Political Quotes

“3 weeks ago I came to the Senate floor to speak on an amendment which I had hoped would provide a framework that would accomplish three goals: First, to provide funding for the Department of Homeland Security so that it could perform its vital mission of protecting the people of our country; Second, to put the Senate on record as opposing the President's extraordinarily broad immigration actions issued by Executive order in November of 2014; And, third, to ensure that individuals who were brought to this country as children and qualify for treatment under the June 2012 Executive order on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--the so- called DREAMers that Senator Durbin has just spoken of--could continue to benefit under that program. I am very pleased that it looks like we are moving forward on a bill to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security. We had a very strong vote on that yesterday. Indeed, I have not heard a single Senator on either side of the aisle say that we should shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Each of us recognizes its vital mission. As someone who served as the chairman or ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for a decade, I certainly understand how vital the mission of this Department is. I am keenly aware, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, of the threats against our country and the risks that we face from those who would do us harm.…”