Speech #1140007165

And it takes a serious step to address nearer term heavy ice breaker needs with $8 million for preserving the Polar Sea. The bill supports our cyber security efforts as a nation. both protecting government systems and working with the private sector to share threat information and protective measures. Since homeland security is a national effort. the bill continues funding for grant programs to State and local firefighters. emergency managers. and law enforcement-$467 million for State homeland security grants. including $55 million for Operation Stonegarden related to border security. $800 million for the Urban Area Security Initiative. port security grants. and transit security grants. $680 million for fire assistance grants. $350 million for Emergency Management Program grants. For research and development efforts. funding is provided consistent with fiscal year 2014 levels. The Science and Technology Directorate supports research and development at our national labs. with our university partners. and in the private sector to meet homeland security needs. The bill also provides for aviation security screening operations by the TSA. law enforcement training needs by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. and EVerify. which supports businesses across the United States in hiring legal workers. Finally. the bill provides the requested almost $7 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund to assist with recovery costs for communities hit by natural disasters. What the bill does not fund is the Presidents Executive actions. The House bill includes several amendments that are targeted at reversing the Presidents actions and articulating priorities for immigration enforcement. The Presidents actions overstepped his authority. His actions put illegal immigrants ahead of legal immigrants who are hoping to be a part of the American dream. who are following and respecting the Nations laws. The immigration system is broken. but it cannot be fixed through Executive actions that exceed the Presidents authority. Instead. it should be accomplished through legislative reforms that start with border security. do not provide amnesty. and respect the rule of law. I leave my colleagues with this thought: We need to support these vital national security programs. Vote yes on cloture on the motion to proceed to this bill. and lets get to work.