Sheila Jackson Lee: “Congressional dysfunction is now impacting our nation's security. The Senate has acted rationally by passing a clean…”

“Congressional dysfunction is now impacting our nation's security. The Senate has acted rationally by passing a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill. The House should do the same. The House majority should take up the Senate bill and rise above political security and make national security the priority. As a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and one who was present in this body on September 11, 2001, it is sobering to think that so many of this body's members now think terrorism is a political football. Over 3,000 Americans died that day--and if not for the bravery of those who gave their lives in a field in Pennsylvania many more would have died. Those who were killed or risked their lives to save others included undocumented persons. The 9/11 Commission Report stated that had United Flight 93 not crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, located 125 miles from Washington, DC, that flight would have reached Washington, DC, between 10:13 and 10:23 on September 11, 2001. I went to ground zero in New York while it still was burning and workers were trying to recover the remains of victims. This sobering experience has seared into my mind--never again. I am forever grateful to those who risk their lives every day to protect this nation--they should be valued and honored.…”