[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 26, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4167-H4208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2025
General Leave
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on H.R. 8752, and that I may include
tabular material on the same.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Nevada?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316 and rule
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 8752.
The Chair appoints the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks) to
preside over the Committee of the Whole.
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In the Committee of the Whole
Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill
(H.R. 8752) making appropriations for the Department of Homeland
Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, and for other
purposes, with Mrs. Miller-Meeks in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the
first time.
General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed 1
hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of
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the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees.
The gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei) and the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Ms. Underwood) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Cole, for his
leadership throughout the fiscal year 2025 process and his support as
we continue to take conservative appropriations bills to the floor.
I also thank the ranking member of the full committee, Ms. DeLauro,
and the ranking member of the subcommittee, Ms. Underwood, who worked
with us in good faith on the bill despite some disagreements on policy.
I thank them for the opportunity to kick off this appropriations
season, if you will, and I am looking forward to getting started here.
Lastly, I express my gratitude to the staff on both sides for their
tireless efforts. As we all know, without them, this would be a pretty
tough thing and a much different thing to do.
Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may
consume, and I rise in opposition to the majority's Homeland Security
appropriations bill for 2025.
First, I want to start by acknowledging the hard work of those who
are serving on the front lines at the Department of Homeland Security.
They are making sacrifices every day to protect this country, and I am
committed to recognizing that. Many of the policies I pushed to have
included in the bill acknowledge both the challenges and obstacles
these men and women face.
For example, today's bill includes key priorities that focus on
expanding employee wellness and suicide prevention programs, including
funding additional wellness centers that build upon the successes of
the El Paso pilot, providing resources to increase accountability at
the Coast Guard as we work to protect cadets from sexual harassment and
assault, and improving access to contraceptives for Coast Guard
servicemembers and their family members.
However, despite these silver linings, the fiscal year 2025 Homeland
Security appropriations bill put forward by Republicans falls short of
addressing our country's real and urgent needs.
The legislation not only increases funding for inhumane, costly, and
ineffective responses to the humanitarian crisis at our border, but it
also cuts $2.1 billion to border security operations, including the
complete elimination of the shelter and services program and the
critical resources our U.S. Border Patrol agents need to secure the
border.
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.
The bill also guts funding for refugee and asylum programs and even
includes a provision that would cut over $300 million in fee funding
for the asylum program. The proposed cuts to the asylum program would
only further overwhelm our broken immigration system and ensure that
more people are released from DHS custody without legal status. That
outcome is not good for anyone.
The funding choices made by the majority in this bill will result in
more people being released into the interior while they likely wait
years for their case to be decided.
The disappointing truth is that this bill doubles down on outdated,
ineffective border strategies that ignore reality and will waste
billions in taxpayer dollars. These ineffective policies will leave our
communities exposed to humanitarian crises without the resources
necessary to respond.
With this bill, House Republicans are turning their back on U.S.
Border Patrol agents and the critical funds they need to maintain safe
and humane facilities.
The failures of this bill continue. 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.
In the face of threats of terrorism and violent extremism that have
been highlighted by both the prior and current administrations, this
bill eliminates funding for the Center for Prevention Programs and
Partnerships, eliminates funding for the targeted violence and
terrorism prevention grant program, cuts funding for the Countering
Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, and includes statutory restrictions
that would prevent the Department from taking the important actions
needed to reverse the alarming trends we see in violent extremism and
terrorism.
If passed as written, this bill would leave our communities with
nothing to address some of the most urgent threats we are facing across
the United States. This legislation reflects a missed opportunity to
work in a bipartisan manner to prioritize the needs of our Nation,
respond to existing and emerging threats, and address the concerns
Americans have expressed about our immigration system, national
security, climate change, and more.
The challenges our country faces cannot be overstated. We are living
in unprecedented times, and the American people are looking for
Congress to set aside partisan politics and do the right thing.
Unfortunately, this bill misses the mark and ignores our country's most
pressing needs. That is why I cannot support it in its current form.
Earlier this week, President Biden issued a statement confirming that
he would veto this bill if presented with it.
We must do better and work collaboratively on a bill that would meet
the real and urgent needs of our Nation. In its current state, this
bill does not do that.
Madam Chair, I urge my majority colleagues to abandon this partisan
theater and work with Democrats 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 the challenges with
resolve.
Madam Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the distinguished ranking member of the
Appropriations Committee.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the Republican
majority's Homeland Security appropriations bill.
First, I wish to thank the subcommittee staff in the majority and
minority for their efforts, especially Bob Joachim and Shannon McCully.
I also thank the ranking member for yielding time.
This Homeland Security bill fails to secure the border and instead
stokes chaos and disorder, wasting hundreds of millions in taxpayer
dollars along the way.
The House majority has rejected every serious legislative effort to
address and lessen the crisis at the border. They rejected one of the
toughest bipartisan border bills in history that had a viable path to
passage, pronouncing it dead without any debate.
When the President asked for additional resources to secure the
border, my colleagues across the aisle ignored that as well, even after
they told us that we had to ``take care of our border first'' before we
could provide any funding to Ukraine and our other allies.
Madam Chair, we provided the necessary funding to our allies, for
which I am very grateful, but we failed our responsibilities to give
Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement the resources needed to
manage the crisis at the border and to stop our communities from being
overwhelmed by a disorderly and outdated immigration system.
Democrats were ready to consider the bipartisan solution that had
been reached by the United States Senate negotiators, but at the
eleventh hour, it was the other side of the aisle that insisted that it
could no longer support securing our border as part of the national
security package. They would not even let us debate the bill.
Let me point out what policies the majority rejected and left on the
table: one, establishing a border emergency
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authority to shut down the border when our system gets overwhelmed;
two, ending the widespread releases of recent border crossers by
establishing and funding noncustodial government supervision for those
eligible to remain and a rapid consequence system for those who are
not; three, closing loopholes in our asylum system that are exploited
by criminal cartels; four, funding 50,000 detention beds; five, funding
additional agents and officers for Customs and Border Protection; and
the list goes on.
That bipartisan legislation was supported by the National Border
Patrol Council, which is the Border Patrol agents' own union, the
Chamber of Commerce, and the South Texas Alliance of Cities.
As far as being serious about solving anything at all, the bill
before us is simply a facade. In the midst of a crisis situation at our
southern border, the majority's bill cuts border security operations by
$2.1 billion. It is a 25 percent cut from fiscal year 2024. Are they
serious about border security when they cut $2.1 billion?
The bill wastes taxpayer money on impractical border measures and
ineffective barriers. This bill withholds the resources needed to
manage the border, to process and vet the increased number of people
arriving in the United States, and to support border communities and
cities that are receiving migrants across the country.
Why would we not want to help our border communities and our cities,
the very places in our districts confronting this crisis? This is a
missed opportunity to support humane pathways and processes for people
who require and are legally entitled to refuge in our country, and it
is a missed opportunity to reinforce our security, our preparedness,
and our response capabilities.
The majority's bill weakens our national security with inadequate
cyber and infrastructure security investments and by failing to counter
extremism. The bill specifically restrains the government's ability to
counter disinformation campaigns, which are being used by global
adversaries and foreign actors seeking to undermine our elections.
The majority's Homeland Security bill once again includes dozens of
pointless and cruel policy riders that harm women, divide Americans,
divide the Congress, and create chaos.
We all know the final funding bills will require bipartisan
negotiations to make sound investments, but the majority's process is
driving Congress toward further chaos, dysfunction, and shutdown
threats.
Madam Chair, I ask that the majority please reconsider the path they
are on. When they do, I look forward to improving this bill so that we
can manage our border responsibly and invest in programs that make our
country more secure. It is time for the majority to govern.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), the distinguished ranking member of
the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I thank the ranking member for
yielding and congratulate her on presenting her first appropriations
bill on the House floor. We are all behind her.
I rise in strong opposition to the Republicans' fiscal year 2025
Homeland Security bill, which neglects the real threats that we face
from anti-Semitism, extremism, and domestic terror, and promises to
throw our southern border into chaos.
After walking away from a robust, bipartisan border security deal all
to pander to Donald Trump, the GOP has finally offered up its
alternative.
Since this is nothing more than a messaging exercise, I want to make
sure my constituents get the message. Republicans are slashing
resources for border management and immigration processing. They are
hanging border communities out to dry by defunding shelters and
services. They neglect the founding mission of the Department of
Homeland Security by eliminating terrorism prevention funds. You just
can't make this stuff up.
This bill also rolls back successful Biden administration policies
like family reunification and humanitarian parole. Worse, it doubles
down on ultra-MAGA policies like separating children from parents and
racial profiling, and it inflicts cruel bans on reproductive
healthcare.
As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I led Democrats
in committee, demanding full funding for critical programs like
nonprofit security grants, which defend our communities against surging
anti-Semitism and hate crimes. In the months following October 7,
harassment, vandalism, and assaults against Jews increased by over 360
percent, with nearly 9,000 documented examples across all 50 States.
Federal hate crime investigations shot up by 60 percent since then, and
the majority of cases involve threats against Jews, who comprise just 2
percent of the U.S. population.
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Every single Republican Member voted to waste that money on a useless
border wall instead, which Mexico still isn't paying for, by the way,
rather than protecting their Jewish constituents.
This bill is more concerned with protecting the reputations of
extremists who spread anti-Semitic disinformation than it is with
protecting the lives of Jewish Americans. That is shameful.
We know the result of failing to provide these spaces with the
protection they need. Communities of all faiths have been devastated by
hateful extremists.
We must direct our limited Homeland Security resources against real
threats we face, not toward some fictional invasion or against women's
reproductive healthcare or against rainbow flags or providing political
cover for your convicted felon ringleader.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to reject these political games and
get serious about funding our immigration system and securing our
communities against extremist terror.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Hawaii (Mr. Case), a member of the Appropriations Committee.
Mr. CASE. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to this measure as it is
presented to us. I truly regret that as a member of the subcommittee, I
cannot support this bill today, as it does include several bipartisan
measures that do deserve our support.
Perhaps the best example of this is the $14.2 billion provided to the
Coast Guard, an increase of $1.3 billion over the last fiscal year.
This funding does reflect the hard-earned recognition of the Coast
Guard's unique role and capability in defending American priorities and
advancing our engagement in the face of geopolitical competition,
especially in the Indo-Pacific.
The $60 million proposed by the bill will allow the Coast Guard to
base another medium endurance cutter in the Pacific. The $1.2 million
provided for the Coast Guard's Indo-Pacific workforce project, and
other report language and funding provisions for their expanded
presence in the Pacific Islands region, are encouraging to see, and
they do demonstrate that we can work in a bipartisan manner to get
things done.
Despite some sound decisions here and there in other parts of the
bill, it remains riddled with misguided avoidance and other priorities
that I cannot support. Nowhere is this more evident than in its
treatment of the overall subject of immigration in general and securing
our border in particular.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has been so vilified by
many of my colleagues over the last months and years, needs and is
entitled to our support to administer existing laws. Yet, this bill
fails to address the wide range of needs that it is mandated to
discharge, and to anticipate and set up and advance a realistic
discussion of our immigration policy in general and border security in
particular.
Here are three examples. First of all, the bill strips $300 million
from the asylum program, gutting the Department's ability to address
acknowledged and real case backlog and keep pace with new arrivals at
the border. We all know that the reality of the border today is largely
related to, I believe, required changes in our immigration
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and asylum policy. This bill does not allow the Department of Homeland
Security to do its job under current law.
It also threatens to severely underfund the Operations and Support
account of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and eliminates
funding for the Citizenship and Immigration grant program that prepares
legal immigrants for civic integration. I am not sure what we are
supposed to take from that deletion. Are we supposed to take that we
don't support legal immigration and that we don't support civic
integration?
It also eliminates the Shelter and Services program, which will
withhold the resources needed for American communities around the
country working to humanely and safely deal with the challenges of our
broken immigration system, the realities of our broken immigration
system.
None of this is policy. This is not constructive legislation. This is
outright antipathy, in many cases, toward a legal immigration system,
it is messaging, and it does nothing to solve anything.
If we think there is a problem--and I believe we all do believe there
is a problem with our immigration system in general and border security
in particular, then let's talk about it. Let's try to resolve it on a
bipartisan basis and then let's fund the policies that we have set.
Let's not defund the institutions that are responsible for
administering policies that we believe are broken but it is their
responsibility to do so right now.
This bill, despite these misguided provisions, does show it is
possible to work together in a bipartisan manner, including these very
difficult issues on immigration. We should go back to the table and
focus on that.
I do look forward to working with our colleagues to amend the bill to
remove these harmful partisan policy riders and focus on providing the
critical funding needed by the Department.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez).
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Madam Chair, I rise in the most strong opposition to
H.R. 8752.
As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, my level of
frustration with the Republicans' Homeland Security budget is really
hard to actually overstate.
We can all agree that the Homeland Security appropriations bill
should protect our communities. It should also extend our national
security, and it should do so while fulfilling our commitment to the
international community.
Yet the Republican majority's bill doubles down on bad policies and
proven failures.
There are too many destructive, cruel, and draconian policies in this
bill to outline in a very limited time, but let me highlight a few of
them.
There is $600 million for the construction of a border wall to
embolden cartels and endanger our communities, environment, and sacred
lands; $4.1 billion for ICE to detain and traumatize families seeking
safety and stability; defunding USCIS to increase immigration
processing backlogs, making it harder to identify possible threats to
our communities, which seems hypocritical considering we say this is
about the homeland and protecting our communities; defunding the
critical Shelter and Services program to create chaos in cities
fulfilling our Nation's promise, like Chicago; and endangering the
lives of asylum seekers across our Nation; defunding community-based
alternatives to detention that are actually creating more of a cost
burden to taxpayers.
If your goal is to sow chaos, if your goal is to weaken
intergovernmental collaboration, to deconstruct effective policies, to
undermine collaboration, to decrease efficiencies, and to destroy
families, well then this is, in fact, your bill.
Madam Chair, don't let overt anti-asylum, anti-immigrant racism
masqueraded as fiscal responsibility and protection of the homeland
fool you. The legislation does not fund the core responsibilities of
the Department that protects the homeland, and it doesn't fulfill our
commitment to our neighbors, reflecting the best part of who we say
proudly we are as a Nation.
Madam Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I am prepared to close, and I yield
myself the balance of my time for closing.
This bill falls short of what Americans deserve. It cuts necessary
funding to secure our border, it defunds critical counterterrorism and
cybersecurity programs when we should be looking to invest more, and it
abandons our core values as Americans.
I will be voting ``no'' on this bill. I encourage my colleagues to do
the same.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
It is the border. It is the border. It is the border. We have heard
about messaging. We have heard about managing, all of that sort of
stuff, and still here we are.
The bill under consideration this morning provides $64.8 billion for
the Department of Homeland Security. When we hear about turning our
backs, that is an increase of $2.9 billion above the fiscal year 2024
level.
The bill prioritizes investments that make the border--remember, it
is about the border--more secure and makes appropriate cuts to policies
and programs that, quite frankly, we don't think work.
When we talk about value judgments and stuff like that, if you think
the record on the southern border has been a successful thing for
immigration, we respectfully disagree.
We have heard from the professionals in the field, our Border Patrol
agents and CBP officers who are being crushed dealing with, dare I say,
an unprecedented flow of migrants day after day. This bill supports
them through real policy change, not just words.
Our colleagues across the aisle are content to treat the border
crisis as an issue that can be managed. They throw huge sums of money
at a problem the failed policies created. It does not work.
What do I mean? You have the flow across the border, and now it has
become a problem everywhere else in the country.
What do school districts do? What do housing people do? What do law
enforcement people do? It is fair to focus on the border, but the
impacts are not just this is just kind of that deal there.
Law enforcement professionals don't want to manage the border; they
want to enforce the law. They want to enforce not the law that we are
talking about recently, but they want to enforce the law that has been
on the books for a long time.
Dare I say there are some executive orders that may put the
interpretation of the law at issue. They want to enforce the law for us
to change the course, to end the chaos. If you think what is happening
there is a nice, calm thing and it just needs more resources for
management, I respectfully disagree.
My colleagues want to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in
grants to nonprofit organizations for transportation and other services
that only further incentivizes the immigration rush we have got. If you
can get across, we will take it from there, and what ``we will take
it'' means is giving additional services for transportation.
