Congressman Marc Veasey Stands Up for DREAMERs

WASHINGTON, D.C – Rep. Steve King’s Amendment Would Defund President’s Deferred Action Plan.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted this morning to pass an amendment by Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) that would defund the President’s Deferred Action Executive Order for DREAMers. Congressman Marc Veasey delivered the following Floor remarks in opposition to the amendment:

“I stand here today greatly saddened and disappointed in this House of Representatives. I was prepared to vote in support of the Homeland Appropriations bill for the upcoming fiscal year, a bill that is supposed to ensure our local law enforcement, emergency responders, anti-terrorism experts, and border security professionals have the resources they need to keep our country safe.

Instead, we saw a bipartisan and widely agreed upon bill that would fund Homeland Security efforts across the nation be overtaken by a violently controversial amendment from the gentleman from Iowa that was included in the final bill that passed the House.

This last minute amendment goes beyond the pale of discrimination by prohibiting funding to implement President Obama’s Deferred Action Plan from last year that would protect DREAMERs from deportation. This poison pill amendment endangers 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who have no home other than the United States and only want a fair shot at an education and opportunity to pursue their passions out of the shadows.

I voted against final passage of the Homeland Security Appropriations bill because this amendment was allowed to be passed by the Republican majority and I am deeply saddened that over 220 of my colleagues in this chamber want to shatter those DREAMS.”