent of the people detained at this
facility are completely unrepresented by any attorney. Moreover, like
all detention facilities, Irwin has been plagued with COVID. People
detained here report not receiving adequate PPE, and there have been
multiple cases of COVID.
Since this horrific story emerged through a whistleblower report 2
weeks ago, a few attorneys who are representing some of the women have
brought forward more stories.
Independent gynecologists have reviewed the available medical
records.
The New York Times launched an independent investigation, asking
independent gynecologists to review the records of seven women who were
able to obtain their medical files. What they found is deeply
disturbing.
The doctors noted that the gynecologist ``seemed to consistently
recommended surgical intervention, even when it did not seem medically
necessary at the time and nonsurgical treatment options were
available.''
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a September 29 New York Times
article, titled: ``Immigrants Say They Were Pressured Into Unneeded
Surgeries.''
[From the New York Times, Sept. 29, 2020]
Immigrants Say They Were Pressured Into Unneeded Surgeries
Immigrants detained at an ICE-contracted center in Georgia said they
had invasive gynecology procedures that they later learned might have
been unnecessary
(By Caitlin Dickerson, Seth Freed Wessler and Miriam Jordan)
Wendy Dowe was startled awake early one morning in January
2019, when guards called her out of her cellblock in the
Irwin County immigration detention center in rural Georgia,
where she had been held for four months. She would be having
surgery that day, they said.
Still groggy, the 48-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, who
had been living without legal status in the United States for
two decades before she was picked up by immigration
authorities, felt a swell of dread come over her. An outside
gynecologist who saw patients in immigration custody told her
that the menstrual cramping she had was caused by large cysts
and masses that needed to be removed, but she was skeptical.
The doctor insisted, she said, and as a detainee--brought to
the hospital in handcuffs and shackles--she felt pressured to
consent.
It was only after she was deported to Jamaica and had her
medical files reviewed by several other doctors that she knew
she had been right to raise questions.
A radiologist's report, based on images of her internal
organs from her time at Irwin, described her uterus as being
a healthy size, not swollen with enlarged masses and cysts,
as the doctor had written in his notes. The cysts she had
were small, and the kind that occur naturally and do not
usually require surgical intervention.
``I didn't have to do any of it,'' Ms. Dowe said.
The Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Ga., drew
national attention this month after a nurse, Dawn Wooten,
filed a whistle-blower complaint claiming that detainees had
told her they had had their uteruses removed without their
full understanding or consent.
Since then, both ICE and the hospital in Irwin County have
released data that show that two full hysterectomies have
been performed on women detained at Irwin in the past three
years. But firsthand accounts are now emerging from
detainees, including Ms. Dowe, who underwent other invasive
gynecological procedures that they did not fully understand
and, in some cases, may not have been medically necessary.
At least one lawyer brought the complaints about
gynecological care to the attention of the center's top
officials in 2018, according to emails obtained by The New
York Times, but the outside referrals continued.
The Times interviewed 16 women who were concerned about the
gynecological care they received while at the center, and
conducted a detailed review of the medical files of seven
women who were able to obtain their records. All 16 were
treated by Dr. Mahendra Amin, who practices gynecology in the
nearby town of Douglas and has been described by ICE
officials as the detention center's ``primary gynecologist.''
The cases were reviewed by five gynecologists--four of them
board-certified and all with medical school affiliations--who
found that Dr. Amin consistently overstated the size or risks
associated with cysts or masses attached to his patients'
reproductive organs. Small or benign cysts do not typically
call for surgical intervention, where large or otherwise
troubling ones sometimes do, the experts said.
The doctors stressed that in some cases the medical files
might not have been complete and that additional information
could potentially shift their analyses. But they noted that
Dr. Amin seemed to consistently recommend surgical
intervention, even when it did not seem medically necessary
at the time and nonsurgical treatment options were available.
In almost every woman's chart, Dr. Amin listed symptoms
such as heavy bleeding with clots and chronic pelvic pain,
which could justify surgery. But some of the women said they
never experienced or reported those symptoms to him.
Both the reviewing doctors and all of the women interviewed
by The Times raised concerns about whether Dr. Amin had
adequately explained the procedures he performed or provided
his patients with less invasive alternatives. Spanish-
speaking women said a nurse who spoke Spanish was only
sporadically present during their exams.
The diagnoses and procedures are ``poorly supported'' and
``not well documented,'' said Dr. Sara Imershein, a clinical
professor at George Washington University and the Washington,
DC, chair of the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists.
Even if the patients had reported the symptoms recorded by
Dr. Amin, ``there would have been many avenues to pursue
before rushing to surgery,'' she said. ``Advil for one.''
``He is overly aggressive in his treatment and does not
explore appropriate medical management before turning to
procedures or surgical intervention,'' said Dr. Deborah
Ottenheimer, a forensic evaluator and instructor at the Weill
Cornell Medical School Human Rights Clinic.
But the doctors who reviewed the cases noted that
aggressive overtreatment is all too common among doctors--
especially with patients who do not have the resources to
seek a second opinion.
Dr. Ada Rivera, medical director of the ICE Health Service
Corps, said in a statement that the whistle-blower's
allegations ``raise some very serious concerns that deserve
to be investigated quickly and thoroughly.'' She added, ``If
there is any truth to these allegations, it is my commitment
to make the corrections necessary to ensure we continue to
prioritize the health, welfare and safety of ICE detainees.''
