Political Quotes

On the recordFebruary 23, 2015
I rise tonight to urge Congress to quit playing political games with our national security. It is time to have a clean Homeland Security funding bill on the floor of the Senate to be debated. We are only days away from a potential shutdown of the Homeland Security Department, and it is very clear that the reason is that Members of the House on Capitol Hill have decided they want to make a clear statement about certain policy statements. They want to have a policy rider that says young children who came to this country and know no other country need to be prioritized for deportation. Why? Well, I think that is just wrong. But if Members of this body want to put that into a bill and want to put that on the floor of the House and want to put it on the floor of the Senate, I am quite ready to have that debate. Yet another policy rider says that the President must no longer prioritize the deportation of those with criminal backgrounds. Now, I happen to think we should prioritize deportation of any individuals who have conducted criminal acts. If some of my colleagues want to have that policy debate, I am fine with that. Put it in a bill, bring it to the floor of the Senate, and let us have that debate. A vote will then be very clearly on that specific policy and people can have some accountability. The American people will have some transparency about what is being voted on.…
Said by
Jeff Merkley
Democratic · Oregon
Source
govinfo.gov
Feb 23, 2015

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