E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 114 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 161 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015 No. 32 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was mittee in the aftermath of the tragedy We want border security? We won’t called to order by the Speaker pro tem- on 9/11. Some of us who served at that be paying our Border Patrol agents or pore (Mr. HARDY). time were able to go to the site after 9/ ICE agents. Even though it is sug- f 11. We were able to go soon enough to gested that fees will take care of it, see some of those who were in the there are 30,000 employees that the fees DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO midst of recovering, since the first re- will not take care of. TEMPORE sponders of New York refused to leave So I rise today pleading to have my The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- anyone behind. friends acknowledge that, first of all, fore the House the following commu- It was a devastating and emotional they are wrong on the executive ac- nication from the Speaker: time, but the resilience of that time tions. As we go to a hearing in Judici- also reflected America’s values. I re- ary, I will be able to show that these WASHINGTON, DC, member very strongly standing on the individuals will probably be vetted February 25, 2015. I hereby appoint the Honorable CRESENT steps of the House, Republicans and more extensively than many others in HARDY to act as Speaker pro tempore on this Democrats, singing the song ‘‘God the immigration process. Fourteen pro- day. Bless America.’’ visions have to be utilized before they JOHN A. BOEHNER, What we have come to today is that can be eligible for the executive action Speaker of the House of Representatives. we are frivolously using these political the President has suggested. f tactics of taking political security over But what I am going to say, Mr. national security and rejecting our re- Speaker, as I started by saying, is that MORNING-HOUR DEBATE sponsibility of ensuring that the men we are bringing America to the brink. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- and women who are on the front lines In the midst of my comments, I indi- ant to the order of the House of Janu- for the security of this Nation can con- cated that I remember how we came to- ary 6, 2015, the Chair will now recog- tinue their jobs. gether in the tragedy of 9/11. Well, we nize Members from lists submitted by First, Mr. Speaker, let me say that have a tragedy right now. We have a the majority and minority leaders for there is a court order that has tempo- raging ISIS and ISIL, we have an un- morning-hour debate. rarily issued an injunction. That court known terrorist threat, and we know The Chair will alternate recognition in Texas did not in any way assess the that the United States, although constitutionality of the President’s ex- between the parties, with each party strong, stands, as the rest of the world ecutive actions. Why? Because he has limited to 1 hour and each Member does, needing to be prepared for those the authority. His comments that have other than the majority and minority who want to be individualized, fran- been repeated over and over again chised terrorists. leaders and the minority whip limited about his lack of authority were, yes, I take my responsibility seriously. I to 5 minutes, but in no event shall de- he does not have the authority to con- believe in the Constitution. I even be- bate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. vey an immigration status. His execu- lieve in language that indicates, as we f tive actions are not on immigration say often in the Declaration of Inde- BRING A CLEAN DHS BILL TO THE status. They are simply keeping fami- pendence, that we all are created equal, FLOOR lies from being torn apart and mothers and language in the Constitution that and fathers and children from being de- says we have come to form a more per- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ported. It is not an immigration status. fect Union. Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from It is a stay of deportation. This is not perfect, and this can be Texas (Ms. JACKSON LEE) for 5 minutes. And so the fuss that is being made remedied. I ask the Speaker to put this Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, impacts the TSA officer tragically shot bill on the floor of the House in the today I rise with a question: Should in a Los Angeles airport, or New York name of firefighters and police officers America be brought to the brink of her or Houston or Dallas or Chicago or Ra- and ICE officers and grants going to own security and safety? With that leigh-Durham; that TSA officer who cities for using their best tactics; fu- question, I ask my friends on the other stands on the front lines of our secu- sion centers that deal with terrorism— side of the aisle, the Republicans and rity and we look them in the eye and in their name, and many others, like the Speaker, to put on the floor of the tell them they cannot be paid. You Border Patrol; ICE, as I indicated; the House the full funding of the Depart- know, Mr. Speaker, when the shutdown Secret Service, as I indicated; TSA ment of Homeland Security. happened before, it was Democrats who agents; parts of FAA; and FEMA, when Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of had to retroactively ensure that those the North is freezing and needs that beginning my tenure on this com- workers were paid. kind of assistance. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H1119 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Feb 25, 2015 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A25FE7.000 H25FEPT1 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H1120 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE February 25, 2015 In the name of the people of the When the Oakland VA managers dis- ment to make things right. We ask United States of America, how much covered that 2,155 claims were more them to please keep coming forward. pleading do I need to do? As a member than several years old and required ac- Contact my office, contact my staff of the Homeland Security Committee tion or review, a special projects team on what needs to be done to get the believing in those innocent families was formed to complete this urgent word out to help make this right, be- who have come here to do nothing task. Members of this team have told cause we want the VA to function well. more than to work on behalf of their my staff that many of those claims be- We want the employees to feel like families and desire to be united, on be- longed to veterans who had passed they are part of a system that is serv- half of the mothers and fathers, Mr. away while waiting for benefits to be ing veterans and to have a good rela- Speaker, I ask that the Speaker put on processed and that their families were tionship within their office, but also to the floor of the House a clean DHS bill never contacted. ultimately serve what we need as tax- so that we can vote now, now, now. Inexplicably, the Office of Inspector payers and Americans that revere our f General later discovered that 537 ini- veterans. tial claims that had been marked by f SERVING OUR NATION’S this special team as processed were VETERANS never actually processed. Some of PASS A DHS FUNDING BILL The SPEAKER pro tempore. The these claims were as old as June 2002, The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from yet another troubling instance of the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Mr. LAMALFA) for 5 min- Oakland VA managers failing to pro- Ohio (Ms. KAPTUR) for 5 minutes. utes. vide the type of service northern Cali- Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I stand Mr. LAMALFA. Mr. Speaker, the fornia’s veterans deserve. here this morning as a member of the Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector The VA Office of Inspector General Appropriations Committee and its Sub- General issued a report last Wednesday viewed only 34 of these unprocessed committee on Homeland Security. Our on their investigation into the nearly claims, though for some reason they subcommittee is responsible for setting 14,000 veteran benefits claims that were declined to select a random sample. In- and overseeing funding for the oper- found in a filing cabinet in Oakland, stead, the 34 claims were selected ‘‘ju- ations of the Department of Homeland California. diciously,’’ which didn’t make any Security. Last year, these claims were brought sense. Of the 34 claims that were re- In 2 days, on February 27, astound- to our attention by VA staff members, viewed by the Inspector General’s of- ingly, funding for the Department of who have known about these claims for fice, seven still remain unprocessed. In Homeland Security runs out because many years—despite their best efforts fact, though, these claims had been re- the Republican majority can’t agree on to raise awareness of the injustice in viewed several times from December a bill due to their internal disagree- how these claims were being handled.