[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            FUNDING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, there are 16 calendar days and only 6 
legislative days until the Department of Homeland Security shuts down 
on February 28. Let me repeat that. The Department charged with keeping 
America safe is set to run out of funding in just 2 weeks, all because 
the Republican majority insists on pandering to anti-immigrant 
extremists in their party. In fact, when asked if they were going to 
take up a new DHS funding bill, the Republican response was: Well, why 
do we have to?
  Well, to my brazen colleagues across the aisle who refuse to govern, 
here is why: because keeping American families safe should be the first 
responsibility of this Congress. At a time of increased threats around 
the world, holding the country's national security hostage for the sake 
of a partisan stunt is the height of irresponsibility. Without funding, 
DHS would be unable to manage and support the homeland security 
infrastructure that was built following the 9/11 terrorist attacks to 
keep our country safe.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not leadership. The American people deserve much 
better than this. We must continue funding the Department of Homeland 
Security immediately.

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