Condemning Unwanted, Unnecessary Medical Procedures on Individuals Without Their Full, Informed Consent

Floor Speech

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.

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.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve 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.

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

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