Joaquin Castro

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. You mentioned the Trump administration's policies, and there was a really excellent article written not too long ago by a gentleman by the name of Adam Serwer, and I think he wrote it for The Atlantic, although I could be wrong. But his point is that the cruelty is the point, it seems like, and the further along we go, the more it seems that that is the case, that some of these policies are done for sheer harshness towards the people who these policies are directed toward. And you know that last week there were a group of us from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who went over to two Border Patrol stations in El Paso, Texas, first the El Paso Border Patrol Station number one, and then the Clint facility, which is now infamous. This was the same day or the day after that a story had broken about a Facebook page. I think it is the I'm 10-15 Facebook page that was set up as a secret group, or a private group, set up for Border Patrol agents, former Border Patrol agents and current Border Patrol agents, 9,500 members of this group who had made some very vile and very vulgar comments about the people in their care, about Members of Congress, about the work that they do. A lot of it is stuff that I just can't read on the House floor because they would probably shut me down for being vulgar.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Yes.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. And if our colleagues have not read that article, Republican and Democrat, you should read that ProPublica article that was published last week, because it tells you exactly the problems with CBP right now and the culture at CBP. I want to read one thing. We were talking about the father, and when he and his daughter died they were face down on the river. She had her arm around him. So everybody saw that photo around the world and throughout the country. I want to tell you a post that was on this Facebook page, posted by a Border Patrol agent or a former Border Patrol agent, and so I am going to quote here. It says: ``Okay. I'm gonna go ahead and ask, have y'all ever seen floaters this clean? I'm not trying to be an `a,' but I have never seen floaters like this. Could this be another edited photo? We've all seen the Dems and liberal party do some pretty sick things.'' Now, that was his post. There were a few responses to that post. Some of them were memes. One of the memes had a Sesame Street character, and the language below the Sesame Street character says ``oh, well'' about these deaths. Another meme from another agent or former agent has a picture. There is a famous scene in a movie ``Rocky IV'' of the Russian fighter, and he uses a famous line for anybody who has ever seen it. The meme says, ``If he dies, he dies.'' They are talking about the little girl and the man who are hugging face down in the river. I reached out to Secretary McAleenan, I think still the Acting Secretary of DHS. I think he is still acting. I think I am right about that. And I said, over the weekend: I would like to have a discussion with you this coming week. And we are trying to set it up about the accountability and disciplinary system for CBP agents who have made the most vile and vulgar comments. Look, don't get me wrong. There were some people who were part of this group who I am sure never made a comment. There were people who were part of this group who never said anything close to some of the worst stuff on here, who would not be subject to discipline. A big part of the problem right now is the culture at CBP, and as far as I can tell, there is close to zero accountability for anything like this or what happened in Maine on the northern border a few weeks ago. It was reported, because if you take a Greyhound bus from McAllen, Texas, for example, and you are going to go to San Antonio or Dallas or Austin or whatever, you get stopped along the way by CBP agents. Same thing in California if you are coming up from San Diego or near the border. And the CBP agents will get onto the bus, go up to each person, or at least the people they suspect could possibly be immigrants, and they will ask you to basically prove your citizenship. So we have been in a battle with Greyhound over that because of the rights that Americans have, having to prove citizenship. But here is my point. I think it was ACLU that got emails made public of a few agents on a few occasions, or it may have been one agent on a few occasions, saying to his agents who were going out to do these checks on the buses, his message to them was ``happy hunting.'' Happy hunting. I asked Secretary McAleenan: Well, what are you going to do about that person? Somebody is describing going after human beings here as hunting. What is the disciplinary process? Congress has not gotten any answers about what the disciplinary and accountability process is at the Department of Homeland Security, at CBP for actions like this. Then one more thing--and then, of course, I want to hear more of your perspective--is also, besides the fact that there is hardly any accountability as far as we can tell, it is also very secretive. I mean, really, Border Patrol right now is probably the most--except for the Secret Service, probably the most secretive law enforcement agency in the country, the least transparent law enforcement agency in the country. You and I both know when we have gone and visited the border, when we have gone to these facilities, there are good agents who are doing their work, who are doing it honestly and earnestly, who are not mistreating anybody, who are helping to defend and protect the United States. But those people are overwhelmed by a system that is undercut by a bad culture at this point and by these rogue agents who have essentially ruined the culture at CBP, and I don't know that the higher-ups, right now, are lifting a finger to do anything about it.