Dr. Amin's lawyer, Scott Grubman, said in a statement that
the physician ``strongly disputes any allegations that he
treated any patient with anything other than the utmost care
and respect.''
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``Dr. Amin also strongly disputes that any patient was
treated without full informed consent,'' the statement
continued. Mr. Grubman said that patient privacy laws
prevented him from discussing any specific patient's
treatment, but in each case it ``was medically necessary,
performed within the standard of care, and done only after
obtaining full informed consent.''
The statement added that Dr. Amin always uses an
interpreter when treating patients who do not speak English
and ``always attempts to treat his patients with more
conservative treatment, including medicine and less invasive
procedures, before even recommending surgery,'' which he
views as a last resort.
Independent doctors that provide treatment for ICE
detainees are paid for the procedures they perform with
Department of Homeland Security funds. Procedures like the
ones that Dr. Amin performed are normally billed at thousands
of dollars each.
Dr. Amin's billings had previously come to the attention of
federal authorities. In 2013, the Justice Department named
him in a civil case alleging that he and several other
doctors had overbilled Medicare and Medicaid by, among other
things, performing unnecessary procedures on terminal
patients and leaving the emergency room staffed by nurses
while billing for diagnoses and treatments as if they had
been performed by doctors. The case was settled for $520,000
with no admission of fault on the part of the defendants.
`I could not ask any questions'
In many cases, Dr. Amin's patients said they were confused
about why they ended up being sent to his office in the first
place--some after raising medical issues that had nothing to
do with gynecology.
Yuridia, a 36-year-old immigrant from Mexico, sought out a
nurse at the center soon after she arrived because she was
having pain in her rib after a fight with her abusive ex-
partner just before she was picked up by ICE. She asked to be
identified by her first name because she feared for her
safety.
She was sent for a medical exam at Dr. Amin's office, where
she said he began to prepare an ultrasound machine. ``I was
assuming they were going to check my rib,'' she said. ``The
next thing I know, he's doing a vaginal exam.''
Dr. Amin recorded in his notes that Yuridia had cysts in
her ovaries and scheduled a surgery to remove them. He also
wrote that she had complained of heavy menstruation and
pelvic pain. She said that she never experienced or reported
those conditions and that she had not asked to see a
gynecologist.
Weeks later, she underwent surgery. Pathology reports show
that she did not have dangerous cysts, but small ones of the
kind that occur naturally in most women and do not call for
surgical intervention.
Yuridia said she had expected only a minor procedure that
would be performed vaginally, but she was surprised when she
woke up to find three incisions on her abdomen and a piece of
skin missing from her genital area.
``I woke up and I was alone, and I was in pain and everyone
spoke English so I could not ask any questions,'' Yuridia
said. Three days later, still sore and recovering, she was
deported.
Yuridia's case bears striking similarities to others that
the panel of doctors reviewed. Many of them led to two
surgical procedures performed simultaneously: ``dilation and
curettage,'' often referred to as a ``D & C,'' which involves
inserting tools into a woman's vagina and scraping tissue
from the uterus, and laparoscopy, in which three incisions
are made to insert a camera into the abdominal cavity to
examine or perform procedures on the reproductive organs.
The cases suggest a pattern of ``excessively aggressive
surgical intervention without adequate trial of medical
remedies,'' Dr. Ottenheimer said.
A report reveals longstanding complaints
It was the Irwin County center's handling of the
coronavirus pandemic that inspired Ms. Wooten, the nurse
whose whistle-blower complaint was first reported by The
Intercept, to come forward about another issue that troubled
her: Dr. Amin's surgeries. She said in an interview that she
had for years noticed that an inordinate number of women were
being referred to Dr. Amin. She said she would hear reports
that they had undergone surgeries but that they had no idea
why the surgeries were performed.
``After they get up from general anesthesia,'' Ms. Wooten
said, the women would ask, ``Why'd I have this surgery?''
``And I don't have an answer for why,'' she said. ``I am
just as shocked as they are. Nobody explained it to them.''
Data from ICE inspection reports show that the center,
which is operated by a private prison company, Lasalle
Corrections, refers more than 1,000 detainees a year for
outside medical care, far more than most other immigration
detention centers of the same size. It is not clear how many
of these referrals are for gynecological care. Lasalle
Corrections did not respond to requests for comment.
Concerns from women detained at Irwin emerged long before
Ms. Wooten came forward.
Ms. Dowe, after being told by Dr. Amin that she had a mass
the size of a ``cantaloupe'' on her uterus, had reached out
in early 2019 to Donald Anthonyson, an immigrant advocate she
had met through a fellow detainee. She was asking for help,
Mr. Anthonyson said.
``She expressed real concerns about going to that doctor,''
he said. ``She was concerned about what was happening to her
and what she was hearing from other women.''
Unlike some of the women who had no gynecological
complaints, Ms. Dowe was experiencing intense menstrual
cramping, which the doctors who reviewed her case said could
sometimes justify the procedure she underwent--but only if
the patient understands the options and elects to move
forward. Even then, the doctors raised questions about
several seemingly healthy and naturally occurring cysts that
Dr. Amin might have removed unnecessarily while he was
operating on her.
After the procedure, Dr. Amin wrote in his notes that Ms.
Dowe requested a second surgery--a full abdominal
hysterectomy and removal of her ovaries.
