[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2661]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            FUNDING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I can't believe we are actually here. In 
just 48 hours, the Department of Homeland Security will shut down. In 
this day and age, with so many threats facing Americans and the rest of 
the civilized world, how can our colleagues even contemplate allowing 
the Department of Homeland Security to shut down?
  In just the past couple of months, we have seen terrorist attacks in 
Denmark and Paris and, just yesterday, arrests in New York of 
individuals charged with supporting foreign terrorist organizations.
  The failure to fund the Department of Homeland Security will put 
American lives at risk--and all to try to prove a political point.
  Tying legislation against the President's executive order on 
immigration to the essential funding that pays the hardworking men and 
women, the extraordinary professionals that keep us safe, is reckless 
and irresponsible.
  Mr. Speaker, take up a clean DHS funding bill that will pass both 
Chambers and be signed by the President immediately, and let's get back 
to the work many of us came here to do: strengthening our middle class, 
growing paychecks, and creating jobs.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 
861, the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that will 
keep the Department open so it can carry out its mission of keeping the 
American people safe.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under guidelines consistently issued by 
successive Speakers, as recorded in section 956 of the House Rules and 
Manual, the Chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless it 
has been cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships.

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