Dear John:

Thank you for contacting me about efforts to defund the President's amnesty plan through the appropriations process.  I appreciate hearing from you.

The House of Representatives approved the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (H.R.83) on December 11, 2014, by a vote of 219-206.  Following House passage, the Senate approved the bill on December 13, 2014 by a vote of 56-40, sending it to President Obama for his signature.  This legislation funds all agencies of the federal government through September 30, 2015, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which the legislation funds only through February 27, 2015.

I understand the concern expressed by many Hoosiers that Congress should not fund President Obama's unlawful executive amnesty plan.  Let me stress that I strongly oppose the President's amnesty announcement, and I believe that his proposed actions exceed his Constitutional authority.  However, the appropriations bill approved by the House and Senate does not fund the President's amnesty.  The President is not using appropriations funds to implement his amnesty plan.  Instead, the Administration is going to utilize visa fees, which are collected by the State Department and not funded through appropriations bills. 

What Congress can do to stop President Obama's amnesty plan is pass a bill prohibiting the use of visa fees to implement the executive action, or attach this language as a rider on an appropriations bill.  Republicans wanted to attach such a rider to the omnibus appropriations bill, but because Democrats still control the Senate, it had no chance of passing.  This is why Republicans fought to fund the Department of Homeland Security only until February 27, 2015.  By funding DHS only through February, a Republican House and Senate can attach a rider blocking Obama's amnesty plan to the next DHS appropriations bill.

While I believe the overall funding legislation is far from perfect, I voted for the bill that the House sent to the Senate because it does make many positive changes for Hoosier families.  Some of these reforms include cutting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget by $60 million and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) budget by $345 million, prohibiting an EPA regulation opposed by Indiana farmers and blocking any new funding to implement Obamacare.  This is all in addition to necessities like funding our national security priorities and giving our troops a pay raise. 

I value knowing your views on this issue, and assure you I remain committed to blocking the President's amnesty plan as we begin the 114 th Congress in January.  Thank you again for contacting me, and please do not hesitate to do so again in the future on other matters of importance to you.