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. In fact, I want to talk to you, because Americans ask the question, rightfully, of Members of Congress, ``Okay. So you have identified a problem or you are complaining about a problem. What is your solution to it?'' So I want to talk about that for a second. But a few more examples on the Facebook group, because I really want our colleagues to have a sense of how deep this problem is and that it is not just imaginary. This is right here in writing, in pictures, and in language. There was a post, and this is one of the milder posts, but it is a meme. The language on the meme says: ``You know what? I'm just going to say it. . . . Hondurans have the stupidest names ever.'' Again, this is either a current or former Border Patrol agent. One more, and before I read this, I want to explain something. In Border Patrol, they have their own language. One of the slurs that they use talking about the desperate people who are presenting themselves is the word ``tonk.'' People probably wonder what that means. That word is supposed to be what it sounds like when they hit one of these folks over the head with a flashlight. It makes that sound, ``tonk.'' They are using that as a slur to describe the folks who are at the border. The meme is a picture of red, dead meat laid out flat. The caption says, ``Little tonk blanket ideas!'' I mean, this is sick stuff. I told McAleenan that some of these people need to be taken off the beat. These people, some of them are clearly a danger to human life, in the way they are talking and acting. Combine that with a system where there is hardly any accountability, if any accountability at all, and it is very dangerous, very dangerous not only for the people who come into their care but dangerous for their coworkers as well. These good agents are overrun. When they try to do the right thing, try to report abuse, try to report neglect, try to report malfeasance, they are thwarted by people higher up in Border Patrol who take that information and do absolutely zero about it. What happens? A lot of people then figure, ``Well, nothing is going to happen if I actually report it, and there is a chance that if these people find out I am reporting it, they are going to take retribution against me.'' There is a whole group of people who are working in the system who actually want to do the right thing, do their jobs honestly, who are undercut, thwarted, and slowly brought into this rotten system because the people at the top will not do anything to change it. Madam Speaker, Mr. Gomez mentioned some of the solutions. He mentioned the supplemental bill. The supplemental bill was the Trump administration coming forward and asking for billions of dollars more in funding because, it argued: There is a surge at the border; there are more people coming; so we need more money for ICE, CBP, and HHS, which are the kids. There was a House version of that bill. There was a Senate version of that bill. The Senate bill is what finally passed. As Mr. Gomez mentioned, a big concern that we had was that this President likes to play games with funding in this administration. They like to take money that Congress appropriates for one purpose and then go use it for something else. Madam Speaker, as Mr. Gomez knows, the biggest example of that was when they wanted to take this military money and use it to build a wall. When I was in law school, and maybe every law student studied this, there is, of course, a famous jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes. In legal theory, he had this ``bad man'' theory. The idea was that laws needed to be written in such a way that somebody who has no shame at all, a bad man who is looking to take advantage of any little crack in the law that he can, we need to write a law that prevents that from happening. Right now, we are not in that situation because the Trump administration is able to do all these things and move money around. One of the big problems we had was a lack of guardrails. They could take this humanitarian aid and, instead of using it for humanitarian purposes, direct it toward a wall or toward something else, toward more ICE beds, toward more HHS beds so that the private contractors who run Homestead and who also run private prisons can make another $775 a day per child because they are growing their number by 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 10,000 people. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, in order to make sure that we start to solve this problem, there is legislation that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and others are pushing immediately. There are a few specific things that we need to do. One of them is that we need to raise standards of care. Many of us went out to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, parts of rural New Mexico, and we witnessed that CBP is understaffed, underprepared, and under-resourced to handle medical emergencies by these asylum seekers, the folks who come in with medical emergencies. Maybe they go into diabetic shock. They encounter some respiratory illness, and they are very sick. It is not that they were unprepared to handle medical emergencies by asylum seekers. They are also very unprepared to handle emergency situations by their own workers, Federal employees, CBP agents. Dr. Raul Ruiz, also from southern California, is an emergency room medical doctor. He was in Haiti after the earthquake. He has been in disaster situations. He and his staff have done an excellent job and spent a lot of time coming up with legislation that raises those standards of medical treatment and of care. We believe, based on everything that we have seen, that some of these deaths of these young children could have been prevented if the standards of care had been appropriate and if these kids had just been treated better. We have to raise the standard of care. When we went over to Antelope Wells, they get 200 people who come to present themselves for asylum. They put them all in this sally port. They have 200 people there, including some infants, toddlers, et cetera. What do they give them to eat? They give them frozen burritos that they heat up, frozen burritos for a 3-year-old. Pumping more cash into the system is not the full answer to this. We don't just pump more cash into the system