Rep. Bridenstine shown as he was refused entry at Ft. Still. Photo provided.
Sen. Tom Coburn told an Obama administration official Wednesday that it was illegal to bar U.S. Rep. James Bridenstine from the Fort Sill facility housing some of the unaccompanied minors who recently crossed the southern border into the United States.
“I will just tell you I think you made a grievous error in denying Congressman Bridenstine access to that facility,” Coburn, R-Muskogee, told Mark Greenberg, an acting assistant secretary with the Department of Health and Human Services, at a Senate hearing.
Dr. Tom Coburn, (R-OK)
“And I don’t know who made the decision. But first of all, I think it was illegal to keep a member of Congress from visiting one of these camps. Regardless if they come at 3 o’clock in the morning, they should have access.”
Bridenstine, R-Tulsa, was turned away last week from the Fort Sill facility, which is currently caring for more than 1,000 minors called “unaccompanied alien children” by the U.S. government. The Health and Human Services Department is in charge of the facility at Fort Sill, a U.S. Army post in Lawton, Oklahoma.