Date: 2015-03-03
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (republican)
Chamber: S

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 240. the Clean Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. as it provides full funding of the Department of Homeland Security. including support for important federal cybersecurity initiatives. disaster relief and recovery programs. and essential law enforcement activities that are critical for ensuring the Department can help keep our Nation safe from harm. I encourage support of this bill as it does not contain any of the "poison pill" amendments designed to constrain the Presidents authority to defer deportation of undocumented immigrants. Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this time to highlight the pointlessness of the actions of House Republicans to use the funding of the Department of Homeland Security as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from the President. Threatening to not fund a Department. especially one as crucial to the protection of our E296 homeland. just to get your way does not belong in American politics. It is childish. Mr. Speaker. and the time that House Republicans have wasted playing politics with DHS could have been better served passing legislation that actually serves the American people. The full and unconditional funding of the Department of Homeland Security is essential not only to the 18th district. not only to the state of Texas. it is essential to all Americans. I want to point out. specifically. what programs were placed in danger by House Republicans had they gotten their way: 1. $39.7 billion in regular discretionary appropriations for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in fiscal year 2015. 2. $12.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). DHS would be required to accelerate the hiring of CBP officers. 3. $5.96 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plus an additional $345 million from the agencys fee funded accounts. bringing the total to $6.3 billion. 4. $553.6 million in funding to manage the influx of unaccompanied alien children. or "UAC." entering the U.S.. the funding would be used to interdict migrants. care for and transport approximately 58.000 undocumented children to the custody of Health and Human Services (HHS). and facilitate the movement of undocumented families through removal proceedings after crossing the U.S. border. 5. $1.9 billion for both domestic and international investigations. including increases to combat human trafficking. child exploitation. cybercrime. and drug smuggling. and to expand visa vetting capabilities. 6. $4.8 billion for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). 7. $10 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard. 8. $753.2 million for cybersecurity operations in the National Programs and Protection Directorate to fund and sustain improvements to the Federal Network Security and Network Security Deployment programs. 9. $1.7 billion for the U.S. Secret Servicean increase of $80.5 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted levelto begin preparation and training for candidate protection for the 2016 presidential election and to address critical failures in communications and training at the White House Complex. 10. $7 billion for disaster relieffully funding FEMAs stated requirement. and 11. $1.1 billion for Science and Technology. $32.1 million above the Presidents request. I would hope that House Republicans will have learned from this debacle that this tactic of playing political football with an entire Department will not work to further your own ideological agenda. I applaud Speaker BOEHNER for finally coming to his senses in allowing a vote on a clean bill. one that the Senate passed two weeks ago and one that could have already been signed into law. I urge all my colleagues to join me in sending a clean Homeland Security funding bill that will receive the presidential signature needed to become law and provide the resources needed to keep our homeland safe.