Speech #1140005828

Twentyfive percent of FEMAs headquarters and regional staff would be furloughed. FEMA personnel working on grants programs. such as funds for intelligence analysts or firefighter needs. would be furloughed. and even those personnel deemed essential would be denied paychecks until a funding bill is passed. This means we are not paying the Coast Guard. we are not paying the TSA. we are not paying the Border Patrol. the Secret Service or FEMA aid workers. So make no mistake. a DHS shutdown would hamstring our ability to combat threats to the homeland and to keep our citizens safe. The irony of course is that one of the programs that shutdown would close completely is EVerify. which stops unscrupulous employers from hiring undocumented workers and cutting everyones wages. So in order to make a point on immigration. our Republican colleagues are actually going to stop the program which prevents employers from hiring undocumented workers. Essentially to make a point about needing more immigration enforcement. Republicans are willing to shut down immigration enforcement. In short. I am perplexed as to why Republicans are playing this game of chicken with DHS funding because the only possible outcome that could come from withholding of a clean DHS bill is the shutdown of several critical post9111 programs within the DHS and the furlough of thousands of workers paramount to our Nations security and disaster preparedness.