[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 4, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S745-S747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDING

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I was very disappointed yesterday that 
the Senate did not vote to proceed to the consideration of the Homeland 
Security appropriations bill. I hope we will have an opportunity to 
reconsider that vote and we will agree to take up the bill.
  The need to fund the Department of Homeland Security for the 
remainder of this fiscal year should not be in question. We know that 
we are living in a complex world with ever-changing threats to our 
Nation's security. The Department that we created specifically to 
combat those threats will operate better and more efficiently with a 
full-year funding plan that reflects updated spending priorities. I 
have heard no Senator dispute that.
  The leaders of the Homeland Security Subcommittee--both Democrat and 
Republican--put a great deal of effort into drafting this measure. The 
bill provides $10.7 billion for Customs and Border Protection--an 
increase of $119 million over fiscal year 2014. This amount will 
support border infrastructure, technology needs, roads, air and marine 
assets, and higher levels of personnel, including Border Patrol agents 
and Customs and Border Patrol officers.

  The bill provides nearly $6 billion for Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement--an increase of 13 percent.
  The bill provides increased funds to identify, apprehend, and remove 
criminal aliens and provides increases for investigations to help 
combat human trafficking, cyber crime, child exploitation, and drug 
smuggling.
  The bill provides support for the Secret Service and congressional 
oversight, including $25 million to address security needs at the White 
House complex.
  The bill provides more than $10 billion for the Coast Guard. This 
includes additional resources to continue the recapitalization of the 
Coast Guard fleet.
  The bill provides funding for the Disaster Relief Fund. When disaster 
strikes, it is important that the Disaster Relief Fund contain the 
resources necessary to support an effective response.
  The bill also includes House amendments designed to reverse the 
President's unilateral actions on immigration enforcement. Given the 
timing and breadth of the President's actions and the challenge to 
congressional authority those actions represent, it can come as no 
surprise that they provoked a congressional response.
  I am speaking to remind Senators of the urgent and important need we 
have for the adoption of funding for the Department of Homeland 
Security and other provisions this bill contains. I urge my colleagues 
and the leadership to help ensure that we move the Senate in the 
direction of early passage after thorough consideration of the 
provisions of this bill, the passage of this bill to protect our 
national security.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Lee pertaining to the introduction of S. 356 are 
printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and 
Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. LEE. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, as we continue this debate on funding 
for the Department of Homeland Security, we face some fundamental 
questions. Are we going to prioritize the safety and security of the 
American people or are we going to put the country at risk because of 
an ideological disagreement? That is the choice we face with this bill.
  We can debate immigration. I think Members of the Democratic caucus 
would be happy to do that. The Senate did that 2 years ago when we 
passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill with 68 bipartisan 
votes. But this is not the time for us to have this debate.
  We need to fund the Department of Homeland Security now so they can 
continue to do their work. We can either pass a clean bill that makes 
critical investments in our Nation's security or we can put our Nation 
at risk by playing politics with funding for the Department of Homeland 
Security.
  I appreciate what the Appropriations Committee chairman, Senator 
Cochran from Mississippi, did earlier today by coming down and laying 
out what is in the funding for the Department of Homeland Security and 
laying out the important work of the Department of Homeland Security. I 
believe most of us appreciate the work they do and why it is so 
important to the safety and security of the country. That is why we 
need to pass a clean bill to ensure that they are funded for the rest 
of this year.
  For those who are in the Senate Chamber and for those watching at 
home who have not been following what has gone on here in Washington 
with this bill, I will provide a little history on how we got to where 
we are today.
  In the closing weeks of the 113th Congress, Senator Mikulski, then 
chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Congressman Rogers, 
chair of the House Appropriations Committee, negotiated spending for 
the entire government, including the Department of Homeland Security. 
This was a compromise measure. Not everyone got what they wanted, but 
the bill funded Homeland Security priorities at levels that would 
ensure that the Department could fulfill its mission.
  Then, sadly, politics came into play. Some Members of the House 
Republican caucus demanded that the Homeland Security bill be removed 
from the larger budget because of immigration issues. They didn't like 
the President's Executive action on immigration. Now the entire 
Department is funded on a short-term basis through February 27, which 
is just 23 days from now.
  Last month the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill to 
fund Homeland Security, but they added politically divisive language 
that rolls back protections for immigrant children, among other anti-
immigrant measures. It also would roll back some of the efforts for 
surveillance and efforts to address illegal immigrants who are 
committing crimes when they come into this country.
  Because of these controversial immigration riders, President Obama 
immediately announced that he would veto the House-passed bill. Last 
week, the entire Democratic caucus of the Senate signed a letter to 
Majority Leader McConnell urging him to put the security of our Nation 
first, to put politics aside, and to work with us to pass a clean 
Homeland Security funding bill

