OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

By: Andy Barr
By: Andy Barr
Date: Jan. 13, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Immigration

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Mr. BARR. I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Chair, today I rise in support of H.R. 240, providing appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the remainder of this fiscal year. This legislation provides the funding necessary to ensure that all of the Department's critical missions have the resources necessary to be dutifully executed.

But I also rise in support of the amendments to this legislation. And when considering the amendments that were made in order, I am reminded of the feelings of pride and patriotism that I witness when I attend naturalization ceremonies in my home district. When new citizens raise their right hand and recite the Oath of Allegiance, the aura of achievement and opportunity is palpable. These immigrants-turned-citizens have come to the country the right way. They have followed the rules, and they have earned that feeling of achievement.

But it is America that benefits. These immigrants embody and have displayed the values we hold most dear: hard work, integrity, perseverance, and a commitment to be a contributing member of the American society.

I strongly support these amendments because we are expressing the sense of Congress in these amendments that we respect naturalized citizens; we honor their hard work and dedication to the legal immigration and naturalization process. We should hold these new citizens up as models for how to immigrate to this country the right way. We should not punish them by using their very processing fees that they paid to accommodate illegal immigrants hiding from the rule of law. And that is why the President's unilateral executive action is so destructive.

So I proudly join my colleagues not only in voting to defund the President's unconstitutional executive action but also to call upon his administration and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to stop putting the interests of unlawful immigrants ahead of legal immigrants. Let's reward those who come to this country the right way, not those who have broken the law.

In conclusion, Mr. Chair, I again thank the Appropriations Committee and the chairman for this important work vindicating legal immigration.

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