Do nonprofits reduce encounters or deter anyone from crossing
illegally? No, they don't. This enables all that, so we cut funding for
that program.
You have heard about border management and shelter services. That is
a couple of billion dollars. The numbers are right. Quite frankly, that
is one of the funding sources that has been used to transport people
all around the country, sometimes on airlines, sometimes in the middle
of the night, but nonetheless to manage--we have got all these people
here, and we have got to get them spread out as soon as possible.
Madam Chair, it is time for plain talk. We zero that account out. Oh,
my God, you did what? Yep. Do any of us think the Senate will leave it
at zero? No.
While we are talking about our colleagues in the Senate, this bill
last year got zip in the way of--how about this policy or that policy.
None. It is a big win for you, I guess, if you are on that side of the
fence.
Guess what? We are going to create some things where if you want some
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money back for that and you want it restricted so it isn't a slush fund
to implement policies that are not on the books in terms of statute or
regulation, then guess what, that is zeroed out, as are all of the
funds for nonprofits. The criticism there is spot on. It is all seen as
a way to facilitate huge amounts of people coming over and processing
them away from the border as soon as possible.
It is not border cities. They are hardened or whatever; not that they
don't need help. It is cities and counties across the country. The
answer, according to 3 years' worth of record-high illegal immigration,
in our opinion, is a resounding no, so we cut that funding.
Last year, CBP recorded 3.2 million encounters. To put it in
perspective, that is about 11 times the population of the largest city
in my district. That is just at the southern border in 1 year.
Last year, we funded $1.7 billion for tents to process an
unprecedented number of aliens that continue to cross between ports of
entry under this administration's open-border policies.
Has spending billions of taxpayer dollars for processing tents along
the southern border just to release aliens into the interior at a rapid
pace reduced illegal immigration at all? Quite the contrary. In this
bill, we eliminated that funding.
In the middle of an election year, the administration just announced
a proclamation to shut down the border if encounters between the ports
of entry reach a certain level. We have been beyond those levels for a
while now. That is quite an announcement.
I heard somebody earlier speak about this is about messaging. I guess
in some areas, it is absolutely about messaging.
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Oh, by the way, all of those previous administration policies, such
as shelter in place and stuff like that kind of kept things to a
cooperative between two countries and at some sort of manageable level.
No, those are all out the door at the beginning of this. That is why
this bill invests in tried-and-true methods of securing the border that
men and women in the field are asking for: more agents, more detention
beds, more technology, and--I know this is bad--physical barriers.
This bill makes the following border security investment: sustains
funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents, $300 million for border
security technology, which is a record in that area if somebody thinks
anybody is turning their back on anybody. That includes autonomous
surveillance towers, mobile surveillance platforms, counter-tunnel
equipment, and a significant investment in counter-drone capability.
There is $600 million for a border wall because we know physical
barriers work. Finally, there is $305 million in nonintrusive
inspection equipment and upgrades so that we can detect fentanyl at our
ports of entry. That is right. This bill does that.
In addition to our efforts at the border, the bill includes funding
for critical immigration enforcement efforts such as $3.1 billion to
support 50,000 detention beds for ICE. This is 8,500 more beds than
were funded last year and 16,000 more than this administration asked
for.
Yes, we have a disagreement on how many is enough.
There is $822 million for flights and ground transportation for ICE
to execute its statutory authority to remove more than 1.4 million
migrants who are still in this country despite having final orders of
removal. In case anybody didn't catch that, that is to transport people
south, not north, east, and west.
There is $60 million to hire more than 250 new law enforcement
officers to investigate transnational criminal activity and keep our
communities safe from those who seek to do us harm. Translation:
fentanyl. Those folks are here to work that issue which, last I heard,
was evasive, pervasive, and needs more help.
The bill also makes critical investments outside the southern border.
For TSA we provide $178 million to speed up computed tomography
screening device efforts at the Nation's airports. This is new
technology that is available that has been rolled out at some airports,
but, frankly, the administration had it on a 15-year funding cycle. By
the time all of our airports get that, I am sure there will be new and
better technology that will make this obsolete.
What does the bill do, Madam Chairman?
It puts it on a 5-year cycle. It gets that out to the airports and
makes the flying public safer. We doubled the requested amount to
pursue those things.
Then we get to China. As we continue to grow in terms of having to
meet the challenge of China's military, economic, and political
influence in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. must have a persistent presence
in the region.
This bill expands Coast Guard operations in the Indo-Pacific with
additional capacity and capability to include $335 million for four
fast response cutters to increase deployments in the region, $60
million for service life extension to enable the Coast Guard to deploy
another medium endurance cutter, and $4.2 million for increased
operations funds for the Coast Guard to interact and conduct exercises
with our allies in the Indo-Pacific so that we are ready to go if we
need to because we practiced with our friends.
The bill funds the core responsibilities of the department and
protects the homeland. What it doesn't do is fund the failed policies
that further contribute to chaos at our southern border.
Madam Chairman, that is how you really support the hardworking men
and women of DHS protecting the Nation.
We need to change course on the border. We sincerely believe that.
Interestingly enough, so do many mayors of large cities across the
Nation regardless of their political affiliation.
We need to change that course not through gimmicks but through real
policy and funding changes. This bill is a step in the right direction.
Madam Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. COLE. Madam Chair, today's measure covers the Department of
Homeland Security and is critical to defending the homeland and
protecting the American people.
From the crisis at the southern border, to the scourge of fentanyl,
to the threat of terrorism, the United States continues to face an
evolving array of threats. It is more important than ever that we place
the Department of Homeland Security in the best position to fulfill its
mission.
Today's bill accomplishes that goal.
It invests the resources we need to secure the nation. In fact, this
bill provides $64.8 billion to meet our needs, which is an increase of
$2.9 billion over last year, and a full $4.25 billion over the
President's budget request.
This increase is sadly necessary. President Biden's policies at the
southern border have created a humanitarian and security crisis,
overwhelming not only the border itself, but also communities across
the country. Each month hundreds of thousands of migrants cross the
border illegally, many of whom are allowed to remain in the country
without consequence. The decision to allow an open southern border has
meant that countless wrongdoers--human traffickers, narcotraffickers,
and potential terrorists--can enter our country freely.
Enough is enough. Today's bill will take steps to end this state of
affairs. It will provide $600 million for construction of the border
wall. It will force President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to adhere to
the law. It invests resources to halt fentanyl from entering our
country and our communities. It makes critical investments in the
Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, and it forces the Department of
Homeland Security to focus on its core mission: to keep the American
people safe.
I applaud Chairman Amodei for his good work in putting this measure
together, and I urge all of my colleagues to support its passage.
The CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment
under the 5-minute rule.
An amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of
Rules Committee Print 118-38, modified by the amendment specified in
section 17 of House Resolution 1316, shall be considered as adopted and
the bill, as amended, shall be considered as an original bill for the
purpose of further amendment under the 5-minute rule and shall be
considered as read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:
H.R. 8752
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums
[[Page H4172]]
are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, for the Department of Homeland
Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, and
for other purposes, namely:
TITLE I
DEPARTMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INTELLIGENCE, SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, AND
OVERSIGHT
Office of the Secretary and Executive Management
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Office of the Secretary and
for executive management for operations and support,
$281,358,000, of which $22,151,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2026: Provided, That $5,000,000 shall be
withheld from obligation until the Secretary submits, to the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate, responses to all questions for the record for
each hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget submission for
the Department of Homeland Security held by such Committees
prior to July 1: Provided further, That not to exceed
$30,000 shall be for official reception and representation
expenses.
Management Directorate
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Management Directorate for
operations and support, $1,637,290,000: Provided, That not
to exceed $2,000 shall be for official reception and
representation expenses.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Management Directorate for
procurement, construction, and improvements, $54,337,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2027.
federal protective service
The revenues and collections of security fees credited to
this account shall be available until expended for necessary
expenses related to the protection of federally owned and
leased buildings and for the operations of the Federal
Protective Service.
Intelligence, Analysis, and Situational Awareness
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Office of Intelligence and
Analysis and the Office of Homeland Security Situational
Awareness for operations and support, $345,360,000, of which
$105,701,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2026:
Provided, That not to exceed $2,000,000 is available for
facility needs associated with secure space at fusion
centers, including improvements to buildings: Provided
further, That not to exceed $3,825 shall be for official
reception and representation expenses.
Office of Inspector General
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General
for operations and support, $225,294,000: Provided, That not
to exceed $300,000 may be used for certain confidential
operational expenses, including the payment of informants, to
be expended at the direction of the Inspector General.
Administrative Provisions
Sec. 101. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
submit a report not later than October 15, 2025, to the
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security
listing all grants and contracts awarded by any means other
than full and open competition during fiscal years 2024 or
2025.
(b) The Inspector General shall review the report required
by subsection (a) to assess departmental compliance with
applicable laws and regulations and report the results of
that review to the Committees on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives and the Senate not later than February 15,
2026.
Sec. 102. Not later than 30 days after the last day of
each month, the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of
Homeland Security shall submit to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
a monthly budget and staffing report that includes total
obligations of the Department for that month and for the
fiscal year at the appropriation and program, project, and
activity levels, by the source year of the appropriation.
Sec. 103. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall notify
the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate of any proposed transfers of
funds available under section 9705(g)(4)(B) of title 31,
United States Code, from the Department of the Treasury
Forfeiture Fund to any agency within the Department of
Homeland Security.
(b) None of the funds identified for such a transfer may be
obligated until the Committees on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives and the Senate are notified of the
proposed transfer.
Sec. 104. All official costs associated with the use of
Government aircraft by Department of Homeland Security
personnel to support official travel of the Secretary and the
Deputy Secretary shall be paid from amounts made available
for the Office of the Secretary.
Sec. 105. (a) The Under Secretary for Management shall
brief the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate not later than 45 days after
the end of each fiscal quarter on all Level 1 and Level 2
acquisition programs on the Master Acquisition Oversight list
between Acquisition Decision Event and Full Operational
Capability, including programs that have been removed from
such list during the preceding quarter.
(b) For each such program, the briefing described in
subsection (a) shall include--
(1) a description of the purpose of the program, including
the capabilities being acquired and the component(s)
sponsoring the acquisition;
(2) the total number of units, as appropriate, to be
acquired annually until procurement is complete under the
current acquisition program baseline;
(3) the Acquisition Review Board status, including--
(A) the current acquisition phase by increment, as
applicable;
(B) the date of the most recent review; and
(C) whether the program has been paused or is in breach
status;
(4) a comparison between the initial Department-approved
acquisition program baseline cost, schedule, and performance
thresholds and objectives and the program's current such
thresholds and objectives, if applicable;
(5) the lifecycle cost estimate, adjusted for comparison to
the Future Years Homeland Security Program, including--
(A) the confidence level for the estimate;
(B) the fiscal years included in the estimate;
(C) a breakout of the estimate for the prior five years,
the current year, and the budget year;
(D) a breakout of the estimate by appropriation account or
other funding source; and
(E) a description of and rationale for any changes to the
estimate as compared to the previously approved baseline, as
applicable, and during the prior fiscal year;
(6) a summary of the findings of any independent
verification and validation of the items to be acquired or an
explanation for why no such verification and validation has
been performed;
(7) a table displaying the obligation of all program funds
by prior fiscal year, the estimated obligation of funds for
the current fiscal year, and an estimate for the planned
carryover of funds into the subsequent fiscal year;
(8) a listing of prime contractors and major
subcontractors; and
(9) narrative descriptions of risks to cost, schedule, or
performance that could result in a program breach if not
successfully mitigated.
(c) The Under Secretary for Management shall submit each
approved Acquisition Decision Memorandum for programs
described in this section to the Committees on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives and the Senate not later than
five business days after the date of approval of such
memorandum by the Under Secretary for Management or the
designee of the Under Secretary for Management.
Sec. 106. (a) None of the funds made available to the
Department of Homeland Security in this Act or prior
appropriations Acts may be obligated for any new pilot or
demonstration unless the component or office carrying out
such pilot or demonstration has documented the information
described in subsection (c).
(b) Prior to the obligation of any such funds made
available for ``Operations and Support'' for a new pilot or
demonstration, the Under Secretary for Management shall
provide a report to the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Senate on the information
described in subsection (c).
(c) The information required under subsections (a) and (b)
for a pilot or demonstration shall include the following--
(1) documented objectives that are well-defined and
measurable;
(2) an assessment methodology that details--
(A) the type and source of assessment data;
(B) the methods for, and frequency of, collecting such
data; and
(C) how such data will be analyzed; and
(3) an implementation plan, including milestones, cost
estimates, and implementation schedules, including a
projected end date.
(d) Not later than 90 days after the date of completion of
a pilot or demonstration described in subsection (e), the
Under Secretary for Management shall provide a report to the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate detailing lessons learned, actual costs, any
planned expansion or continuation of the pilot or
demonstration, and any planned transition of such pilot or
demonstration into an enduring program or operation.
(e) For the purposes of this section, a pilot or
demonstration program is a study, demonstration, experimental
program, or trial that--
(1) is a small-scale, short-term experiment conducted in
order to evaluate feasibility, duration, costs, or adverse
events, and improve upon the design of an effort prior to
implementation of a larger scale effort; and
(2) uses more than 10 full-time equivalents or obligates,
or proposes to obligate, $5,000,000 or more, but does not
include congressionally directed programs or enhancements and
does not include programs that were in operation as of the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(f) For the purposes of this section, a pilot or
demonstration does not include any testing, evaluation, or
initial deployment phase executed under a procurement
contract for the acquisition of information technology
services or systems, or any pilot or demonstration carried
out by a non-Federal recipient under any financial assistance
agreement funded by the Department.
TITLE II
SECURITY, ENFORCEMENT, AND INVESTIGATIONS
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
operations and support
(including transfer of funds)
For necessary expenses of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection for operations and support, including the
transportation of unaccompanied alien minors; the provision
of air and marine support to Federal, State, local, and
international agencies in the enforcement or administration
of laws enforced by the Department of
[[Page H4173]]
Homeland Security; at the discretion of the Secretary of
Homeland Security, the provision of such support to Federal,
State, and local agencies in other law enforcement and
emergency humanitarian efforts; the purchase and lease of up
to 7,500 (6,500 for replacement only) police-type vehicles;
the purchase, maintenance, or operation of marine vessels,
aircraft, and unmanned aerial systems; and contracting with
individuals for personal services abroad; $16,566,247,000; of
which $3,274,000 shall be derived from the Harbor Maintenance
Trust Fund for administrative expenses related to the
collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee pursuant to section
9505(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
9505(c)(3)) and notwithstanding section 1511(e)(1) of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 551(e)(1)); of which
$550,000,000 shall be available until September 30, 2026; and
of which such sums as become available in the Customs User
Fee Account, except sums subject to section 13031(f)(3) of
the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
(19 U.S.C. 58c(f)(3)), shall be derived from that account:
Provided, That not to exceed $34,425 shall be for official
reception and representation expenses: Provided further,
That not to exceed $150,000 shall be available for payment
for rental space in connection with preclearance operations:
Provided further, That not to exceed $2,000,000 shall be for
awards of compensation to informants, to be accounted for
solely under the certificate of the Secretary of Homeland
Security: Provided further, That not to exceed $2,500,000
may be transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the
maintenance and repair of roads on Native American
reservations used by the U.S. Border Patrol.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection for procurement, construction, and improvements,
including procurement of marine vessels, aircraft, and
unmanned aerial systems, $1,390,338,000, of which
$766,684,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2027,
and of which $623,654,000 shall remain available until
September 30, 2029.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
operations and support
For necessary expenses of U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement for operations and support, including the
purchase and lease of up to 3,790 (2,350 for replacement
only) police-type vehicles; overseas vetted units; and
maintenance, minor construction, and minor leasehold
improvements at owned and leased facilities; $10,497,243,000;
of which not less than $6,000,000 shall remain available
until expended for efforts to enforce laws against forced
child labor; of which $46,696,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2026; of which not less than $2,000,000
is for paid apprenticeships for participants in the Human
Exploitation Rescue Operative Child-Rescue Corps; of which
not less than $15,000,000 shall be available for
investigation of intellectual property rights violations,
including operation of the National Intellectual Property
Rights Coordination Center; and of which not less than
$5,900,389,000 shall be for enforcement, detention, and
removal operations, including transportation of unaccompanied
alien minors, of which not less than $3,081,725,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2026: Provided, That
not to exceed $11,475 shall be for official reception and
representation expenses: Provided further, That not to
exceed $10,000,000 shall be available until expended for
conducting special operations under section 3131 of the
Customs Enforcement Act of 1986 (19 U.S.C. 2081): Provided
further, That not to exceed $2,000,000 shall be for awards of
compensation to informants, to be accounted for solely under
the certificate of the Secretary of Homeland Security:
Provided further, That not to exceed $11,216,000 shall be
available to fund or reimburse other Federal agencies for the
costs associated with the care, maintenance, and repatriation
of smuggled aliens unlawfully present in the United States:
Provided further, That not less than $2,000,000 shall be for
entering into new agreements for the delegation of law
enforcement authority provided by section 287(g) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act: Provided further, That
funding made available under this heading shall maintain a
level of not less than 50,000 detention beds.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement for procurement, construction, and improvements,
$19,548,000, of which $6,548,000 shall remain available until
September 30, 2027, and of which $13,000,000 shall remain
available until September 30, 2029.
