Speech #1140005120

Speaker BOEHNER decided to abandon that agreement and instead have a negotiation between the far right and the far. far right. In particular. I strongly oppose the inclusion of an amendment offered by Congressman ADERHOLT that would deny the use of any funds or fees for the administration to implement the Presidents Executive Action on immigration that was issued last November. As many legal experts have determined. there is clear precedent for this action. which seeks to further secure our border and prioritize deporting felons over families. In fact. over the last 50 years. every President has used executive authority to take limited action on immigration. including six Republican Presidents. I was also very disappointed that an amendment offered by Congresswoman BLACKBURN was adopted in final passage of this bill. This amendment would prevent Dreamers in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) from renewing the twoyear Deferred Action they have already received. This would effectively end the DACA programwhich has already provided temporary protection for 700.000 individuals who were brought to the United States as childrenand would subject hundreds of thousands of Dreamers to deportation. If our Republican colleagues want to address immigration issues. they should start by Elll taking up legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Over 18 months ago. the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill with bipartisan support. House Republicans allowed that bill to die in the House without allowing it to come to a vote. Republicans should come up with a proposal to reform our broken immigration system. They should not threaten to defund the Department of Homeland Security because of their inaction. It is especially unfortunate that these antiimmigrant amendments were adopted because the bill that had previously been agreed to contained funding for many critical programs. Specifically. I appreciate the robust funding in the bill provided for the SAFER and AFG fire grant programs which have helped pay for emergency vehicles and increased staffing needs at a time when the numbers of volunteer fire fighters across the country has been declining.