"The President announced this week a striking unilateral rewrite of our immigration laws against the expressed will of Congress and of the American people. The President doesn’t seem to get the point But despite Congress and the American people’s resistance to President Obama’s unilateral action—action the President himself said would ‘violate our laws’ and be ‘very difficult to defend legally’—the President has decided to go it alone yet again. As President Obama himself said, ‘there are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system.’ I urge the President to listen to his own words. America is a country of laws, and our Constitution does not grant the President the authority to legalize millions of immigrants with the stroke of a pen.
"Not only is this action wrong, it does absolutely nothing to solve the underlying problems of our broken immigration system. In fact, it may exacerbate the problem.
"The President’s action is a prime example of Washington cynicism. He has responded to Congress and the public’s desire for positive change with an all-or-nothing approach that only damages the prospect of future cooperation. He did not even attempt to start on the right foot and work with us in the New Year.
"This overstep from the President is unfortunately not new. Time and again, this Administration has changed laws of the land to appease its political intentions - such as choosing to enforce some provisions of Obamacare while ignoring others. This has led the U.S. House of Representatives to take the necessary step of filing suit against the Administration to regain the constitutional footing between the branches of government that our Founders intended. Additionally, the House has focused much of its legislative efforts on returning the power to the people, not unelected bureaucrats. And few agencies exude bloated power as much as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"The EPA proposes and enforces rules and regulations that can have major implications on our economy – especially here in the Central Valley. The EPA, however, insists that each new regulation is based on science and data. But despite this intended commitment, they refuse to share the data with the public and stack the board in charge of regulation recommendations (Science Advisory Board or SAB) with a majority of members that favor the heavy regulated agenda of the Administration. This week the House passed two bills that ensure greater transparency and accountability within the EPA by making public all data and science that proposed rules and regulations are based on. We also passed legislation that improves the make-up of SAB and its sub-panels by reinforcing peer review requirements and reducing conflicts of interest.
"Our government is one that should work on behalf of the American people and ensure that laws written and passed by their representatives are not upended or contorted by an Administration. The House will continue to listen to the American people and fight for a government that is representative of its will.
