On Senate Floor, Kaine Pushes For Passage Of Bill To Halt Cruel Treatment Of Children At The Border

Watch the full floor speech here. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine delivered a floor speech pushing for passage of legislation he cosponsored to help put an end to the Trump Administration’s cruel treatment of children at the U.S.-Mexico border. The legislation, the Stop Cruelty to Migrant Children Act, would create clear, non-negotiable standards for the treatment of children in the United States’ care.

Kaine said: “The bill has a number of provisions that I think are worthy, but the thing that's the most important about the bill to me and why I agreed to cosponsor it is I just think it puts our country in a position where we're setting the right example, not the wrong example. It puts our country in a position where if the plumb line of right and wrong is applied to us, we're on the right side of that judgment. It puts us in a position where as we are being directed to be good neighbors, including to people who are hurting, including to people who are suffering, we would be able to look ourselves in the mirror and look the world in the eye and say the United States believes that we are good neighbors and we are behaving in a neighborly way toward people.”

Kaine has stressed the need to address the migrant crisis at the border, including its root causes. In May, he reintroduced legislation to provide a coordinated response to effectively manage the humanitarian crises in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

###