Transportation Security Administration
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Transportation Security
Administration for operations and support, $10,817,225,000,
of which $300,000,000 shall remain available until September
30, 2026: Provided, That not to exceed $7,650 shall be for
official reception and representation expenses: Provided
further, That security service fees authorized under section
44940 of title 49, United States Code, shall be credited to
this appropriation as offsetting collections and shall be
available only for aviation security: Provided further, That
the sum appropriated under this heading from the general fund
shall be reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis as such
offsetting collections are received during fiscal year 2025
so as to result in a final fiscal year appropriation from the
general fund estimated at not more than $7,957,225,000.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Transportation Security
Administration for procurement, construction, and
improvements, $198,428,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2027.
research and development
For necessary expenses of the Transportation Security
Administration for research and development, $17,990,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2026.
Coast Guard
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Coast Guard for operations
and support including the Coast Guard Reserve; purchase or
lease of not to exceed 25 passenger motor vehicles, which
shall be for replacement only; purchase or lease of small
boats for contingent and emergent requirements (at a unit
cost of not more than $700,000) and repairs and service-life
replacements, not to exceed a total of $31,000,000; purchase,
lease, or improvements of boats necessary for overseas
deployments and activities; payments pursuant to section 156
of Public Law 97-377 (42 U.S.C. 402 note; 96 Stat. 1920); and
recreation and welfare; $10,554,261,000, of which
$530,000,000 shall be for defense-related activities; of
which $24,500,000 shall be derived from the Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund to carry out the purposes of section
1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C.
2712(a)(5)); of which $20,000,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2027; of which $24,359,000 shall remain
available until September 30, 2029, for environmental
compliance and restoration; and of which $100,000,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2026, which shall only
be available for vessel depot level maintenance: Provided,
That not to exceed $23,000 shall be for official reception
and representation expenses.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Coast Guard for procurement,
construction, and improvements, including aids to navigation,
shore facilities (including facilities at Department of
Defense installations used by the Coast Guard), and vessels
and aircraft, including equipment related thereto,
$2,128,500,000, to remain available until September 30, 2029;
of which $20,000,000 shall be derived from the Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund to carry out the purposes of section
1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C.
2712(a)(5)).
research and development
For necessary expenses of the Coast Guard for research and
development; and for maintenance, rehabilitation, lease, and
operation of facilities and equipment; $6,763,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2027, of which $500,000 shall
be derived from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to carry
out the purposes of section 1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution
Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2712(a)(5)): Provided, That there may
be credited to and used for the purposes of this
appropriation funds received from State and local
governments, other public authorities, private sources, and
foreign countries for expenses incurred for research,
development, testing, and evaluation.
retired pay
For retired pay, including the payment of obligations
otherwise chargeable to lapsed appropriations for this
purpose, payments under the Retired Serviceman's Family
Protection and Survivor Benefits Plans, payment for career
status bonuses, payment of continuation pay under section 356
of title 37, United States Code, concurrent receipts, combat-
related special compensation, and payments for medical care
of retired personnel and their dependents under chapter 55 of
title 10, United States Code, $1,210,840,000, to remain
available until expended.
United States Secret Service
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the United States Secret Service
for operations and support, including purchase of not to
exceed 652 vehicles for police-type use; hire of passenger
motor vehicles; purchase of motorcycles made in the United
States; hire of aircraft; rental of buildings in the District
of Columbia; fencing, lighting, guard booths, and other
facilities on private or other property not in Government
ownership or control, as may be necessary to perform
protective functions; conduct of and participation in
firearms matches; presentation of awards; conduct of
behavioral research in support of protective intelligence and
operations; payment in advance for commercial accommodations
as may be necessary to perform protective functions; and
payment, without regard to section 5702 of title 5, United
States Code, of subsistence expenses of employees who are on
protective missions, whether at or away from their duty
stations; $3,017,524,000; of which $80,041,000 shall remain
available until September 30, 2026, and of which $6,000,000
shall be for a grant for activities related to investigations
of missing and exploited children; and of which up to
$24,000,000 may be for calendar year 2024 premium pay in
excess of the annual equivalent of the limitation on the rate
of pay contained in section 5547(a) of title 5, United States
Code, pursuant to section 2 of the Overtime Pay for
Protective Services Act of 2016 (5 U.S.C. 5547 note), as last
amended by Public Law 118-38: Provided, That not to exceed
$19,125 shall be for official reception and representation
expenses: Provided further, That not to exceed $100,000
shall be to provide technical assistance and equipment to
foreign law enforcement organizations in criminal
investigations within the jurisdiction of the United States
Secret Service.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the United States Secret Service
for procurement, construction,
[[Page H4174]]
and improvements, $138,336,000, of which $53,436,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2027, and of which
$84,900,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2029.
research and development
For necessary expenses of the United States Secret Service
for research and development, $2,250,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2026.
Administrative Provisions
Sec. 201. Section 201 of the Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act, 2018 (division F of Public Law
115-141), related to overtime compensation limitations, shall
apply with respect to funds made available in this Act in the
same manner as such section applied to funds made available
in that Act, except that ``fiscal year 2025'' shall be
substituted for ``fiscal year 2018''.
Sec. 202. Funding made available under the headings ``U.S.
Customs and Border Protection--Operations and Support'' and
``U.S. Customs and Border Protection--Procurement,
Construction, and Improvements'' shall be available for
customs expenses when necessary to maintain operations and
prevent adverse personnel actions in Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands, in addition to funding provided by sections
740 and 1406i of title 48, United States Code.
Sec. 203. As authorized by section 601(b) of the United
States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
(Public Law 112-42), fees collected from passengers arriving
from Canada, Mexico, or an adjacent island pursuant to
section 13031(a)(5) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(a)(5)) shall be
available until expended.
Sec. 204. (a) For an additional amount for ``U.S. Customs
and Border Protection--Operations and Support'', $31,000,000,
to remain available until expended, to be reduced by amounts
collected and credited to this appropriation in fiscal year
2025 from amounts authorized to be collected by section
286(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1356(i)), section 10412 of the Farm Security and Rural
Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8311), and section 817 of
the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015
(Public Law 114-125), or other such authorizing language.
(b) To the extent that amounts realized from such
collections exceed $31,000,000, those amounts in excess of
$31,000,000 shall be credited to this appropriation, to
remain available until expended.
Sec. 205. None of the funds made available in this Act for
U.S. Customs and Border Protection may be used to prevent an
individual not in the business of importing a prescription
drug (within the meaning of section 801(g) of the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) from importing a prescription
drug from Canada that complies with the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act: Provided, That this section shall apply
only to individuals transporting on their person a personal-
use quantity of the prescription drug, not to exceed a 90-day
supply: Provided further, That the prescription drug may not
be--
(1) a controlled substance, as defined in section 102 of
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802); or
(2) a biological product, as defined in section 351 of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262).
Sec. 206. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
none of the funds provided in this or any other Act shall be
used to approve a waiver of the navigation and vessel-
inspection laws pursuant to section 501(b) of title 46,
United States Code, for the transportation of crude oil
distributed from and to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until
the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with
the Secretaries of the Departments of Energy and
Transportation and representatives from the United States
flag maritime industry, takes adequate measures to ensure the
use of United States flag vessels.
(b) The Secretary shall notify the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate within 2 business
days of any request for waivers of navigation and vessel-
inspection laws pursuant to section 501(b) of title 46,
United States Code, with respect to such transportation, and
the disposition of such requests.
Sec. 207. (a) Beginning on the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall not--
(1) establish, collect, or otherwise impose any new border
crossing fee on individuals crossing the Southern border or
the Northern border at a land port of entry; or
(2) conduct any study relating to the imposition of a
border crossing fee.
(b) In this section, the term ``border crossing fee'' means
a fee that every pedestrian, cyclist, and driver and
passenger of a private motor vehicle is required to pay for
the privilege of crossing the Southern border or the Northern
border at a land port of entry.
Sec. 208. (a) Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection shall submit an expenditure plan for any
amounts made available for ``U.S. Customs and Border
Protection--Procurement, Construction, and Improvements'' in
this Act and prior Acts to the Committees on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
(b) No such amounts provided in this Act may be obligated
prior to the submission of such plan.
Sec. 209. Section 211 of the Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act, 2021 (division F of Public Law
116-260), prohibiting the use of funds for the construction
of fencing in certain areas, shall apply with respect to
funds made available in this Act in the same manner as such
section applied to funds made available in that Act.
Sec. 210. (a) Funds made available in this Act may be used
to alter operations within the National Targeting Center of
U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
(b) None of the funds provided by this Act, provided by
previous appropriations Acts that remain available for
obligation or expenditure in fiscal year 2025, or provided
from any accounts in the Treasury of the United States
derived by the collection of fees available to the components
funded by this Act, may be used to reduce anticipated or
planned vetting operations at existing locations unless
specifically authorized by a statute enacted after the date
of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 211. (a) Of the total amount made available under
``U.S. Customs and Border Protection--Procurement,
Construction, and Improvements'', $1,390,338,000 shall be
available only as follows:
(1) $600,000,000 for the acquisition and deployment of
physical barriers;
(2) $300,000,000 for the acquisition and deployment of
border security technologies;
(3) $305,000,000 for trade and travel assets and
infrastructure;
(4) $23,654,000 for facility construction and improvements;
(5) $131,419,000 for integrated operations assets and
infrastructure; and
(6) $30,265,000 for mission support and infrastructure.
(b) None of the funds allocated for pedestrian physical
barriers may be made available for any purpose other than the
construction of steel bollard pedestrian barrier built at
least 18 to 30 feet in effective height and augmented with
anti-climb and anti-dig features.
(c) None of the funds allocated for pedestrian physical
barriers may be made available for any purpose other than
construction of pedestrian barriers consistent with the
description in subsection (b) at locations identified in the
Border Security Improvement Plan submitted to Congress on
August 1, 2020.
(d) The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
may reprioritize the construction of physical barriers
outlined in the Border Security Improvement Plan and, with
prior approval of the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Senate, add additional miles
of pedestrian physical barriers where no such barriers exist,
prioritized by operational requirements developed in
coordination with U.S. Border Patrol leadership.
(e) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall begin to
obligate amounts for physical barrier construction no later
than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(f) For purposes of this section, the term ``effective
height'' refers to the height above the level of the adjacent
terrain features.
Sec. 212. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be obligated, expended, or
transferred to another Federal agency, board, or commission
to be used to dismantle, demolish, remove, or damage existing
United States-Mexico physical barriers at any location where
such barriers have been constructed as of the date of
enactment of this Act unless such barrier is simultaneously
being repaired or replaced.
Sec. 213. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to utilize the
U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP One Application, or
any successor application, to facilitate the parole of any
alien into the United States.
Sec. 214. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, or otherwise carry out the policies described in
the directive issued by the Acting Commissioner of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection on January 10, 2023, entitled
``Emergency Driving and Vehicular Pursuits''.
Sec. 215. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to admit an alien
into the United States at a port of entry on an F or M visa
if the college, university, or other institution of higher
learning that the student will attend is not accredited by a
nationally recognized accrediting agency or association
recognized by the Secretary of Education pursuant to part H
of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1099a et seq.).
Sec. 216. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to parole into
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, for the
purpose of temporary visit for business or pleasure without a
visa, an alien who is a national of the People's Republic of
China.
Sec. 217. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this Act may be used by U.S. Customs and
Border Protection to admit into the United States any
aerosol-dispensing unmanned aircraft system produced or
manufactured in a foreign adversary country.
(b) The term ``foreign adversary country'' means a country
specified in section 4872(d)(2) of title 10, United States
Code.
Sec. 218. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to reduce
participation in or substantively diminish the delegation of
law enforcement authority authorized under section 287(g) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)),
except as provided in section 219 of this Act.
Sec. 219. None of the funds provided under the heading
``U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--Operations and
Support'' may be used to continue a delegation of law
enforcement authority authorized under section 287(g) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)) if the
Department of Homeland
[[Page H4175]]
Security Inspector General determines that the terms of the
agreement governing the delegation of authority have been
materially violated.
Sec. 220. (a) None of the funds provided under the heading
``U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--Operations and
Support'' may be used to continue any contract for the
provision of detention services if the two most recent
overall performance evaluations received by the contracted
facility are less than ``adequate'' or the equivalent median
score in any subsequent performance evaluation system.
(b) The performance evaluations referenced in subsection
(a) shall be conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility.
Sec. 221. Without regard to the limitation as to time and
condition of section 503(d) of this Act, the Secretary may
reprogram within and transfer funds to ``U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement--Operations and Support'' as necessary to
ensure the detention of aliens prioritized for removal.
Sec. 222. The reports required to be submitted under
section 216 of the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2021 (division F of Public Law 116-260)
shall continue to be submitted semimonthly and each matter
required to be included in such reports by such section 216
shall apply in the same manner and to the same extent during
the period described in such section 216.
Sec. 223. The terms and conditions of section 217 of the
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2020
(division D of Public Law 116-93) shall apply to this Act.
Sec. 224. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, or otherwise carry out the activities and
policies described in the memorandum issued by the Secretary
of Homeland Security on September 30, 2021, entitled
``Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law'',
or described in the memorandum issued by Kerry Doyle,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Principal Legal Advisor
on April 3, 2022, entitled ``Guidance to OPLA Attorneys
Regarding the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Laws and the
Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion'', or any successor or
similar memorandum or policy.
Sec. 225. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this Act may be made available to transport
aliens unlawfully present in, paroled into, or inadmissible
to the United States into the interior of the United States
for purposes other than enforcement of the immigration laws
(as such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)).
(b) The limitation under subsection (a) shall not apply
with respect to amounts made available to transport
unaccompanied alien children (as such term is defined in
section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
279)).
Sec. 226. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this Act for ``U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement'' may be used to pay for or facilitate an
abortion, except where the life of the mother would be
endangered if the fetus would be carried to term, or in the
case of rape or incest.
(b) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act for ``U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement'' may be used to require any person to perform,
or facilitate in any way the performance of, any abortion.
Sec. 227. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to administer
hormone therapy medication or perform or facilitate any
surgery for any person in custody of U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement for the purpose of gender-affirming care.
Sec. 228. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
allocate amounts appropriated or otherwise made available
under the heading ``U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement--Operations and Support'' by this Act in order
to--
(1) prioritize detention by using such amounts to ensure
that the average daily population of detainees is maintained
at the full capacity at all detention facilities funded by
this Act throughout the fiscal year; and
(2) ensure that every alien on the non-detained docket is
enrolled into the Alternatives to Detention Program with
mandatory GPS monitoring throughout the duration of all
applicable immigration proceedings (including any appeals)
and until removal, if ordered removed.
Sec. 229. Not later than 45 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Chief Financial Officer of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall submit to the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate an obligation plan for amounts made available
in this Act for ``U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement'',
delineated by level II program, project, and activity.
Sec. 230. None of the funds provided under the heading
``U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--Operations and
Support'' may be made available to develop or administer a
physical identification card for purposes of alien
identification, verification of immigration status, or
immigration portal access.
