The State of the Union: Congressman Nunes Voted against Blackburn Amendment: Why?

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Congressman Nunes Voted against Blackburn Amendment: Why?

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)

Congressman Devin Nunes (R-Tulare, CA) was the only new member added to the California Congressional delegation after the 2002 redistricting process. For once, Republicans gained a little ground after a decennial census. Too bad they were not mobilized to take advantage of the Citizens Redistricting efforts in 2011-2012.

Nunes has been Tea Party before there was a Tea Party, a pragmatist out of concern for the greater good, rather than merely caving into popular or political pressures. During the 2013 shutdown, Nunes was critical, because there was no long-term strategy. The math, in his opinion, simply was not there. The 113th Congressional Republican majority simply could not govern from one half of one branch of government.

A staunch fighter for farmers and water rights, Nunes champions job growth and economic recovery. He has never ceased lobbying for better conditions regarding irrigation and water transport for Central Valley Farmers. Working with wiser Democrats (i.e. Democrats who hope to get reelected in the near future), Nunes has authored, cosponsored, and presented legislation to amend, limit, and scale back the Affordable Care Act.

He also supports guest worker permits for migrant workers, but rejected the Obamacare of Immigration bill passed in the US Senate in 2013. A growing cohort of conservatives in California are still wary of Nunes' because of his support for immigration reform.
.
In 2014, he also voted for John Boehner to retain his speakership, but the advice and opinion from five Congressmen, including some of the most conservative members of the caucus, convinced me that in the long-term it is all for the better. (Still, I support Gohmert, and won't relent for a future, better Speaker).

Now, with the appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security coming up, Nunes voted for HR 240, which would limit spending and direction to key parts of the agency, specifically the funding for executive amnesty.

Five amendments were added to the appropriations bill.

Nunes voted "Yes" on four of the amendments:

1. The Anderholt Amendment: which bars funding for illegal immigrant minors in connection with Obama's November 2014 executive orders,

2. The DeSantis Amendment: which would require immediate prosecution for any illegal immigrant guilty of child abuse, sexual abuse, or domestic violence.

3. The Salmon Amendment, which rebukes the President for pursuing policies which put American workers at a disadvantage. How about that?! Check out the clear and convincing text of the amendment:

An amendment numbered 4 printed in Part B of House Report 114-2 to express a sense of Congress that the Executive Branch should not pursue policies that disadvantage the hiring of U.S. citizens and those lawfully present in the United States by making it economically advantageous to hire workers who came to the country illegally.

And finally,

4. The Schock Amendment, which demands that the President stop promoting illegal immigrants ahead of those

Now, Nunes rejected the Blackburn Amendment, which blocks funding for President Obama's 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals program, which passed anyway.

An amendment numbered 2 printed in Part B of House Report 114-2 to provide that no funds may be used to consider new, renewal or previously denied DACA applications.
Most readers learned about this amendment through Breitbart, which excoriated Renee Ellmers of North Carolina for voting against the amendment:

Renee Ellmers

A whopping 26 Republicans joined the Democrats in Congress to vote against an amendment to the DHS funding bill sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). That amendment aims to block funds for President Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), largely believed to be the root cause of the border crisis last summer.

Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) was the first Republican to break ranks. “Ellmers is [the] first GOP no vote,” Politico’s Seung Min Kim Tweeted as the vote began.

When asked on Wednesday to explain her vote against Blackburn’s amendment—she actually voted for a similar amendment from Blackburn this past summer. . . Ellmers makes the case for amnesty for illegal aliens because she claims there is a shortage of American workers who can do jobs in her district. But first she began by stating she’s opposed to the president’s action—even though she voted against fighting him.

Two California Republicans joined with Ellmers: David Valadao and Devin Nunes.

First of all, I am pleased that Congressmen Darrell Issa and Jeff Denham joined with the rest of their Republican peers to defund President Obama's DACA program. For a few years, I had read diverse reports about Issa pushing a DREAM Act bill, which later died. Denham has been an amnesty cheerleader for a long time, too, but at least he voted to stop Obama's unconstitutional power grab.

David Valadao

As for Valadao, he is a well-known amnesty supporter, and has pandered to the Hispanic vote on this issue for a long time. In the 2014 debate with his Democratic opponent, Valadao and counterpart debated entirely in Spanish. Still very disappointed, I am not surprised

I am deeply surprised as well as concerned about Congressman Nunes' vote against defunding executive amnesty. I read his Prosperity and Security agenda. I have looked over his record. He strikes me as an eminently reasonable and well-ground conservative who knows how to pick his fights. This was one fight he needed to pick, yet he chose not to.

How can anyone expect the United States to remain a free, prosperous, and secure nation if the federal government permits open borders and enables more illegal immigrant youth to flood this country's immigration detention centers? Even the liberal Republican Neel Kashkari acknowledged that the answer to the world's problems is not an open border. The illegal immigration youth who overwhelmed the Southern borders in 2014 needed to go home. Executive amnesty, which supports these unconscionable violations of federal law and our nation's borders, cannot be supported

I contacted Congressman Nunes' office this morning, expecting an answer to why he rejected the Blackburn Amendment. His constituents in the 22nd Congressional District, as well as every Californian should demand an answer from the newly-installed House Intelligence Committee Chairman. The last thing that this country needs is more funding for illegal immigration.

Contact Congressman Devin Nunes' office and demand an answer, and then press him to support defunding all aspects of Obama's illegal executive amnesty.