Speech #1140005795

We are being asked. as one of the new Republican majoritys first acts of this Congress. to shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Why? Because some of our friends on the other side are willing to take a gamble and put politics ahead of national security. a thinly veiled political stunt in response to the lawful actions of the President of the United States to do something to fix our broken immigration system. Their message is pretty simple: repeal the Presidents lawful Executive actions on immigration or shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Make no mistake. that is the textbook definition of pure politics: not caring what its impact might be. not caring whom it might hurt. not caring about the families whom it will tear apart. and the fact that it will put our Nations security at risk. I have been in this Chamber and in the other Chamber for over 20 years. and I dont think I have ever seen such a cavalier political recklessness played with our national security. Why? To prevent the President from taking lawful action to help DREAMers and immigrant families to come out of the shadows after they pass a criminal background check. register with the government. and get right with the law in exchange for being allowed to temporarily stay in the country and obtain a work permit. The bottom line is clear: Republicans are doing all of this just to prevent a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill from being sent to the President. a critical funding bill that the President has rightfully promised to veto should it include their antiimmigration amendments. a veto which Congress will not override. It is a fools political errand that is neither good policy nor particularly humane. Our friends on the other side have accepted these antiimmigrant poison pill amendments. knowing full well they will sink the Department of Homeland Security funding bill because they have allowed extremists. such as STEVE KING. to dictate the partys strategy on immigration. Lets not continuously go down this dark path of partisanship instead of funding national security programs to keep our families and our communities safe. In my view it is shamefully and woefully irresponsible for Republicans to hold up funding for operations that protect every American against terrorism in the wake of what happened in France and against cyber attacks at a time when North Korea just carried out a dramatic attack against a major American corporation. This is not a time to hold up funding to help the Department of Homeland Security investigate cyber crime that could cripple Americas electronic infrastructure or when the world is a tinderbox of jihadists and wouldbe homegrown terrorists willing to die for a perceived version of Islam. If Republican colleagues want to seriously consider this illconceived approach. they will be forcing a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Securitya shutdown of our national security infrastructure to pursue their agenda of mass deportations that will tear families apart. an agenda that embraces a system that doesnt distinguish between deporting a working mother with U.S. citizen children and a convicted felon. Instead. I urge my friends on the other side to join us and pass a balanced and comprehensive bill. Lets talk. Lets sit down again and find common ground. as we did in the last Congress where this Senate came together on a bipartisan basis with over 67 votes to send a bill to the House of Representatives that dealt with our broken immigration system. provided for our national security. promoted our national economy. and at the same time made sure our legacy and history as a nation of immigrants was preserved. The answer is not holding up national security funding at a critical time. not turning our backs on the hardworking men and women at the Department of Homeland Security in law enforcement who are protecting our borders. our airports. and our coastlines. It is not about trying to score political points by conflating national security and immigration reform. which will only make it harder to address security issues at home and almost impossible to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform. Lets look at what my Republican colleagues are so opposed to. They are opposed to new DHS directives that include a rigorous application process that will ironically help eliminate national security threats. They seem to be opposed to the fact that applicants will have to come forward and register with the government. They will have to pass criminal background checks before they can receive a temporary reprieve from deportation and a work permit. No violent criminals. gang members. or terrorists will be able to take advantage of the program. They seem to be opposed to allowing immigrants who are not a public safety or national security threat to come forward and request deferred action. meaning there will be fewer people living in the shadows. beyond the reach of law enforcement. These directives identify moms and dads who have a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident son or daughter and take them out of the deportation queue. They also take DREAMers out of the deportation queue. The House amendment to the Department of Homeland Security funding bill would effectively end the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability Program and the expanded DACA Program for DREAMers. They would also defund every other aspect of the Presidents November 20 Executive action that would promote border security. public safety. military service. legal immigration. citizenship. immigration integration. entrepreneurship. civil immigration enforcement priorities. including the prioritization of individuals with convicted felonies and gang activity and terrorist ties for deportation. I will repeat that. It includes a prioritization. I would think the Senate would want to support a prioritization of individuals who are here illegally and are convicted felons and part of gang activities or who have terrorist ties for deportation and any future similar Executive actions. The only directive our Republican colleagues found acceptable. which is interestingin my mind. you say: Well. none of it can happen by Executive action. But it seems that the only thing that did happen by Executive action that our colleagues found acceptable pertains to pay increases for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. which I believe they certainly deserve. These amendments would break apart more families and destroy communities by ensuring that we continue to deport the parents of U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident children. One of the most meanspirited amendments would prohibit the use of Federal funds or resources to consider or adjudicate any new. renewed. or previously denied application for deferred action for childhood arrivals.