Sec. 231. None of the funds provided under the heading
``U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--Operations and
Support'' may be made available to develop, pilot,
administer, or otherwise implement standards for management
of the non-detained alien population or for the Alternatives
to Detention Program beyond those incorporated in the
Alternatives to Detention Handbook, issued on August 16,
2017.
Sec. 232. None of the funds provided under the heading
``U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--Operations and
Support'' may be made available to implement, administer, or
otherwise carry out the activities, policies, and guidelines
described in the memorandum issued by the Secretary of
Homeland Security on October 27, 2021, entitled ``Guidelines
for Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas''.
Sec. 233. No law of any State or political subdivision
thereof pertaining to a minimum rate of compensation or any
other condition of employment shall apply in the case of any
person held in Federal custody pursuant to the immigration
laws (as such term is defined in section 101 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.1101)).
Sec. 234. (a) Members of the United States House of
Representatives and the United States Senate, including the
leadership; the heads of Federal agencies and commissions,
including the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretaries,
and Assistant Secretaries of the Department of Homeland
Security; the United States Attorney General, Deputy Attorney
General, Assistant Attorneys General, and the United States
Attorneys; and senior members of the Executive Office of the
President, including the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget, shall not be exempt from Federal passenger and
baggage screening.
(b) None of the funds made available in this or any other
Act, including prior Acts, or provided from any accounts in
the Treasury of the United States derived by the collection
of fees available to the components funded by this Act may be
used to carry out legislation altering the applicability of
the screening requirements outlined in subsection (a).
Sec. 235. Notwithstanding section 44923 of title 49,
United States Code, for fiscal year 2025, any funds in the
Aviation Security Capital Fund established by section
44923(h) of title 49, United States Code, may be used for the
procurement and installation of explosives detection systems
or for the issuance of other transaction agreements for the
purpose of funding projects described in section 44923(a) of
such title.
Sec. 236. Not later than 45 days after the submission of
the President's budget proposal, the Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration shall submit to the
Committees on Appropriations and Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations
and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a
single report that fulfills the following requirements:
(1) a Capital Investment Plan, both constrained and
unconstrained, that includes a plan for continuous and
sustained capital investment in new, and the replacement of
aged, transportation security equipment;
(2) the 5-year technology investment plan as required by
section 1611 of title XVI of the Homeland Security Act of
2002, as amended by section 3 of the Transportation Security
Acquisition Reform Act (Public Law 113-245); and
(3) the Advanced Integrated Passenger Screening
Technologies report as required by the Senate Report
accompanying the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2019 (Senate Report 115-283).
Sec. 237. (a) None of the funds made available by this Act
under the heading ``Coast Guard--Operations and Support''
shall be for expenses incurred for recreational vessels under
section 12114 of title 46, United States Code, except to the
extent fees are collected from owners of yachts and credited
to the appropriation made available by this Act under the
heading ``Coast Guard--Operations and Support''.
(b) To the extent such fees are insufficient to pay
expenses of recreational vessel documentation under such
section 12114, and there is a backlog of recreational vessel
applications, personnel performing non-recreational vessel
documentation functions under subchapter II of chapter 121 of
title 46, United States Code, may perform documentation under
section 12114.
Sec. 238. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Commandant of the Coast Guard shall submit to the Committees
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate a future-years capital investment plan as described in
the second proviso under the heading ``Coast Guard--
Acquisition, Construction, and Improvements'' in the
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015
(Public Law 114-4), which shall be subject to the
requirements in the third and fourth provisos under such
heading.
Sec. 239. None of the funds in this Act shall be used to
reduce the Coast Guard's legacy Operations Systems Center
mission or its government-employed or contract staff levels.
Sec. 240. None of the funds appropriated by this Act may
be used to conduct, or to implement the results of, a
competition under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-
76 for activities performed with respect to the Coast Guard
National Vessel Documentation Center.
Sec. 241. Funds made available in this Act may be used to
alter operations within the Civil Engineering Program of the
Coast Guard nationwide, including civil engineering units,
facilities design and construction centers, maintenance and
logistics commands, and the Coast Guard Academy, except that
none of the funds provided in this Act may be used to reduce
operations within any civil engineering unit unless
specifically authorized by a statute enacted after the date
of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 242. Amounts deposited into the Coast Guard Housing
Fund in fiscal year 2025 shall be available until expended to
carry out the purposes of section 2946 of title 14, United
States Code, and shall be in addition to funds otherwise
available for such purposes.
Sec. 243. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, or enforce a Final Rule on ``Shipping Safety
Fairways Along the Atlantic Coast'' (89 Fed. Reg. 3587) until
the Coast Guard submits a report to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
on the effect of offshore wind turbines on marine navigation
radar, especially with regard to search and rescue
interference.
[[Page H4176]]
Sec. 244. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, or enforce a Final Rule on ``Amendments to the
North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction Rule'' (87
Fed. Reg. 46920) or any restrictions on vessel speed for the
Rice's whale that were not in place prior to January 20,
2021.
Sec. 245. The United States Secret Service is authorized
to obligate funds in anticipation of reimbursements from
executive agencies, as defined in section 105 of title 5,
United States Code, for personnel receiving training
sponsored by the James J. Rowley Training Center, except that
total obligations at the end of the fiscal year shall not
exceed total budgetary resources available under the heading
``United States Secret Service--Operations and Support'' at
the end of the fiscal year.
Sec. 246. (a) None of the funds made available to the
United States Secret Service by this Act or by previous
appropriations Acts may be made available for the protection
of the head of a Federal agency other than the Secretary of
Homeland Security.
(b) The Director of the United States Secret Service may
enter into agreements to provide such protection on a fully
reimbursable basis.
Sec. 247. For purposes of section 503(a)(3) of this Act,
up to $15,000,000 may be reprogrammed within ``United States
Secret Service--Operations and Support''.
Sec. 248. Funding made available in this Act for ``United
States Secret Service--Operations and Support'' is available
for travel of United States Secret Service employees on
protective missions without regard to the limitations on such
expenditures in this or any other Act if the Director of the
United States Secret Service or a designee notifies the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate 10 or more days in advance, or as early as
practicable, prior to such expenditures.
Sec. 249. None of the funds provided under the heading
``U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--Operations and
Support'' may be made available to terminate or substantively
reduce the terms or conditions of a contract for the
provision of detention services with any facility that was
previously or is currently designated as a Family Residential
Center.
Sec. 250. (a) The Secretary of the department in which the
Coast Guard is operating shall ensure that, during the fiscal
year funded by this Act, the imposition or collection of
cost-sharing for certain services is prohibited as follows--
(1) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of
section 1074g(a)(6) of title 10, United States Code, cost-
sharing may not be imposed or collected with respect to any
eligible covered beneficiary for any prescription
contraceptive on the uniform formulary provided through a
retail pharmacy described in section 1074g(a)(2)(E)(ii) of
such title or through the national mail-order pharmacy
program of the TRICARE Program.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision under section 1075 of
title 10, United States Code, cost-sharing may not be imposed
or collected for a covered service that is provided by a
network provider under the TRICARE program to an eligible
covered beneficiary under such section.
(3) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), and (c) of
section 1075a of title 10, United States Code, cost-sharing
may not be imposed or collected for a covered service that is
provided under TRICARE Prime to an eligible covered
beneficiary under such section.
(b) In this section--
(1) The term ``covered service'' means any method of
contraception approved, granted, or cleared by the Food and
Drug Administration, any contraceptive care (including with
respect to insertion, removal, and follow up), any
sterilization procedure, or any patient education or
counseling service provided in connection with any such
method, care, or procedure.
(2) The term ``eligible covered beneficiary'' means an
eligible covered beneficiary (as such term is used in section
1074g of title 10, United States Code) on the basis of
being--
(A) a member of the Coast Guard; or
(B) a dependent of such a member.
(3) The terms ``TRICARE Program'' and ``TRICARE Prime''
have the meaning given such terms in section 1072 of title
10, United States Code.
(c) This section shall become effective 30 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 251. (a) Contraceptive supplies of up to 365 days
shall be covered for any eligible covered beneficiary to
obtain, including in a single fill or refill, at the option
of such beneficiary, the total days of supply (not to exceed
a 365-day supply) for a contraceptive on the uniform
formulary provided through a military treatment facility
pharmacy, retail pharmacy described in section
1074g(a)(2)(E)(ii) of such title, or through the national
mail-order pharmacy program of the TRICARE Program.
(b) Beginning not later than 90 days after the
implementation of coverage under subsection (a), the
Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is
operating shall conduct such outreach activities as are
necessary to inform health care providers and individuals who
are enrolled in the TRICARE program of such coverage and the
requirements to receive such coverage.
(c) In this section--
(1) The term ``covered Armed Force'' means the Coast Guard.
(2) The term ``eligible covered beneficiary'' means an
eligible covered beneficiary as such term is used in section
1074g of title 10, United States Code who is--
(A) a member of a covered Armed Force serving on active
duty; or
(B) a dependent of a member described in subparagraph (A).
(3) The terms ``TRICARE Program'' and ``TRICARE Prime''
have the meaning given such terms in section 1072 of title
10, United States Code.
(d) This section shall become effective 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
TITLE III
PROTECTION, PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency for operations and support,
$2,437,285,000, of which $23,698,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2026: Provided, That not to exceed
$3,825 shall be for official reception and representation
expenses.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency for procurement, construction,
and improvements, $493,572,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2027.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency for operations and support, $1,551,093,000: Provided,
That not to exceed $2,250 shall be for official reception and
representation expenses.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency for procurement, construction, and improvements,
$94,827,000, of which $38,590,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2027, and of which $56,237,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2029.
federal assistance
For activities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
for Federal assistance through grants, contracts, cooperative
agreements, and other activities, $3,758,992,810, which shall
be allocated as follows:
(1) $520,000,000 for the State Homeland Security Grant
Program under section 2004 of the Homeland Security Act of
2002 (6 U.S.C. 605), of which $90,000,000 shall be for
Operation Stonegarden and $15,000,000 shall be for Tribal
Homeland Security Grants under section 2005 of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 606): Provided, That
notwithstanding subsection (c)(4) of such section 2004, for
fiscal year 2025, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall make
available to local and tribal governments amounts provided to
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under this paragraph in
accordance with subsection (c)(1) of such section 2004.
(2) $615,000,000 for the Urban Area Security Initiative
under section 2003 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6
U.S.C. 604).
(3) $305,000,000 for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program
under section 2009 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6
U.S.C. 609a), of which $152,500,000 is for eligible
recipients located in high-risk urban areas that receive
funding under section 2003 of such Act and $152,500,000 is
for eligible recipients that are located outside such areas:
Provided, That eligible recipients are those described in
section 2009(b) of such Act (6 U.S.C. 609a(b)) or are an
otherwise eligible recipient at risk of a terrorist or other
extremist attack.
(4) $105,000,000 for Public Transportation Security
Assistance, Railroad Security Assistance, and Over-the-Road
Bus Security Assistance under sections 1406, 1513, and 1532
of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission
Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1135, 1163, and 1182), of which
$10,000,000 shall be for Amtrak security and $2,000,000 shall
be for Over-the-Road Bus Security: Provided, That such
public transportation security assistance shall be provided
directly to public transportation agencies.
(5) $100,000,000 for Port Security Grants in accordance
with section 70107 of title 46, United States Code.
(6) $720,000,000, to remain available until September 30,
2026, of which $360,000,000 shall be for Assistance to
Firefighter Grants and $360,000,000 shall be for Staffing for
Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants under sections 33
and 34 respectively of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229 and 2229a).
(7) $355,000,000 for emergency management performance
grants under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121), the Earthquake
Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701), section 762
of title 6, United States Code, and Reorganization Plan No. 3
of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
(8) $312,750,000 for necessary expenses for Flood Hazard
Mapping and Risk Analysis, in addition to and to supplement
any other sums appropriated under the National Flood
Insurance Fund, and such additional sums as may be provided
by States or other political subdivisions for cost-shared
mapping activities under section 1360(f)(2) of the National
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101(f)(2)), to remain
available until expended.
(9) $12,000,000 for Regional Catastrophic Preparedness
Grants.
(10) $130,000,000 for the emergency food and shelter
program under title III of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11331), to remain available until
September 30, 2026: Provided, That not to exceed 3.5 percent
shall be for total administrative costs.
(11) $40,000,000 for the Next Generation Warning System.
(12) $221,343,810 for Community Project Funding grants,
which shall be for the purposes, and the amounts, specified
in the table entitled ``Homeland Security--Community Project
Funding'' in the report accompanying this Act, of which--
[[Page H4177]]
(A) $81,771,896, in addition to amounts otherwise made
available for such purpose, is for emergency operations
center grants under section 614 of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5196c); and
(B) $139,571,914, in addition to amounts otherwise made
available for such purpose, is for pre-disaster mitigation
grants under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(e),
notwithstanding subsections (f), (g), and (l) of that section
(42 U.S.C. 5133(f), (g), (l)).
(13) $322,899,000 to sustain current operations for
training, exercises, technical assistance, and other
programs.
disaster relief fund
For necessary expenses in carrying out the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), $22,741,000,000, to remain available
until expended: Provided, That such amount shall be for
major disasters declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121
et seq.) and is designated by the Congress as being for
disaster relief pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
national flood insurance fund
For activities under the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), the Flood Disaster Protection
Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), the Biggert-Waters
Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-141, 126
Stat. 916), and the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability
Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-89; 128 Stat. 1020),
$239,785,000, to remain available until September 30, 2026,
which shall be derived from offsetting amounts collected
under section 1308(d) of the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(d)); of which $14,578,000 shall be
available for mission support associated with flood
management; and of which $225,207,000 shall be available for
flood plain management and flood mapping: Provided, That any
additional fees collected pursuant to section 1308(d) of the
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(d))
shall be credited as offsetting collections to this account,
to be available for flood plain management and flood mapping:
Provided further, That in fiscal year 2025, no funds shall
be available from the National Flood Insurance Fund under
section 1310 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 4017) in excess of--
(1) $240,262,000 for operating expenses and salaries and
expenses associated with flood insurance operations;
(2) $1,382,000,000 for commissions and taxes of agents;
(3) such sums as are necessary for interest on Treasury
borrowings; and
(4) $175,000,000, which shall remain available until
expended, for flood mitigation actions and for flood
mitigation assistance under section 1366 of the National
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c),
notwithstanding sections 1366(e) and 1310(a)(7) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 4104c(e), 4017):
Provided further, That the amounts collected under section
102 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C.
4012a) and section 1366(e) of the National Flood Insurance
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c(e)), shall be deposited in the
National Flood Insurance Fund to supplement other amounts
specified as available for section 1366 of the National Flood
Insurance Act of 1968, notwithstanding section 102(f)(8),
section 1366(e) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968,
and paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 1367(b) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 4012a(f)(8), 4104c(e), 4104d(b)(1)-(3)): Provided
further, That total administrative costs shall not exceed 4
percent of the total appropriation: Provided further, That
up to $6,102,000 is available to carry out section 24 of the
Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (42
U.S.C. 4033).
Administrative Provisions
(including transfers of funds)
Sec. 301. Funds made available under the heading
``Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency--
Operations and Support'' may be made available for the
necessary expenses of procuring or providing access to
cybersecurity threat feeds for branches, agencies,
independent agencies, corporations, establishments, and
instrumentalities of the Federal Government of the United
States, state, local, tribal, and territorial entities,
fusion centers as described in section 210A of the Homeland
Security Act (6 U.S.C. 124h), and Information Sharing and
Analysis Organizations.
Sec. 302. (a) Notwithstanding section 2008(a)(12) of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 609(a)(12)) or any
other provision of law, not more than 5 percent of the amount
of a grant made available in paragraphs (1) through (5) under
``Federal Emergency Management Agency--Federal Assistance'',
may be used by the recipient for expenses directly related to
administration of the grant.
(b) The authority provided in subsection (a) shall also
apply to a state recipient for the administration of a grant
under such paragraph (3).
Sec. 303. Applications for grants under the heading
``Federal Emergency Management Agency--Federal Assistance'',
for paragraphs (1) through (5), shall be made available to
eligible applicants not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, eligible applicants shall submit
applications not later than 80 days after the grant
announcement, and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency shall act within 65 days after the receipt
of an application.