But Ms. Dowe insists she never made any such request. A
note in her medical records from the detention center appears
to corroborate her denial. ``Detainee is requesting a second
opinion to have a hysterectomy,'' it reads, ``OB/GYN
scheduled hysterectomy and patient refused.''
Complaints about Dr. Amin had also been raised with senior
officials long before Ms. Dowe's case.
In November 2018, a woman named Nancy Gonzalez Hidalgo was
left shaken after several visits with the physician, during
which she said he performed rough vaginal ultrasounds and
ignored her when she cried out in pain. Ms. Gonzalez
Hidalgo's lawyers sent an email to the warden of the center,
David Paulk.
In the email, Erin Argueta, a lawyer at the Southern
Poverty Law Center, explained that Ms. Gonzalez Hidalgo's
health was worsening because of complications she was
experiencing from an earlier miscarriage.
``Nancy hesitated to seek medical attention because her
last experience with Dr. Amin was so painful and traumatic
that she did not want to be sent back to him,'' Ms. Argueta
wrote.
She referred in her email to several previous verbal
complaints about Dr. Amin that lawyers had taken to the
center's inmates services director, Marteka George. ``Ms.
George stated that this was not the first time someone
complained about Dr. Amin, and she said that she would look
into whether Nancy could see a different provider,'' the
lawyer wrote.
The warden responded twice, stating on Nov. 30 that Ms.
Gonzalez Hidalgo had been scheduled for an appointment with
an outside provider ``that is unassociated with Dr. Amin.''
The other doctor, Warden Paulk said, was ``reportedly well
thought of by his patients.''
Warden Paulk did not respond to requests for comment.
Other women who questioned Dr. Amin's care in the past said
they had also faced challenges when they tried to seek
answers.
On the morning of Aug. 14, Mileidy Cardentey Fernandez
said, there was no interpreter present at the Irwin County
Hospital when she was presented with consent forms in English
to sign for a procedure she was undergoing that day.
She asked the technician, ``Spanish, please? Little
English.'' The woman urged her to sign the forms--and so she
did.
Afterward, she said, she filled out a form on numerous
occasions at the detention center requesting her medical
records but got no response.
``I wanted to know everything they had done,'' she said.
``I made requests for the biopsy, analyses, and they don't
want to give them to me. They said they don't have the
results. How can they not have the results?''
When she was released from detention on Sept. 21, she
called her daughter in Virginia and then headed straight to
Dr. Amin's clinic with her lawyer to demand her records,
which she received.
Some women said they had managed to avoid surgeries by Dr.
Amin but not without facing resistance.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, this is about full or partial sterilization
and a total lack of consent from the patient. And let's be very clear:
Even if a procedure or test is medically necessary, a doctor must have
informed consent from their patient. This is the most basic tenet of
medical ethics.
Last weekend, 10 Members of Congress visited the detention center and
we spoke directly to the women. We saw their pain and shock and horror
about the irreparable damage that has been done to them and their
futures.
I have here letters from dozens of women at the center detailing some
of these things that they have seen and experienced, including these
unnecessary medical procedures. To bring their voices directly into
this Chamber, let me read from one of them.
A woman married to a U.S. citizen and with children of her own:
My experience here has been full of fear and terror. It began when I
asked for medication for my abdomen. My surprise when I was taken to
the gynecologist, he didn't explain nothing and just told me to lay
down and inserted something and said I had a cyst the
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size of a nail. I was injected and didn't say for what, and said the
results would be here in 3 weeks; if not, I would come back. When
everything that's been happening has come to light, I was never taken
back thanks to God because, if not, I would have had surgery.
This resolution is simple. It mandates that a real investigation must
happen. Even just this morning we had to once again ensure that a woman
who had this surgery done to her was not once again arrested. We need
to allow these women to heal as we get this investigation done in the
speediest of manners.
Passing this resolution also sends a clear message to doctors
contracted by the private for-profit incarceration facilities
everywhere: We will not stand by and allow you to treat people this
way. We will not stand by and allow history to repeat itself, a
shameful history of medical abuse targeting Black people, indigenous
people, people of color, immigrants, poor people, and people with
disabilities for medical procedures without consent.
To the women at Irwin, those lucky enough to have been released and
those who have already been deported: You are brave and resilient. You
should know that the United States Congress, with the passage of this
resolution, is saying to you: We see you; we hear you; and we will not
stop fighting for you.
I thank my colleagues and coleads of this resolution, Representatives
Annie Kuster, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvia Garcia, and Lois Frankel, for
introducing this resolution with me that now has the support of 225
Members of Congress and, also, the Women's Caucus for their tremendous
attention to this resolution, as well as the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus that helped lead the codel with the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this resolution,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, my chief of staff is a former naval captain who
commanded the aircraft carrier USS Constellation in the 1990s. I once
asked him what was the most important thing he had learned during his
distinguished naval career, and he said: The first reports are always
wrong.
That is why I would urge my friends on the other side of the aisle to
take a step back and await the investigations that are now underway to
determine exactly what happened at the Irwin County Detention Center,
lest they appear in retrospect to have behaved, well, rather
prematurely and foolishly.
This resolution affirms allegations that women detained by ICE for
the crime of illegally crossing the border underwent unwanted,
unnecessary medical procedures, including full or partial
hysterectomies and other procedures involving their reproductive organs
performed without their knowledge or consent.
