Statement : Homeland Security

"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."

"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."

"There are some things in the proposed budget that I believe will find strong bipartisan support, such as funding for the Coast Guard’s second Polar Security Cutter. However, there are also proposals you should not expect to see funded in the House bill. Among those are more funding for border barriers and the expansion of detention bed capacity, which I believe are unnecessary, particularly in light of high priority needs such as continuing to hire customs officers to speed the flow of trade and travel at the ports of entry."