Providing for Consideration of H.R. Securing America's Future Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mrs. TORRES.

This rule makes in order H.R. 4760, the so-called Securing America's Future Act, and two amendments in the legislation.

Before I speak on the legislation, let us consider why we are here today. President Trump has created immigration crisis after immigration crisis. President Trump is the reason Dreamers are at risk of deportation. President Trump is the reason families are being separated at our Nation's borders. This is a Trump-manufactured crisis, plain and simple.

President Trump's executive order, signed yesterday, does nothing to fix this. His order does nothing to reunite the thousands of children separated from their parents. In fact, his order directs his deportation force to now jail families at the border, which is in direct violation of current court orders. It will lead to more family separation, and the only difference now is that families will wait 20 days before being separated.

I want every Member of this body and everyone watching at home to imagine what it must be like. Imagine traveling thousands of miles to flee some of the most dangerous countries in the world, countries with the highest murder rates, and then, when you finally think you are safe, having your child ripped away from you.

In 1946 to 1948, during the Truman administration, human experiments were conducted in Guatemala. American doctors infected mostly uneducated and indigenous people with syphilis. Today, in the Trump administration, we are forcing drugs in pill form and injection on the indigenous children seeking asylum.

So this brings us to why we are here today. Mr. Speaker, everyone watching this debate should be crystal clear on what this bill does. This bill fails to solve the separation of families on our Nation's border. It reduces legal immigration. It fails to offer DACA recipients a path to citizenship. It adds $25 billion to our growing wall of debt on top of the $2 trillion that we already added when Republicans voted for their tax scam.

This bill makes it harder for those seeking asylum to receive protection, and it fails to protect the 2,000 children who have already been separated from their parents.

Many will call this legislation the more conservative option that the House will consider today. But let us be clear, this bill is not conservative at all.

After adding trillions to our Nation's debt through the tax scam, Republicans now are putting us in another $25 billion debt. Where are we going to borrow this money from?

Remember, colleagues, President Trump has declared a trade war with China. What will happen if China decides to cash in on that debt?

In addition, President Trump's family jails will cost the American taxpayer 10 times more than the alternative policy he ended for family migration.

Conservative? Absolutely not. Cruel? Inhumane? Absolutely, yes.

Mr. Speaker, last night, during consideration of this bill in the Rules Committee, my colleagues and I offered many fixes, which were all blocked by this rule. My amendment to replace the bill with the Keep Families Together Act, which would have reunited families, was blocked.

Representative Roybal-Allard and Representative Polis joined me in offering the Dream Act as an alternative, but that was blocked also.

Another Rules Committee Member, Representative Hastings, and his amendment to fix TPS, blocked.

But not all amendments were blocked. Just like President Trump's executive order contained misspellings, this bill contained a giant typo to give President Trump an additional $100 billion for his wall.

So which is it? $25 billion? $100 billion? Are Mexicans going to pay for it? What is it?

The committee has said that they are making this correction, and they did so in the middle of the night. But I doubt President Trump would be happy to hear that, so we will wait and see.

If this truly is a mistake, these kinds of corrections could have been caught if Democrats had been allowed to participate in this process, if we would have had a committee hearing.
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Mrs. TORRES.

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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, Chairman Goodlatte just clarified that his bill has been in print for 6 months. I thank the gentleman for clarifying. The American people should know that your real intention was to allocate $100 million for the Trump wall, and it wasn't until we shined the light on that, that in the middle of the night the Republican caucus scrambled to reduce that amount to $25 million.

Pelosi), the Democratic leader.

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Mrs. TORRES. Lofgren).

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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to strike the text of this rule and insert House Resolution 774, Representative Denham's bipartisan queen-of-the-hill resolution. This rule would bring up four separate immigration bills to be debated and voted on the House floor.

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Mrs. TORRES.

Mr. Speaker, in 1970, a Guatemalan couple decided to send their daughter to the U.S. That young girl was I. I was welcomed here in a loving home. I was not put in a freezing cell. My parents felt they had no choice. My mother died a couple of years later.

These parents are making a choice that, frankly, I could not make today for my children. A few months ago, I was away from home for so long--4 weeks--that my grandson, a 3-year-old, felt he had to reintroduce himself to me because he had not seen me for 4 weeks. He didn't think that I would remember him. Imagine an infant when that infant is returned to their parent; they will be introduced to a total stranger.

Pope Francis just tweeted: Pray together, walk together, work together. This is the way that leads to Christian unity.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule and this cruel legislation. Let's help those who can't help themselves in these very corrupt countries of the Northern Triangle. They are not s---holes as the President has referred to them. Let's give them an opportunity to live another day.

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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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