releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20140802212129/http://price.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=1607
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://web.archive.org/web/20140802212129/http://price.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=1607 | PRICE REMARKS ON BORDER SECURITY LEGISLATION | 2014-07-31 | 2014 | 2014-07 | Democrat | House | NC | David Price | P000523 | web.archive.org | legacy | Washington, D.C.– Today, Representative David Price (NC-04) delivered the following remarks on the House floor during consideration of H.R. 5230, Supplemental Appropriations to Address the Southwest Border Crisis. Mr. Speaker I rise in strong opposition to this misconceived and woefully under-resourced legislation. For a while it looked like we might do better than this. As the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I was pleased to take part in a recent delegation to Central America ably led by Chairwoman Kay Granger. But as successive versions of the Republican bill have surfaced over the past two weeks, in an apparent quest for votes among Republicans, they have reflected less and less of what we learned on that trip. The bill under consideration provides less than $1 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Justice –far below the President’s request, what is being considered by the Senate, or what is required to deal with the crisis on our borders and beyond. The bill only provides funding for anticipated needs for the remainder of the fiscal year, a mere two months. I would object to that less if the majority had any plans for actually completing our appropriations bills before the end of September, but we all know that they do not. Indeed, it appears unlikely that our Homeland Security Appropriations bill will make it to the House floor. The approach taken in this legislation shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue before us. This is not a border security crisis; it’s a humanitarian crisis. We don’t need to deploy the National Guard or surge our border capacity, because we are not failing to catch individuals as they cross. In fact, they are turning themselves in! Now, we do have some agreement on the need to expedite consideration of the claims of these minors for asylum or other forms of relief. But at $12.9 million, the House bill falls short of even the Administration’s modest request for more immigration judges. Instead of focusing on an area of agreement -- more immigration judges to adjudicate claims -- the majority relies upon a questionable and controversial rewriting of the Wilberforce law, enacted in 2008 to deal with child trafficking. My own view is that the Cuellar-Cornyn proposal incorporated in the bill both fails to address deficiencies in our present screening of Mexican youth for signs of torture or fear of persecution, and risks transferring these deficiencies to the treatment of Central American children. In any event, it is not wise to complicate or delay consideration of the emergency supplemental request with an authorization bill that requires more deliberation. There have been some recent signs of progress down at the border. Over the past few weeks, the average daily apprehensions of unaccompanied children were approaching 400; over the past few weeks, such apprehensions have dropped to an average of well under 200. But that does not mean the crisis is over. We could easily see another spike in apprehensions in the coming weeks. We need a bill that not only provides resources to DHS but one that reflects our values, providing care for these unaccompanied minors through adequate funding for HHS as well. Faith leaders of all traditions across the country are calling on Congress to provide the social and health services these children desperately need. Perhaps the greatest failing of this legislation is that it fails to move us toward any viable, long-term strategy to address the causes of the current crisis. Beyond any funding we appropriate to help manage the flow of unaccompanied children or families over the next several months, we are setting ourselves up for similar crises in the future if we aren't willing to invest in a long-term strategy to help Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador -- the three countries that are the source of the vast majority of unaccompanied minors -- stabilize their economies; modernize their institutions; and reduce the level of violence and the grip of the drug cartels and street gangs. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today seriously addresses neither the short- or long-term needs, and much of what it does appropriate is irrelevant to the current crisis. I urge a resounding NO vote. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |