[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 3, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E296-E297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MOTION TO RECEDE AND CONCUR IN THE SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 240

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 3, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 240, 
the Clean Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, as it 
provides full funding of the Department of Homeland Security, including 
support for important federal cybersecurity initiatives, disaster 
relief and recovery programs, and essential law enforcement activities 
that are critical for ensuring the Department can help keep our Nation 
safe from harm.
  I encourage support of this bill as it does not contain any of the 
``poison pill'' amendments designed to constrain the President's 
authority to defer deportation of undocumented immigrants.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to highlight the 
pointlessness of the actions of House Republicans to use the funding of 
the Department of Homeland Security as a bargaining chip to extract 
concessions from the President.
  Threatening to not fund a Department, especially one as crucial to 
the protection of our

[[Page E297]]

homeland, just to get your way does not belong in American politics.
  It is childish, Mr. Speaker, and the time that House Republicans have 
wasted playing politics with DHS could have been better served passing 
legislation that actually serves the American people.
  The full and unconditional funding of the Department of Homeland 
Security is essential not only to the 18th district, not only to the 
state of Texas, it is essential to all Americans.
  I want to point out, specifically, what programs were placed in 
danger by House Republicans had they gotten their way:
  1. $39.7 billion in regular discretionary appropriations for 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in fiscal year 2015;
  2. $12.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP); DHS would 
be required to accelerate the hiring of CBP officers;
  3. $5.96 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plus 
an additional $345 million from the agency's fee funded accounts, 
bringing the total to $6.3 billion;
  4. $553.6 million in funding to manage the influx of unaccompanied 
alien children, or ``UAC,'' entering the U.S.; the funding would be 
used to interdict migrants, care for and transport approximately 58,000 
undocumented children to the custody of Health and Human Services 
(HHS), and facilitate the movement of undocumented families through 
removal proceedings after crossing the U.S. border;
  5. $1.9 billion for both domestic and international investigations, 
including increases to combat human trafficking, child exploitation, 
cyber-crime, and drug smuggling, and to expand visa vetting 
capabilities;
  6. $4.8 billion for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA);
  7. $10 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard;
  8. $753.2 million for cybersecurity operations in the National 
Programs and Protection Directorate to fund and sustain improvements to 
the Federal Network Security and Network Security Deployment programs;
  9. $1.7 billion for the U.S. Secret Service--an increase of $80.5 
million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level--to begin preparation 
and training for candidate protection for the 2016 presidential 
election and to address critical failures in communications and 
training at the White House Complex;
  10. $7 billion for disaster relief--fully funding FEMA's stated 
requirement; and
  11. $1.1 billion for Science and Technology, $32.1 million above the 
President's request.
  I would hope that House Republicans will have learned from this 
debacle that this tactic of playing political football with an entire 
Department will not work to further your own ideological agenda.
  I applaud Speaker Boehner for finally coming to his senses in 
allowing a vote on a clean bill, one that the Senate passed two weeks 
ago and one that could have already been signed into law.
  I urge all my colleagues to join me in sending a clean Homeland 
Security funding bill that will receive the presidential signature 
needed to become law and provide the resources needed to keep our 
homeland safe.

                          ____________________