On the recordJanuary 9, 2019
Breaking news to the American people: all the other body has to do, the Senate, is to take the bills passed by the Democratic majority in the House and the government will open in minutes, simply with the signature of the President of the United States and the opportunity to work on the kind of barrier that is appropriate for the border, a State of which I come from, Texas, a border State, and have deep knowledge about which borders work and which don't. Then the government could open--breaking news. It is shameful for my Republican colleagues to come to the floor of the House and not acknowledge that the simple problem is with the White House. We are not interested in not talking about border security. Democrats have been working on border security for decades and have been successful in the funding to provide barriers that are there now, that I just saw in the last week, myself, at the border, as I have done on many occasions, and simply acknowledging that we helped build up the Border Patrol agency. We as Democrats have built up Customs and Border Protection. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to note that, when you take $5.7 billion out of the budget, you are not writing a paper check. What it means is that you will cut into Border Patrol agents; you will cut into Customs and Border Protection; you will cut into dollars for education; and you will cut into dollars for healthcare.…
