Henry Cuellar: “The last 2 years we had an opportunity to add $2.4 billion to the CBP budget authority. That is a 15 percent increase.…”

“The last 2 years we had an opportunity to add $2.4 billion to the CBP budget authority. That is a 15 percent increase. Except for two Members, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted ``no''. Money for Border Patrol, money for intelligence, money for securing the border, and they voted ``no'' on it. We had an opportunity to vote ``yes'', and it was voted against. Again, I would say that if we have differences, how do we address this, by cutting somebody's salary, which is unconstitutional? In United States v. Lovett, the Supreme Court says you can't do this. It is due process without a trial, punishment without a trial, which is the Bill of Attainder Clause again. I want to secure the border, but I want to make sure that we put funding on this. We are about to have a shutdown this Saturday. Again, we have been asking our Republican friends to sit down, and I am ready to sit down and work it out. If we don't do this, we are going to be affecting so many people. It is going to affect 43,000 U.S. Coast Guard employees, including 38,000 Active-Duty Coast Guard military personnel. It is going to affect 59,000 CBP personnel, including Border Patrol agents, Customs and Border Protection officers, 16,800 ICE personnel, including HSI agents, 58,000 TSA personnel, 19,300 FEMA employees, and 6,300 Secret Service personnel. We are not focusing on what we ought to focus on, and that is making sure that we don't have a shutdown.…”