— from Ingrid Stegemoeller —
Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, hailed House passage today of a clean bill that will keep the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) open through September 30, 2015. Larsen voted in favor of the bill, after calling multiple times for Republicans to allow a vote on a clean bill fully funding the department.
“The House chose the responsible path to governing today by passing a bill to fund DHS through Sept. 30. This vote means people will stay on the job, and they will get paid for the work they are doing when they are doing it. It also means we can put behind us this game of jeopardizing thousands of people’s jobs and our national security, and get to work on many important issues Congress needs to address, such as investments in transportation and education,” Larsen said.
Full funding for DHS means more than 6,100 DHS employees in Washington state and 212,000 DHS employees nationwide will receive reliable paychecks for the work they do to keep the U.S. safe.
Thank you Rick, for standing up for the right of our president to exercise his power of the executive, by voting in favor of funding DHS. Virtually all other presidents, whether republican and democratic, have used the power of the executive in like manner. The idea that the Congress should be able to thwart the legal action of another branch of government …. while simultaneously endangering our country …. by withholding funding, is unconstitutional and undermines the decency of our tripartite system of government.