Well, if that is true, it is appalling, and those responsible should
be held fully accountable.
The acting ICE Director, Tony Pham, said precisely that on September
18. He said: ``The recent allegations by the independent contracted
employee raised some very serious concerns that deserve to be
investigated quickly and thoroughly. ICE welcomes the efforts of both
the Office of Inspector General as well as the Department of Homeland
Security's parallel review.
``As a former prosecutor, individuals found to have violated our
policies and procedures should be held accountable. If there is any
truth to these allegations, it is my commitment to make the corrections
necessary to ensure that we continue to prioritize the health, welfare,
and safety of ICE detainees.''
Of course, this resolution makes no acknowledgment of Mr. Pham's
statement or of the investigations that are now underway.
The reality is, at this point, we do not have all the facts.
We do know that the complaint by the group Project South, which
instigated the allegations, did not contain testimony from a single
woman who had a hysterectomy while detained at the Irwin County
Detention Facility.
We know that ICE has an annual third-party inspection of its
detention facilities, including the medical care at those facilities.
We know that ICE has performance-based national detention standards,
which include high standards for women's medical care.
We know that the 2019 third-party inspection conducted by the
Nakamoto Group found that the Irwin County Detention Center met ICE's
performance-based national detention standards.
We know that on September 18 the Associated Press reported: ``The
AP's review did not find evidence of mass hysterectomies as alleged in
a widely shared complaint filed by a nurse at the detention center.''
That is the Associated Press.
{time} 0930
We know that on September 22, The Washington Post reported that since
2017, only two women in immigration custody were referred to the Irwin
County Hospital for hysterectomies and that there are no other
facilities in the region that perform that procedure. ICE reports there
may have been three. But the attorney for the hospital calls the claims
that we have just heard demonstrably false. His words, ``demonstrably
false.''
We know that on September 15, The Washington Post reported that the
lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the pro-illegal-immigration
group ``acknowledged to The Washington Post that she did not speak to
any women who had a forced sterilization, and said she included the
allegations in the report with the intention of triggering an
investigation into whether or not the claims were true.''
Whether or not the claims were true. Well, we are going to find out,
and once we have all the facts, we can make rational decisions about
what to do, but this resolution simply assumes the allegations are true
and condemns the institution as if they were true. It then calls for
indefinite postponement of the deportation of any illegal immigrant at
this facility that has any medical procedure, which I assume would
include routine medical screenings.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask the House this very simple question:
Wouldn't it be better to let the investigation take its course, have
all the facts laid out before us, and then take appropriate actions?
If the allegations are true, every bit of the indignation expressed
in this resolution and by my Democratic colleagues would be justified,
and a united, bipartisan Congress would demand and command redress and
reform.
But if the allegations are found not to be true, this House, that is
already plumbing the depths of public ridicule and derision, will once
again have diminished its credibility and its moral authority to speak
out on this or any other issue.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), my good colleague on the Judiciary
Committee.
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, for most of the past century, the United
States has led the world in the promotion of human rights. People from
all over the world have long come to America seeking refuge and a
better life. And in our best moments, we welcome them with open arms.
Yet under the Trump administration, immigrants have been met with
great hostility. On Trump's watch, children have been separated from
their families and endured unspeakable trauma in DHS custody.
In just the past few weeks, new and horrific allegations have emerged
about the use of forced sterilization on immigrant women by ICE,
allegations so serious and sickening, that they demand a swift and
thorough investigation.
According to one nurse who worked at the Irwin County Detention
Center in Georgia, immigrant women received unnecessary hysterectomies,
records were destroyed, and migrants were not tested for COVID-19.
In the words of one immigrant held at the facility, ``When I met all
these women who had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental
concentration camp. It was like they are experimenting with our
bodies.''
Mr. Speaker, these allegations are horrifying.
If true, they are a gross violation of human rights and a violation
of the
[[Page H5649]]
most basic ethics that medical professionals are sworn to uphold.
What is more, there is a long history of forced sterilizations, like
the procedures found in these allegations, being used against people of
color, religious minorities, prisoners, individuals with disabilities,
and other vulnerable communities.
Such procedures are not only wrong, but they rise to the level of
gross human rights abuses.
That is why it is so important that these shocking and staggering
allegations be investigated now and anyone who participated in such
abuses be held fully accountable.
Mr. Speaker, I want to end by thanking all of my colleagues, but in
particular, my friend Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a champion for
human rights here and around the world, someone who has led this effort
and authored H. Res. 1153 to condemn forced medical procedures on
individuals without their full, informed concept. I thank her for her
leadership and for this powerful message that we are sending to ICE and
to the world that we will not tolerate this kind of behavior.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Johnson), my good colleague, who was on the delegation
with us.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in full support of this
resolution offered by my colleague, my dear colleague, Pramila Jayapal
and others. I thank her for her hard work.
Halloween is getting close, but it is Halloween every day at the
Irwin County Detention Center.
Many of the police officers just outside the facility when we arrived
were not wearing masks, and it was only the day before our visit that
detainees were issued masks. Prior to that, many had worn the mask they
had had on when they were first booked into the facility many months
ago. Some had been wearing old panties as masks.
But the horror stories were the experiences these women told of being
subjected to gynecological surgery, intrusions into their body absent
their informed consent.
