[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2536]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              DHS SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. VEASEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the imminent 
danger our country faces in 3 days. Right now, Republicans have decided 
that it is more important to listen to the Tea Party and their 
extremist views rather than funding the Department of Homeland 
Security.
  And I don't want to hear this mess from Republicans about, oh, the 
workers are still going to get paid. Let me tell you something. We are 
talking about 250,000 essential employees that could go without pay--
that are airport screeners and are doing important things like keeping 
us safe--and sending them to work without pay, where they don't know 
how they are going to make their car note; they don't know if they are 
going to be able to pay their mortgage or bring groceries home. That is 
putting America in danger.
  We need to keep Homeland Security open. We need to stop playing this 
reckless game that the Republicans are putting us through because it is 
the duty of Congress to keep American families safe and govern 
responsibly.
  Republicans need to realize that the only path through this is having 
us do a clean DHS bill. It is time for Republicans to join the 192 
House Democrats that have already signed up. We need to do the right 
thing.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 
861, the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would 
keep the Department open so it can carry out its mission of keeping the 
American people safe.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Dold). As the Chair previously advised, 
that request cannot be entertained absent appropriate clearance.

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