Today, I hosted another brown bag roundtable at the @EastTNChildrens in Knoxville. While I was there to discuss health care, it was hard not to address the elephant in the room as I sat in a pediatric hospital. (1/6) 
Children have been forcibly removed from their parents at the border by the thousands and kept in camps with chain link fences around them. I never thought something like this would happen in our country. It effectively amounts to child abuse. (2/6)
To be honest, it’s had me completely distracted the past few days. This issue completely transcends partisan politics. I can’t imagine, whether you’re liberal or conservative, that you can possibly condone what’s been going on. (3/6)
Many of the women I met were health care professionals, but more importantly, they were moms, so this issue was deeply personal for them. We also discussed a variety of health care issues facing Tennesseans everyday, like affordability, rising deductibles & health literacy. (4/6)
It is heartening to know that the chorus of voices--from clergy to parents to doctors--uniting against the policy of separating little children from their parents is putting an end to this horrible practice. (5/6)
Watching what’s going on in Washington is partisanship at its worst. Everybody is spending their time covering their own rear ends by passing blame. There's still tremendous damage to unwind on the ground to reunite children with their parents to start the healing process. (6/6)
