Tearing Immigrant Children Away From Their Parents

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out that the United Nations has called this heartless act of separating children from their parents as ``unlawful . . . and a serious violation of the rights of the child.'' The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that such separation can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child's development and affecting his or her health.

I just want to say that many of my colleagues today have indicated that this is not who we are.

They have asked what I think is a rhetorical question, Mr. Correa. They have asked: Who are we?

Well, I can tell you who we are through the agency of our head of state. We are people who have embraced the President of the Philippines who kills people who are accused of drug trafficking. Through the agency of our head of state, we are people who have embraced cruel dictators like Vladimir Putin who invaded a country. Through the agency of our head of state, we have asked to readmit Putin into the G7, making it the G8. Through the agency of our head of state, we have declared that Kim Jong-un is to be admired, that he is smart, that he is a good negotiator.

Who we are, are people who are silent. We are quiet. So why are we asking ourselves who we are? This is who we are, and this is our watch, and the world is watching us. They are watching us be silent and say nothing.

Who are we? We are people who have determined that Canada is an enemy of the state. We are people who are standing by while our Government, the United States of America, is violating international human rights law. That is who we are.

Until we face the reality of who we are, we can't fix this. I could not have, 2 years ago, ever predicted that the United States would behave in this manner.

This is a horrific practice.

The demand is for all Americans to rise up against this, and especially those Americans who have been endowed with the privilege of representing the peoples of the United States of America, especially those people who are in leadership in this body.

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