Hoyer: Funding DHS with a Short-Term CR Will Put Us Back in This Crisis Three Weeks From Now

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke at a press conference with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi this afternoon to urge House Republicans to allow a vote on the Senate's clean bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security for an entire year. Below is a transcript of his remarks:

“Thank you, Madam Leader. First, let me explain what we are considering. The Senate has sent us a bill, 68-31, over two-thirds of the Senate, which is the bill that the Republicans agreed to out of the Appropriations Committee in December. It was agreed [to] on both sides of the aisle. It is not controversial, and it could pass overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives if it were put on the Floor. [The Senate] sent us that bill.

“Unfortunately, the Republicans have changed the sequencing of the consideration of legislation, so that if we pass a motion to go to conference, the legislation which we could pass, which would be the September 30 funding, the balance of the year funding for the Department of Homeland Security, would no longer be in the possession of the House... So, before [Republicans] take the vote on a short-term CR, they are going to [reject a] resolution which keeps the [Department of] Homeland Security funded. They're going to send back to the Senate a bill which does exactly that [funds DHS for the year], which was supported 68-31 by the United States Senate.

“What a sad state we are in when there is almost unanimity of agreement that the Department of Homeland Security is a critical agency for the American people and for our country. [Representative] Peter King has said this is crazy.  He is right. We ought to, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Leader, bring up the Senate bill, have a vote on that, and then, if you want to have a vote on the fifth time [on partisan, anti-immigrant provisions], allow the Senate for the fifth time to fail to pass the bill you sent them in the early part of this year. You can do that, but you will have at least funded the Department of Homeland Security to keep America safe.”

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“We have a crisis today, Friday the 27th. We have a crisis, which [Republicans] created, and [Republicans] created it in December to mollify those who are angry at the President, but who were not, in my opinion, focused on the security of our country. Senator Reid has made it very clear that we will be in that same crisis three weeks from now because for the fifth time in a row [the Senate] will not agree to what the Republicans are going to do today, if they have the votes, which means [the Senate has] four times unsuccessfully… attempted to pass the House bill... You would think, at some point in time, Republicans would get the idea that that bill is not going to pass, and all we are doing – yes, the President may sign [a three-week CR] – but all we are doing is postponing for 21 days the crisis… creating crisis is a bad policy, and we ought not to do it.”