Pelosi Statement on House Passage of the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act

Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which passed the House last night:

“This legislation honors our first responsibility to protect the American people by giving law enforcement the tools they need to address the threat of violence near the U.S.-Mexico border. With investments in expanding the number of Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers, improving our border surveillance efforts, and beefing up anti-smuggling investigations, we are tackling our border security challenges head on. This is one of the central pillars of bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform.

“President Obama has called these investments an emergency need. On July 1st, the House passed this urgently-needed border security funding as part of the Supplemental appropriations bill. Unfortunately, Republicans in the Senate blocked it and therefore the Supplemental sent to the President’s desk this week does not include funding for border security. With Mexican drug cartels engaging in unprecedented levels of violence, we can’t afford to play politics with the security of the American homeland.

“I commend Chairman David Price and other members for their leadership. Today, we’ve made progress on behalf of the security of the American people.”