[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2532-2533]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PASS A DHS FUNDING BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I stand here this morning as a member of the 
Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Homeland Security. Our 
subcommittee is responsible for setting and overseeing funding for the 
operations of the Department of Homeland Security.
  In 2 days, on February 27, astoundingly, funding for the Department 
of Homeland Security runs out because the Republican majority can't 
agree on a bill due to their internal disagreements on the immigration 
provisions which are contained in the same bill because it is in the 
same Department.
  Although a clean funding bill, H.R. 861, could quickly be brought to 
this House floor for a vote to fund the entire Department for the 
remainder of this fiscal year, Republicans have defaulted to the 
rightwing extremists in their own party and instead have chosen to hold 
the security of our Nation hostage in order to contort the legislative 
process.
  They would defund the President's immigration executive order merely 
because they want a partisan win more than they want to govern. What a 
tragedy.

                              {time}  1015

  To quote an editorial from yesterday's Washington Post: ``The fervor 
of Republican partisanship, especially in the House, is immune to logic 
beyond an insistence on victory at any cost.''
  This is a Republican Party that just a year and a half ago shut our 
Nation's government down for 16 days, stopping critical services and 
doing significant harm to the U.S. economy; then, too, they seemed more 
interested in a political win than responsible governance.
  Recall, their party also had the opportunity last Congress to bring a 
bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill to the floor for a vote but 
declined to act. They have chosen not to address a concern that an 
overwhelming number of Americans believe needs to be resolved.
  There are grave consequences for forcing the Department of Homeland 
Security into a shutdown. The Republican Congress would cripple the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency's preparations for future disasters 
as more than a fifth of personnel are furloughed.
  The Republican Congress would end the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency's training activities with local law enforcement for weapons of 
mass destruction.
  The Republican Congress would cut off pay to thousands of Department 
of Homeland Security employees who are personally tasked with 
protecting our homeland.
  The Republican Congress would stop research and development work on 
countermeasures to protect us against devastating biological threats, 
on nuclear detection equipment, and on cargo and passenger screening 
technologies.
  The Republican Congress would shutter the Department of Homeland 
Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, meaning there will be no 
alerts or coordination efforts with local law enforcement agencies if a 
nuclear event occurs.
  This is so utterly irresponsible. In an era of amplified global 
threats, brutal terrorist attacks throughout Europe, and escalating 
tension throughout the Middle East, to cut off funding for the 
Department tasked with ensuring our homeland security is safe and 
secure is truly dangerous.

[[Page 2533]]

  This sort of behavior throws sand into the gears of a great society, 
of a great country, the oldest Republic on the face of the Earth. The 
American people surely are looking for reassurance that their 
government will offer them the security and dependability they expect.
  We have a responsibility to protect their security, even if it means 
we no longer can indulge in political brinksmanship.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a working bipartisan majority here in this House 
that holds the power to govern this Nation. All it needs is the will.
  Let's bring the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill to 
the floor today. Let's stop playing political games with the safety and 
security of the American people.
  We owe it to them to govern and to do the job we were elected to do.

                          ____________________