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WASHINGTON – Congressman Paul D. Tonko voted ‘no’ on a watered-down Senate border funding bill this afternoon, citing its lack of compassion for migrant children and lack of Congressional oversight. He renewed his call for the Senate to incorporate common-sense provisions approved by the House earlier this week. To date, at least seven (7) children have died in Customs and Border Patrol custody after being held in cramped conditions and denied basic human necessities such as soap and clean diapers.

“For months, this Administration has ripped children from the arms of their parents, denied them essential care, soap, beds and medicine in our custody and forced them to sleep on crowded floors,” Tonko said. “No child should die while under the care of the United States of America. After years of this Administration’s deception and broken trust, Congress simply cannot write another blank check that would allow these abuses to continue. Earlier this week, my colleagues and I passed a bill through the House by a wide margin that would have put meaningful guardrails in place to ensure children and families have the health care, water, nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation needs they require. Our legislation would have also ensured that Members of Congress can exercise our Constitutional oversight function and visit these detention facilities in person without prior approval. Because these two common-sense protections were not included in the Senate border funding bill, I voted NO.”