Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee for yielding and for his longtime work on this authorization. Authorizing all of the Cabinet Departments is important, but it is crucial that Congress reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security. The American people must have faith that DHS will serve to protect this Nation, and this authorization demonstrates Congress' commitment to the critical missions being performed daily by this diverse Department. This bill is the product of collaboration between several committees, and the Judiciary Committee greatly contributed to this bill as it authorizes three component agencies within the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee: the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the United States Secret Service. Make no mistake: we authorize the Department and its agencies to carry out each and every duty and utilize every tool necessary to keep America safe. While the bill does contain much of the authorizing language as reported out of the Judiciary Committee, it does not reflect all of our important work on the ICE and USCIS authorizations. It is critical that these two DHS components have all the tools necessary to carry out their functions. H.R. 2825 should have explicitly included such tools as the clear congressional intent to ensure that these agencies have them at their disposal in order to enforce the laws.…”