Sec. 304. (a) Under the heading ``Federal Emergency
Management Agency--Federal Assistance'', for grants under
paragraphs (1) through (5) and (9), the Administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency shall brief the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate 5 full business days in advance of announcing
publicly the intention of making an award.
(b) If any such public announcement is made before 5 full
business days have elapsed following such briefing,
$1,000,000 of amounts appropriated by this Act for ``Federal
Emergency Management Agency--Operations and Support'' shall
be rescinded.
Sec. 305. Under the heading ``Federal Emergency Management
Agency--Federal Assistance'', for grants under paragraphs (1)
and (2), the installation of communications towers is not
considered construction of a building or other physical
facility.
Sec. 306. The reporting requirements in paragraphs (1) and
(2) under the heading ``Federal Emergency Management Agency--
Disaster Relief Fund'' in the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 114-4), related to
reporting on the Disaster Relief Fund, shall be applied in
fiscal year 2025 with respect to budget year 2026 and current
fiscal year 2025, respectively--
(1) in paragraph (1) by substituting ``fiscal year 2026''
for ``fiscal year 2016''; and
(2) in paragraph (2) by inserting ``business'' after
``fifth''.
Sec. 307. In making grants under the heading ``Federal
Emergency Management Agency--Federal Assistance'', for
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants, the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency may
grant waivers from the requirements in subsections (a)(1)(A),
(a)(1)(B), (a)(1)(E), (c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(4) of section
34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15
U.S.C. 2229a).
Sec. 308. (a) The aggregate charges assessed during fiscal
year 2025, as authorized in title III of the Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (42 U.S.C.
5196e), shall not be less than 100 percent of the amounts
anticipated by the Department of Homeland Security to be
necessary for its Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program
for the next fiscal year.
(b) The methodology for assessment and collection of fees
shall be fair and equitable and shall reflect costs of
providing such services, including administrative costs of
collecting such fees.
(c) Such fees shall be deposited in a Radiological
Emergency Preparedness Program account as offsetting
collections and will become available for authorized purposes
on October 1, 2025, and remain available until expended.
Sec. 309. In making grants under the heading ``Federal
Emergency Management Agency--Federal Assistance'', for
Assistance to Firefighter Grants, the Administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency may waive subsection (k)
of section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act
of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229).
Sec. 310. Any unobligated balances of funds appropriated
in any prior Act for activities funded by the National
Predisaster Mitigation Fund under section 203 of the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5133), as in effect on the day before the date of
enactment of section 1234 of division D of Public Law 115-
254, may be transferred to and merged with funds set aside
pursuant to subsection (i)(1) of section 203 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5133), as in effect on the date of the enactment of
this section.
Sec. 311. Any unobligated balances of funds appropriated
under the heading ``Federal Emergency Management Agency--
Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program'' in any prior
Act may be transferred to and merged with funds appropriated
under the heading ``Federal Emergency Management Agency--
Federal Assistance'' for necessary expenses for Flood Hazard
Mapping and Risk Analysis: Provided, That funds transferred
pursuant to this section shall be in addition to and
supplement any other sums appropriated for such purposes
under the National Flood Insurance Fund and such additional
sums as may be provided by States or other political
subdivisions for cost-shared mapping activities under section
1360(f)(2) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 4101(f)(2)), to remain available until expended.
TITLE IV
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TRAINING, AND SERVICES
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
operations and support
For necessary expenses of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services for operations and support of the E-Verify Program,
$112,431,000: Provided, That such amounts shall be in
addition to any other amounts made available for such
purposes, and shall not be construed to require any reduction
of any fee described in section 286(m) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)).
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers for operations and support, including the
purchase of not to exceed 117 vehicles for police-type use
and hire of passenger motor vehicles, and services as
authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code,
$360,752,000, of which $66,665,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2026: Provided, That not to exceed
$7,180 shall be for official reception and representation
expenses.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers for procurement, construction, and
improvements, $6,000,000, to
[[Page H4178]]
remain available until September 30, 2029, for acquisition of
necessary additional real property and facilities,
construction and ongoing maintenance, facility improvements
and related expenses of the Federal Law Enforcement Training
Centers.
Science and Technology Directorate
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Science and Technology
Directorate for operations and support, including the
purchase or lease of not to exceed 5 vehicles, $375,238,000,
of which $206,442,000 shall remain available until September
30, 2026: Provided, That not to exceed $10,000 shall be for
official reception and representation expenses.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Science and Technology
Directorate for procurement, construction, and improvements,
$30,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2029.
research and development
For necessary expenses of the Science and Technology
Directorate for research and development, $339,353,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2027.
Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office
operations and support
For necessary expenses of the Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction Office for operations and support, $159,252,000,
of which $50,446,000 shall remain available until September
30, 2026: Provided, That not to exceed $2,250 shall be for
official reception and representation expenses.
procurement, construction, and improvements
For necessary expenses of the Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction Office for procurement, construction, and
improvements, $33,397,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2027.
research and development
For necessary expenses of the Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction Office for research and development,
$110,938,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027.
federal assistance
For necessary expenses of the Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction Office for Federal assistance through grants,
contracts, cooperative agreements, and other activities,
$57,726,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027.
Administrative Provisions
Sec. 401. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
funds otherwise made available to U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services may be used to acquire, operate, equip,
and dispose of up to 5 vehicles, for replacement only, for
areas where the Administrator of General Services does not
provide vehicles for lease.
(b) The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services may authorize employees who are assigned to those
areas to use such vehicles to travel between the employees'
residences and places of employment.
Sec. 402. None of the funds appropriated by this Act may
be used to process or approve a competition under Office of
Management and Budget Circular A-76 for services provided by
employees (including employees serving on a temporary or term
basis) of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the
Department of Homeland Security who are known as Immigration
Information Officers, Immigration Service Analysts, Contact
Representatives, Investigative Assistants, or Immigration
Services Officers.
Sec. 403. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
Federal funds made available to U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services may be used for the collection and use
of biometrics taken at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services Application Support Center that is overseen
virtually by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
personnel using appropriate technology.
Sec. 404. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, or enforce the rule entitled ``Procedures or
Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of Asylum,
Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by Asylum
Officers'' (87 Fed. Reg. 18078).
Sec. 405. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to issue any
employment authorization document or similar document to any
alien whose application for asylum in the United States has
been denied, or who is convicted of a Federal or State crime
while his or her application for asylum in the United States
is pending.
Sec. 406. Notwithstanding the numerical limitation set
forth in section 214(g)(1)(B) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(1)(B)), the Secretary of
Homeland Security, after consultation with the Secretary of
Labor, and upon determining that the needs of American
businesses cannot be satisfied during fiscal year 2025 with
United States workers who are willing, qualified, and able to
perform temporary nonagricultural labor, may increase the
total number of aliens who may receive a visa under setion
101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b)) in such fiscal year above such
limitation by not more than the highest number of H-2B
nonimmigrants who participated in the H-2B returning worker
program in any fiscal year in which returning workers were
exempt from such numerical limitation.
Sec. 407. Notwithstanding section 286(n) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(n)), the
Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may use
not more than $2,500 of the amounts deposited in the
Immigration Examinations Fee Account for official reception
and representation expenses in fiscal year 2025.
Sec. 408. No Federal funds made available to the
Department of Homeland Security may be used for the
consideration of a petition for a nonimmigrant visa under
section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, if the petitioner is any entity identified
under section 1260H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
(Public Law 116-283) or any subsidiary of such entity.
Sec. 409. The Director of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers is authorized to distribute funds to Federal
law enforcement agencies for expenses incurred participating
in training accreditation.
Sec. 410. The Federal Law Enforcement Training
Accreditation Board, including representatives from the
Federal law enforcement community and non-Federal
accreditation experts involved in law enforcement training,
shall lead the Federal law enforcement training accreditation
process to continue the implementation of measuring and
assessing the quality and effectiveness of Federal law
enforcement training programs, facilities, and instructors.
Sec. 411. (a) The Director of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers may accept transfers to its ``Procurement,
Construction, and Improvements'' account from Government
agencies requesting the construction of special use
facilities, as authorized by the Economy Act (31 U.S.C.
1535(b)).
(b) The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers shall
maintain administrative control and ownership upon completion
of such facilities.
Sec. 412. The functions of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers instructor staff shall be classified as
inherently governmental for purposes of the Federal
Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (31 U.S.C. 501 note).
Sec. 414. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be made available to implement, administer, or enforce the
``Asylum Program Fee'' from the Final Rule entitled ``U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes
to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements''
(88 Fed. Reg. 6194).
TITLE V
GENERAL PROVISIONS
(including transfers and rescissions of funds)
Sec. 501. No part of any appropriation contained in this
Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current
fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.
Sec. 502. Subject to the requirements of section 503 of
this Act, the unexpended balances of prior appropriations
provided for activities in this Act may be transferred to
appropriation accounts for such activities established
pursuant to this Act, may be merged with funds in the
applicable established accounts, and thereafter may be
accounted for as one fund for the same time period as
originally enacted.
Sec. 503. (a) None of the funds provided by this Act,
provided by previous appropriations Acts to the components in
or transferred to the Department of Homeland Security that
remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year
2025, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the
United States derived by the collection of fees available to
the components funded by this Act, shall be available for
obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming of funds
that--
(1) creates or eliminates a program, project, or activity,
or increases funds for any program, project, or activity for
which funds have been denied or restricted by the Congress;
(2) contracts out any function or activity presently
performed by Federal employees or any new function or
activity proposed to be performed by Federal employees in the
President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 for the
Department of Homeland Security;
(3) augments funding for existing programs, projects, or
activities in excess of $5,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever
is less;
(4) reduces funding for any program, project, or activity,
or numbers of personnel, by 10 percent or more; or
(5) results from any general savings from a reduction in
personnel that would result in a change in funding levels for
programs, projects, or activities as approved by the
Congress.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply if the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
are notified at least 30 days in advance of such
reprogramming.
(c) Up to 5 percent of any appropriation made available for
the current fiscal year for the Department of Homeland
Security by this Act or provided by previous appropriations
Acts may be transferred between such appropriations if the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate are notified at least 30 days in advance of
such transfer, but no such appropriation, except as otherwise
specifically provided, shall be increased by more than 10
percent by such transfer.
(d) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), and (c), no funds
shall be reprogrammed within or transferred between
appropriations--
(1) based upon an initial notification provided after June
15, except in extraordinary circumstances that imminently
threaten the safety of human life or the protection of
property;
(2) to increase or decrease funding for grant programs; or
(3) to create a program, project, or activity pursuant to
subsection (a)(1), including any new function or requirement
within any program, project, or activity, not approved by
Congress in the consideration of the enactment of this Act.
(e) The notification thresholds and procedures set forth in
subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d)
[[Page H4179]]
shall apply to any use of deobligated balances of funds
provided in previous Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Acts that remain available for obligation in
the current year.
(f) Notwithstanding subsection (c), the Secretary of
Homeland Security may transfer to the fund established by 8
U.S.C. 1101 note, up to $20,000,000 from appropriations
available to the Department of Homeland Security: Provided,
That the Secretary shall notify the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
at least 5 days in advance of such transfer.
Sec. 504. (a) Section 504 of the Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act, 2017 (division F of Public Law
115-31), related to the operations of a working capital fund,
shall apply with respect to funds made available in this Act
in the same manner as such section applied to funds made
available in that Act.
(b) Funds from such working capital fund may be obligated
and expended in anticipation of reimbursements from
components of the Department of Homeland Security.
Sec. 505. (a) Except as otherwise specifically provided by
law, not to exceed 50 percent of unobligated balances
remaining available at the end of fiscal year 2025, as
recorded in the financial records at the time of a
reprogramming notification, but not later than June 15, 2026,
from appropriations for ``Operations and Support'' for fiscal
year 2025 in this Act shall remain available through
September 30, 2026, in the account and for the purposes for
which the appropriations were provided.
(b) Prior to the obligation of such funds, a notification
shall be submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Senate in accordance with
section 503 of this Act.
Sec. 506. (a) Funds made available by this Act for
intelligence activities are deemed to be specifically
authorized by the Congress for purposes of section 504 of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 414) during fiscal
year 2025 until the enactment of an Act authorizing
intelligence activities for fiscal year 2025.
(b) Amounts described in subsection (a) made available for
``Intelligence, Analysis, and Situational Awareness--
Operations and Support'' that exceed the amounts in such
authorization for such account shall be transferred to and
merged with amounts made available under the heading
``Management Directorate--Operations and Support''.
(c) Prior to the obligation of any funds transferred under
subsection (b), the Management Directorate shall brief the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate on a plan for the use of such funds.
Sec. 507. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security, or the
designee of the Secretary, shall notify the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
at least 3 full business days in advance of--
(1) making or awarding a grant allocation or grant in
excess of $1,000,000;
(2) making or awarding a contract, other transaction
agreement, or task or delivery order on a multiple award
contract, or to issue a letter of intent totaling in excess
of $4,000,000;
(3) awarding a task or delivery order requiring an
obligation of funds in an amount greater than $10,000,000
from multi-year Department of Homeland Security funds;
(4) making a sole-source grant award; or
(5) announcing publicly the intention to make or award
items under paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), including a
contract covered by the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(b) If the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that
compliance with this section would pose a substantial risk to
human life, health, or safety, an award may be made without
notification, and the Secretary shall notify the Committees
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate not later than 5 full business days after such an
award is made or letter issued.
(c) A notification under this section--
(1) may not involve funds that are not available for
obligation; and
(2) shall include the amount of the award; the fiscal year
for which the funds for the award were appropriated; the type
of contract; and the account from which the funds are being
drawn.
Sec. 508. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
agency shall purchase, construct, or lease any additional
facilities, except within or contiguous to existing
locations, to be used for the purpose of conducting Federal
law enforcement training without advance notification to the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate, except that the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers is authorized to obtain the temporary use of
additional facilities by lease, contract, or other agreement
for training that cannot be accommodated in existing Centers'
facilities.
Sec. 509. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be used for expenses for any
construction, repair, alteration, or acquisition project for
which a prospectus otherwise required under chapter 33 of
title 40, United States Code, has not been approved, except
that necessary funds may be expended for each project for
required expenses for the development of a proposed
prospectus.
Sec. 510. Sections 522 and 530 of the Department of
Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2008 (division E of
Public Law 110-161; 121 Stat. 2073 and 2074) shall apply with
respect to funds made available in this Act in the same
manner as such sections applied to funds made available in
that Act.
Sec. 511. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act
may be used in contravention of the applicable provisions of
the Buy American Act.
(b) For purposes of subsection (a), the term ``Buy American
Act'' means chapter 83 of title 41, United States Code.
Sec. 512. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to amend the oath of allegiance required by section
337 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1448).
Sec. 513. None of the funds provided or otherwise made
available in this Act shall be available to carry out section
872 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 452)
unless explicitly authorized by the Congress.
Sec. 514. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used for planning, testing, piloting, or developing a
national identification card.
Sec. 515. Any official that is required by this Act to
report or to certify to the Committees on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives and the Senate may not delegate
such authority to perform that act unless specifically
authorized herein.
Sec. 516. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used for first-class travel by the employees of agencies
funded by this Act in contravention of sections 301-10.122
through 301-10.124 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations.
Sec. 517. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to employ workers described in section 274A(h)(3) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(3)).
Sec. 518. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by
this Act may be used to pay award or incentive fees for
contractor performance that has been judged to be below
satisfactory performance or performance that does not meet
the basic requirements of a contract.
Sec. 519. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act
may be used to maintain or establish a computer network
unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and
exchanging of pornography.
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall limit the use of funds
necessary for any Federal, State, tribal, territorial, or
local law enforcement agency or any other entity carrying out
criminal investigations, prosecution, or adjudication
activities.
Sec. 520. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used by a Federal law enforcement officer to facilitate
the transfer of an operable firearm to an individual if the
Federal law enforcement officer knows or suspects that the
individual is an agent of a drug cartel unless law
enforcement personnel of the United States continuously
monitor or control the firearm at all times.
