Speech #1140012832

Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey for having this opportunity for us to come and talk about the root issue. as she explained. the root issue that caused almost the potential of DHS and that Department having to be shut down because of the amendments added by this House of Representatives to an appropriations bill. a bill that should have been clean. It was a bipartisan piece of legislation. but amendments were added to it. amendments that were against the Presidents executive order. amendments that were aimed at undoing any progress that had been made with DREAMers. the DACA. the amendments that were punitive in its entirety. and did not seek any solution to deal with our broken immigration system. Thankfully. the adults in the House took control. A clean bill was passed with overwhelming and unanimous support from Democrats and with significant support from our Republican colleagues. That being done. that example should be a harbinger that on "mustpass" legislation critical to the future of this Nation. critical to its tranquility. that we stop playing games with that legislation. and that the track to deal with immigration reform should be a track that we all pursue. To try to put meanspirited. divisive. "got you." grandstanding amendments on a piece of "mustpass" legislation. whether it is Homeland Security the other day. Transportation in the future. that is not governing. that is merely pandering to a political ideology that has nothing to do with the underlying bill. as it did with national security. Let me talk a little bit about how we got to that situation. as the gentlelady said. In the time that I have been here. immigration reform and the broken system has been an acknowledged fact by all sides. There was an attempt that the Senate. a year ago. passed. a bipartisan bill. overwhelming support. that took us in a direction. a very critical first step to reforming this broken immigration system. For a year. we waited for the leadership of this House. the Republican leadership. to bring that bill up and let the peoples House work its will. That never happened. Time and time again. we admonished the leadership in saying: If nothing is done by this House to allow an upordown vote on that piece of legislation that the Senate passed. the President will have no option but to relieve the anxiety. to relieve the painful family divisions that were going on in this country and to prevent additional community trauma that many of our communities were facing with the high level of detentions and deportations. the splitting of families. even when there was U.S. citizen children or a spouse involved. The President waited. he waited a considerable amount of time. I was one of those that criticized that waiting period. that should be done immediately. At the end. the President put the executive orders together. the expansion and enhancement of DACA for DREAMers. for young people. and DAPA. for those parents who have citizen children. that they. too. would get the 2year umbrella of protection. could work and could come out of the shadows. This was not automatic. as it has been exaggerated by the opponents of his actions. This was a process that requires documentation and that requires qualifications in order to be eligible for the programs. As the President said. Department of Homeland Security. ICE. and Border Patrol can now concentrate on the smuggling and organized crime that occurs along our border that is the root cause of much of the violence and heartache that we see on our border. In Arizona. there has been over close to 5.000 individuals that have lost their lives in the desert trying to cross to the United States. countless acts of violenceall generated by human traffickers. drug smugglers. and organized crime on both sides of the border. It is time to concentrate on that very obvious threat to American security.