Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to bring a clean fiscal year 2015 bill for the Department of Homeland Security to the Senate floor as soon as possible. Earlier this month the world watched in horror as terrorists massacred journalists and other innocent civilians in and around Paris. In December we were stunned as computers at a major corporation, Sony Entertainment, were attacked by North Korea. Over the past year, as recently as last week, in fact, we witnessed brutal executions at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. These events illustrate all too well that the threats faced today by America and by our allies are real. As a former chairman and now ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I know this to be the case. Nearly 12 years ago, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Congress created the Department of Homeland Security--we call it DHS-- to help secure our Nation and to help ensure that our Nation is protected against these continuing and evolving threats. Given the origins of the Department, the work the men and women do there every day to keep us safe, and the grave nature of the threats our country faces, it is shocking to me and disappointing to me that we are here today having this debate. We are now discussing ways we can make the Department and its employees more effective. We are not discussing how we can enable them to work better.…”