Sec. 521. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act
may be used to pay for the travel to or attendance of more
than 50 employees of a single component of the Department of
Homeland Security, who are stationed in the United States, at
a single international conference unless the Secretary of
Homeland Security, or a designee, determines that such
attendance is in the national interest and notifies the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate within at least 10 days of that determination
and the basis for that determination.
(b) For purposes of this section the term ``international
conference'' shall mean a conference occurring outside of the
United States attended by representatives of the United
States Government and of foreign governments, international
organizations, or nongovernmental organizations.
(c) The total cost to the Department of Homeland Security
of any such conference shall not exceed $500,000.
(d) Employees who attend a conference virtually without
travel away from their permanent duty station within the
United States shall not be counted for purposes of this
section, and the prohibition contained in this section shall
not apply to payments for the costs of attendance for such
employees.
Sec. 522. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to reimburse any Federal department or agency for its
participation in a National Special Security Event.
Sec. 523. (a) None of the funds made available to the
Department of Homeland Security by this or any other Act may
be obligated for the implementation of any structural pay
reform or the introduction of any new position classification
that will affect more than 100 full-time positions or costs
more than $5,000,000 in a single year before the end of the
30-day period beginning on the date on which the Secretary of
Homeland Security submits to Congress a notification that
includes--
(1) the number of full-time positions affected by such
change;
(2) funding required for such change for the current fiscal
year and through the Future Years Homeland Security Program;
(3) justification for such change; and
(4) for a structural pay reform, an analysis of
compensation alternatives to such change that were considered
by the Department.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to such change if--
(1) it was proposed in the President's budget proposal for
the fiscal year funded by this Act; and
(2) funds for such change have not been explicitly denied
or restricted in this Act.
Sec. 524. (a) Any agency receiving funds made available in
this Act shall, subject to subsections (b) and (c), post on
the public website of that agency any report required to be
submitted by the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate in this Act, upon the
determination by the head of the agency that it shall serve
the national interest.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to a report if--
(1) the public posting of the report compromises homeland
or national security; or
(2) the report contains proprietary information.
(c) The head of the agency posting such report shall do so
only after such report has been
[[Page H4180]]
made available to the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Senate for not less than 45
days except as otherwise specified in law.
Sec. 525. (a) Funding provided in this Act for ``Operations
and Support'' may be used for minor procurement,
construction, and improvements.
(b) For purposes of subsection (a), ``minor'' refers to end
items with a unit cost of $250,000 or less for personal
property, and $2,000,000 or less for real property.
Sec. 526. The authority provided by section 532 of the
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2018
(Public Law 115-141) regarding primary and secondary
schooling of dependents shall continue in effect during
fiscal year 2025.
Sec. 527. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available to the Department of Homeland Security by this
Act may be used to prevent any of the following persons from
entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any
facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland
Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens, or to make
any temporary modification at any such facility that in any
way alters what is observed by a visiting Member of Congress
or such designated employee, compared to what would be
observed in the absence of such modification:
(1) A Member of Congress; and
(2) An employee of the United States House of
Representatives or the United States Senate designated by
such a Member for the purposes of this section.
(b) Nothing in this section may be construed to require a
Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to
enter a facility described in subsection (a) for the purpose
of conducting oversight.
(c) With respect to individuals described in subsection
(a)(2), the Department of Homeland Security may require that
a request be made at least 24 hours in advance of an intent
to enter a facility described in subsection (a).
Sec. 528. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), none of
the funds made available in this Act may be used to place
restraints on a woman in the custody of the Department of
Homeland Security (including during transport, in a detention
facility, or at an outside medical facility) who is pregnant
or in post-delivery recuperation.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to a
pregnant woman if--
(1) an appropriate official of the Department of Homeland
Security makes an individualized determination that the
woman--
(A) is a serious flight risk, and such risk cannot be
prevented by other means; or
(B) poses an immediate and serious threat to harm herself
or others that cannot be prevented by other means; or
(2) a medical professional responsible for the care of the
pregnant woman determines that the use of therapeutic
restraints is appropriate for the medical safety of the
woman.
(c) If a pregnant woman is restrained pursuant to
subsection (b), only the safest and least restrictive
restraints, as determined by the appropriate medical
professional treating the woman, may be used. In no case may
restraints be used on a woman who is in active labor or
delivery, and in no case may a pregnant woman be restrained
in a face-down position with four-point restraints, on her
back, or in a restraint belt that constricts the area of the
pregnancy. A pregnant woman who is immobilized by restraints
shall be positioned, to the maximum extent feasible, on her
left side.
Sec. 529. (a) None of the funds made available by this Act
may be used to destroy any document, recording, or other
record pertaining to any--
(1) death of;
(2) potential sexual assault or abuse perpetrated against;
or
(3) allegation of abuse, criminal activity, or disruption
committed by an individual held in the custody of the
Department of Homeland Security.
(b) The records referred to in subsection (a) shall be made
available, in accordance with applicable laws and
regulations, and Federal rules governing disclosure in
litigation, to an individual who has been charged with a
crime, been placed into segregation, or otherwise punished as
a result of an allegation described in paragraph (3), upon
the request of such individual.
Sec. 530. Section 519 of division F of Public Law 114-113,
regarding a prohibition on funding for any position
designated as a Principal Federal Official, shall apply with
respect to any Federal funds in the same manner as such
section applied to funds made available in that Act.
Sec. 531. (a) Not later than 10 days after the date on
which the budget of the President for a fiscal year is
submitted to Congress pursuant to section 1105(a) of title
31, United States Code, the Under Secretary for Management of
Homeland Security shall submit to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
a report on the unfunded priorities, for the Department of
Homeland Security and separately for each departmental
component, for which discretionary funding would be
classified as budget function 050.
(b) Each report under this section shall specify, for each
such unfunded priority--
(1) a summary description, including the objectives to be
achieved if such priority is funded (whether in whole or in
part);
(2) the description, including the objectives to be
achieved if such priority is funded (whether in whole or in
part);
(3) account information, including the following (as
applicable):
(A) appropriation account; and
(B) program, project, or activity name; and
(4) the additional number of full-time or part-time
positions to be funded as part of such priority.
(c) In this section, the term ``unfunded priority'', in the
case of a fiscal year, means a requirement that--
(1) is not funded in the budget referred to in subsection
(a);
(2) is necessary to fulfill a requirement associated with
an operational or contingency plan for the Department; and
(3) would have been recommended for funding through the
budget referred to in subsection (a) if--
(A) additional resources had been available for the budget
to fund the requirement;
(B) the requirement has emerged since the budget was
formulated; or
(C) the requirement is necessary to sustain prior-year
investments.
Sec. 532. (a) Not later than 10 days after a determination
is made by the President to evaluate and initiate protection
under any authority for a former or retired Government
official or employee, or for an individual who, during the
duration of the directed protection, will become a former or
retired Government official or employee (referred to in this
section as a ``covered individual''), the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall submit a notification to
congressional leadership and the Committees on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on
Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives
(referred to in this section as the ``appropriate
congressional committees'').
(b) Such notification may be submitted in classified form,
if necessary, and in consultation with the Director of
National Intelligence or the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, as appropriate, and shall include the
threat assessment, scope of the protection, and the
anticipated cost and duration of such protection.
(c) Not later than 15 days before extending, or 30 days
before terminating, protection for a covered individual, the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a notification
regarding the extension or termination and any change to the
threat assessment to the congressional leadership and the
appropriate congressional committees.
(d) Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary shall
submit a report to the congressional leadership and the
appropriate congressional committees, which may be submitted
in classified form, if necessary, detailing each covered
individual, and the scope and associated cost of protection.
Sec. 533. (a) None of the funds provided to the Department
of Homeland Security in this or any prior Act may be used by
an agency to submit an initial project proposal to the
Technology Modernization Fund (as authorized by section 1078
of subtitle G of title X of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91))
unless, concurrent with the submission of an initial project
proposal to the Technology Modernization Board, the head of
the agency--
(1) notifies the Committees on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives and the Senate of the proposed submission
of the project proposal;
(2) submits to the Committees on Appropriations a copy of
the project proposal; and
(3) provides a detailed analysis of how the proposed
project funding would supplement or supplant funding
requested as part of the Department's most recent budget
submission.
(b) None of the funds provided to the Department of
Homeland Security by the Technology Modernization Fund shall
be available for obligation until 15 days after a report on
such funds has been transmitted to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate.
(c) The report described in subsection (b) shall include--
(1) the full project proposal submitted to and approved by
the Fund's Technology Modernization Board;
(2) the finalized interagency agreement between the
Department and the Fund including the project's deliverables
and repayment terms, as applicable;
(3) a detailed analysis of how the project will supplement
or supplant existing funding available to the Department for
similar activities;
(4) a plan for how the Department will repay the Fund,
including specific planned funding sources, as applicable;
and
(5) other information as determined by the Secretary.
Sec. 534. Within 60 days of any budget submission for the
Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2026 that
assumes revenues or proposes a reduction from the previous
year based on user fees proposals that have not been enacted
into law prior to the submission of the budget, the Secretary
of Homeland Security shall provide the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
specific reductions in proposed discretionary budget
authority commensurate with the revenues assumed in such
proposals in the event that they are not enacted prior to
October 1, 2025.
Sec. 535. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be obligated or expended to implement the Arms Trade Treaty
until the Senate approves a resolution of ratification for
the Treaty.
Sec. 536. No Federal funds made available to the
Department of Homeland Security may be used to enter into a
procurement contract, memorandum of understanding, or
cooperative agreement with, or make a grant to, or provide
[[Page H4181]]
a loan or guarantee to, any entity identified under section
1260H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283)
or any subsidiary of such entity.
Sec. 537. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available in this or any other Act may be used to transfer,
release, or assist in the transfer or release to or within
the United States, its territories, or possessions Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee who--
(1) is not a United States citizen or a member of the Armed
Forces of the United States; and
(2) is or was held on or after June 24, 2009, at the United
States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the Department
of Defense.
Sec. 538. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (in this
section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall, on a
bimonthly basis beginning immediately after the date of
enactment of this Act, develop estimates of the number of
aliens anticipated to arrive at the southwest border of the
United States.
(b) The Secretary shall ensure that, at a minimum, the
estimates developed pursuant to subsection (a)--
(1) cover the current fiscal year and the following fiscal
year;
(2) include a breakout by demographics, to include single
adults, family units, and unaccompanied children;
(3) undergo an independent validation and verification
review;
(4) are used to inform policy planning and budgeting
processes within the Department of Homeland Security; and
(5) are included in the budget materials submitted to
Congress for each fiscal year beginning after the date of
enactment of this Act and in support of--
(A) the President's annual budget request pursuant to
section 1105 of title 31, United States Code;
(B) any supplemental funding request submitted to Congress;
(C) any reprogramming and transfer notification pursuant to
section 503 of this Act; and
(D) such budget materials shall include--
(i) the most recent bimonthly estimates developed pursuant
to subsection (a);
(ii) a description and quantification of the estimates used
to justify funding requests for Department programs related
to border security, immigration enforcement, and immigration
services;
(iii) a description and quantification of the anticipated
workload and requirements resulting from such estimates; and
(iv) a confirmation as to whether the budget requests for
impacted agencies were developed using the same estimates.
(c) The Secretary shall share the bimonthly estimates
developed pursuant to subsection (a) with the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, the
Secretary of State, and the Committees on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives and the Senate.
(d) If the bimonthly estimates described in subsection (b)
are not provided for the purposes described, the
reprogramming and transfer authority provided in section 503
of this Act shall be suspended until such time as the
required estimates are provided to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate.
Sec. 539. (a) Prior to the Secretary of Homeland Security
requesting assistance from the Department of Defense for
border security operations, the Secretary shall ensure that
an alternatives analysis and cost-benefit analysis is
conducted before such request is made, which shall include an
examination of obtaining such support through other means.
(b) Not later than 30 days after the date on which a
request for assistance is made, the Secretary of Homeland
Security shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives and the Senate a report
detailing the types of support requested, the alternatives
analysis and cost-benefit analysis described in subsection
(a), and the operational impact to Department of Homeland
Security operations of any Department of Defense border
security support requested by the Secretary.
(c) Not later than 30 days after the date on which a
request made for assistance is granted and quarterly
thereafter through the duration of such assistance, the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committees
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate, a report detailing the assistance provided and the
operational impacts to border security operations.
Sec. 540. Funds made available in this Act or any other
Act for Operations and Support may be used for the necessary
expenses of providing an employee emergency back-up care
program.
Sec. 541. (a) Not less than $5,000,000 made available in
this Act shall be transferred to ``U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement--Operations and Support'' to support and
conduct necessary operations of the Blue Campaign for fiscal
year 2025.
(b) Prior to the obligation of funds made available by
subsection (a), notification shall be submitted to the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate.
Sec. 542. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this Act or any other Act shall be used to
execute an inspection of a detention facility that is in a
contractual agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement for the provision of detention services and that
is subject to the terms, conditions, and standards found
within the National Detention Standards for Non-Dedicated
Facilities, as revised in 2019 for U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, except solely for compliance with the
terms, conditions, and standards found within the National
Detention Standards for Non-Dedicated Facilities, as revised
in 2019.
(b) Executions of inspections described in subsection (a)
shall not occur within six months of a previous inspection of
such facility, except with respect to inspections executed by
the Office of Inspector General.
Sec. 543. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, or enforce the rule entitled ``Circumvention of
Lawful Pathways'' (88 Fed. Reg. 11704).
Sec. 544. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to establish or
support the activities of a Disinformation Governance Board
at the Department of Homeland Security, or any other similar
entity carrying out activities relating to disinformation in
a similar manner or to a similar extent to such a Board.
Sec. 545. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to:
(a) classify or facilitate the classification of any
communications by a United States person as mis-, dis-, or
mal-information; or
(b) partner with or fund nonprofit or other organizations
that pressure or recommend private companies to censor lawful
and constitutionally protected speech of United States
persons, including recommending the censoring or removal of
content on social media platforms.
(c) Any officer or employee of the Federal Government whose
salary is funded by this Act and who conducts any activity
described in (a) or (b) shall be removed from the Federal
service.
Sec. 546. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to implement,
administer, apply, enforce, or carry out the Equity Action
Plan of the Department of Homeland Security, or Executive
Order No. 13985 of January 20, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 7009,
relating to advancing racial equity and support for
underserved communities through the federal government),
Executive Order No. 14035 of June 25, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg.
34593, relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility in the federal workforce), Executive Order No.
14091 of February 16, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg. 10825 relating to
further advancing racial equity and support for underserved
communities through the federal government) or any program,
project, or activity that promotes or advances Critical Race
Theory or any concept associated with Critical Race Theory.
Sec. 547. (a) In general.--Notwithstanding section 7 of
title 1, United States Code, section 1738C of title 28,
United States Code, or any other provision of law, none of
the funds provided by this Act, or previous appropriations
Acts, shall be used in whole or in part to take any
discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially,
on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordance
with a sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction,
that marriage is, or should be recognized as, a union of one
man and one woman.
(b) Discriminatory action defined.--As used in subsection
(a), a discriminatory action means any action taken by the
Federal Government to--
(1) alter in any way the Federal tax treatment of, or cause
any tax, penalty, or payment to be assessed against, or deny,
delay, or revoke an exemption from taxation under section
501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person
referred to in subsection (a);
(2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax purposes of any
charitable contribution made to or by such person;
(3) withhold, reduce the amount or funding for, exclude,
terminate, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, any Federal
grant, contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement,
guarantee, loan, scholarship, license, certification,
accreditation, employment, or other similar position or
status from or to such person;
(4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise make
unavailable or deny, any entitlement or benefit under a
Federal benefit program, including admission to, equal
treatment in, or eligibility for a degree from an educational
program, from or to such person; or
(5) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise make
unavailable or deny access or an entitlement to Federal
property, facilities, educational institutions, speech fora
(including traditional, limited, and nonpublic fora), or
charitable fundraising campaigns from or to such person.
(c) Accreditation; Licensure; Certification.--The Federal
Government shall consider accredited, licensed, or certified
for purposes of Federal law any person that would be
accredited, licensed, or certified, respectively, for such
purposes but for a determination against such person wholly
or partially on the basis that the person speaks, or acts, in
accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral
conviction described in subsection (a).
