WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) today issued the following statement regarding the passage of H.R. 240, legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security through the end of Fiscal Year 2015.
“This strong vote from the House will uphold the rule of law by blocking President Obama’s illegal executive action on immigration,” Rep. Scalise said. “In addition, our bill properly funds the Department of Homeland Security, including increased funding for border security. In December, House Republicans made a promise to the American people that we would fight to block President Obama’s executive overreach on immigration, and this bill fulfills that pledge.
“As the great-grandson of Italian immigrants, I am proud of the role that legal immigration has played and will continue to play in building our great nation.
“Just as we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. The U.S. Constitution makes it clear that it is the role of Congress to write our nation’s immigration laws, and the president cannot create his own laws unilaterally from the Oval Office. In fact, President Obama has made this case himself more than 20 different times before he began issuing illegal executive actions on immigration. The American people made it very clear in the November election that they want the president to work with Congress to address the many problems facing our great nation, and now it is time for the Senate to take up this bipartisan bill and send it to the president’s desk.”