As these women spoke, their eyes revealed the horror of what had been
done to them. Many clutched or rubbed their midsection, still in
physical pain as they recounted what they had been through and the
mental and physical pain they still endure after being traumatized by
Dr. Amin.
The Irwin County Detention Center is managed by a for-profit
corporation. That industry's stock went through the roof when Trump was
elected. He has delivered on their investment, and it has been open
season on detainees ever since.
These companies rake in billions in taxpayer dollars to house,
clothe, and feed detainees. Some of the women had been issued
deportation orders 6, 8 months, even a year ago, but they are still
being detained, and taxpayers foot the bill so that corporations can
maximize huge profits. They profit by paying slave wages to detainees
to cook and clean the facility. They profit off of phone calls in the
commissary.
Somebody is also profiting off of churning these women's bodies for
unnecessary medical procedures, paid for by the taxpayers.
This is not right. It is immoral to profit off of human suffering and
misery.
This horror show must end. We need to shut it down and shut it down
now.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Garcia), my distinguished co-lead on this resolution, a
member of the Judiciary Committee.
Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
Washington (Ms. Jayapal) for yielding me the time.
This weekend, several of my colleagues and I visited the Irwin County
ICE Detention Center, and what we saw and heard was outrageous and
heartbreaking.
We heard stories directly from women who were subjected to
unnecessary and unwanted medical procedures without their consent. And
yet yesterday, some of our friends across the aisle suggested that some
of this may be made up, that this is not real.
Well, here I have some statements I received directly from the
detainees this past weekend, and I am going to read from these, written
in their own hands, for the Record. They are in Spanish, but they will
be translated into English.
This letter was signed by 24 detainees. The women said:
(English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
They do not understand what is happening to their body, nor what they
did to their body.
``No entienden que esta pasando con su cuerpo, ni que hicieron con su
cuerpo''.
Mr. Speaker, imagine if you were put under in surgery and were not
told what was being done to your body, and you went through the
surgery. This is what is happening to some of these women.
They went on to say:
(English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
``They `told' them they were going to perform a study and they
deceived them. Because a surgery room should not be a school.''
``Le vamos a hacer un estudio les `dijeron' y las habeis enganado.
Porque una sala de cirugias no debe ser una escuela''.
Now, that is alarming if it is true. They were performing a study,
and they deceived them. Because the surgery room should not be a
school.
Mr. Speaker, imagine if you were told they were doing a study on your
body and not being told what for or what any side effects may be.
Nothing, nada, is what these women were told.
They also said:
(English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
``Why are we being punished? You send us to a `crazy' person that
mutilates bodies. And they deport us so that we don't say anything.''
``rPor que nos castigan mas? Nos mandan con un `loco', despiadado que
mutila cuerpos. Y nos deportan para que nadie diga nada. . .'', imagine
if you were told they were doing a study on your body and not being
told what for or what any side effects may be. Nothing, nada, is what
these women were told.
Well, Mr. Speaker, again, imagine having your body mutilated and then
being deported to have you silenced. This is what is happening to some
of these women.
When I asked three of the detainees I spoke to if they ever got an
explanation of any of this in their own language, if they had the
procedure and their options explained to them, and if they understood
the chilling effect of these surgeries, all three of them laughed
almost in unison at me, and they responded:
(English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
``Of course not.''
``Claro que no.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair reminds the gentlewoman that she
will need to provide the Clerk a translation for the Record.
Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, many women have been violated in
the most horrific way imaginable. One relayed having a doctor, without
explanation, putting his hands in her vagina without gloves. That is an
assault in my book, and we need to recognize it as such.
Many remain confused about what was done to their bodies. Some had
life-altering surgeries performed on them without consenting or truly
understanding the long-term repercussions on their reproductive health.
These actions recall a time in our history when Black and Brown women
were subjected to forced sterilizations and medical experiments.
This cannot be allowed to happen in America today. We can never let
it happen ever again.
This resolution, Mr. Speaker, in my mind, is just a first step in
getting justice for these women.
We need to shut down the Irwin ICE Detention Center pending all
investigations. The detainees should be released to their families or
sponsors so they can get a complete medical review.
We must get to the bottom of this and make sure that it is stopped.
And the FBI must investigate LaSalle Corrections and its contractors,
especially the medical staff and the doctor, for any conflict of
interest, any self-dealing, and any possible fraudulent billing.
Mr. Speaker, this is the most horrific example of human rights
violations I have ever seen, and sadly, it is happening here in our
very own country, and it must be stopped.
[[Page H5650]]
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Espaillat), my good colleague, who was also on the codel with
us.
Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Nadler, I thank Ms.
Jayapal for advancing this important resolution.
Last week I visited the Irwin Detention Center in Georgia along with
a dozen of my colleagues.
I have visited some of these ICE detention centers before, and I have
seen the horrible conditions that immigrants and refugees face across
the country. We all remember the unspeakable stories about how children
were separated from their mothers and fathers and how they cried for
them in the middle of the night and how they were separated thousands
of miles apart.
Mr. Speaker, I came to the United States from the Dominican Republic
as a young boy knowing this Nation was a beacon of hope and
opportunity.
Never in my wildest dream did I ever think that I would be a Member
of Congress. But I also never had the nightmare that I would be
summoned, that I would be asked to investigate this horror story that
has manifested itself at Irwin.
