U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) and Missouri colleagues today sent a letter to U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill calling on her to reconsider her position of blocking open debate on legislation to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Reps. Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler, Ann Wagner, and Jason Smith joined Luetkemeyer in sending a letter to Senator McCaskill regarding H.R. 240, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act.

“Today’s letter to Missouri’s senior senator is respectfully reminding her that DHS funding expires in 11 days and it is the job of the House of Representatives and the Senate to come to an agreement on how to fund this agency,” Luetkemeyer said. “The House completed its job by passing legislation and it is crucial that the Senate begin the debate process instead of blocking it. You recently said ‘our immigration system is broken, and I support a comprehensive plan to fix it, but executive orders aren’t the way to do it.’ I call on you to live up to that statement and vote to move forward with consideration of this important legislation.”

In December, President Obama issued executive actions which would unilaterally rewrite our nation’s immigration laws. In response to his actions, the House approved the DHS Appropriations bill in January to fund the agency while prohibiting funding for the president’s unconstitutional executive actions. The Senate now has 11 more days to bring legislation to the floor and debate and vote on it before funding expires.