WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today issued the following statement after joining a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives in passing a bipartisan emergency supplemental funding package to address the humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

“Congress must do more to address the increasingly dire conditions facing children in U.S. custody and those detained near the southern border. The bicameral bill I helped pass today is an emergency bill meant to alleviate the widespread effects of this humanitarian crisis and to provide urgent assistance to those who are desperately suffering. This funding package would protect children in U.S. custody, improve conditions at detention facilities, strengthen our border security, and authorize hiring additional immigration judges—so that we can expedite the massive case backlog in our immigration courts.

“Yesterday, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed this exact bill with 84 bipartisan votes, and I stand with Virginia’s two U.S. Senators in passing this legislation out of the U.S House today. We have a responsibility to address this massive humanitarian and national security failure along the southern border, and we do not have time to accommodate inaction.

“Our work does not stop here. We reacted urgently to a pressing need, but now Congress must take action to address the roots of this crisis, ensure we demonstrate our American values in how we fix our immigration policy, and always—always—protect children.”

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