Sec. 548. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available in this or any other Act may be used to
license, facilitate, coordinate, or otherwise allow officials
of a country designated as a state sponsor of terrorism
within the past three fiscal years, to, in their capacity as
an official, observe, tour, visit, or confer with the
employees of the Department of Homeland Security.
(b) The term ``state sponsor of terrorism'' means a country
the government of which the Secretary of State determines has
repeatedly provided support for international terrorism
pursuant to section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control
Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A)); section 620A of
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); section
40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780); or any
other provision of law.
Sec. 549. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to obligate or award funds to a political subdivision
of a State that--
(a) has in effect any law, policy, or procedure, whether
written or communicated orally, in contravention of, or which
substantially limits compliance with, subsection (a) or (b)
of section 642
[[Page H4182]]
of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration
Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373); or
(b) has in effect any law, policy, or procedure, whether
written or communicated orally, the result of which hinders
the federal government from enforcing the immigration laws as
defined by 8 U.S.C. 101(a)(17).
(rescissions of funds)
Sec. 550. Of the funds appropriated to the Department of
Homeland Security, the following funds are hereby rescinded
from the following accounts and programs in the specified
amounts: Provided, That no amounts may be rescinded from
amounts that were designated by the Congress as an emergency
requirement pursuant to a concurrent resolution on the budget
or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985:
(1) $600,000,000 from the unobligated balances available
under the heading ``U.S. Customs and Border Protection--
Procurement, Construction, and Improvements'' of the amounts
provided by Public Law 116-260 for the construction of
barrier system along the southwest border.
Sec. 551. Of the unobligated balances in the ``Department
of Homeland Security Nonrecurring Expenses Fund'' established
in section 538 of division F of Public Law 117-103,
$154,000,000 are hereby rescinded.
SPENDING REDUCTION ACCOUNT
Sec. 552. $0.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act, 2025.''
The CHAIR. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as
amended, are waived.
No further amendment to the bill, as amended, shall be in order
except those printed in part C of House Report 118-559, amendments en
bloc described in section 13 of House Resolution 1316, and pro forma
amendments described in section 14 of that resolution.
Each further amendment printed in part C of the report shall be
considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only
by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read,
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided
and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject
to amendment except as provided in section 14 of House Resolution 1316,
and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.
It shall be in order at any time for the chair of the Committee on
Appropriations or his designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting
of amendments printed in part C of the report not earlier disposed of.
Amendments en bloc shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for
20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their designees,
shall not be subject to amendment, except as provided in section 14 of
House Resolution 1316, and shall not be subject to a demand for
division of the question.
During consideration of the bill for amendment, the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective
designees may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at any point for
the purpose of debate.
Amendments En Bloc No. 1 Offered by Mr. Amodei of Nevada
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1316, I offer
amendments en bloc.
The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendments en bloc.
Amendments en bloc No. 1 consisting of amendment Nos. 3, 6, 7, 8, 10,
13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 40, 41,
47, 49, 51, 60, and 61 printed in part C of House Report 118-559,
offered by Mr. Amodei of Nevada:
Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Bacon of Nebraska
Page 58, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000) (reduced by $2,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 6 Offered by Mr. Buchanan of Florida
Page 2, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $3,000,000)''.
Page 18, line 19, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
Page 18, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
Page 18, line 21, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 7 Offered by Mr. Buchanan of Florida
Page 2, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $4,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $4,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 8 Offered by Mr. Buchanan of Florida
Page 2, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $3,000,000)''.
Page 58, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $3,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 10 Offered by Ms. Castor of Florida
Page 45, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $305,000,000) (increased by ($305,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 13 Offered by Mr. Garbarino of New York
Page 45, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $80,000,000) (reduced by $80,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 16 Offered by Mr. Gottheimer of New Jersey
Page 43, line 24, after the first dollar amount insert
``(reduced by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 17 Offered by Mr. Gottheimer of New Jersey
Page 11, line 4, after the dollar amount insert ``(reduced
by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 21 Offered by Mr. James of Michigan
Page 1, line 14, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $20,000,000)''.
Page 16, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $20,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 22 Offered by Mrs. Kim of California
Page 24, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $5,000,000) (increased by $5,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 23 Offered by Mr. LaLota of New York
Page 16, line 1, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $10,000,000) (increased by $10,000,000)''.
Amendment No. 24 Offered by Mr. LaLota of New York
Page 16, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $10,000,000) (increased by $10,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 25 OFFERED BY MR. LaLOTA OF NEW YORK
Page 15, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $35,000,000) (increased by $35,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 26 OFFERED BY MR. LEVIN OF CALIFORNIA
Page 11, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $10,000,000) (reduced by $10,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 27 OFFERED BY MR. LEVIN OF CALIFORNIA
Page 12, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $10,000,000) (reduced by $10,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 28 OFFERED BY MR. McCAUL OF TEXAS
Page 43, line 24, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $8,000,000) (increased by $8,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 31 OFFERED BY MR. MOLINARO OF NEW YORK
Page 1, line 14, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $5,000,000)''.
Page 43, line 24, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $5,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 33 OFFERED BY MR. MOYLAN OF GUAM
Page 16, line 20, after dollar amount, insert ``(reduced by
$5,000,000) (increased by $5,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 34 OFFERED BY MR. MOYLAN OF GUAM
Page 43, line 24, after first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 35 OFFERED BY MR. MOYLAN OF GUAM
Page 15, line 6, after dollar amount, insert ``(reduced by
$5,000,000) (increased by $5,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 36 OFFERED BY MR. MOYLAN OF GUAM
Page 12, line 8, after dollar amount, insert ``(reduced by
$1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 40 OFFERED BY MR. NORMAN OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Page 11, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 41 OFFERED BY MR. NORMAN OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Page 11, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $1,000,000) (increased by $1,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 47 OFFERED BY MR. PASCRELL OF NEW JERSEY
Page 2, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $15,000,000)''.
Page 44, line 12, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $15,000,000)''.
Page 46, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $15,000,000)''.
Page 46, line 7, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $7,500,000)''.
Page 46, line 9, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $7,500,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 49 OFFERED BY MR. PETERS OF CALIFORNIA
Page 1, line 14, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $10,000,000) (decreased by $10,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 51 OFFERED BY MRS. RADEWAGEN OF AMERICAN SAMOA
Page 1, line 14, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $1,650,000)''.
Page 16, line 1, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $1,650,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 60 OFFERED BY MRS. WAGNER OF MISSOURI
Page 2, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $5,000,000)''.
[[Page H4183]]
Page 12, line 20, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $4,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 20, after the second dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $4,000,000)''.
AMENDMENT NO. 61 OFFERED BY MRS. WAGNER OF MISSOURI
Page 2, line 10, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $3,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 20, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 24, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman from
Nevada (Mr. Amodei) and the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood)
each will control 10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, the bipartisan en bloc amendment before you
is comprised of 28 amendments offered by my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle.
This en bloc amendment contains proposals that will strengthen the
underlying bill. I want to highlight just a few.
It would provide additional funding to bolster investigations for
exploited children within Secret Service and Homeland Security
Investigations.
It highlights the Coast Guard's ongoing need for assets,
infrastructure, and maintenance funding. It emphasizes the importance
of nonintrusive inspection equipment for CBP ports of entry to improve
detection of fentanyl and other opioids that plague communities across
our country.
It increases funds for FEMA grant programs for firefighters and other
first responders and highlights the importance of grants that fund
physical security improvements for nonprofit organizations at risk of
terrorist attack.
Again, I thank my colleagues for their participation in this process,
I urge Members to support this bipartisan en bloc, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment.
I thank Chairman Amodei for working with us to include these
bipartisan priorities in this amendment.
While I do have some concerns about the extent to which some of these
accounts would be cut by these amendments, I trust that we will be able
to address those problems before this bill becomes law.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Missouri (Mrs. Wagner).
Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Chair, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.
I have an amendment, Madam Chair, in this en bloc.
I rise today in support of my amendment which would provide a fully
offset and fully paid for 67 percent funding increase for
investigations of forced child labor.
Madam Chairman, as a direct result of the Biden administration's
refusal to properly enforce the law, there is a humanitarian
catastrophe underway at our southern border. Since President Biden took
office, 10 million illegal migrants have flooded our borders, including
8 million encountered by Border Patrol, 1.7 million got-aways, and some
500,000 unaccompanied children.
By law, the Biden administration is required to ensure these
unaccompanied minors are protected from human trafficking. Instead, the
administration has been essentially giving these children away with
zero regard for their safety.
It has been exposed that the Biden administration completely lost
track of some 85,000 children, ignored countless warnings that these
children were being trafficked, and fired employees for speaking out.
There are even instances where the administration gave these children
to adults without simply checking or vetting if the adult had even
abused children or had a relationship with them in the past.
Madam Chairman, this level of neglect and callousness is unspeakable,
and we must ensure the Department of Homeland Security has the
resources necessary to investigate each and every case.
Madam Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment and the
entire en bloc.
Mr. AMODEI. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIR. The question is on the amendments en bloc offered by the
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei).
The en bloc amendments were agreed to.
Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Armstrong
The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed in
part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. (a) None of the funds made available by this Act
may be used--
(1) to reduce the hours of operation at--
(A) the Port of Carbury, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(B) the Port of Fortuna, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(C) the Port of Madia, North Dakota, port of entry from the
operational hours of 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(D) the Port of Neche, North Dakota, port of entry from the
operational hours of 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(E) the Port of Noonan, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(F) the Port of Northgate, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(G) the Port of Saint John, North Dakota, port of entry
from the operational hours of 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM CT daily;
(H) the Port of Sherwood, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(I) the Port of Walhalla, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(J) the Port of Westhope, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM CT daily;
(K) the Port of Antler, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(L) the Port of Sarles, North Dakota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM CT daily;
(M) the Port of Lancaster, Minnesota, port of entry from
the operational hours of 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT daily;
(N) the Port of Roseau, Minnesota, port of entry from the
operational hours of 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM CT daily;
(O) the Porthill, Idaho, land Port of entry, from the
operational hours of 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM PT daily; or
(P) the Port of Buffalo, New York, port of entry from the
operational hours of 7:00 AM to 12:00AM ET daily;
(2) to implement, administer, enforce, carry out, or
execute any rules, guidance, decisions, announcements, or
promulgations that reduce or change the hours of operation at
the ports of entry specified in paragraph (1); or
(3) to publish, promulgate, or otherwise issue rules,
guidance, decisions, announcements, or promulgations that
reduce or change the hours of operation at the ports of entry
specified in paragraph (1).
(b) The limitation described in paragraph (1) may not be
construed to apply in the case of the administration of a tax
or tariff.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman from
North Dakota (Mr. Armstrong) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Dakota.
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Madam Chair, it is pretty hard to get farther away
from the southern border than Grand Forks, North Dakota, but in Grand
Forks, just like many communities across North Dakota, somebody is
dying from fentanyl poisoning, and 100 percent of those pills are made
by cartels in Mexico.
I rise today in support of my amendment No. 1 to the fiscal year 2025
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations.
If passed, this amendment will defund the implementation of COVID-19-
era guidance that reduces the hours of operation for Customs and Border
Protection at certain northern border points of entry. Bringing these
ports of entry hours back to their pre-pandemic schedule will help our
Border Patrol agents respond to a massive increase in border encounters
and non-marijuana-related drug seizures in places like North Dakota,
Idaho, Minnesota, and western New York.
According to CBP data, both land encounters and drug smuggling have
skyrocketed in the past few years.
Specifically, in January of 2021, there were only 997 northern land
border encounters. Contrast that with January of 2024 when there were
15,800 encounters. That is a 1,484 percent increase.
[[Page H4184]]
Excluding marijuana, drug smuggling has also increased by 1,153
percent along the borders between fiscal year 2021 and 2023.
Due to the Biden administration's failure to secure our southwest
border, our Border Patrol agents at the northern border have had to
revert resources and personnel to the southwest border. Because of
that, the northern border is now suffering.
While we wholly support CBP and its efforts, we must ensure that full
staffing and scheduling are enforced so we can be fully prepared to
secure our northern border.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, CBP reduced the hours of
many of the ports of entry to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Though the pandemic has long been over, those shortened hours have
stayed in place.
{time} 1200
This amendment would return those ports of entry to schedules they
operated under before the pandemic. While CBP has extended hours for
some of the ports, others have been forgotten.
Along with several Northern Border Security Caucus members here in
Congress, I have had lots of back and forth with the CBP regarding
these hours. Expanding these hours will not only allow more staffing to
apprehend and seize any illegal activity attempting to cross the
border, but it will also greatly help the needs of Americans at the
northern border.
These ports of entry serve a vital role in connecting our States'
economies with our neighbor, Canada. Our constituents heavily rely on
them for tourism, church, trade, travel, healthcare, Tribal
connections, and more.
Since these hours remain shortened, we have heard from countless
constituents about how they no longer can do many of the activities
that I just mentioned, activities that they could do before with
expanded hours.
The ports of entry listed in this amendment used to serve as robust
and active points of movement where our constituents could freely
travel back and forth from the U.S. and Canada, and that needs to
happen again.
While we understand the CBP believes these ports of entry should
solely be based on vehicular and pedestrian traffic, we know, because
we have heard from our constituents, that the travelers are much less
likely to use the ports given the shortened hours.
In my State specifically, the Antler and Carbury stations were both
open from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. However, since the pandemic, their hours
have remained from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. That is a 40 percent reduction.
Requiring these ports to close early forces travelers to reroute to
other ports of entry with longer hours. Take Ms. Rebecca Davis from
Walhalla, North Dakota. During our northern border hearing that the
House Judiciary Committee hosted in Grand Forks, she mentioned that
what should be a quick trip takes several hours. She highlighted that
our small towns--and when I say small towns, I mean really small
towns--often get wrapped in the red tape of legal commerce on the
border at the same time when we allow the open flow of illegal commerce
on the southern border.
This truly affects everyone in the ag community, the small towns, and
every small sheriff's department on the northern border that has to
divert resources to do a job that the Federal Government is supposed to
do. Detours are particularly costly to commercial vehicles and ag
vehicle operators due to rising inflation and high fuel costs.
It is long past time that we change those hours back to pre-pandemic
levels for good. We need all the hours and resources we can to ensure
our borders are fully secure. This will also bring back our high
traveler activity along the northern border that results in more
travel, tourism, and more. I strongly support this amendment.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Norman). The gentlewoman from Illinois is
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, CBP conducts significant analysis when
it comes to setting port of entry hours, which includes traffic trends,
staffing availability, and the presence of other ports of entry within
a reasonable distance. CBP also considers the economic ramifications of
what a closure might have on local communities. Altering port of entry
hours is not a decision made lightly.
Removing CBP's discretion to limit hours for these ports of entry
sets a bad precedent that fails to allow for the consideration of other
compelling national and local threats that CBP must consider.
Unfortunately, this is just another example of an overly restrictive
policy that unnecessarily ties the administration's hands when working
to protect the American people. I must respectfully oppose this
amendment.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Armstrong).
The amendment was agreed to.
The Acting CHAIR. The Chair understands that amendment No. 2 will not
be offered.
Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Biggs
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to pay the salary and expenses of the position of the
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, occupied by
Alejandro Mayorkas.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Chair, many people may not know this, but NBC News
recently reported that more than 400 illegal aliens who are affiliates
of ISIS were released into the United States under this
administration's watch. They have caught some of them, but they still
have a significant number of them out.
Do you know what they said? Gee, if we could have enforced the law,
we wouldn't have released them into the country, and we could have
rounded them up and prevented them from ever getting into the country.
The reason I bring that up is because I am speaking in support of my
amendment, which prohibits the use of funds to pay the salary and the
expenses of the position of the DHS Secretary.
Who is the DHS Secretary? Who is this individual? It is the person
who has been the architect of the open-border policy.
I think one of my colleagues from Florida, who was on the floor here
just a moment ago, said it is a fictional invasion. Really? It is 10
million people in 2\1/2\, 3 years. They started setting records when?
February 2021. They have set records every month since. Who is in
charge of that? Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary.
