Washington (February 25, 2015) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) took to the floor of the United States Senate today to blast Congressional Republicans for threatening a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department in order to block President Obama’s executive order on immigration. Additionally, the work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to develop a preliminary damage assessment for disaster relief funding for the historic Massachusetts snowstorms may be interrupted if the department’s funding runs out at the end of this week.  

“Congressional Republicans are more interested in undermining President Obama’s border policy than funding actual border protection in our country,” said Senator Markey. “Instead of working to fix the problems with our immigration system, the Majority in the Senate has been manufacturing a government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security even as our nation faces real threats to our safety and national security if we don’t fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.

“FEMA efforts in Massachusetts to develop a preliminary damage assessment for disaster relief funding may be interrupted if funding for DHS runs out,” continued Senator Markey. “Instead of the relief that should come with the assurance that FEMA assistance is on the way, the people of Massachusetts have to worry that this Republican-manufactured government shutdown threat is jeopardizing this critical assistance. The last thing the people of Massachusetts should have to worry about is whether their disaster assistance will be delayed by the politics of immigration reform.  This is absolutely outrageous.

“I call on my Republican colleagues to bring forward a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill free of unrelated policy riders.”