Department of Homeland Security Funding

Floor Speech

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Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, funding for the Department of Homeland
Security runs out in 17 days. Rather than working with Democrats to
pass a clean Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, many
Republicans are prioritizing politics over our national security.

With threats emerging every day both at home and abroad, casting
doubt on future funding for the Department of Homeland Security is a
terrible idea. Shutting down DHS has real consequences, especially in
border States such as New Mexico. A DHS shutdown would threaten public
safety, hinder interstate commerce, hurt our economy, and jeopardize
critical funding for State, local, and tribal government activities.

Some of my Republican colleagues are willing to let these
consequences happen because they have an immigration policy
disagreement with the President. That is no way to govern, and it is not real leadership.

As a border State, New Mexico plays a critical role in protecting our
homeland. DHS Customs and Border Protection agents and officers at New
Mexico's two ports of entry at Columbus and Santa Teresa are
responsible for maintaining our security and for screening vehicles and
would-be crossers. These public servants put in long hours in order to
keep all of us safe. They apprehend drug smugglers, human traffickers,
and gang members. They also play a direct role in facilitating critical
trade and interstate commerce between the United States and Mexico.
That impacts our economy in New Mexico, particularly in Hidalgo, Luna,
and Dona Ana Counties.

New Mexico is a growing international trade center and the Columbus
and Santa Teresa ports of entry are key to growing the diversity of my
State's economy.

Recently, a House Republican said that if we run out of DHS funding,
``it's not the end of the world.'' I disagree, and so do many of my
constituents.

Let me be clear about what a DHS shutdown would mean for New Mexico.
It would impact our Southeast Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
in Artesia. This facility trains our Customs and Border Protection
agents and officers. It would also compromise sheriff and city police
departments across the State who use DHS funding to increase personnel
and purchase equipment. Moreover, DHS helps fund some of our most
important security programs such as the New Mexico All Source
Intelligence Center, a public safety partnership based out of Santa Fe
that is designed to collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence.

A shutdown would also risk important DHS grant funding for New Mexico
at the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. This
agency works closely with DHS to aid communities after natural
disasters. In times of crisis, DHS works hand-in-glove with the State
of New Mexico.

For example, last year severe thunderstorms and floods caused
disruption of oil and gas development, agricultural losses, and
extensive damage to critical infrastructure across New Mexico, hitting
counties such as Colfax, Eddy, Lea, Lincoln, Otero, San Miguel, Santa
Fe, and Sierra.

FEMA, an agency under DHS, worked collaboratively to help these
communities rebuild and recover. In fact, since 2002, New Mexico has
received more than $238 million in DHS grant funds. These resources
provide statewide hazard mitigation assistance and help repair damaged
roads, bridges, and low-water crossings after these disasters.

As current cabinet secretary-designate for the New Mexico Department
of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Mitchell Jay puts it, a
DHS shutdown would:

. . . have a very negative effect. We'll lose our grant
funding for local and State emergency managers. We fund a
portion of their salaries through DHS grants, and we can't,
nor can the counties and municipalities, afford to absorb
those costs at this time. . . . We can't afford to lose our
emergency managers, they're key representatives in our
communities who help develop mitigation plans for all types
of emergencies. They're our first line of defense should any
emergencies occur at the local level.

These examples are just a glimpse at the security, economic, and
emergency risks of allowing DHS funding to expire.

Former Department of Homeland Security Secretaries Tom Ridge, Michael
Chertoff, and Janet Napolitano joined in a bipartisan call for Congress
to act swiftly and remove uncertainty from an agency in charge of
keeping us safe.

A Department of Homeland Security shutdown would also either furlough
DHS employees or require many of them to work without a paycheck. That
means men and women who work tirelessly to keep our Nation safe would
have to live with the uncertainty of whether they are able to support
their families.

DHS workers don't deserve that. They shouldn't be collateral damage
in an ongoing ideological battle here in Washington, DC. I would like
to believe a debate such as this would be about the merits of DHS
funding and the DHS funding bill, but unfortunately that is not the
case. This debate is about Republicans picking a political fight with
the President over an immigration system we all recognize is broken. As
a way to vent their frustrations, Republicans are unfairly targeting
undocumented students known as DREAMers. At times such as this, one is
forced to wonder if some on the far right fear DREAMers more than ISIL.
But we are not a country that kicks out our best and brightest
students. We are not a nation that separates families.

I have met many DREAMers over the past 10 years in New Mexico. They
are smart, they are hardworking, and most of them don't know how to be
anything but an American. They grew up here, and they want to give
back. I have heard their stories. I have read their letters.

For example, there is a bright young New Mexican named Yuri. Her
family emigrated from Mexico to the United States when she was 2 years
old. As a student at Highland High School in my neighborhood in
Albuquerque, Yuri volunteered in our community. She served as student
body president. She graduated in the top 10 percent of her class, and
she received the 2013 Sandia National Laboratories scholarship.

In 2013, she was approved for Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals--known as DACA--and is currently studying chemical engineering
at the University of New Mexico. She wants to use her degree to enter
the medical field.

Less than 2 years ago, after much debate and compromise, the Senate
passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill. That bill would have
modernized our immigration system to meet the needs of our economy. It
would have provided an accountable pathway to earn citizenship for the
undocumented workers currently living in the shadows in our country. It
would have dramatically strengthened security at our borders.

Accountable immigration reform received 68 votes in this body and
demonstrated the kind of legislation and the kind of leadership that is
possible when we work together. The American people are frustrated with
the gridlock here in Washington, DC. Frankly, I don't blame them. We
need pragmatic solutions to fix our immigration system, but withholding
DHS funding and jeopardizing our national security is not a solution.
In fact, I would say it is emblematic of what is broken. Instead of
focusing on deporting some of our country's brightest students, I would
urge my Republican colleagues in the House and in the Senate to direct
their attention to the real threats our country faces--the gang
members, the drug traffickers, the cyber hackers, and the terrorists.
Let's work together to make sure the Department of Homeland Security is
adequately funded.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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