[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 36]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HOUSING UNDOCUMENTED CHILDREN

  (Mr. CRAMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, I was informed last week that the Department 
of Health and Human Services is considering temporarily housing 
unoccupied minor children at military bases throughout the United 
States. Six bases are under consideration to house up to 5,000 of these 
undocumented children. One of the bases under consideration is Grand 
Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot stress strongly enough my opposition to this 
plan. The reasons are numerous, but let me emphasize two of the most 
obvious: military bases are not appropriate for housing unaccompanied 
children, and unaccompanied children are not appropriate residents of a 
military base.
  The last Congress clearly expressed our opposition to housing 
unoccupied minors at military installations through the passage of H.R. 
5230. Additionally, funding sufficient to meet the needs at the 
southern border was provided just a few weeks ago in the passage of the 
fiscal year 2016 omnibus spending bill.
  Mr. Speaker, it is neither compassionate to the children, nor in the 
country's best interests for national defense, to house these children 
at Grand Forks or any other military installation. I urge the 
administration to find a more appropriate solution to the crisis at our 
southern border.

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