Providing for Consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 83, Insular Areas and Freely Associated States Energy Development; Waiving Requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the time
yielded by the gentlelady from New York.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my strong opposition to H.R.
83, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015.

Just over a year ago I stood here urging the Republican majority to
allow us to vote on the legislation to reopen the government during a
16-day shutdown. At that time the majority's gimmick was called a
minibus, essentially cherry-picked programs within Federal agencies to
be funded one by one.

Today I am troubled to have to rise yet again to oppose another
gimmicky bill that provides piecemeal funding and undermines national
security. Once again, the Republican House leadership has laid before
us a package that, by design, seems to promote partisan division and
appeal to a faction of its party that is blindly determined to punish
the Department of Homeland Security for its grievances against the
President.

When we returned from Thanksgiving last week, House appropriators
were hopeful that we could consider and pass a full omnibus bill.
Unfortunately, today we are forced to vote on legislation that provides
full-year funding for all Federal agencies except the Department of
Homeland Security. In previous Congresses, such an approach would be
considered absurd.

It is important that we appreciate the consequences of a short-term
continuing resolution for DHS. Contracting for the final national
security cutter will be delayed, potentially driving up the cost.
Border security technology upgrades along the Rio Grande Valley will
not happen as scheduled. This approach not only punishes Secretary
Johnson and DHS headquarters, it undermines homeland security.

Madam Speaker, clearly the insertion of the financing for political
parties undermines McCain-Feingold, and for that and other reasons I
oppose the rule and the underlying bill.

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