While there, I spoke to a handful of women whose stories made me so
angry about this country, the country that I had grown to love, angry
about how our laws have been twisted by a sick administration that
treats innocent women so cruelly, women who want nothing more than the
same freedom and opportunities that I once sought myself, women who put
their lives on the line to get here.
{time} 0945
I spoke to a woman from the DR who crossed el Canal de la Mona with
30 men and 3 other women, 7 days in the Caribbean Sea only to have,
later on, her health and well-being put in great risk by the U.S.
Government itself.
One of them told me that she was treated like an animal, that the
appropriate instruments that needed to be used for her tests were not
used, that there were invasive and aggressive tests. She told me that
the doctor stuck his hand on her private parts, Mr. Speaker.
I am told one woman has been bleeding for more than 2 weeks.
Let's shut down this center. Let's arrest the doctors and anybody
that was involved in perpetrating this crime.
Let's shut down Irwin right now, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Garcia), my distinguished colleague.
Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of
Congresswoman Jayapal's resolution to condemn unwanted and unnecessary
medical procedures without the full, informed consent of individuals.
From the 1930s to the 1970s, Puerto Rican women were sterilized in
order to control population growth. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s,
anti-immigrant sentiment resulted in the highest number of recorded
state-sanctioned sterilizations of Mexican women in California.
Now, in 2020, we learn of allegations that immigrant women in ICE
custody are being subjected to forced hysterectomies.
The stories we have heard from Georgia's Irwin County Detention
Center are horrendous but, sadly, not new. They are a reminder of our
country's dark history of forcing women of color to be sterilized.
Robbing Black and Brown women of full autonomy over their bodies and
reproductive freedoms is white supremacy in action. In any other
country, we would denounce these horrific incidents as violations of
human rights.
I stand with my colleagues in strong support of the resolution to
condemn these atrocities and hold those involved accountable.
I am disgusted but not surprised. This administration has dehumanized
immigrants time and time again. Those seeking asylum have been stripped
of their dignity, and some are now scarred for life. This is a
violation of human rights, a violation of human dignity, and an
atrocious violation of privacy and safety.
What happened in Georgia is criminal and must be condemned so that it
may never happen again. I strongly urge adoption of this resolution.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from California (Mr. Ruiz), who is a doctor himself and
provided very, very important feedback on the codel as he came with us.
Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Judiciary Committee and
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for organizing the trip to Irwin
County Detention Center. I was one of those who went to witness
firsthand what was going on.
I want to thank Representative Jayapal for this resolution and her
leadership in this matter.
As a medical and public health expert, I have found three gross
categories of violations in Irwin County Detention Center.
One is there were not sufficient precautions to prevent COVID-19 from
causing an outbreak in the facilities. There was only one mask issued
upon arrival, and the second mask was not issued until the day before
we arrived, knowing we were going to arrive. Some women were there for
6, 7 months.
The second is that there was a COVID-19 positive patient in the
facility, yet at the medical quarters, nobody was wearing an N95 mask,
which could put the staff and other people in jeopardy. The COVID-19
patient was reported to be in isolation during the time that we were
there.
Furthermore, the second problem in public health is the lack of
hygiene maintenance in the facility. There were reports that the
curtains were infested with mold. There was mold in the showers.
Clothing hadn't been washed. They were issued sweatpants and
sweatshirts; they were visibly dirty and torn.
When I inspected the showers myself, I saw that, in fact, there was
mold in the showers. The curtains were replaced the day before or 2
days before we had arrived. So that is a problem in the face of human
dignity and also in requiring personal hygiene to stay safe from COVID-
19.
Furthermore, going back to the first category, I forgot to mention
that the bunk beds were very small, and they were only 3 feet apart in
their sleeping quarters, so that was also not following CDC
recommendations.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from California an
additional 1 minute.
Mr. RUIZ. In terms of the third violation, which is the most
outstanding and outrageous violation, it was that procedures were done
without the women's informed consent. There were gynecological
procedures, as was mentioned: total hysterectomy; partial hysterectomy;
most of them were oophorectomies; most of them were cystectomies.
But the point here is that whenever you have any gynecological
procedure, that can result in scarring, future pain, possible chronic
pain, and also infertility. Therefore, you need informed consent.
It is medical practice to have informed consent, which requires an
explanation of your disease, of the illness, of the procedure,
including risks and any alternative options, including the option of
doing nothing, in the language that the patient understands.
Not doing so, not documenting it, is a violation of that informed
consent. Violating informed consent and putting a blade to a woman's
body, without her understanding or her informed consent, is an assault.
That is why we need fully to condemn this practice. That is why we
need to fully investigate through the inspector general, through the
FBI, through the Georgia medical and surgeon license board to ensure
that this doesn't happen, that it is not happening in other private
detention facilities throughout the country, in rural areas where
perhaps they think they might get away with it because, after all,
these are very disempowered women without very strong advocacy in those
locations.
I am very thankful for the lawyers, for those that brought this to
light,
[[Page H5651]]
that have empowered the voices, including a 22-year-old woman who now
will never be able to have children.
I support this resolution to send a very strong message to all
facilities and all doctors that every woman requires fully informed
consent before any procedure.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my distinguished and wonderful colleague who
has been on the front lines of this issue since it started and has
already provided so much to the women who have been detained at Irwin.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we awoke this morning to daunting news
in this Nation, and I know that the Nation prays.
