The Homeland Security Funding Bill

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to raise my concerns about the
upcoming Homeland Security funding bill.

The tragedies in Paris reinforce how critical it is that we keep DHS
strong and appropriately financed. Unfortunately, the majority
leadership has decided to play politics with our national security. The
appropriations package is littered with amendments which would
undermine what little progress we have made to our broken immigration
system.

Our family business just lost one of our most valuable employees,
Cesar Arias. He may have originally come to Virginia without proper
papers, but in the Reagan years, he found a way to stay here, raise his
family, and open and close our store 6 days a week for more than 20
years. Cesar is one small, powerful example among millions of new
Americans who have helped our economy grow and kept our democracy
strong. He believed it was long past time for comprehensive immigration
reform.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the Republicans to bring a clean bill to the
floor without the anti-immigrant amendments. We need to invest in
homeland security, and we need a real conversation about immigration
reform.

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