By Congressman Bruce Poliquin
(R-Maine)
First and foremost, 26 states, including Maine — thanks to Gov. LePage — have stopped the President’s lawless and unconstitutional overreach on immigration.
In January, I voted in support of a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), while also defunding the President’s unilateral executive action on immigration. Sen. Harry Reid and his Democrats blocked this vote.
We then asked Senate Democrats to negotiate with us on how to fund DHS and defund the President’s unilateral action on immigration. According to a Congressional Record from Sen. Reid (D-NV), this should have been no problem – “We aren’t afraid to try to resolve our differences in a conference committee instead of behind closed doors. This has been the custom in the Senate and House of Representatives for more than 200 years” (S3216, 5/18/13).
However, Sen. Reid and his Democrats blocked this too.
With immediate threats to America, I believe that it’s irresponsible for Congress to shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Especially with more than 1,500 DHS employees in Maine and their families relying on a steady paycheck for the hard work they do to protect our great state and nation.
I supported funding the Department of Homeland Security in order to help secure our borders and protect Americans, at home and abroad. Now it is time for Sen. Reid and his Democrats to put their actions where their mouth is and vote on our bill to defund the President’s overreaching executive action on immigration.
Know this, I will always remind the President, as well he should know, that Articles I, II and III in the United States Constitution outline a system of checks and balances. He cannot dictate using his pen and phone.
