Providing for Consideration of S.1, Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act, and Providing for Proceedings During the Period from February 16, 2015, Through February 23, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARRIS. I want to thank the floor leader for yielding the time.

Madam Speaker, there is no amendment necessary to this rule. Three weeks ago, we passed a fully funded Department of Homeland Security. Except for the President's illegal actions, the entire rest of the Department is funded: TSA, the Coast Guard; all these critical things.

Let's review how Congress really works. The House takes an action--we did 3 weeks ago--and then the Senate is supposed to take an action. What action did they take? Harry Reid and the Democrats have blocked three efforts to even debate the bill. They know if they didn't take that action, the Senate could debate the bill and they could strike those amendments. The Democrats are free to strike the amendments that we put on the bill that limit the President's illegal actions with regards to amnesty. They know they can.

Madam Speaker, let's be honest. The last time the President shut down the government, 87 percent of DHS was fully funded. TSA was there. The Coast Guard was on the job. Yeah, there were some administrators who didn't go to work for a few days, but let me tell you, after the unemployment problem we have had in this country, there are a lot of people outside the Federal Government who don't go to work for a lot more days. That is not what the American people expect from us.

The fact is that this bill is sitting over in the Senate. The President said 22 times he didn't have the authority to do what he did on amnesty. All we did is just made it quite clear the House position is he doesn't have the authority.

So, we are not going to spend the money. We take article I seriously. We have the authority over spending, and if we think the President is taking an illegal action, we have the authority to withhold that funding--and that is what we did, fund the entire Department except for that one illegal activity the President is doing in violation of article I of the Constitution. It gives us the authority over the law.

The President said he can't rewrite the law 22 times--and he did. We are just going to keep him to his word. He can't rewrite the law.

The previous speaker said you can't do authorizations on appropriations. That is nonsense. We do it all the time. We can correct the President's mistake in the bill. We did. That is the bottom line.

The Democrat leadership in the Senate has blocked even debate on the bill. What kind of country are we when one party, the party that is really holding this bill hostage in the Senate--not the Republicans; it is the Democrats--refuses to even debate the bill? I am shocked.

Americans expect the Senate to debate. That is what we are asking them to do. That is what they are not doing. I don't understand that. Why don't they want the Homeland Security bill to be funded? I don't get it.

Madam Speaker, I will close by saying we just need to move the motion on the previous question, pass the rule, and build the Keystone pipeline.

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