Department of Homeland Security Funding

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise to urge my colleagues to do
the right thing and pass a bill that would fully fund the Department of
Homeland Security, without the politically driven riders that are the
focus of this debate.

Protecting our country from terrorist attacks should be our top
priority in Congress and we should not be playing games with Homeland
Security funding. That is the least our constituents expect of us. I
know that for many of my colleagues the question of immigration is a
very contentious one and an important one worthy of debate. We should
have that debate without risking the safety of our families by once
again putting an immigration bill on the floor of the Senate.

But this funding bill for such a vitally important part of our
national security is simply not the place for an ideological debate. If
we fail to pass and fund the Department of Homeland Security, the
consequences for our safety could potentially be devastating. Take for
example the Urban Areas Security Initiative. This is the program that
helps our cities pay for things such as surveillance equipment, secure
communications systems, training for law enforcement personnel, all in
order to increase our security and prevent terrorism. These grants
ensure that all of the places terrorists have targeted and will
continue to target are able to effectively prevent those violent acts
from happening.

New York City is my home State. It is the No. 1 terror target in the
Nation. It relies on the urban security program to keep its millions of
residents and tourists safe. It also relies on our Homeland Security
network to stop the plans of would-be terrorists.

Since 9/11, New York City has thwarted at least 16 terrorist attacks,
and it has done so because of the constant support the Department of
Homeland Security provides. If we cannot pass this bill, the Urban
Areas Security Initiative and the extensive network of security systems
in New York City would lose their funding, and every visitor to an
urban area in this country, including right here in Washington, DC,
would be less safe.

If we cannot pass this bill, not only would our security suffer, but
the inspectors at our ports would not be paid, our security personnel
would not be paid, and our Border Patrol agents would not be paid. If
we don't pass this bill, then we have failed at our most solemn
responsibility, to keep the American people safe.

I urge all my colleagues to please put politics aside, vote to pass a
bill free of divisive policy riders and fully fund the Department of
Homeland Security.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the rest of my time.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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