so they can buy people burritos and still not have nurses and doctors when there is an emergency. We have to raise the standard of care. The second part is that we have to move people through the process faster. Remember, I said that with President Trump and the zero- tolerance policy, the remain-in-Mexico policy, all this stuff, it has created a situation where people are being held longer. When we saw these dozen or so Cuban women who were in this cell at El Paso Border Station 1, some of them had been at that Border Patrol station for 50 days. Some of them said they had not showered or taken a bath for over 15 days. Some were grandmothers. Some had been separated from their kids and didn't know where their kids were. There were a few who said they had not been given their prescription medication. One of them had epilepsy, and she said she had not gotten her medication for epilepsy. We walked over to what is this steel toilet, because it is basically like a prison cell. They are sleeping on concrete floors. There are painted cinder-block walls. We go over to this steel toilet. Directly above it, it has a sink. The sink is not working. There is no sink. All these people going to the restroom, they can't wash their hands because the sink doesn't work. They are staying there many, many, many days, well beyond what the law prescribes and the court settlements have prescribed for how long somebody should be staying there. The final piece, as we know, is a longer term thing, which is that we believe the United States and other countries in the Western Hemisphere--and I believe that we should wrangle our allies from around the world because whenever there is some major crisis in some other part of the world, those nations ask the United States to help out. We should ask the same of those countries when something happens in the Western Hemisphere, in this case, in Central America. My point is that we need to make serious investments in the Northern Triangle countries of Central America because I don't believe that these people want to get up and leave their homes to make a 1,200-mile journey to the United States if they don't have to, if they weren't so desperate, if they weren't fleeing violence, if they weren't fleeing oppression. But that is where they find themselves. By the way, one more point on this: The President wants to spend billions and billions of dollars on the wall but over the last several years has committed only hundreds of millions of dollars in Central American aid. I was speaking with Matt Cartwright the other day, our colleague from Pennsylvania. He made a great point, which is if we took those billions of dollars that we are spending on a wall and used that as seed money to start investing in Central America, what we would do is help create safety and opportunity in those countries so that people don't feel the need to come to the United States, and we wouldn't have a surge of migration. Like I said, I think those people want to stay in their countries. Also, Madam Speaker, even a few days ago, I saw an article where there was a very famous columnist, a writer who made the case that this is a different situation. This migration from Central America is a different situation from refugees who have fled to the United States in previous generations. His point was that they are not fleeing state- sponsored oppression. I believe that kind of thinking is an anachronism. It is old thinking. The fact is, somebody who is living in Central America or anywhere around the world can be just as oppressed and put in danger and have their life threatened and the lives of their family threatened systematically by a drug gang or a drug lord and these groups as some dictator did in the 1960s or 1970s in some other country. I believe that threats to people have evolved, that the refugee situation, the asylee situation, has evolved and that the United States should recognize that evolution, just like other things have evolved. We should recognize that evolution and recognize that the threats these people are facing, even though it may not be coming directly from the Central American governments, are just as dangerous as people who were fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s or are just as dangerous as the Cubans who were fleeing the dictatorial Castro regime in the early 1960s. We should recognize that. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. In fact, more people have come since the announcement of that policy. It is an abject failure.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Absolutely. We talked about that piece, basically a Marshall Plan for Central America, the investment. And Zoe Lofgren, another colleague of yours from California--northern California, San Jose--has got legislation that addresses, essentially, the start of a Marshall Plan for Central America, which I believe she has filed already. And I mentioned Raul Ruiz's bill on lifting standards. Another bill that we are pushing very strongly is the accountability piece. We were talking about the CBP officers and the fact that I can't tell whether there is any legitimate accountability over there. My colleague from Texas, Veronica Escobar, who represents El Paso, has got a bill on accountability that she has also filed. So we are pushing these pieces of legislation really hard, working with the Speaker and others, to try to get some of them passed before the end of this July, before we go on the long August recess. Lori Trahan, another member of the CHC, from Massachusetts, has got a bill. One of the problems, and you spoke to it, is that DHS and HHS will often try to deny Members of Congress access to the facilities. People might say: Okay, well, you are Members of Congress and they are a different agency. Why should you be able to go in whenever you want; right? Well, remember, the legislative branch has oversight over these executive agencies, and you can't do your job of oversight if they don't let you in. Or, if you have got to give 7 days' notice, they have a chance to just clean everything up. In fact, if you read that Facebook page by the Border Patrol agents, they are