Border Security and Enforcement Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014

Floor Speech

Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned that Republican-Majority has brought a bill (H.J. Res 79) to the floor that would provide funds solely for specific offices within the Department of Homeland Security. DHS deemed 86 percent of its employees essential during this forced Republican government shutdown; however, this bill only provides funds for: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, National Protection and Programs Directorate's office of Biometric Identity Management, Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The bill does not provide critical funding for many of the other offices within the DHS that play a vital role in protecting our country. As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies, I advocate for funding of the offices and programs that protect our nation from cyber attacks and monitor our critical infrastructure.

The consequences of accepting this piecemeal bill are very severe, a very risky impediment to the daily duties and services that DHS provides for our country's protection. Providing funds for the DHS, as a whole, is vital to our homeland security. Republicans continue to use this piecemeal approach; showing a reckless disdain for the Federal government and her dedicated employees, which fails to grasp the bigger picture, and have failed to bring an end to this government shutdown. We must, and cannot accept these extortion tactics.

I urge my colleagues to reject this bill and vote for a clean CR, and to raise the debt limit now.

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