[[Page S746]]

without controversial immigration riders attached--to pass a bill the 
President can sign.
  I ask unanimous consent to have the letter from the Senate Democratic 
caucus printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                 Washington, DC, January 27, 2015.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Senate Majority Leader, The Capitol,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Majority Leader McConnell: As we rapidly approach the 
     date on which the Department of Homeland Security's funding 
     expires, and as law enforcement officials face major threats 
     to our nation's safety and security, we write with one simple 
     request: work with us to pass a clean bill that funds 
     Homeland Security for the remainder of the fiscal year.
       The House bill cannot pass the Senate. Democratic Leader 
     Harry Reid has called for a clean funding bill for the 
     Department of Homeland Security. The President has also made 
     clear that he will veto any bill that expressly limits his 
     authority to exercise prosecutorial discretion on immigration 
     matters. While we agree our current immigration system needs 
     comprehensive reform, including border security enhancements, 
     this appropriations bill is not the place for this debate.
       In light of recent events in Paris, Ottawa and Australia, 
     the threat of ISIS and the proliferation of foreign fighters 
     that return home radicalized, DHS funding should not be tied 
     to divisive political issues that could jeopardize this 
     critical funding.
       We are now four months into the fiscal year. A series of 
     short-term continuing resolutions to fund DHS should be off 
     the table. Secretary Jeh Johnson has noted that if DHS 
     continues to operate on CRs, counterterrorism efforts will be 
     limited, border security initiatives and grants to state and 
     local law enforcement will go unfunded, and aviation security 
     efforts will be hampered.
       Every day, new threats emerge that endanger our citizens at 
     home and our allies abroad. We should not cast doubt on 
     future funding for the Department of Homeland Security at a 
     time when the entire nation should be marshalling collective 
     resources to defend against terrorism. Uncertainty undermines 
     security.
       Last December, House and Senate negotiators reached a 
     bipartisan agreement on a bill to fund DHS for the entire 
     fiscal year. The best way to provide certainty and stability 
     for the men and women who fulfill DHS's mission to protect 
     the United States from harm is to immediately schedule a vote 
     so that this compromise bill can become law.
       We know that you share our desire to keep our nation safe 
     in these dangerous times, and we thank you for considering 
     our request.
           Sincerely,
         Jeanne Shaheen; Richard J. Durbin; Patty Murray; 
           Elizabeth Warren; Edward J. Markey; Dianne Feinstein; 
           Heidi Heitkamp; Barbara A. Mikulski; Charles E. 
           Schumer; Debbie Stabenow; Thomas R. Carper; Tammy 
           Baldwin; Mazie K. Hirono; Patrick J. Leahy;
         Angus S. King, Jr.; Mark R. Warner; Richard Blumenthal; 
           Bernard Sanders; Sheldon Whitehouse; Benjamin L. 
           Cardin; Christopher Murphy; Kirsten E. Gillibrand; Jack 
           Reed; Sherrod Brown; Robert Menendez; Christopher A. 
           Coons; Brian Schatz; Ron Wyden;
         Tim Kaine; Cory A. Booker; Jon Tester; Amy Klobuchar; 
           Claire McCaskill; Gary C. Peters; Al Franken; Barbara 
           Boxer; Tom Udall; Michael F. Bennet; Martin Heinrich; 
           Bill Nelson; Jeff Merkley; Robert P. Casey, Jr.; Joe 
           Manchin, III; Maria Cantwell; Joe Donnelly.

