Ranking Member Cuellar Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the 2024 Homeland Security Funding Bill

Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Appropriations Committee's markup of the fiscal year 2024 Homeland Security bill:

– As Prepared For Delivery –

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to join you today as we markup the Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

The process of working with you and your team in drafting this bill has been a good one, consistent with the tradition of this subcommittee – although there are parts of the bill where we are not in agreement.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge and convey my deep appreciation to all the Department’s personnel for the critical work they do every day to protect the country. And I want to emphasize that my appreciation extends to all of the Department’s personnel.

It is this subcommittee’s responsibility to provide DHS with the resources necessary to carry out their missions and to protect their health and safety; that must always be at the forefront of our deliberations.

While this is not the bill I would have written, I do want to acknowledge that there are a number of bipartisan funding initiatives in the bill. For example, the bill provides $287 million above the request to sustain existing and acquire some additional Border Security Technology capabilities; $20 million to sustain investments in Child Welfare Professionals; $430 million above the request for the U.S. Coast Guard; $37 million above the request for Homeland Security Investigations; $20 million above the request to sustain investments to combat forced labor practices; $13 million above the request for Employee Care and Suicide Prevention programs; and an additional $35 million for additional TSA screening technology at passenger checkpoints.

There are also several bipartisan directives and oversight requirements throughout the bill and report, including budget execution and hiring plans; data on ICE’s detention population; communications support to better respond to disasters; a capabilities gap analysis regarding our ability to combat the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S.; and a plan to achieve 100 Percent Scanning of commercial and passenger vehicles entering the U.S.

Despite these investments and reporting requirements, there are funding decisions and policy riders that I simply cannot support.

When it comes to the border, the bill relies on outdated strategies that we know do not work.

For example, the bill would require $2.1 billion be rescinded and reappropriated for wall construction, a 14th century solution to a 21st century challenge.

It also strips funding to support border communities and nonprofit organizations dealing with increased migration.

The bill also reduces funding for oversight of our immigration detention facilities, including the elimination of the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and it cuts funding for the Family Reunification Task Force.

If we have someone in our custody, we have to protect them. Especially our kids.

It also does not provide funding to USCIS to help reduce backlogs of immigration, refugee, and asylum applications and help Lawful Permanent Residents become citizens.

We need to do the right thing for people who follow the law.

The bill also misses opportunities to make smart investments to address urgent issues facing our country – such as providing more resources to counter the trafficking of illicit narcotics into our country, such as fentanyl and opioids; expanding our capacity and capabilities at our ports of entry and interior checkpoints by providing more CBP Officers, intel specialists, inspection and detection technology, and infrastructure upgrades to keep pace with increasing volumes of trade and travel to the U.S. as global supply chains and international travel rebound to pre-pandemic levels; and requiring an updated Border Security Improvement Plan – which is now completely outdated.

We’re not putting enough money into the checkpoints or the points of entry where the drugs are coming in.

It also includes several policy riders on which we will not be in agreement.

You will see today that we will work to fix some of these deficiencies in the bill, and I hope my colleagues across the aisle will support our efforts. I look forward to continuing to work together so that by the end of this year’s appropriations process, we can produce a final bill that both sides can fully support.

In the meantime, I want to acknowledge your leadership as the new chairman of this subcommittee. You have been open to input from us, willing to find compromise whenever possible, and faithful to the institutional oversight role of the subcommittee. 

I also want to thank the committee staff on both sides who have been highly professional and collegial and have served the Committee well.

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