I want to thank the gentlewoman from Washington for her distinguished
service, and our fellow coleaders and cosponsors, Congresswomen Kuster,
Garcia, and Frankel, and, really, all of those who rose in the
immediacy of our visit to be able to sign on to H. Res. 1153.
In the spirit of our late friend and colleague, America is better
than this. America is better than this.
First, to my Republican friends, I hope that they will rise today and
vote for this legislation. If they read it, they will understand there
is no condemnation of ICE. There is accountability that each and every
one of us who serves the people of the United States is obligated to
do. We are obligated to be accountable. We are obligated to treat every
human being with decency.
Though this is a circumstance that pained my heart, am I reminded of
the man that killed nine at Mother Emanuel Church and was taken to get
a burger before he was taken to jail because he said he was hungry.
No one seems to condemn that. It certainly hurt my heart. Nine people
of faith praying were killed, murdered in their church, and left lying
in blood. But he was taken to get a burger.
Why should these women be treated any less?
This resolution, why is it so intimidating? All we say is, condemning
the performance of ``unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on
individuals without their full, informed consent,'' recognizing that
``everyone deserves to control their own reproductive choices and make
informed choices about their bodies.'' We have been saying that all
along.
My friends on the other side of the aisle, I hope they join in that.
They want a singular path. We say people with their God, women with
their God, their family, and their medical professional.
Acknowledges that ``further accountability, oversight, and
transparency is necessary to protect people in the custody'' of DHS and
ICE, to make sure these women are not deported as we are in the midst
of an inspector general's report.
Thankful to the Judiciary Committee, the chairman, and the colleagues
who led this letter of over 180-plus Members. That IG's investigation
is proceeding, but they need to have those witnesses, and this
resolution is crucial because it lays out intimate facts that we heard
personally from women.
I don't know whenever--I know that I was here for debates on partial-
birth abortion. That is obviously not what it was. It was a medical
procedure to save the mother's life. But when have we ever discussed
the private examinations of women, how private we are in order to get
America to understand how this was?
Women should rise up, not respecting their party. They should rise up
when they know that procedures were done without consent--physically
touched, could not speak English. All women seemed to get the same
diagnosis: remove the Fallopian tube.
Pauline--I will not call her last name--I sat with her for an hour
and a half, and she described what happened: sedated, did not know,
told after she came out of the sedation, broke down in tears. I pay
tribute to her. And almost about to be on the verge of deportation, a
witness.
The whistleblower, a mother of five children, single mother of five
children, she needed her job. Demoted because she had the courage to
talk about examinations, surgeries.
Only women would understand examinations without lubricant, young
women in the prime of fertility, crying.
Beds--this is a private center contracted by the government. Beds
that looked like they had been there since the 1800s. These were metal
beds. I have never seen a bunk bed this thin. This is a place waiting
for COVID-19 because they are so close. The beds themselves are 2 feet
to 4 feet away.
You know what their COVID-19 practice is for protection? It is to
have one head this way and one head that way.
There are no masks. The air is going.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an
additional 30 seconds.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. You have no way to protect these women in this
crowded scenario.
There is a men's site. By the way, this is a for-profit center, so
they take U.S. Marshals individuals. They take county individuals. It
is just a potpourri of persons.
They have women who have been there for 3-plus years.
I don't blame the workers or even the agencies, the subagency. It is
the policies of this administration dealing with immigrants who are
human beings and have due process rights accordingly, as being in the
United States.
I leave you with this: Please pass H. Res. 1153 because this is drawn
by this woman who says liberty because we are daughters, we are
mothers, we are human beings. The Nation is better than this.
Vote for H. Res. 1153 to stop these procedures and stop these prisons
from taking advantage of us.
Mr. Speaker, as a leader of this resolution and a senior member of
the House Judiciary and Homeland Committees, I rise in strong support
of H. Res. 1153, ``Condemning Unwanted, Unnecessary Medical Procedures
on Individuals Without Their Full, Informed Consent''.
First and foremost, I would like to thank my fellow co-leads of this
resolution, Representatives Jayapal, Kuster, Garcia, and Frankel as
well as all 224 members who have supported this resolution.
H. Res. 1153 addresses the recent allegations of improper medical
care of detained women in the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla,
Georgia by: condemning the performance of unwanted, unnecessary medical
procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent;
recognizing that everyone deserves to control their own reproductive
choices and make informed choices about their bodies; and acknowledges
that further accountability, oversight, and transparency is necessary
to protect people in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs.
The resolution also calls on the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) to pause the removal of any individual who has received any
medical procedure at the Irwin County Detention Center as well as allow
individuals who may have experienced an unnecessary or nonconsensual
procedure to have immediate access to adequate, safe, and consensual
medical treatment.
By passing this resolution today, DHS must also comply with all
investigations and records request related to investigations about the
Irwin County Detention Center, ensure affected individuals are able to
freely participate in any investigations, and hold all individuals
involved in perpetrating these instances of medical impropriety
accountable.
On September 14, 2020, Project South filed an explosive complaint to
the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General.
The complaint alleged unsafe, unsanitary conditions, as well as cited
significant numbers of full and partial hysterectomies performed on
detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center without the full and
informed consent of the patients.
On September 16, 2020, I was alerted to the DHS' decision to fast-
track the deportation of a young woman, Pauline Binam, who was a victim
of improper medical care at the Irwin County Detention Center.
