Lucille Roybal-Allard

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to point out to the gentlemen that the ranking members and chairs of the Appropriations Subcommittees of the House and the Senate worked together on the bill that we are trying to bring for a vote, that this was a negotiated bill by both Houses. This is not something that we are just trying to bring from the Senate without the House having any input. This was the negotiated, compromised bill of both Houses. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle), a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth), a member of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, my motion would instruct the conferees to recede to the Senate position, which is the responsible position of providing a full-year funding for the Homeland Security Department. Secretary Johnson has warned over and over again that the Republican leadership's refusal to allow a vote on a clean bipartisan funding bill, such as the one sent to this House by the Republican-led Senate, is threatening the national security of our country. Without a full- year bill, the Secretary tells us that he is unable to move forward on key Homeland Security priorities, including new investments in border security technology, more aggressive ICE investigations related to transnational criminal organizations that engage in drug and human smuggling and human trafficking, enhanced preparedness for responding to surges in illegal migration such as the one experienced last summer, acquisition of the Coast Guard's eighth National Security Cutter, and the construction of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas, both of which could potentially be delayed and lead to associated higher costs. Also at risk are the badly needed security upgrades at the White House complex and the issuing of State and local terrorism prevention and response grants so critical to supporting our local first responders. These are just a few of the negative consequences of not fully funding our Department of Homeland Security. Madam Speaker, nothing can be gained by another stopgap funding measure, but much can be lost. We should not allow ourselves or the American people to be fooled into thinking that the House can continue to delay resolving this issue without undermining the national security of our Nation, or that the Department of Homeland Security has been doing just fine under the continuing resolution and can operate effectively under the uncertainty of a continuing resolution for even another day, much less 3 more weeks. The dire consequences of not funding the Department of Homeland Security are not the made-up warnings of Democrats. They are the warnings of the Secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of his agencies. Let me again read a portion of a letter sent by Secretary Johnson to the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate regarding the dangers of either a funding lapse or another short-term continuing resolution: A mere extension of a continuing resolution has many of the same negative impacts of a shutdown. It exacerbates the uncertainty for my workforce and puts us back in the same position on the brink of a shutdown just days from now. The Secretary ends his letter by saying: ``The American people are counting on us.'' Again, Madam Speaker, the American people are indeed counting on us, and so far, the House Republican leadership has let them down. This stopgap funding measure does not fully address our national security needs. It simply represents the complete and utter abdication of our responsibility as Members of Congress to protect the American people and our country. The Senate has acted in the best interests of our Nation and sent this House a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Madam Speaker, our enemies aren't waiting around while the Republican leadership continues to delay a full-year funding for the Department of Homeland Security or for Congress to go to conference in the hope that some time in the future we may have an agreement. Let the House, like the Senate, do the right thing and send this bill to the President. I urge my colleagues to vote for this motion to instruct conferees to bring back a clean, full-year, bipartisan funding bill for this Nation's homeland security. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the ranking member on the full Appropriations Committee.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. How much time is remaining on both sides?

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the Democratic whip of the House.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Keating).

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Democratic leader of the House.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. No. I am prepared to close.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, let me just say that regardless of what the other side of the aisle will have us believe, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the men and women who put their lives on the front line every day for us and to protect this country tell us that a continuing resolution jeopardizes their ability to fully and effectively protect this country. And so I urge my colleagues to do the responsible thing and to vote for this motion to instruct conferees to bring back a clean, full-year, bipartisan funding bill that will enable the Department of Homeland Security to fully and effectively protect our Nation and the American people. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Yes.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I wish to be heard on the point of order.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, the gentleman asserts that the motion exceeds the subcommittee's allocation. However, the Congressional Budget Office cost estimate noted ``our estimate is the same as H.R. 240 as introduced.'' H.R. 240 was the bill introduced by the chairman of the subcommittee, Judge Carter, and sent to the Senate. If I understand the gentleman correctly, he is now asserting that the bill that he moved through this Chamber violated the rules of the House. I urge him to withdraw his point of order and allow for the House to vote on a clean, full-year bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Absent that, I urge the presiding officer to overrule the gentleman's point of order.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, this motion to recommit will not kill the resolution or send it back to committee. If adopted, the continuing resolution will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. Adoption of this motion to recommit will change the date of the continuing resolution to September 30, 2015, and will incorporate by reference all the funding levels and provisions of H.R. 861, the clean, bipartisan, full-year funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Once again, I ask my colleagues: What is gained by further putting off a resolution to this crisis of Republicans' own making? Circumstances will be no different 3 weeks from now. We will almost certainly not have any final resolution from the judicial branch of the President's executive action. Nothing can be gained by further delay, but much can be lost. These are the warnings of the Secretary of Homeland Security who has pointed out, over and over again, that the Department of Homeland Security is not doing just fine under the current continuing resolution and that there are significant consequences if we force the Department to keep living with the uncertainty of a continuing resolution. As Secretary Johnson has said, the American people are counting on us, and the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, so many of whom risk their health and safety every single day to keep us safe, are counting on us, too. What message are we sending them when we continue to leave them in uncertainty over whether they will get paid 3 weeks from now? What message do we send them when we take their service for granted by using this funding bill as a pawn in a political game? I urge my colleagues to vote for this motion to recommit so we can put an end to this nonsense and allow the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security to go about the business of protecting this country knowing that we are fully behind them. Madam Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the distinguished ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this has been a day of confusion both here in this House and for the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. Just hours ago, the House rejected a plan to fund a 3-week stopgap funding measure for the Department so that we might instead take up the clean, full year funding bill. Now we have before us a 1-week CR that was just sent over to us by the Senate. To avoid further confusion and ensure there is no funding lapse for the Department, I urge my colleagues to put us on a path to enactment of the Senate-passed long-term funding of DHS by voting in favor of the 7-day patch. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I, too, ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861, the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would keep the Department open so it can carry out its mission of keeping the American people safe.

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861, the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill, that would keep the Department open so it can carry out its mission of keeping the American people safe.