Political Quotes

“Mr. President, yesterday we were informed of another barbaric act by ISIS--literally burning a Jordanian pilot to death in a cage. This follows news reports of beheadings of Japanese citizens, Americans, and so many others. It is an indication of the threat not just to the Middle East but to the world of terrorism in its extreme, as ISIS demonstrates on a regular basis. It was ironic that the same day we learned this, I visited the Department of Homeland Security and met with the Secretary, Jeh Johnson, and talked about the political strategy of the Republicans when it comes to funding the Department of Homeland Security--the same Department that is responsible for keeping America safe from the threat of terrorism. You see, the Presiding Officer knows well that when we were here in December passing an omnibus appropriations bill, the House Republicans insisted that one agency be singled out and not properly funded, one agency of our government: the Department of Homeland Security. They funded every other agency of the government to September 30 of this year in a regular appropriations process but refused--the Republicans refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Why? They wanted to reserve the right to fight with the President over the issue of immigration. They wanted to reserve the right to object to any Executive action taken by the President related to immigration. Their forum for this objection? The appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security.…”