On the recordJanuary 28, 2015
30 days from today, on February 27, the Department of Homeland Security, the lead agency in protecting America from terrorism, will run out of money. The only way to prevent this important government agency from shutting down is for Congress to pass legislation to fund the Department and to do it quickly. This morning, we moved to the second reading, what is known as a clean appropriations bill, which will provide resources for this critical Department. I hope the Senate can take that up quickly and pass it quickly as well. We should not even be debating the funding for the Homeland Security Department. Every other government agency has been funded through the end of the fiscal year, the end of September, but not the Department of Homeland Security. The House Republicans insisted on separating this critical agency from the rest of the Federal Government and treating it differently, giving it temporary funding--what is known as a continuing resolution--and making it extremely difficult for the Department of Homeland Security to do its job to keep America safe. Why did the Republicans insist that this one agency be treated differently, funded in a way that it can't do its job effectively? They are using the deadline, the end of February, on this Department's funding in an attempt to force the Senate to accept extreme anti- immigrant amendments that have been attached to the homeland security bill in the House.…
