Courtney Denounces "Hyper-partisan Approach" to Border Crisis | Congressman Joe Courtney
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Courtney Denounces "Hyper-partisan Approach" to Border Crisis

August 1, 2014

WASHINGTON—Today Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) released the following statement after more than 24 hours of closed-door negotiations among the House Republican leadership in an attempt to advance partisan legislation that will not adequately address the current border crisis:

“I am disappointed that House Republican leadership chose to placate the most extreme members of their conference, rather than work together on a productive, bipartisan solution to the current border crisis. Despite offerings from Democratic leaders to work together on a deal, Speaker Boehner and his deputies have pursued bad bills whose failure is a foregone conclusion. The legislation voted on today fails to equip law enforcement with the tools it needs to crack down on smugglers, traffickers, and cartels, provides no humanitarian relief to children who are being trafficked across borders, and has no chance of being signed into law. I stand ready to work on a compromise that strengthens the ability of our law enforcement agencies to protect our border and provides an efficient and humane process for children arriving in this country alone, but this week’s antics have moved us no closer to that kind of productive negotiation.

“As Congress adjourns to a five-week District Work Period, and has only a small number of legislative days scheduled for the remainder of the year, it is particularly disappointing that the House Republican Leadership chose to waste time this week on a misguided and distracting attempt to sue the President, rather than address the significant issues facing our country. We have a lot of work to do to create good jobs, ensure the affordability of college, and reform our immigration system, among a host of other important responsibilities. When Congress works together, we can accomplish significant progress, as demonstrated with recent bipartisan passage of bills to improve the VA and support workforce training. This hyper-partisan approach to the border crisis is a losing proposition. We cannot afford to waste time and money on political theater.”

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