[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2658-2659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PRESERVING THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Culberson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I believe this debate over the funding 
for the Department of Homeland Security represents a pivotal moment in 
the history of the United States because it will, I think, determine 
whether or not we will continue to be a nation of laws and whether or 
not we will preserve the American Republic left to us by our Founders.
  I always remember that as Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional 
Convention, a woman asked him: What kind of government have you given 
us, Dr. Franklin? And he said: A republic--if you can keep it. My hero 
and mentor, Thomas Jefferson, always said that a government was 
republican only in proportion to the extent that it embodied the will 
of the people.
  This past November, the people of the United States decisively and 
overwhelmingly rejected the policies of Barack Obama and the Democrat 
Party. President Obama said: I am not on the ballot, but my policies 
are. And the country spoke decisively and with one voice from coast to 
coast and said:
  We are done. We want our elected officials to enforce the law. We 
want our borders secure. We want to ensure that America maintains its 
supremacy around the world. We want our American economy to continue to 
grow. We want the government out of our lives, out of our way, out of 
our pocket, and off our backs.
  We have done this in Texas so successfully over the years. Because of 
the strength and the diversity of our economy in Texas, the economy in 
Texas has continued to grow, and the people of Texas have elected a 
Republican Governor, a Republican Lieutenant Governor, a Republican 
senate, and a Republican house, and they embody the will of the people 
of Texas.
  The minority party in Texas, the Democrats in the senate, continued 
to block the will of the people of Texas, and the new Lieutenant 
Governor, Dan Patrick, changed the rules because the people of Texas 
insisted they wanted to see a government that reflected their will, 
that would enforce the law, secure the border, and preserve peace and 
prosperity because we all understand that without law enforcement you 
can't have good schools, safe streets, and a strong economy. This is 
just common sense.
  The people who live along the Rio Grande River understand better than 
anybody in Texas that if you don't have a secure border and if you 
don't enforce the law, then the streets aren't safe, you can't have 
good schools, and you can't have a strong economy. Laredo is the 
largest inland port in the United States. They depend more than anyone 
else on a secure border, safe streets, and good schools.
  So the people of Texas decisively rejected the policies of Barack 
Obama and the Democratic Party, yet the Democrat minority in the senate 
continued to block the will of the people so our Lieutenant Governor 
changed the rules.
  Mr. Speaker, I would call on Leader McConnell to reflect the will of 
the people of America and change the rules of the United States Senate 
just as we did in Texas. The people of America have spoken decisively. 
They rejected the policies of Barack Obama and the Democrat Party. They 
expect this Congress to see that the law is enforced, that we respect 
the separation of powers, and that laws are enacted by the people's 
elected representatives.

[[Page 2659]]

  Change the rules, Mr. Leader, as we did in Texas, and make sure that 
no minority can block the will of the people. Make sure that our laws 
are enforced, that the border is secure, and that no one person can 
enact laws with the stroke of a pen. Laws are enacted here in the 
people's House in the Congress of the United States. The people of 
America voted overwhelmingly to reject the policies of Barack Obama.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Congress to embody the will of the 
American people, enforce the law, and stop the policies of Barack Obama 
that the people just decisively rejected. Let's follow the lead of 
Texas. Change the rules in the Senate, Mr. Leader.
  By the way, make the Democrat Senators stand up and filibuster. Let's 
have a real filibuster. Make them stand up there for 18, 24, 34, 48 
hours. Make them stand up there as long as it takes. If they are going 
to have a filibuster, do it as we do in Texas. Enforce the law, follow 
the will of the American people, and do what we were elected to do--to 
preserve this great American Republic handed down to us, this precious 
inheritance handed down to us by the Founding Fathers, and let's honor 
the hope of Benjamin Franklin that we would preserve this great 
American Republic.

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