I know the Escape Logic works; that is not the issue. When I use the Escape Logic in increases the string length when I update the table. I'm trying to figure out if there is a way so that Escape logic doesn't get counted as part of the string length

Hello Robert - The use of TO_DATE and TO_TIMESTAMP is to not have to know what the specific date format is on the Source Database. If TO_DATE & TO_TIMESTAMP cannot be used, is there another method I could use that does the same thing? I have no issues getting the date; just how to format it and send it so it is not a specific date format that could change. 

I could, but I'd rather have the date format work for any environment and not hardcoded. I understand TO_DATE & TO_TIMESTAMP is an SQL Function but thought there might be something else to perform this functionality here.