It’s hard to forget the first job you ever had and the invaluable lessons it embeds in your mind.
For me, my first job was working construction every summer with my father. I’d be lying to you if I said I woke up every day itching to get to the construction site – it was hard work and we all know that summers in North Carolina can be scorching – but I would end every day with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. I learned a lot of lessons building houses that I still carry with me today: the value of a hard day’s work, the importance of teamwork and the necessity of a solid foundation devoid of cracks.
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson
This Week in Washington
Much like the foundation of a building, our nation is built on a solid foundation carefully planned and established by our Founding Fathers. This foundation is our Constitution, which created three branches of government and a unique set of checks and balances to ensure that one single branch does not become too powerful and that all branches remain responsive to the will of the people. It laid out a detailed blue print for each branch of government and designed each to uphold the laws of the land. One thing the Constitution makes clear – it’s Congress’ job to write our laws and the president’s job to enforce those laws. To quote President Obama directly, “… I am obliged to execute the law. That’s what the Executive Branch means. I can’t just make the laws up by myself.”
Despite his admission to the very clear guidelines of our Constitution, President Obama chose to single-handedly act on his own and rewrite our immigration laws, granting amnesty to nearly five million illegal immigrants. Ever since then, I have been working with my colleagues in Congress to find the best tactic to successfully block the president’s illegal actions. Two weeks ago, I led my like-minded conservative colleagues to call on House Republican Leadership demanding that we stand firm in our efforts to oppose the President’s executive action and immediately ban funding for its implementation.
Friends, I’m pleased to announce that last week the House took action to do just that. Not only did we fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a responsible manner, but in a series of amendments to the DHS funding bill, we one by one:
- blocked the president’s executive amnesty,
- rolled back the prosecutorial discretion that allowed him to turn a blind eye to those in the country illegally,
- prohibited funding for further Deferred Action applications,
- forced the administration to treat any illegal immigrants convicted of any form of domestic abuse or sexual crime as the highest priority for deportation,
- and put the needs of American workers and those who arrived in our country legally before those who cheated the system.
In addition to blocking the president’s illegal executive amnesty, this legislation champions conservative reforms that make the most out of each tax dollar to invest in critical security and law enforcement efforts that protect our nation against threats and strengthen security at our borders.
By pursuing illegal executive actions, President Obama established a dangerous precedent that erodes our stable foundation and threatens the stability of our nation. I share the belief with the American people that the rule of law must be upheld, not unilaterally changed at the whim of a President. I made a promise that I would fight to block the President’s unconstitutional actions and I’m proud of the legislation the House passed last week. Now, it’s up to the Senate to continue the fight and put this critical legislation on the President’s desk to make him choose between the will of the American people and our nation’s rule of law or his unconstitutional, unilateral actions.
Richard Hudson, a Republican, represents the 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district includes a small part of Mecklenburg County and takes in all or parts of the counties of Cabarrus, Union, Randolph, Rowan, Davidson, Stanly, Anson, Montgomery, Richmond, Scotland and Robeson.
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