Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2203, the Homeland Security Improvement Act. I would first like to thank Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Thompson for their steadfast leadership and for helping get this bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker, this moment never would have been possible without Mr. Thompson's perseverance and hard work. H.R. 2203 started at our southern border as a community-driven effort to boost accountability and transparency within DHS. To that end, I would like to especially thank the Border Network for Human Rights, an El Paso-based organization that works tirelessly to ensure migrants and border communities are treated with the dignity and respect that we all deserve. Those of us who live within the 100-mile border enforcement zone have often had our civil rights impeded because some basic constitutional principles don't fully apply to us. Since the creation of DHS in 2003, our government has spent over $300 billion, including two supplemental bills passed this year, on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement, largely within that 100-mile zone. This enormous taxpayer investment has created a situation where the American taxpayer spends more money on immigration enforcement than on all other Federal law enforcement agencies combined. Unfortunately, especially for those of us who live within that 100- mile enforcement zone, this spending has not included corresponding oversight or accountability measures.…”