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Cloture was not invoked on the House bill. We saw that 
yesterday in our vote. It is a bill that cannot become law. There are 
only 24 days left before funding for the Homeland Security Department 
expires.
  The House bill cannot move forward. So I urge my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle to work with us to pass a clean full-year 
budget, without controversial riders, to fund Homeland Security.
  As the ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, I am 
ready to work with my colleague Senator Hoeven, who chairs the 
Subcommittee on Homeland Security, and the chair and ranking member of 
the Appropriations Committee, Senator Cochran and Senator Mikulski, and 
the entire committee to pass a bill to keep our Nation safe and to 
avoid disrupting the work of the Department of Homeland Security and to 
keep this critical agency operating at full strength. In fact, Senator 
Mikulski and I introduced a bill last week, S. 272, which would do 
exactly that.
  We live in dangerous times. Every day new threats emerge that 
threaten our citizens at home and our allies abroad. The Department of 
Homeland Security's role in protecting our country from these threats 
cannot be overstated, and its funding should not be controversial.
  Right now the U.S. law enforcement community is on high alert for 
terror threats after attacks in Sydney, Australia, and Ottawa, Canada, 
and, of course, the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.
  Just 2 weeks ago, an Ohio man was arrested when authorities 
discovered he was plotting to blow up the U.S. Capitol in an ISIS-
inspired plan. ISIS has thousands of foreign fighters, including 
Americans among their ranks, who can return to their home countries to 
do harm and who say they intend to do that.
  We were all horrified yesterday by the news of the courageous 
Jordanian pilot who was killed in such a barbaric and disgusting way by 
the Islamic State.
  We have recently learned that ISIS plans to take advantage of the 
Syrian refugee crisis and to move their fighters into Turkey and 
Europe. These are real threats. They are a clear and present danger to 
this country, and because they are so real, we need our 
counterterrorism intelligence community operating at full strength. An 
essential part of our Nation's counterterrorism and intelligence 
infrastructure is within the Department of Homeland Security.
  As Michael Chertoff, George W. Bush's Secretary of Homeland Security 
said, ``intelligence is not only about spies and satellites.''
  Intelligence is also about the disciplined daily tasks of collecting 
and analyzing thousands of reports and investigations that are ongoing 
all across our country--from our local and State police, our Border 
Patrol agents, our port security personnel, and our Coast Guard 
patrolling our shores.
  The Department of Homeland Security takes these thousands of bits of 
information, sifts out the critical details, coordinates with our 
foreign intelligence agencies, and gets critical information to our 
first responders on the ground as quickly as possible. This work is 
critical to keeping our Nation safe from terrorism.
  One of the chief criticisms of the 9/11 report was that we need to 
improve intelligence information sharing between the intelligence 
community and our first responders on the ground.
  I was Governor on September 11. I know some of the challenges that we 
had in New Hampshire with that information sharing. Well, that is one 
of the missions the Department of Homeland Security was created to 
carry out.
  If you talk to Governors and mayors, police chiefs and sheriffs, and 
the folks on the ground who are responsible for keeping our citizens 
safe every day, ask them about their fusion centers. Ask them whether 
they want their law enforcement to go back to the days when all of our 
intelligence was bottled up in Washington, DC, and our towns and cities 
were on their own. Of course they don't want to go back to being kept 
in the dark. There is too much at stake, but that is what could happen 
if the Department of Homeland Security is not fully functioning.
  I wish to point out that we received a letter from the U.S. 
Conference of Mayors. It is signed by Tom Cochran, CEO and executive 
director. He sent it to Senators Cochran, Mikulski, Hoeven, and 
Shaheen. I will not read the whole letter, but they point out a number 
of issues which I believe are important in laying out the challenge and 
why we need to pass a clean funding bill.
  Mr. Cochran says:

       I write on behalf of the nation's mayors to urge you to 
     expeditiously report out a ``clean'' bill to fund the 
     Department of Homeland Security for the remainder of the 
     current fiscal year. A fully functioning Department of 
     Homeland Security is critical to the security of our nation, 
     our cities, and our citizens. A Department operating on a 
     short-term continuing resolution, despite its best efforts, 
     faces uncertainty and delays and simply cannot be fully 
     functioning.

  He goes on to elaborate a number of the important programs and 
important work that the Department of Homeland Security does, and I 
will not read all of that.
  I ask unanimous consent that this letter be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


[[Page S747]]


                                                 The United States


                                         Conference of Mayors,

                                 Washington, DC, February 4, 2015.
     Hon. Thad Cochran, Chairman,
     Hon. Barbara Mikulski, Ranking Member,
     Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
     Hon. John Hoeven, Chairman,
     Hon. Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member,
     Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee on 
         Appropriations, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senators Cochran, Mikulski, Hoeven, and Shaheen: I 
     write on behalf of the nation's mayors to urge you to 
     expeditiously report out a ``clean'' bill to fund the 
     Department of Homeland Security for the remainder of the 
     current fiscal year. A fully functioning Department of 
     Homeland Security is critical to the security of our nation, 
     our cities, and our citizens. A Department operating on a 
     short-term continuing resolution, despite its best efforts, 
     faces uncertainty and delays and simply cannot be fully 
     functioning.
       Under its current short-term continuing resolution, DHS 
     cannot undertake any new spending initiatives to respond to 
     national needs, including those along the border, or release 
     any grant funding for non-disaster programs. Among the non-
     disaster programs it funds are the State Homeland Security 
     Grant Program and the Urban Areas Security Initiative, which 
     provide vital resources to our cities to help them prevent 
     and prepare for the threat of a terrorist attack. The Urban 
     Search and Rescue System is a national resource that provides 
     lifesaving aid to disaster-stricken communities both at home 
     and abroad. The Assistance to Firefighter Grant programs help 
     local fire departments meet their baseline readiness needs. 
     Emergency Management Performance Grants help to fund the 
     emergency managers so critical to our preparedness to prevent 
     and respond to disasters when events--manmade and natural--
     occur.
       Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson recently listed 
     just a few of the activities vital to public safety and 
     security that the Department has funded, including new 
     communications equipment for over 80 Los Angeles area public 
     safety agencies, surveillance cameras and environmental 
     sensors used by NYPD to detect in real time potential 
     terrorist activity, upgraded oxygen masks and tanks for over 
     30 Denver area; and 150 firefighter jobs in Detroit.
       The current threat environment is serious, given the 
     terrorist attacks in Paris, Ottawa and Sydney and public 
     calls by terrorist organizations for further attacks on the 
     Western targets. It's vital that Congress provide stable 
     funding for the remainder of the year to the agency charged 
     with keeping all of us safe and secure, the U.S. Department 
     of Homeland Security.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Tom Cochran,
                                       CEO and Executive Director.

