Sen. Cruz: Both Houses Should Use Power of the Purse to Stop Obama’s Amnesty

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today issued the following statement regarding funding proposals that are being considered by Republicans in the House:

"This November's election was a referendum on executive amnesty, and the American people overwhelmingly oppose President Obama's illegal amnesty. Republicans in Congress should use every tool at our disposal-our constitutional checks and balances-to stop President Obama's amnesty. The Senate should use its constitutional authority to halt confirmations for non-national security positions, until the President stops this illegal amnesty. And both Houses should use the power of the purse, which the Framers understood to be the most potent tool Congress has to rein in an out-of-control Executive.

"We should pass a short-term continuing resolution that includes language defunding the implementation of the President's executive action on amnesty.

"Nearly a dozen Senate Democrats have publicly expressed concerns about President Obama's executive amnesty. Support for the President's lawlessness decreases by the day, and House Republicans should provide Senate Democrats the opportunity to show voters whether or not they have heard the message the voters sent in the 2014 elections."

Additionally, below is a partial list of statements made by Senate Democrats expressing various levels of concerns about President Obama's unilateral amnesty.

• Sen. Mary Landrieu (D¬-La.): "We are all frustrated with our broken immigration system, but the way forward is not unilateral action by the president."
Landrieu splits with Obama on immigration action, Associated Press, 11/21/14

• Sen. Joe Manchin, (D-W.Va.): "I wish he wouldn't do it."
Senate Democrats Balk at Obama's Unilateral Immigration Approach, Reuters, 11/19/14

• Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.): "I have to be honest, how this is coming about makes me uncomfortable, I think it probably makes most Missourians uncomfortable."
Senate Democrats Balk at Obama's Unilateral Immigration Approach, Reuters, 11/19/14 

• Sen. Joe Donnelly, (D-Ind.): "I am as frustrated as anyone that Congress is not doing its job, but the president shouldn't make such significant policy changes on his own."
Press Release, 11/20/14

• Sen. Mark Pryor (D-¬Ark.): "I don't like government by executive order. I just don't, generally, so I'd have to look and see specifically what he's proposing and what he's talking about...Overall, I don't approve of that approach."
Vulnerable Dems balk at Obama actions, The Hill, 7/30/14

• Sen. Mark Warner (D¬-Va.): "A big issue like immigration, the best way to get a comprehensive solution is to take this through the legislative process."
Warner: 'Right decision' to delay on immigration, The Hill, 09/08/14

• Sen. Kay Hagan (D-¬NC): "I think this is a congressional issue and I encourage Speaker [John] Boehner [R¬-Ohio] in the House to bring up a bill, to vote on a bill for immigration reform so that we can then put it into conference...And I do support congressional action over executive action."
Vulnerable Dems balk at Obama actions, The Hill, 7/30/14

• Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.): "I'm disappointed the president decided to use executive action at this time on this issue, as it could poison any hope of compromise or bipartisanship in the new Senate before it has even started."
Obama Fails To Convince Some Dems on Immigration, Politico, 11/20/14

• Sen. Al Franken, (D-Minn.): "I have concerns about executive action."
More Senate Democrats Urge Obama to Delay Immigration Order, Politico, 9/5/14

• Sen. Angus King, (I-Maine): "And I also frankly am concerned about the constitutional separation of powers...The Framers knew what they were doing and it doesn't say if the president gets frustrated and Congress doesn't act, he gets to do, you know, what he thinks is important for the country."
Sen. Angus King: Executive Action on Immigration Could Backfire, NPR, 11/19/14

• Sen. Jon Tester, (D-Mont.): "Asked whether he would prefer the President not do it by executive authority, [Tester] replied, ‘I would prefer that Congress act, yes.'"
Senate Democrats Balk at Obama's Unilateral Immigration Approach, Reuters, 11/19/14

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