Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Swalwell. I think our Republican colleagues have a point, which is that we need to have a debate about immigration. This is an issue facing our country, it is a serious issue, and in many respects, it has reached crisis proportions. We need to talk about it, we need to have that debate, but it cannot be at the expense of our Nation's security. I just returned from a weeklong trip to the Middle East--to Iraq, to Afghanistan, to the UAE, to Kuwait, and to Jordan--to try to understand the situation on the ground and especially the threat that ISIL or Daesh poses to the United States of America. I can tell you that that threat is serious and severe. There are those who think that this will just be a Middle Eastern problem, that it won't ever come to infect our homeland. I don't share that view. I think it is a serious threat. ISIL has brutally killed Americans abroad and made clear their intentions to kill Americans here at home. That is the kind of protection from threats like that that the Department of Homeland Security provides. We cannot put our Nation's security at risk for a debate that is critical, that needs to happen, but that is separate from keeping Americans safe. Our most sacred responsibility as Members of Congress is to protect our homeland. Right now, the partisan brinksmanship around funding the Department of Homeland Security is putting that safety at risk. I served my country for four tours in Iraq.…”