Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARRIS. Mr. Chairman, it is already the rule. We are wasting our time here today. These are reported.

The hypocrisy of coming to the floor and claiming to be for the children, while opposing the President's supplemental budget that actually will take care of these children.

The Members who are going to vote and who support this opposed the President's funding request to actually take care of the thousands of children who are crossing the border every week. Without that money, you can't take care of these children.

So the proponents of this amendment--again, this is a totally unnecessary amendment because this is already the policy of the administration. This is make-believe. This administration reports the deaths. It is the hypocritical proponents of the amendment who oppose funding to take care of children on the border for purely political purposes.

If they really want to take care of the children on the border, this bill would have included a supplemental appropriation to take care of those children. In fact, that amendment was considered in committee and along party lines rejected. The majority rejected money to take care of the children and now come to the floor and claim to be for the children.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows).

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Mr. HARRIS. Mr. Chairman, the bottom line is, let's stop the charades. This is already an administration policy.

I understand the desire to score political points against this President, a president who has come to Congress and said that we need more money because of the flood of children across the border. There were 145,000 people who crossed the border last month, including thousands and thousands of children--he needs money to take care of them--and the majority refuses to bring this bill to the floor. In fact, in a motion to recommit, they voted against it and in committee they voted against it.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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