Ranking Member Underwood Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the 2025 Homeland Security Funding Bill

Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Appropriations Committee's markup of the fiscal year 2025 Homeland Security bill:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is an honor to be with you all today in my new capacity as Ranking Member for the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee.

I’d like to thank Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Subcommittee Chairman Amodei for their continued commitment to this process, as well as the subcommittee staff for their hard work and support.

While we have had difficult and necessary conversations about the legislation we are considering today—I am thankful for your partnership in this meaningful work that advances our security and the well-being of our nation.

Through bipartisan work we were able to agree on some shared priorities, including sustained funding for Child Well-Being specialists, expansion of employee wellness and suicide prevention programs, and resources to increase accountability at the Coast Guard as we work to protect cadets from sexual harassment and assault.

Yet, even with these silver linings, the Fiscal Year 2025 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill put forward by Republicans today falls short of addressing our country’s real and urgent needs, for many reasons.

The legislation not only increases funding for inhumane, costly, and ineffective responses to the humanitarian challenges at our border. It cuts $2.1 billion to Border Patrol operations—including the complete elimination of the Shelter and Services Program and the critical resources our Border Patrol agents need to fully execute their responsibilities.

Let me be clear: eliminating the Shelter and Services Program will not stop migration. It will only prevent communities from managing surges humanely and safely, ensuring chaos and desperation across our country.

This bill also underfunds critical cyber defense programs, leaving Americans vulnerable and unprepared to deal with cyber threats at a time when our schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure are under constant attack.

Furthermore, this bill puts our constituents at risk of terrorism and mass violence in our home districts by stripping much-needed, bipartisan funding for targeted violence and terrorism prevention grant programs.

And in addition to gutting critical funding that keeps our borders and communities safe, this extreme bill is full of harmful, partisan policy riders: preventing DHS from implementing executive orders that advance racial equity, diversity, and opportunity; allowing DHS employees, contractors, and grantees to discriminate against marriages that are not between a man and a woman; prohibiting the use of expanded legal pathways that have been proven to be successful in reducing reliance on migrant shelters, easing disorder at the border, deterring human and narcotic trafficking, and advancing national security; encouraging ICE to take enforcement actions at sensitive locations, like schools, hospitals, churches, childcare centers, or funerals; preventing ICE from prioritizing the cases that pose a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security; and impairing the government’s ability to quickly vet and approve the best-suited sponsors to care for unaccompanied children.

Most of these riders were included in the majority’s bill for fiscal year 2024. Democrats fought hard to ensure those polices weren’t enacted then – and we are willing and prepared to ensure they won’t be enacted for fiscal year 2025 as well.

By including these riders, the majority is demonstrating that this legislation is an unserious messaging bill and further delaying getting a bill to the President’s desk before October 1st.

The challenges our country faces cannot be understated. We are living in unprecedented times, and the American people are looking for Congress to set aside partisan politics and do the right thing.

We need to work together to solve both new and old problems with innovative and effective solutions—instead of the outdated and inhumane policies put forward in this bill.

As we confront threats from foreign adversaries, work to mitigate natural disasters, combat the rise of domestic terrorism, respond to increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks, and counter the flow of dangerous narcotics like fentanyl—the appropriations process gives us a chance to put our money where our mouth is.

Unfortunately, this extreme, partisan bill misses that mark and ignores our country’s most pressing needs. That is why I cannot support it.

In the coming months, I look forward to working with my colleagues to produce a bipartisan bill that puts people over politics and funds the priorities that will keep our country safe, healthy, and prepared to face our challenges with resolve.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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