DHS Shutdown
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, in less than 2 days, House Republicans are prepared to shut down the Department of Homeland Security, threatening the safety of the American people.
At home, there is a noted and beloved philosopher by the name of Yogi Berra, who once said, ``It's like deejaa vu all over again.''
And once more, House Republicans are taking the American people on another reckless, unnecessary, irresponsible legislative joy ride, guaranteed to crash and burn. You did it first in October of 2013 by shutting down the government for 16 days, crashing and burning parts of the American economy, costing us $24 billion in lost economic
productivity. Now you are prepared to crash and burn the safety and the security of the American people.
Why would you contemplate, Mr. Speaker, such a reckless action, particularly at a time when there are terrorists all across the world who want to kill Americans, including, as recently uncovered, three terrorists at home in New York determined, apparently, to bomb parts of the Coney Island district I represent? Why would you contemplate
shutting down the Department of Homeland Security at this moment--or at any moment--simply to satisfy the rightwing thirst of the anti-immigration faction of your party?
Let me pause there parenthetically for a moment.
Because they seem to have concluded that this President exceeded his authority when he issued an executive action providing immigration relief, notwithstanding the fact that every President since Dwight Eisenhower has taken executive action to provide some form of immigration relief. It has occurred 39 times since the 1950s. President
Eisenhower did it. President Nixon did it. President Ford did it. President Reagan did it. President George Herbert Walker Bush did it. President George W. Bush did it. But when President Obama issues an executive action to provide immigration relief to fit these times, all of a sudden, we have got a constitutional crisis.
Now, perhaps reasonable people can disagree with the lawfulness of his order, but the reasonable approach would be to allow the courts to work it out, not shutting down the Department of Homeland Security.
Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle are so-called strict constructionists. What would the constitution have us do? Well, we have got an article I legislative branch, an article II executive branch, and an article III judicial branch. The Founders have indicated, I believe, that they would have us work out constitutional differences through the court system, not by shutting down the Department of Homeland Security--causing 30,000 employees to have to go home and another 210,000 employees to have to come to work without pay, stressed, suffering from anxiety, uncertain as to how to pay their bills, pay their mortgage, pay their rent, pay their medical expenses.
Do we want to subject our Homeland Security employees to that type of anxiety when terrorists only have to be right once and we have to be right 100 percent of the time?
Then I was troubled, Mr. Speaker, to learn that, apparently, you haven't spoken to Mitch McConnell in several weeks. The people back home in the district that I represent and Americans all across the country are shaking their heads. I know you don't like talking to Nancy Pelosi. I know you didn't like talking to Harry Reid. You don't like
talking to the President of the United States. But you can't have a conversation with Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell? It is not a long commute from this side of the Capitol to the other side of the Capitol. In fact, Mr. Speaker, you can take the train. Is it not reasonable that you have a conversation to try to work this out?
The American people want us to focus on bigger paychecks, better jobs, retirement security, higher education affordability, strengthening the middle class; instead, you are throwing a legislative temper tantrum, jeopardizing the safety and security of the American people? Shame on you. Let's get back to doing America's business.
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