WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) today condemned Senate Democrats for voting to block his amendment to the COVID-19 ‘Relief’ bill to address the growing humanitarian crisis at our southern border. Sen. Cornyn’s amendment would have shifted funding in the COVID-19 ‘Relief’ bill from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund bed space for unaccompanied children and efforts to mitigate coronavirus transmission in immigration detention facilities. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“The United States is facing a brewing humanitarian crisis at the border. At the same time, we are experiencing a global pandemic. This motion will help make sure we are prepared.”
“The Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Refugee Resettlement are struggling to maintain enough bed space to shelter all of these unaccompanied children transferred into its custody. It’s estimated the COVID-19 restrictions have reduced their capacity by about 40%.”
“This motion, simply put, would commit the bill to the Committee on Help with instructions to provide adequate funding for the Office of Refugee Resettlement to address this brewing humanitarian crisis.”