Raúl Grijalva: “I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey for having this opportunity for us to come and talk about the root issue, as she…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey for having this opportunity for us to come and talk about the root issue, as she explained, the root issue that caused almost the potential of DHS and that Department having to be shut down because of the amendments added by this House of Representatives to an appropriations bill, a bill that should have been clean. It was a bipartisan piece of legislation, but amendments were added to it, amendments that were against the President's executive order, amendments that were aimed at undoing any progress that had been made with DREAMers, the DACA, the amendments that were punitive in its entirety, and did not seek any solution to deal with our broken immigration system. Thankfully, the adults in the House took control. A clean bill was passed with overwhelming and unanimous support from Democrats and with significant support from our Republican colleagues. That being done, that example should be a harbinger that on ``must- pass'' legislation critical to the future of this Nation, critical to its tranquility, that we stop playing games with that legislation, and that the track to deal with immigration reform should be a track that we all pursue.…”