talking about the fact the facilities are cleaned up before Members of Congress actually have a chance to visit. So that is a problem. Lori has got a bill that says that, with 24 hours' notice, we could, as Members of Congress, go in there and inspect these facilities. So these are some of the pieces of legislation, practical solutions, that we are working on to overhaul the system and improve this situation. And, real quick, I mentioned that trip last week to Clint and to El Paso Border Patrol station number one. It was a very intense visit and very tense, also, a lot of people on that trip. It was about half and half, half CHC members, half not CHC members, but there were many people who stepped up, and particularly the women who were on that trip. I got some video that I released. But there are other portions of that, in that room, other times in that room, where Madeleine Dean, Ayanna Pressley, and, of course, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were pressing the CBP officers and a doctor there to explain why these folks were being neglected. In fact, to give a lot of credit to Alexandria, we would not have been able to go into that room and I would not have been able to document what had happened except for the fact that she basically insisted and barged into that room to go see and talk to those women. Nanette Barragan was great. Joe Kennedy, he and I went over to another cell, and we spoke to a woman who was in the early stages of pregnancy. She was there with another family that included a young boy. They had a seat that was working, actually. But what I noticed was, in their cell, they were reusing the same, like, seven or eight or nine paper cups over and over. Paper cups are cups you throw away or you recycle and you get another one. They were making these people use the same paper cups day after day. For what?

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. That is absolutely right. These folks may not be citizens, they are not legal residents when they present themselves, but they are human beings. This is the most powerful, prosperous, and, we believe, humane country on the face of this Earth. We should be treating them a lot better than we are treating them. I firmly believe that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that, regardless of their politics. Madam Speaker, Mr. Gomez read the names of the six children who have died over the last several months. Over the last few years, there have been about 24 adults who have died. I have only been able to find 16 of their names, but I want to read their names also to remember them: Yimi Alexis Balderramos-Torres; Johana Medina Leon; Simratpal Singh; Abel Reyes-Clemente; Guerman Volkov; Mergensana Amar; Wilfredo Padron; Augustina Ramirez-Arreola; Efrain De La Rosa; Huy Chi Tran; Zeresenay Ermias Testfatsion; Roxana Hernandez; Ronald Cruz; Gourgen Mirimanian; Luis Ramirez-Marcano, and Yulio Castro-Garrido. May all of them rest in peace. May the children who also died rest in peace. They were doing what people throughout the generations have tried to do from all over the world who were fleeing oppression, violence, and desperation. They were trying to make it to the United States of America. They were trying to live in the United States of America, and they died. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, today I rise in honor of Father David Garcia who is retiring from active ministry as Pastor of Mission Concepcion in my hometown of San Antonio. Father Garcia is well-known in the community and has been critical in preserving and establishing worldwide recognition of San Antonio's historic missions. Although his retirement from parochial service begins July 1, 2019, I have no doubt that Father Garcia's impact will last in the years to come. Father David Garcia, better known as ``Father David,'' was born in San Antonio, Texas on August 4, 1949. He completed seminary studies at St. John's and Assumption Seminaries, the Oblate School of Theology, and Moreau Seminary. He then went on to Notre Dame University, where he earned masters' degrees in Theology and Institutional Administration. On March 21, 1975, Father David was ordained by Archbishop Francis Furey. During the 1970s, Father David assisted in the founding of Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS), a non-partisan grassroots coalition whose mission is to improve living standards throughout the community, particularly among neglected and low-income areas. Efforts by Father David and COPS secured significant public funding for local infrastructure and housing improvements. From 1980 to 1988, Father David served as Chief of Staff to Archbishop Patrick Flores where he led the construction and reorganization of the Catholic Chancery. Through 1981 to 1988, he served on the formation faculty of Assumption Seminary. During the visit of Pope Saint John Paul II to San Antonio in 1987, Father David served as mass site chair where he secured the mass site location attended by 350,000 people. From 1988 to 1994, he served as the vocation director for the Archdiocese of San Antonio. In 1995, Father David was appointed rector of San Fernando Cathedral where he served in the position for thirteen years. Beginning in 2003, Father David led the San Fernando Cathedral restoration project and aided in the revitalization of San Antonio's Main Plaza. In 2015, Father David was instrumental in the City's bid for UNESCO World Heritage designation of the San Antonio Missions. Madam Speaker, it is with great sincerity that I commend Father David on his decades of parochial and community service. His lifelong commitment to our community is nothing short of remarkable. I thank Father David for his many years of service to the people of San Antonio. He has made our community a better place.