Wall Street Journal
By Siobhan Hughes
February 12, 2015
House
Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) on Thursday declined to offer
assurances that the Department of Homeland Security would avoid a
shutdown, and said that Democrats
would be to blame in the event that a stalemate over funding extends
through the end of February, when a current funding measure expires.
“The
House has done its job,” the Republican leader said when asked to
provide assurances that there would not be a shutdown. “We’ve passed a
bill that funds the department
and stops the president’s unilateral actions with regard to
immigration. It’s up to the Senate Democrats now to do their job.”
The
comments reflect the growing stalemate over how to fund the Department
of Homeland Security, which only remains funded until Feb.27. The
Republican-controlled House
has passed legislation that makes continued funding dependent on
blocking U.S. President Barack Obama’s executive action to shield
millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. In the Senate,
Democrats have blocked Republicans from taking the bill up for
debate. Neither side is backing down from its position.
“If
funding for Homeland Security lapses, Washington Democrats can bear the
responsibility,” Mr. Boehner said. He said that if Senate Democrats
would yield, they could
“offer amendments” and “make their case,” allowing both chambers to
“meet in conference and try to work out the differences.”
The
tension has been building for weeks and has been showing up in tough
language as well as other forms of expression. A day earlier, Mr.
Boehner resorted to the salty
language he uses at moments of negotiating tension, saying that Senate
Democrats needed to “get off their ass and do something – other than
vote no.” On Thursday, when asked if the House would pass a bill to
extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security
for a short period of time, Mr. Boehner didn’t even entertain the
possibility. Instead, he simply laughed.
The
House speaker suggested that he wouldn’t be comfortable if funding
lapses for the Homeland Security Department. But he said that “we did
our job to fund the department.
Now it’s up to the Senate Democrats to do what they have to do ….to
help pass a bill.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
No comments:
Post a Comment