Let's Fund DHS

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, I think just about every one of us in Congress went through security at an airport in our home State this week, and like millions of Americans who fly every day, we are protected by 40,000 TSA officers that we depend on to keep us safe.

But now, we are on the verge of stopping paychecks to all of those officers and 50,000 Border Patrol agents and 40,000 Active-Duty Coast Guard members who are needed to protect our shores. In my State and many others this winter, they are being called upon to break up the ice and keep our harbors open.

It is not just the people who keep us safe. It is FEMA. Just like much of the country, we have suffered from one of the hardest winters in memory in Maine, but if the Department of Homeland Security is shut down, then FEMA will not be able to process any new disaster relief applications from our States.

This winter has created a crisis for my State and for many local governments. Let's not add to that with a manufactured crisis of our own by forcing the Department of Homeland Security to shut down, just because some people don't like President Obama's immigration policies.

We have the votes right here in the House to pass a bill to fund DHS. Just let's take a vote on it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source