Speech #CREC-2017-06-21-pt1-PgH4997-4_t1

GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, yesterday was World Refugee Day, a day set aside by the United Nations to reflect upon those in crisis and dedicate ourselves to helping those we can help. To mark this solemn occasion, today, the Judiciary Committee House Republicans will vote to slash refugee resettlement numbers, cut back aid to those fleeing violence and persecution for their religious or political beliefs, and make it harder for children fleeing violence, especially those from Central America, from receiving asylum from the richest, most powerful Nation in the world. Tell me, how does that make America great again, Mr. Speaker? According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 65 million people--a record number today--who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. More than 21 million are refugees. Eighty- six percent of the world's refugees are now finding refuge in the developing world, with only 14 percent finding refuge in developed countries like the U.S. or European nations. Worldwide, more than half of all refugees are children. So when anti- immigrant leaders, websites, and TV networks paint those fleeing the Middle East, Africa, and Asia as hardened jihadists, or those fleeing Central America as gangbangers and drug dealers, remember, most of them are just kids--little kids. That is what we are talking about, fleeing their country for their lives. Mr. Speaker, America has, throughout our history, been a beacon of hope to refugees fleeing religious attacks, facing government intolerance and persecution, ethnic strife, or unsustainable poverty. Beginning in the 1840s, when the potato crop disappeared because of a blight in Ireland, the Irish people were left starving. Over 8 million people in Ireland, 3 to 4 million of them faced starvation.