ms. velazquez. and talking both about the pain from separation of parents or the pain that young people have? why don't we start with you, ms. rivera. the pain that you are experiencing even though you're over 21? of not having your mother here. i assumed she is in colombia? >> yes, ma'am. >> the pain of not having a mother here in the united states. >> it's very difficult. it's the little things, birthdays, celebrations, graduations, weddings. also the things that, you know, become harder and harder. it's having to see my sister, who is unable to visit her, suffer. and to see that the only way she can interact with my mom is through a computer camera. so it's incredibly difficult. as i said in my testimony, it effected me while i was in school. i had to reach out to my college of liberal arts, my counselors, and let them know what was going on because i could not concentrate. i was a college undergrad student trying to understand immigration law, which is just about impossible, filing paperwork. so

ms. velazquez, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york for five minutes. ms. velazquez: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. mr. chairman, millions of children in our country are falling through the cracks. every day children sit in classrooms, more worried about the emptiness in their stomachs, the danger of their walk home or thing in their apartment. every afternoon these children return home to families who don't know how to support their education. and every year these kids drop out of school, don't pass on to the next grade, or pass on without having been properly prepared. the family engagement centers, established by this legislation, will work to bring community-based organizations, school districts, educators, school administrators and parents together to meet childrens' educational needs. this holistic approach focuses on preparing children for a bright future. family engagement centers faced serious obstacles in reaching many parents, however.

ms. velazquez: mr. chairman, families that receive housing counseling and home inspections make better decisions when it comes to purchasing or refinancing a home. they understand the financial burdens, they can reason -- they understand the financial burdens they can reasonably assume and what costs they may incur as a result of home ownership, reducing the risk of foreclosures. fewer foreclosures benefit surrounding communities. prices remain stable, more families remain in place. that is why i have been relentless in urging h.u.d. to improve the educational resources available to borrowers when purchasing or refinancing a home. currently, shud working to improve its 35 housing counselor training for potential home buyers as well as develop home inspection educational material for consumers when purchasing a home. unfortunately, the issuance of these resources has been delayed. to date, only a few of the housing counseling documents have been released for public comment, including that for the housing

ms. velazquez, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks in strong opposition to this mean-spirited farm bill rule and underlying bill because it takes food nutrition from those most vulnerable among us, our children. is this what compassionate conservatism is all about? the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman's time will be charged. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: identify -- i yield to the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks in strong opposition to the farm bill rule and the underlying bill because it increases hunger not only in my congressional district but hunger in all congressional districts in america. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from massachusetts. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews, for

ms. velazquez from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for two minutes. ms. velazquez: thank you and i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in opposition to this legs. the american people are -- i rise in opposition to this legislation. the american people are tired of political gimmicks and games. they want to see real efforts to grow jobs and our economy. this legislation does nothing to advance these goals. the president has already taken steps to alleviate the burden on small businesses by delaying the employer mandate. this step will ensure small firms have the time, resources and tools they need to provide coverage to their employees before the mandate kicks in. at best the legislation before us today is duplicative of that effort. at worst it amounts to political grandstanding. let's be absolutely clear. even if these measures pass the house, we know they'll go nowhere in the senate. if in some distorted reality the senate somehow approved this reality, it woul

ms. rosa velazquez. dr. duke, we will start with you. light panels and amy with a traditionally mean, green is gold, yellow is slow down, and red is summarized. >> good afternoon. barretteard, i am dr. duke, vice president for public policy and research for the southern baptist ethics and religious liberty commission. i appreciate the opportunity to speak to the subcommittee this afternoon on the subject of children brought here by their parents contrary to our nation's immigration laws. the subcommittee is right to view thisup of undocumented immigrants differently from those that came here as adults. these are people that came here and did not make a conscious decision. they were brought here as miners. it is the only life they know. it is likely to identify more with this country and its culture and the country and culture from where their parents brought them. this is their home, in other words. our country should not hold these children accountable for the choices their parents made. would anyone in this room want to or expect to be

ms. velazquez. >> without objection. >> i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks in strong opposition to this mean- spirited farm bill rule and the underlying bill because it takes nutrition from those most vulnerable amongst us, our children. if this was compassionate conservatism in front of us? >> the gentleman's time will be charged. >> i yield to the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson, for unanimous consent request. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks in strong opposition to the farm bill rule and the underlying bill because it increases hunger , not only in my congressional district, but hunger in all congressional districts in america. >> without objection. gentleman from massachusetts. >> i yield to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the gentleman is recognized. >> i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks in a strong opposition to the farm bill rule and the underlying hungercause it increases in america. >> without objection. >> i yield to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. sicily

velazquez. i am one of the 11 million and together, we are the american dream. [applause] >> thank you, ms. velasquez. i'm only going to say this once no response from the audience. we will have order in this. it is fine to express yourself internally. no visible response. with that, i would recognize the gentleman, the chairman of the full committee, chairman good luck -- chairman goodlatte. >> thank you. i would like to start with you, ms. rivera. i appreciate your testimony and that of ms. velasquez. she said she did not think there should be any difference between all of the 11 11 million people between herself and her mother, for example, but you know your parents, probably the parents of other people that have children who are not lawfully present in the united states, and my question for you is when your parents and do you think other parents would be supportive of legislation that would allow your sister and other young people brought here at a young age to give legal status and ultimately u.s. citizenship, but did not address their situation in other words the parents situation in