Illegal Immigrant Children Supplemental Appropriations. S. 2648 would authorize $3.6 billion in supplemental appropriations, including $2.73 billion \”to cover necessary expenses to respond to the significant rise in unaccompanied children and adults with children at the southwest border,\” $615 million for wildfire suppression activities of the Forest Service, and $225 million that would be provided \”to the Government of Israel for the procurement of the Iron Dome defense system to counter short-range rocket threats.\”
During the floor debate, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) commented that this bill is \”a blank check that does not solve the crisis along our southern border…. Well, today we are exercising our constitutional right in cutting off funding for the President to expand his administrative amnesties.\”
The Senate did not vote on the underlying bill itself but on a motion to waive all applicable budget laws with respect to a point of order against the bill so that the bill could move forward. The Senate rejected this motion on July 31, 2014 by a vote of 50 to 44 (60 votes, three-fifths of the full Senate, are needed to waive the applicable budget laws; Roll Call 252). We have assigned pluses to the nays because most of the $3.6 billion requested by President Obama would be used to expand his amnesty program of deferred action for childhood arrivals, an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress\’ power to \”to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.\”
