addiction which begins legally through the prescription process. there has been no attempt by this administration to do anything about that part of this devastating drug addiction thatt this country has and has had for many years. that has nothing to do with the southern border. well, that s exactly right. and congress on a bipartisan basis has passed some legislation to try to expand treatment for it, but we ve also, and ironically, in the homeland security bill that the president is nowll holding up, there are additional funds to screen for drugs that are coming across the t border. as you say, a lot of the opioid addiction crisis is a totally homegrown crisis, but to the extent we have a problem with drugs coming across the border,g they re coming across the ports of entry and we have provided additional funds in the bill that the president has said he will not sign to address that particular issue.
that has nothing to do with the southern border. well, that s exactly right. and congress on a bipartisan basis has passed some legislation to try to expand treatment for it, but we ve also, and ironically, in the homeland security bill that the president is nowll holding up, there are additional funds to screen for drugs that are coming across the t border. as you say, a lot of the opioid addiction crisis is a totally homegrown crisis, but to the extent we have a problem with drugs coming across the border, they re coming across the ports of entry and we have provided additional funds in the bill that the president has said he will not sign to address that particular issue. and i have to say, lawrence, every day that goes by as you and steve werenc talking, is another day where senate republicans are complicit with the president in this shutdown. and that s why it s important they join senate democrats in passing the bills that are on the senatell calendar right now.
southern border. well, that s exactly right. and congress on a bipartisan basis has passed some legislation to try to expand treatment for it, but we ve also, and ironically, in the homeland security bill that the president is nowll holding up, there are additional funds to screen for drugs that are coming across the t border. as you say, a lot of the opioid addiction crisis is a totally homegrown crisis, but to the extent we have a problem with drugs coming across the border,g they re coming across the ports of entry and we have provided additional funds in the bill that the president has said he will not sign to address that particular issue. and i have to say, lawrence, every day that goes by as you and steve werenc talking, is another day where senate republicans are complicit with the president in this shutdown. and that s why it s important they join senate democrats in passing the bills that are on the senatell calendar right now.
funding bills, sign off on the other funding bills that can easily sail through congress and separate out the homeland security bill and border funding. let me play what he said. why must there be a partial government shutdown affecting agencies that have nothing to do with the debate? really for two reasons. these were the bills that were remaining at the end of the year. that is right. from mike pence and sarah sanders, they are not answering the question. it is all about leverage. if they pass the bills they lost leverage if they had leverage because democrats are not going to feel compelled to give money to the border wall. nancy pelosi is in power. democrats have been frustrated by the lack of oversight of the administration. they are not going to give in on
stay as the statue of liberty, not a big concrete wall. reporter: the new house majority leader said his side was prepared to vote for a bill the senate passed right before christmas. we were prepared to vote for that bill, but the republicans wanted to shut down the government. we need to open up government and then negotiate. not the other way around. we re prepared to negotiate. we re prepared to have the homeland security bill approved for a short term so that we have to negotiate. reporter: a new republican senator said he has shown president trump willing to negotiate, too. the president is saying let s work this through. he has offered legalization for dreamers. so if you re somebody who has a dreamer in your family or if your church group or civic group is supporting a family that has a dreamer, there is a way for them to have legalization that