[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2394-2395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          2015 FUNDING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, in December of 2014, as leverage 
against the President's immigration executive order, the Republican 
leadership irresponsibly decided to hold hostage the 2015 funding for 
the Department of Homeland Security.
  We are now 147 days in fiscal year 2015, just 4 days away from 
February 28, when the continuing resolution currently funding the 
Department will expire. The serious consequence of inaction by the 
Republican leadership is that it will leave the Department without the 
funds needed to effectively fulfill its mission of protecting our 
homeland.
  It is unbelievable that given the urgency of our national security, 
House Republicans continue failing to put forward a realistic plan to 
fund the Department of Homeland Security.

[[Page 2395]]

  Mistakenly, some Republicans believe the Department is doing just 
fine under the continuing resolution. Some even say it is okay to let 
DHS funding expire. Other Republicans suggest the preliminary Texas 
district court injunction, which blocks implementation of the 
President's executive action on immigration, is reason enough to 
continue holding hostage the funding for Homeland Security.
  These are dangerously wrong conclusions. Secretary Johnson and agency 
heads have warned that if the CR is allowed to expire, national 
security operations will be disrupted, and essential personnel will be 
required to work without pay. They also warn passing another CR will 
not address the uncertainty of being able to meet our long-term 
national security needs.
  Our national security cannot wait for the unrelated issue of the 
President's executive actions on immigration to work its way through 
the judicial process which, at best, is likely to take several months.
  By contrast, Democrats have a responsible solution. Two weeks ago, 
Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey and I introduced 
H.R. 861. It is a clean appropriations bill that funds the Department 
of Homeland Security for the remainder of fiscal year 2015. It is not a 
Democratic bill. If it were, it would more closely reflect Democratic 
priorities.
  Rather, H.R. 861 contains the precise language of the November 2014 
bipartisan bill negotiated in good faith by chairs and ranking members 
of the House and Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittees.
  This is the bill that was intended to be part of the 2015 omnibus 
legislation that funded the rest of the Federal Government. It is the 
bill that will enable the Department of Homeland Security to address 
our Nation's current and most pressing security needs.
  I am pleased that H.R. 861 is cosponsored by every Democrat in the 
House, and we urge our Republican colleagues to join us.

                              {time}  1230

  This bipartisan, bicameral bill will pass the House, pass the Senate, 
and be signed into law by the President. All it needs is for the 
Republican leadership to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
  Surely our Nation need not experience attacks like those in Paris and 
Copenhagen before we show our resolve to fund our Department of 
Homeland Security. Let us not wait around and hope Senate Republicans 
do the responsible thing.
  House Republicans should lead by bringing H.R. 861 for a vote and 
making it clear to the American people that our Nation's security takes 
priority over political and unrelated policy debates. Failure to do so 
and letting funding for Homeland Security expire or taking the easy way 
out by kicking a viable solution down the road with a continuing 
resolution represents a failure in fulfilling our most basic 
responsibility as Members of Congress: to protect the American people 
and our country from harm.
  Let's pass H.R. 861 today.

                          ____________________