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today in honor of Mrs. Antonietta ``Toni'' Hernandez-Serna whose commitment to our hometown of San Antonio is one to be admired. Today marks the beginning of her retirement after over 20 years of public service; throughout which her passion for improving her community remained unchanged. Toni was born on April 20, 1954 in San Antonio, Texas to union leaders Louisa and Jesus Hernandez and is the oldest of six siblings-- Yolanda, Jesse, David, Hector, and Roland. Louisa's community activism is reflected in Toni's work as a community organizer. Upon receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Texas State University, Toni found her calling as an organizer while serving as a Field Representative with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) where she led the implementation of their national policies. Fulfilling a desire to return home, Toni transferred from Colorado with her husband of now 28 years, Joe Serna, and their daughter, Selina Rocha, to take on a position as the Political and Community Director with the Service Employees International Union. Throughout the years, she worked to elect numerous candidates into local office who empowered workers' rights. In 2007, she served as Outreach Coordinator for Texas State Representative Mike Villarreal, and later became District Director in 2010. In 2013, Toni's journey lead her to Texas' 20th Congressional District where she served as my Outreach and District Director. I have seen firsthand her dedication and persistence to serve our community. Her tireless efforts combined with a true passion for public service is nothing short of extraordinary. With this in mind, Toni is a remarkable role model to Selina Rocha; her nephew, Jesse Rene Hernandez; and grandmother to Charlotte Rocha, and to all of us in the San Antonio community. Madam Speaker, Mrs. Antonietta ``Toni'' Hernandez-Serna has played a tremendous part in moving Texas 20th forward. I thank Toni for her many years of service and steadfast commitment to our hometown. I am proud to have served the people of Texas 20th with you.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, today I rise in honor of Senora Dona Cruz Cortez, who passed away on May 30, 2019 at the age of 98. Senora Cortez hails from my hometown of San Antonio, Texas and is survived by four generations of Cortez family members. An entrepreneurial icon, her impact in our community is unparalleled after decades of work that has contributed to the overall success of San Antonio's economy, tourism, and workforce. She will be greatly missed. Senora Cortez was born on May 2, 1921 near the banks of San Pedro Creek. Senora Cortez started from humble beginnings but held strong convictions from the beginning of the importance of family, culture and community. In 1941, shortly after marrying her husband Senor Pedro ``Pete'' Cortez, the family opened Mi Tierra Cafe in San Antonio's El Mercado. From what began as a small three-table venue, Mi Tierra Cafe grew into a well-established community hub. After 75 years, Mi Tierra still stands as one of San Antonio's cultural institutions. Today, La Familia Cortez Restaurants represent iconic local establishments throughout San Antonio and serves thousands per year. At the age of 90, Senora Dona Cruz Cortez retired from La Familia Cortez Restaurants and left the booming family enterprise to her grandchildren. Madam Speaker, the San Antonio community mourns the loss of this icon. Senora Dona Cruz Cortez embodied the American Dream and its impact on San Antonio better than most. She was truly remarkable. I am proud to have known her and seen the immeasurable impact her warmth, commitment and dedication had on our community. Although we have lost a pillar in our community, her legacy will live on.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, this amendment requires the Office of Refugee Resettlement to report all deaths of children in their custody. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I want to repeat what my amendment is. My amendment is to make sure that if a child dies in government custody, that that death is reported to the Congress. I am shocked that anybody in this Chamber would disagree with that provision. I am saying that if somebody dies in ORR custody, they are going to tell us. So to be opposed to this amendment means that you want to be part of a coverup and make sure that the government does not say anything about a child's death. The reason that this is so important is because last September a young 10-year-old girl died. This Congress and the American people were not told for 7 or 8 months about that young girl's death. Today, we offer an amendment to make sure that the Congress is told, that the American people know what is going on with their government. And when I offer that amendment on the other side, I am opposed, people are against it. They want to cover up these deaths? They don't want the American people to know that people are dying? There have been, in the last few years--actually, in less than a year--six children who have died in government custody, and more adults over the last few years. This is already the rule with the Department of Homeland Security with ICE. This is extending it to ORR. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, we have a disagreement. I don't believe this is the law right now. If it already is the law, then what is the big deal with supporting this amendment? All it does is reaffirm the law. I am surprised that we can't agree to it. I want to give you an example and a story of why this is so important. Last September, when Darlyn Valle died in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, news of this death was not revealed to the American public or Members of Congress until just a few weeks ago because of a CBS investigation. Darlyn Valle was 10 years old when she died while in ORR custody. She was in ORR custody in my hometown of San Antonio when she became gravely ill and staff sent her to the hospital. However, beyond those few details, we have limited information surrounding her death because the administration has decided to deny it to Congress, even after we asked the officials repeatedly about any injuries, abuse, or deaths on their watch. This amendment seeks to end this confusion and enhance transparency in our government. I want to repeat that again. Last fall, when we were asking this administration whether any child had died or been seriously injured in government care and custody, their answer was no. