Mikulski & Shaheen: Keep politics out of homeland security

As we’ve learned from recent tragedies in Paris, Ottawa and Australia,North Korea’s cyber-attack on Sony Corporatio Hurricane Sandy

These realities underscore why we cannot let partisan politics shut down the Department of Homeland Security. An agency shutdown would result in serious consequences for our national security that are entirely unacceptable and avoidable. We recently introduced a plan to fully fund the agency for the rest of the fiscal year, avoiding the potentially catastrophic consequences of a shutdown. Now it’s time for Congress to act on our proposal.

The Department of Homeland Security’s role in protecting our country from threats cannot be overstated and its funding should not be controversial. The agency is responsible for providing counter-terrorism intelligence, making sure our airports are safe and secure and protecting our country from the growing threat of cyber terrorism — a threat that former National Security Advisor General Scowcroft recently described natural disasters by providing states

The men and women who carry out these responsibilities are on the front lines every day, working to keep our country safe and secure, and they deserve our support. The best way to show that we stand united behind these men and women is to pass legislation fully funding the agency through the end of the fiscal year. Anything short of that will endanger important security operations and could very well put our citizens at risk.

Those who are advocating for short-term measures, or are even comfortable with an agency shutdown, are ignoring the potentially disastrous impact of such measures. A short-term measure would limit counter-terrorism efforts, hamper our security at our borders and handicap the agency’s ability to implement necessary long-term measures that mitigate security threats. Uncertainty undermines our security.

An agency shutdown would only further amplify these problems. The thought of asking hardworking men and women who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe to continue living up to their responsibilities, but without a paycheck, is unconscionable.

That is why we introduced a bill to fully fund the Department of Homeland Securityextraneous policy riders

We absolutely agree with Republicans that we need to debate immigration policies and reforms, and we are ready to have that debate. But Congress should be able to do so without risking shutting down the Department of Homeland Securitypassed an immigration reform bill with 68 votes

On January 29th, President Bush’s two Homeland Security Secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff joined former Obama Administration Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in a letter to Congress concluding

We must stop lurching from funding crisis to funding crisis. Our nation is dealing with many serious threats and we cannot afford to play politics with resources that keep our country safe. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what some lawmakers are proposing by attaching controversial, extraneous policy proposals to a bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security. Putting the agency at risk of a shutdown is both reckless and dangerous.

Senator Barbara Mikulski, Maryland Democrat, is vice chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire is the ranking democrat on the committee’s Department of Homeland Security Subcommittee.