Pauline is a strong, kind, and lovely young woman who has lived in
the United States since she was two years old.
Since 2017, Pauline had been held in DHS custody and was scheduled to
be deported to Cameroon.
That is three years of not being able to hold her child, embrace her
family, or celebrate milestones and holidays with loved ones.
In August 2019, while being detained at the Irwin County Detention
Center, Pauline underwent a procedure commonly known as a D&C, which
she had been told that it was for the purpose of getting rid of the
cysts on her ovaries.
[[Page H5652]]
According to the Mayo Clinic, a D&C procedure is used for the
following medical reasons: Clearing out tissues that remain in the
uterus after a miscarriage or abortion to prevent infection or heavy
bleeding; Removing a tumor that forms instead of a normal pregnancy;
Treating excessive bleeding after delivery by clearing out any placenta
that remains in the uterus; or Removing cervical or uterine polyps,
which are usually benign.
However, when Pauline woke up from the anesthesia, she was informed
that the doctor had removed her fallopian tube during the surgery.
This medical procedure, which substantially impacts Pauline's
potential to have more children, was performed without her consent and
has forever altered Pauline's life.
And Pauline is not the only victim.
Numerous allegations of medical abuse at the Irwin County Detention
Center have come to light over the past few days and weeks.
These shocking claims of medical malpractice reflect widespread
medical neglect in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
detention system.
It is imperative that we, as Members of Congress, fulfill our duty to
the American people and get to the bottom of what happened to the women
being held at the Irwin County Detention Center.
We cannot wait.
The women in this facility cannot wait.
We must seek out justice for these women immediately, and that starts
by voting to pass this resolution.
Furthermore, Pauline and the other women who have shared their
stories of these violating and nonconsensual medical procedures must
have the ability to contribute to this investigation.
Had I not intervened and stopped Pauline's deportation when I did, we
would have lost a key witness to the investigation; someone who is
vital to shining a light on these cruel, and immoral medical procedures
performed without full and informed consent.
We cannot be known as a country that violates our own laws.
Just because someone is an immigrant, is undocumented, or being
detained for deportation, it does not mean that they can be denied
their due process rights under the laws of this land and under the
constitution of the United States of America.
Last weekend, I, along with several other Members of Congress, had
the opportunity to visit the Irwin County Detention Center.
During that trip, I was able to speak with multiple detainees and
hear about the living circumstances and quality of care surrounding
their detention at the facility.
It is no secret that the United States has had a long history of
women being denied reproductive rights and being violated medically,
especially women of color.
When you perform procedures that disallow a woman from making her own
choices or deny her from making a choice, you are violating her very
humanity, and I will not stand idly by and allow it to continue.
As a woman and a mother, I am appalled and horrified by what has been
happening to these women at the Irwin County Detention Center, and I
believe that we owe it to them to investigate their claims fully.
I urge my colleagues to vote with their conscience and pass H. Res.
1153 today.
{time} 1000
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time remains.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Washington has 1 minute
remaining.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, John Adams' famous observation bears repeating here
today.
He said: ``Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes,
our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter
the state of facts and evidence.''
We have heard a great deal from the other side about their passions,
but we don't have all the facts. That is what the ongoing
investigations will provide us.
The facts that stubbornly present themselves on this matter here
today are that the AP found no evidence of mass hysterectomies at this
facility. The hospital that performs them for the facility reports that
two have been performed on ICE detainees since 2017. The hospital tells
us the allegations are demonstrably false--demonstrably--in other
words, they can prove it. The attorney who made the allegations that
have given rise to this debate today admitted to The Washington Post
that they were not based on any evidence and that she included them
``whether or not true'' to prompt the investigation.
All the wishes and inclinations on the other side to abolish ICE,
repeal our immigration laws, throw our borders open, all the other
things that have been proposed from time to time and all of the
vitriolic passions we have heard from the other side today cannot alter
the state of facts and evidence.
More facts and evidence will be presented to us as the investigation
unfolds, and that will tell us exactly what happened at this facility.
I would strongly advise my friends to await the investigation to inform
us and to guide us.
My Democratic colleagues are fond of saying that we must always
follow the data. Mr. Speaker, I now commend to them their own advice.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, let me close by saying to my good colleague across the
aisle that, when he says that first reports are always wrong, let me
ask, is that like the first reports of family separation or kids in
cages?
When my colleague says to let the investigation continue, that is
exactly what this resolution does. It specifically defines the ability
to keep these women who will be witnesses in this investigation in the
United States. In fact, just last week we had to, once again, make sure
that a woman was not deported who had her left fallopian tube removed,
and it was confirmed by independent gynecologists.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I really believe that we crafted this resolution in
a way that it could truly be a bipartisan resolution and that protects
the ability for this investigation to continue with all the facts on
the table, and we are grateful that there is an investigation going.
But in order to have a proper investigation, we need to have these
witnesses here. We need to make sure that the women who have had these
procedures are actually able to get care. And we need to make sure that
this House says very clearly, in any situation, that these unnecessary,
unwanted medical procedures, if true, done without consent and
knowledge, are wrong.
That is all this resolution does.
Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues on the other side will vote ``yes''
with us on this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1164, the previous question is ordered
on the resolution and on the preamble, as amended.
The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution
965, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question
are postponed.
____________________