Homeland Security

"Today’s bill reflects House Democrats’ commitment to putting necessary checks on the President’s cruel immigration enforcement efforts and invests resources where they are truly needed."

"Throughout the bill, we provide increases above the request to help maintain current services and invest in high priority capabilities and activities across the broad spectrum of homeland security missions."

"Unfortunately, the rhetoric and the policies of this Administration continue to make it difficult to achieve the right balance between enforcement and due process, between security and humane treatment, because they have instilled fear in my community and across the nation. I hear repeatedly of families afraid to go to work; of Dreamers who live with anxiety about their future in the only country they know to be their home; and of elementary school teachers who state their young students exhibit signs of PTSD because they are afraid that one day they will come home to an empty home. By all indications, the Administration has exacerbated our challenges in the interior, and especially at the border, where they have put the lives and wellbeing of thousands of migrants at risk."

"Unfortunately, some areas of the FY 2021 Coast Guard request are less promising. It leaves large holes in infrastructure programs and procurement for assets such as the Fast Response Cutter and the C-130. I also want to take a moment to express my frustration about the lack of complete information we have received regarding funding increases to the Offshore Patrol Cutter program."

"I have obvious concerns about spending another $2 billion on additional border barriers. But aside from any debate we might have about them, this administration continues to circumvent the will of Congress by diverting billions of dollars above what Congress specifically appropriates for this activity. The House bill will simply not include this funding."

"Turning to Fiscal Year 2021, the budget yet again calls for the unnecessary hiring of an additional 2,844 ICE law enforcement officers and proposes an outrageous increase to 60,000 detention beds. The Administration appears to have learned nothing, as Democrats will not fund unnecessary whims of the President or his campaign promises, particularly for an agency that lacks transparency and whose enforcement tactics are out of control. The request again misses the point, by focusing on a political agenda instead of securing our homeland."