Political Quotes

“I wish to enter into a colloquy with my distinguished friends, Senator Schumer and Senator McCain, concerning a provision in the underlying immigration bill, S. 744. They have both played a crucial leading role in moving this important legislation forward. Section 1103 of the immigration bill concerns the authority of National Guard forces to provide support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to assist in the security of the southern border of the United States. The Department of Defense has a number of concerns about this provision and has proposed several ideas for our consideration to address their concerns at the appropriate time. The Department's concerns are related to language in section 1103 that might have unintended consequences, such as potentially breaching the personnel end-strength levels that are authorized and funded in the annual National Defense Authorization Act or imposing large costs on the Defense Department for a mission of the Department of Homeland Security. The Department would also want to ensure that the authority for Defense Department support for border security, including National Guard support, resides with the Secretary of Defense. These concerns are entirely consistent with the crucial objective of protecting the security of our southern border and making sure that the Department of Defense can provide support to U.S.…”