Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Gene Green (D-TX) sent a letter to Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess (R-TX) today demanding a hearing on the family separation crisis that has resulted from the Trump Administration’s so-called “zero tolerance" policy. Last month, all 24 Committee Democrats sent a letter to the Republican leaders requesting an immediate hearing, however, congressional Republicans have refused to schedule a public hearing.
“We write to renew the formal request made over a month ago by every Democratic Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee to hold a hearing as soon as possible on the family separation crisis that has resulted from the Administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy," Pallone and Green wrote. “This Committee and the American public deserve to hear directly from the relevant Administration officials about the efforts underway to reunify families, and to understand what actions will be taken in the multitude of complex cases where reunification has been made more difficult if not impossible because of the poor planning that went into this ill-conceived policy."
Earlier this week, Committee members attended a bipartisan briefing with Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials for an update on the Administration’s efforts to comply with federal court orders to reunite children separated from their families.
“That discussion with key Administration officials in charge of trying to reunite families resulted in raising more questions than answers," Pallone and Green continued. “More broadly, we have not been satisfied by the responses provided to Congress by HHS to date, and until the relevant officials testify, we will continue to lack the information we need to fulfill our oversight responsibility."
The Democrats note in the letter that just this week it was reported that more than 450 parents may have been deported without their children, which will only make it harder to reunify children that should never have been separated from their families.
