Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement after the House of Representatives voted 225 to 201 to file a lawsuit against President Barack Obama. Congresswoman Clarke voted “no.”

“Instead of pursuing the interests of the American people – developing a plan for comprehensive immigration reform, increasing the minimum wage, or renewing the Highway Trust Fund and Export-Import Bank of the United States – Republicans in the House of Representative has decided to focus on a lawsuit without merit that legal experts have concluded does not have any chance of success, and that a majority of Americans oppose. We were sent to Washington, D.C., by the people we represent to act on their behalf, to offer practical solutions to the problems that exist today in our society. The resolution we voted on tonight was a distraction in a time of crisis – at a moment in which there are  50,000 unaccompanied children detained at the border and escalating conflicts in the Middle East. We cannot afford to become distracted from the real issues.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.