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Lofgren for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the most powerful movements in American history, those that have made the most change in our country, have often been started by young people. More than a dozen years ago, many young Dreamers took to the streets of cities like Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, New York, and so many other places throughout our country asking that they be recognized fully as Americans. Many of these are folks who were brought here when they were 6 months old, 5 years old, or 3 years old and have only known the United States as their home country. Today, the House of Representatives recognizes their Americanness and takes a step forward to move them out of the legal limbo in which they have found themselves and, unfortunately, in which they have lived their lives. These are folks who are servicemembers, they are teenagers, they are engineers, and they are workers in the fields. They are people who are producing for our country, who are making this Nation strong. They are people who we can be proud of. They are, like us, Americans. And today, most of all, we give them something to celebrate as we acknowledge their Americanness. Mr. Speaker, I thank Speaker Pelosi for her hard work. This is the second time, under her tenure as Speaker, that a Dream Act has passed. I thank Lucille Roybal-Allard, Pramila Jayapal, and everybody on the Judiciary Committee who has also done the hard work of shepherding this bill through. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 6.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System on its 150th anniversary year serving the health care needs of San Antonio and South Texas. Three Catholic Sisters left their families and native country of France 150 years ago in 1869, and traveled to San Antonio, Texas to answer a call to care for victims of a deadly cholera outbreak. This marked the beginnings of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio and the Santa Rosa Infirmary, which still serves the community today. A century and a half later, the infirmary, now known as CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System and The Children's Hospital of San Antonio, has grown and expanded to meet the new health care needs of diverse populations throughout the south Texas region. From those three founding Sisters, a network of hospitals and clinics has grown around the world, employing thousands of health care professionals who are still responding with compassion and love to Bishop Dubuis' call 150 years ago. In 2019, we celebrate the Congregation's Sesquicentennial in CHRISTUS Health locations throughout Texas, Mexico, South America and the United States. And during this celebration, we remember the first ministry, where it all began--CHRISTUS Santa Rosa. CHRISTUS Health is now one of the top ten Catholic health systems in the United States and a leading provider of uncompensated care among not-for-profit health care systems. I congratulate CHRISTUS Santa Rosa on its 150th anniversary and recognize its significant contribution to the state of Texas as a leader and provider of quality, faith-based compassionate healthcare. Patients served by CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, including my constituents of the 20th District, are grateful to each of the thousands of nurses, doctors, associates and volunteers who have helped their communities through the years with a commitment to the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa mission of ``extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.''

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1952) to amend the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to require the Secretary of State to report on intercountry adoptions from countries which have significantly reduced adoption rates involving immigration to the United States, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1952, as amended.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First of all, I thank Mr. Collins and Mr. Langevin for their hard work on this bill that would help ease some of the problems parents face when they are trying to adopt children from other countries. Madam Speaker, the process of adopting a child is a tough one, especially when that child is overseas. It is expensive and often emotionally taxing for the parents. It is filled with legal twists and turns and often difficult requirements, but it is worth it for these loving parents who want to give children from faraway places a home and the chance to be part of a family and a good future. What can make this process even more daunting is when foreign governments change their laws without any sort of notice or explanation. For parents who have to deal with this, it is like having the rug pulled out from under them. In 2018, the number of intercountry adoptions to the United States declined by roughly 600. We saw a similar decline the year before. Part of the reason is that China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo changed their policies, for example. I can't imagine the frustration and anxiety of parents who learned their adoption has been delayed or derailed. This bill helps to make things easier on those families. It would require the State Department to stay up to date on laws and policies dealing with intercountry adoptions and make sure American families get that information. This will make the adoption process safer and more transparent for both parents and children. This is a good bill. It passed the House last Congress. After we pass it again today, I hope the other body, the Senate, will act quickly as well to pass it. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, we hear far too many gut-wrenching stories about American families who have trouble adopting children overseas. This legislation will help make that easier, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, this is a bipartisan bill, and I urge support from all Members. I yield back the balance of my time.