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I will also point out a letter we 
received, which again, was addressed to Senator Cochran and Senator 
Mikulski.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 3 
more minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. This is from emergency managers, and it says:

       The nation's local emergency managers urge you to include 
     full-year funding for programs at the U.S. Department of 
     Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency (FEMA) that support state and local emergency 
     management programs. These programs are critical to preparing 
     our nation for all hazards including terrorist attacks.

  Again, they go on at length, and I ask unanimous consent to have this 
letter printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                      International Association of


                                           Emergency Managers,

                               Falls Church, VA, February 4, 2015.
     Hon. Thad Cochran,
     Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Barbara Mikulski,
     Vice Chairwoman, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Cochran and Vice Chairwoman Mikulski: The 
     International Association of Emergency Managers--US Council 
     appreciates the work of your committee as you consider the FY 
     2015 budget for the Department of Homeland Security. The 
     nation's local emergency managers urge you to include full-
     year funding for programs at the U.S. Department of Homeland 
     Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
     (FEMA) that support state and local emergency management 
     programs. These programs are critical to preparing our nation 
     for all hazards including terrorist attacks.
       The Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG), called 
     ``the backbone of the nation's emergency management system'' 
     in an Appropriations Conference Report, constitutes the only 
     source of direct federal funding for state and local 
     governments to provide basic emergency coordination and 
     planning capabilities including those related to homeland 
     security. The grant is 50-50 cost shared and supports state 
     and local government initiatives for planning, training, 
     exercises, public education, as well as response and recovery 
     coordination during actual events. When a coordinated 
     response is required, it is always a complex undertaking. 
     Local emergency management is core to the coordination and 
     collaboration of multiple agencies, jurisdictions, and 
     sectors.
       A recent example of the importance of EMPG is provided by 
     Dr. Russell Decker, Director of Emergency Management and 
     Homeland Security for Allen County Ohio.
       In the case of our January 10 refinery explosion and fire, 
     EMPG funds made a successful response possible with trained 
     emergency managers and our public safety partners 
     implementing response plans developed and trained through 
     EMPG funding, hazard materials response and air monitoring 
     equipment funded through State Homeland Security Grant 
     Program funds ensured the safety of responders and nearby 
     residents. I'd hate to think what could have been the outcome 
     if that planning, training, and exercising had not occurred. 
     Since many locals rely on EMPG, extended delays can mean 
     staff layoffs or delays in filling vacancies, postponed 
     training exercises, delays in plan revisions and also delays 
     in acquisition of needed equipment for EOCs which could mean 
     increased costs when funds do become available.
       The delay in receiving this annual EMPG funding causes 
     uncertainty for local governments. Some preparedness 
     activities must be put on hold until the reimbursement is 
     assured.
       Also important are grant programs such as the State 
     Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Areas Security 
     Initiative which help support local government preparations 
     for the continued threat of terrorism. Funding is needed to 
     sustain currently established and critical programs.
       We respectfully urge that full year funding be provided for 
     FY 2015 to end the uncertainty.
           Sincerely,
     John ``Rusty'' Russell,
       President, International Association of Emergency Managers, 
     U.S. Council.

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. There are any number of reasons why we need to pass a 
clean funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. We should 
be working to do that now. We should stop the ideological debate and 
focus on the risk to this country if we fail to act, the potential risk 
we would face by passing a continuing resolution, and the risk to this 
country if we shut down the Department of Homeland Security. None of 
those options are acceptable.
  We need to work together and get this done. I urge my colleagues to 
do that.
  I thank the Presiding Officer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.

                          ____________________