[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H1090-H1091]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              FUNDING THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Hawaii (Mr. Takai) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TAKAI. Mr. Speaker, today marks 4 days until the Department of 
Homeland Security runs out of money. We all had the opportunity for the 
first time this session to go back home last week for our district 
workweek, and I had an opportunity to speak about this particular issue 
at the Honolulu International Airport, where many of our DHS officials 
and employees are very concerned about this lapse of funding. Although 
some DHS employees would continue to work in the event of a shutdown, 
they would be forced to do so without pay, creating a significant 
distraction and dealing a significant blow to morale.
  Every single House Democrat has cosponsored clean legislation to fund 
DHS, and it is clear that there are a sufficient amount of votes to 
pass this bill now.
  Keeping America's families safe is the first responsibility and 
priority of this Congress. We need to put aside the political gridlock 
that has plagued this House for too long and fund DHS now. An impasse 
in funding would close down the bulk of DHS' management and support of 
Homeland Security infrastructure that was built following the 9/11 
terrorist attacks.
  Essential funding for the Department of Homeland Security is no place 
for grandstanding against immigration reform that strengthens our 
economy and our country. Let's remember: it was the inability of this 
House to act on the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill that 
forced the President to take executive action on immigration in the 
first place.
  I came to Congress telling my constituents that I do not support 
government shutdowns, Federal furloughs, or sequestration, and now some 
in this body think they can fix this with further inaction, with 
further furloughs and further government shutdowns. I think not.
  Let's pass a clean bill.

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