Sheila Jackson Lee: “Let me be very clear to my colleagues and the American people why there is a major debate in the other body. This is not…”

“Let me be very clear to my colleagues and the American people why there is a major debate in the other body. This is not a shutdown campaign. What we need to understand is that this is not a shutdown for illegal immigration. I am offended by that terminology. The DREAMers have status. Their status was taken away by the President. What we are trying to do is ensure individuals who are in the United States, in the United States military, teaching, and committed to this Nation, have dignity. Relatives of my friends on the other side of the aisle may have come in undocumented or without status. Therefore, this is not about illegal immigration. It is about dignity and respect for people here in the United States. It is about my constituents who are suffering after Hurricane Harvey with no heat and their homes not being rehabilitated because we do not have disaster supplemental funding. It is about federally qualified health clinics, Mr. Speaker, that will be shut down because we have no funding--zero--in the CR so babies can go and get care. Finally, it is about the Department of Education, teachers, and our law enforcement, whom we have such respect for. This shutdown is not a campaign; it is a high calling to save this Nation. I stand with them. ____________________”