Heinrich Votes To Approve Responsible, Full-Year Homeland Security Funding Bill, Urges House Republicans To Do The Same

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) voted to approve a spending bill that funds the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the remainder of the fiscal year and does not include additional anti-immigrant provisions or unfairly target DREAMers. He urged House Republicans to reconsider their risky plan to let our nation's security personnel to go unpaid.

The DHS funding bill has been held hostage over House Republicans' politically-charged protest against President Obama's action to fix our broken immigration system. Without Congressional action, funding for DHS is set to run out at midnight.

"Shutting down the Department of Homeland Security threatens our security and public safety, and has real consequences for New Mexico," said Sen. Heinrich. "I urge my Republican colleagues in the House who want to use this funding bill as a way to deport DREAMers, to stop putting politics before security and work with the Senate to pass a responsible, full-year Homeland Security funding bill."

Homeland Security funding supports critical agencies in New Mexico, including the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, among several others. If funding expires, it is expected that approximately 85 percent of DHS employees will be asked to work without pay, while others will be furloughed. Senator Heinrich is a cosponsor of legislation that would ensure DHS employees get paid if the department's funding expires.

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