June 27, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 109 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H5207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CARING FOR THE CHILDREN

  (Ms. DEAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. DEAN. Madam Speaker, there is a Gospel reading I like: Matthew 
25: ``For I was hungry and You gave me food, I was thirsty and You gave 
me drink, a stranger and You welcomed me, naked and You clothed me, ill 
and You cared for me, in prison and You visited me.''
  That spirit of welcoming and compassion is a part of what defines us 
as Americans. In fact, we have enshrined it in our legal code, 
including laws requiring safe and sanitary conditions for migrant 
children. Yet right now, children are imprisoned in appalling and 
unconscionable conditions.
  These children have not been welcomed in the spirit of Matthew. 
Instead, they are in cages, in prison without adequate food, clean 
clothing, clean diapers, toothbrushes, access to showers, and a 
comfortable place to lay their head.
  ``Whatever you did unto the least of these, you did unto me.''
  Madam Speaker, we will be judged as a nation, as a government, and a 
people for our failure to look out for the least of these. May this 
imprisonment end.

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