November 14, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 182 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H8836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS

  (Ms. DEAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DEAN. Mr. Speaker, this week the Supreme Court heard oral 
arguments surrounding DACA. Now 800,000 lives hang in the balance.
  Mr. Speaker, 800,000 is a big number, and in the face of abstract 
figures it is easy to lose touch with the human reality.
  So let's think of, maybe, just one person, one young woman who has 
lived virtually her entire life in this country; whose friends, family, 
and community are here; who attends school and plays on the soccer team 
and volunteers at a food bank; who speaks English and no other 
language.
  Which one of us would take that child to the border and send her 
across alone?
  Which one of us would banish her to a place she has never been?
  Which one of us would force her to build a life and a language she 
does not even know?
  Which one of us could abandon that child with a clear conscience?
  I suspect the answer is very few of us. And, if that is right, if in 
our hearts we would not permit us to behave with such coldness and 
cruelty, then we cannot allow our government to do so either.
  As our dear colleague Mr. Cummings said, we are better than this.

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