Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I share the outrage of my friends over the President's
actions because I don't think there is any question that is why we are
here. The President did something that most of us, I think, on our side
of the aisle believe was unconstitutional, illegal, and ill-advised.

Secondly, I share my friend's anger at the United States Senate. I
think it is reprehensible not to pick up a bill and act on it, not to
go to conference. That is exactly the way we are designed to work. We
know that, frankly, the Democratic now minority, thankfully, in the
Senate has operated that way for 4 years. I am not surprised, having
operated that way in the majority, that they continue to operate that
way in the minority.

But every now and then, you need to take a step back and recognize we
are not the only place where these issues get thrashed out, and we are
not the only players in this drama.

Indeed, we have been very fortunate on our side of this debate. We
have been joined by 26 State attorneys general who hold exactly the same
view that we do and have taken the President of the United States and
the administration to court and have prevailed in the first court case,
as my friends have pointed out. In addition, they have won an
injunction so that the President cannot do the very things my friends
are concerned about that he wants to do.

So we not only have the court, at least to this point, on our side,
but we have it in a venue where you actually can win in the end.

We are not likely to be able to do that in the Congress, given the
Democratic control of the filibuster in the other body and the
Presidential veto at the end of the process. In the courts, you can
actually win. It is a constitutional issue. It ought to be settled
constitutionally through a judicial process.

Since we have stopped the President, since we are prevailing in
court, it seems to me the logical thing to do is what the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent) suggested and look at a bipartisan
compromise bill that protects the American people from real and
physical harm and danger at the moment that we are sorting out our
constitutional political differences in the appropriate format. That is
all this bill is about. It was agreed to in a bipartisan fashion. It
was agreed to in a bicameral fashion. The reasons why we were concerned
about it or used it have now been addressed by the courts.

So I would urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, let's set
aside our differences. They are going to be resolved in the appropriate
way, in the appropriate fashion, and in the right forum. And let's do
the right thing for the American people, pass this legislation, and
make sure that our fellow citizens stay secure.

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