Wrote in letter: "It is incumbent on Congress to honor the Constitution, and respect the will of the people, by using the power of the purse to rein in the President's actions."
Rep. Joe Barton joined 55 of his colleagues in sending a letter to Speaker John Boehner Friday asking him to honor his commitment to remove “all available funding streams” that support the President’s immigration executive action.
The letter explained to the Speaker that voters soundly rejected the President’s “phone and pen” policies that ignore the law, pointing directly to the immigration executive action signed on November 20, 2014.
“As a result, Congress must take immediate action, using our constitutionally given power of the purse, to defund the rule of law and eliminate all funding for this executive action on immigration,” the Members wrote.
The letter pointed out that the first opportunity to do this came during the consideration of H.R. 83, known as the CRomnibus. Rep. Barton and 66 others voted against the bill because of the lack of action on immigration funding. When the bill passed, Republican Leadership told members the House would stand its ground against the President’s unconstitutional actions in January.
The Members wrote in the letter that the time to stand strong as arrived.
“We all agree that Congress must take steps to address our broken immigration system. But the crisis facing the House isn’t about immigration; it is about defending the separation of powers and the rule of law. As established by our founding fathers in the Constitution, only Congress has the power to establish the rule of naturalization, make, or change the laws. These changes cannot be determined at the President’s sole discretion. Therefore it is incumbent on Congress to honor the Constitution, and respect the will of the people, by using the power of the purse to rein in the President’s actions.”
“We respectfully request that the House stand firm in its efforts to oppose the President’s executive action and place comprehensive restrictions on the funding for its implementation as soon as possible in the 114th Congress.”
Members asked for a prompt response. A complete copy of the letter can be found by clicking here.