In fact, this body was so disenchanted with his policies that we
impeached Secretary Mayorkas. When he was confronted with: Do you have
operational control of the border? He said, in a Judiciary hearing, you
know what, hey, we don't like that. First, he said, yes, we have
operational control. We gave him the statute. Are you at operational
control? Well, you know, we basically devised our own definition.
That is the person who is occupying the Homeland Security chair right
now, and they have incentivized literally millions of people to come
into this country. That is the lawlessness that has brought people to
their knees in many communities around this country.
We are still trying to get information from the DHS and the
Department of Defense about the terrorists who attempted to infiltrate
Quantico just about 6 weeks ago.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
[[Page H4185]]
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this
amendment.
The Secretary of Homeland Security plays a critical role in our
national security. Secretary Mayorkas has served in his role admirably
and has been an honorable public servant for decades, including service
as a U.S. attorney, the Director of USCIS, and the Deputy Secretary of
Homeland Security.
If my majority colleagues were sincere about addressing and ending
the humanitarian crisis at the border, they would not have rejected the
opportunity to even debate one of the toughest bipartisan border bills
in history simply to appease the desires of those who wish to keep
chaos at the border for political gain.
When the President and Secretary Mayorkas requested additional
resources to secure the border, my colleagues across the aisle ignored
that, too. They even demanded that we ``take care of our own border
first'' before we consider providing any funding to Ukraine and our
other allies.
My colleagues and I remain ready to address the challenges facing the
Department of Homeland Security and to work toward building a modern
immigration system that reflects the realities of the world we live in
today and advances the best interests of American families, businesses,
and communities.
In addition, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that this
amendment raises serious constitutional issues. Punishing the Secretary
is not the way to handle policy disputes. Unfortunately, this amendment
prioritizes legislative theater over the American people.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Chair, I get a kick when I hear Democrats say that the
so-called bipartisan bill out of the Senate would have solved this
problem. Do you know what that bill did? It granted amnesty. Do you
know what it did? It set a floor of 2,500 illegal aliens every day who
get to come in.
Guess what else it did? They provided loophole after loophole. There
is no limit on unaccompanied children, and hundreds of thousands have
come in. They have misplaced over 100,000 now. They are just so
irresponsible.
We heard people talk about an ineffective and outdated policy. Do you
know what worked? That ineffective and outdated policy. Do you know
why? Because it secured the border.
We had the most secure border in about, I don't know, our Nation's
history under President Trump. When they came in, President Biden
issued 93 EOs. Guess what? You have a mass invasion on the border.
What is it called? They called it a useless border wall. Do you know
who voted for that border wall originally? That is right, people like
Hillary Clinton. They voted for that border wall. They don't want a
border wall.
I have on my phone images from the Tucson sector of people dressed in
camo bringing drugs across interdicted just the other day. Do you know
why they were going near the San Miguel gate, which I have taken
colleagues to before? Because there is no fence. In Arizona, we largely
have no fences.
Here is the deal: This Homeland Security Secretary is the one who
gave us this policy.
I can say what I heard from these people. I can say what they said:
ineffective, outdated policies. They said these people are legally
entitled to refugee status.
Under what law? Under international law. How about the first safe
nation law? They are required to obey that. Guess what? That is what
the U.S. law is, as well--the first safe harbor, the first safe state.
That is where someone who wants refugee status comes in, but they are
not seeking refugee status. They are seeking asylum.
Do you know who sought asylum? The two outrageous murderers who just
murdered that 12-year-old girl in Houston. They were released under
asylum requests. They went and had the cartel cut off their ankle
bracelets.
That is what is happening. That is why this Secretary, this position,
which we are defunding correctly under the Holman rule, should not be
funded, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona will
be postponed.
Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Biggs
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 5
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. ___. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be made available to implement, administer, or otherwise
carry out the activities and policies described in the rule
entitled, ``Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility'',
published by the Secretary of Homeland Security on September
9, 2022.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment, which
prohibits funding from being used to implement the DHS 2022 rule that
allows illegal aliens to receive more government subsidies.
Under our immigration law, one ground of inadmissibility for aliens
is if they are likely to become a public charge. That is in the
statute. That is to say, if they are going to be a financial burden to
the American people due to the likelihood that they will rely on public
assistance programs, they are inadmissible.
However, in 2022, the DHS weakened this rule by excluding a whole
host of government benefit programs, including Medicaid.
What does this mean?
First, it gives the Biden administration more excuses to allow
millions of illegal aliens into the country by doing away with one
standard that would legally disqualify many people.
Second, it allows the Biden administration to explicitly pay illegal
aliens to be in the country with taxpayer dollars, which has always
been their plan.
Third, it creates a major pull factor or incentive for people who are
thinking of crossing the border to actually cross the border illegally.
There is evidence of this. Just talk to the people crossing the
border. I have. I have gone down to the border many times. I take
people with me, Members of Congress, all the time. When you ask people,
they will say they heard the U.S. Government was going to pay them to
be here--I have actually had people say this--and that they will take
me where I want to go.
Why wouldn't they say that? It is true.
Can someone tell me any policy by this administration that
discourages illegal aliens from entering the country? There is not one
serious policy that actually deters immigration.
This is why we must vote to end this open border DHS rule and stop
giving Federal dollars to illegal aliens.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1215
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, this is yet another cruel and inhumane
attempt by the majority to penalize legal immigrants for accessing
health benefits and other government services available to them.
The amendment attempts to revert to a Trump-era public charge rule in
2019 that temporarily disrupted a decades-long policy. The Trump-era
rule faced several legal challenges, leading to injunctions and halts
in its implementation and costing the taxpayers every time the
administration attempted to defend it in court.
The Biden administration's rule merely restores the historical
understanding of a public charge back to
[[Page H4186]]
what had been in place for decades. Under the Biden administration
rule, we align with decades-long policy that simply requires
immigration officials to consider whether a noncitizen will become
dependent on cash benefits. This is something I would imagine American
taxpayers would like to know.
Nonetheless, I think it is also important to point out that the idea
that immigrants somehow harm our economy or are a net cost to taxpayers
is false. For example, earlier this year, the Assistant Secretary for
Planning and Evaluation within the Department of Health and Human
Services published a report on the fiscal impact of refugees and
asylees at the Federal, State, and local levels from 2005 to 2019.
One of the key points of the study was this: The net fiscal impact of
refugees and asylees was positive over the 15-year period at $123.8
billion, billion with a b, meaning that refugees and asylees
contributed more revenue than they cost in expenditures to the American
taxpayers. Their net fiscal benefit to the Federal Government was
estimated at $31.5 billion, and the net fiscal benefit to State and
local governments was estimated at $92.3 billion.
While I can't speak to the intentions behind the gentleman's
amendment, I will note that this amendment won't even accomplish what
my colleagues think it will. Since the Trump-era rule was rescinded,
the effect of this amendment, if enacted, would be to simply revert
back to the 1999 guidance, which is essentially the same as the current
rule that is being implemented.
This amendment is just another baseless waste of time that does
nothing to advance the best interests of Americans. I will vote ``no,''
and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Chairman, the Senate bill that my colleagues love so
much didn't ever make it over here. It didn't make cloture twice in the
Senate. My colleagues can continue to yell and scream, but we passed
H.R. 2, which is laying over there in Chuck Schumer's lap, who is
refusing to move it.
Let's talk a little bit about this cruel and inhumane business. Do my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle know what is cruel? How about
for those who live in Yuma, Arizona, where the community has one
hospital. There is one hospital. When there is an emergency, they don't
have enough beds for you if you are a citizen because they are dealing
with illegal aliens who have flooded that hospital.
That is cruel and inhumane. Do my colleagues know what happens? They
air evac citizens to Phoenix or San Diego. That is cruel and inhumane.
Does the minority know what happens? Let's say a citizen is pregnant.
That maternity ward has 10 beds in it at Yuma. Most of the time, it is
filled with illegal aliens who have come in.
We just heard a lot about money, about this benefit. There are others
who assert the exact opposite. The one thing that we do know for sure
that everybody agrees on, right and left, if my colleagues actually
talk to people who know something: There are remittances well in excess
of $100 billion a year that go out from illegal aliens in this country.
It is a cash flow.
If my colleagues talk to leaders from the Central American States or
even representatives from Mexico, they are going to tell Members what
the cash flow is that those remittances provide for them. In Mexico, it
is the number two leading cash flow for them.
They come here because these individuals are incentivized to come
here, in part, because of the public charge that we allow them to be
on. That is why this amendment is crucial. If someone who is in this
country illegally should not be here and is receiving benefits, should
they receive the more than 90 social welfare benefits that this
country, the Federal Government, provides?
This administration has loosened the number of those benefits that
are available to illegal aliens. That should not happen. We have a
public charge rule. If you come in legally, you can't get in, but my
colleagues are wanting to say: Well, if you are here illegally, that is
okay.
Good grief. This is the statute. We are reverting to the statute that
worked. That is why this amendment is critical.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 9 Offered by Mrs. Cammack
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 9
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. ___. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be used to implement, administer,
or enforce any major rule under subparagraph (A) of section
804(2) of title 5, United States Code.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentlewoman
from Florida (Mrs. Cammack) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my amendment,
which would restrict funds at the Department of Homeland Security from
being used to finalize any rule or regulation that has an annual effect
on the economy of $100 million or more. Some might know this language
commonly as REINS, Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny.
It is no secret that the regulatory agencies today are out of
control. Under the Biden administration, we have seen hundreds of
billions, with a b, of dollars in regulatory costs fall on the
shoulders of average Americans without any input from their elected
Representatives in Congress.
My amendment seeks to restore congressional oversight and the
people's voice over these regulations by requiring that any major rule
proposed by these agencies must be approved by Congress, a/k/a the
people's House, before they go into effect.
By including my amendment in this bill, we restore Congress' Article
I authorities by bringing significant regulatory decisions back to the
body that is closest to the will of the people. We will no longer allow
unelected, nameless, faceless bureaucrats to impose regulatory costs
behind closed doors, but, rather, commit ourselves to open, transparent
governance.
We have already seen the Biden administration's outrageous border
crisis having allowed more illegal immigrants into the country than the
population of 43 U.S. States. Nearly 1,400 pounds of deadly fentanyl
has been seized at the border in just a single month, and 367 known
suspected terrorists on the international terrorist watch list have
crossed the border under the Biden administration.
This administration has waged war against the immigration system of
the United States, and the results speak for themselves. It is a total
failure. This commonsense amendment is a core part of our mission to
reintroduce government accountability and to restore the elected
Representatives' voice in the process.
By requiring congressional approval for major regulations, this
amendment forces a thorough examination of the potential costs and
benefits of proposed rules. This scrutiny is to prevent regulatory
overreach, ensuring that regulations are grounded in sound science,
economic reasoning, and the overall well-being of the American people,
regardless of political affiliation.
Oftentimes, these regulations serve as a mechanism for agencies to
sidestep congressional authority in crucial policy decisions. As the
core legislative body, it is crucial for us to reaffirm our
constitutional role and prevent any unwarranted expansion of regulatory
powers.
All in all, my amendment restores the people's voice in these
significant Federal agency decisions that impact our everyday lives.
Our Nation needs major regulatory reform, and incorporating our
amendment is a crucial step forward to a more transparent and
accountable government for all Americans.
I encourage and urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this
measure and standing up for our strongly held belief in a democratic
government by
[[Page H4187]]
the people, for the people, in our constitutional Republic.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, the Department of Homeland Security does
not engage in rulemaking behind closed doors. There is a rulemaking
process that involves the public. In fact, it was established by
Congress, and it has existed for decades.
The amendment would prohibit DHS and its agencies from issuing major
rules that are needed in order to implement and carry out laws enacted
by Congress. Unfortunately, this is just another example of a bad
policy rider aimed at unnecessarily tying the administration's hands.
Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do
the same.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is
remaining.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Florida has 2 minutes
remaining.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Chairman, in response to the notion that there is
actually someone over there in the basement of these Federal agencies
listening to the American people who weigh in via comment on these
proposed rules and regulations, that is laughable.
In some cases, we have seen agencies take in more than 250,000
comments, different letters, and petitions from concerned citizens,
associations, and organizations. They have fallen on deaf ears.
In the case of DHS, they have worked tirelessly to put things up for
a proposed rule, things like asylum eligibility and public health. One
would think that Members of the people's House would be the ones in
charge of dictating asylum process. One would think that it would be
Members of Congress who would actually be looking to develop
legislation that would cover the modernization of H-2A programs or
refugee appearances and interviews or the modernization regulations of
nonimmigrant workers.
I could provide hundreds of examples of different proposed rules and
regulations that have bypassed Congress, bypassed the people's House,
and effectively silenced the American people's voice because we now
have unelected, nameless, faceless bureaucrats and a hyperpoliticized
administration shoving their political agenda down our throat.
If we are going to restore our Article I authority, it starts here,
and it starts now. I encourage all of my colleagues to adopt this
amendment. It is common sense. It is good for all parties involved. I
don't care what side of the aisle you are on. The facts are exactly the
same.
We are elected Representatives for the people and by the people. We
need their voice here now more than ever.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack).
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, as the designee of Chairman
Cole, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, the gentleman from North Dakota
was here talking about what was happening in his State. I suggest for
our colleagues to please take a look at the aftermath of what having
open borders is doing to our country.
When we look at the significance of not watching our borders, not
guarding our borders, not paying attention to our borders, and totally
ignoring the fact that these things really exist as opposed to, No,
move on, there is nothing to see here, this legislation provides an
increase in funding for the Customs and Border Protection, which will
allow them to more effectively do their job. This bill addresses the
concerns of the often overlooked northern border.
A lot of people say: I don't know why you are concerned about the
northern border.
I say: Well, here is a little insight. It is 5,525 miles. It is the
longest border between two countries in the world. It is virtually
unwatched. That is not the fault of the Customs and Border Protection
people. They are overworked, underpaid, and very much underappreciated.
In fiscal year 2022, U.S. Border Patrol agents had 2,238 encounters
at the northern border. In fiscal year 2023, that number more than
quadrupled to 10,021 encounters. Through the first 7 months of fiscal
year 2024, they have already encountered 9,460 individuals. As the
summer months continue, that number will continue to skyrocket.
If Members can understand that statement, coming in the northern
border during winter is not a good idea. The weather itself is the
biggest inhibitor of that. However, it is very porous, it is very open,
it is very unwatched, and it is very concerning, and should be, to the
American people.
{time} 1230
The amazement I have, and this is not about Republicans versus
Democrats, this is people coming to represent their district in their
part of this incredible country.
This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democrat issue. This is
an issue about who is it that enforces these laws that are already on
the books.
When we go home, I hear all the time, you guys better do something
about what is happening at the borders. My question always back to them
is: Do you know how many laws we have already passed? They say: No, I
have no idea. I say: Well, it is the enforcement of the laws that have
been passed through the legislature that are going unwatched right now.
We can continue down this road and say: Move on, there is nothing to
see here. There is nothing going on. There is really not a problem at
the southern border. There is really not a problem at the northern
border.
In the meantime, the recipients of these illegals are the States that
they end up in. When you hear about what our citizens are being denied
because of taxpayer dollars being spent on a group--while we welcome
the world to come to America, if your first act upon entering America
is to break one of our laws, that is not a good way to start.
When we look at what appropriations is doing, all we are asking for
and all we are looking for is funding to protect our own borders.
It is incredible to me that we have to have debate over what is
actually taking place.
One side says: We have a lot of concerns about this. The other side
says: I don't know what you are concerned about. The problem doesn't
exist.
It does exist. It is real. The effect on America is long-lasting, and
I don't know what the number is. I have heard it is 10,000, 11,000,
12,000. Most people say: I don't know how many there are, but there are
quite a few. The aftermath is the key.
When we were in North Dakota, we listened to two sheriffs who were
exhausted because they don't have enough people to watch what is going
on in their State. It is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that they are
concerned about what is happening.
Now, who is the problem? Where is the problem? How do we fix the
problem?
We use taxpayer money virtually everywhere to protect our country.
That is the first obligation of the Federal Government to protect the
homeland. However, if you don't admit, or if you don't acknowledge that
it is taking place, then you can't fix it.
The idea is, if you are going to invest taxpayer dollars, give them a
return on that investment. Make sure that we are protecting our very
own people first. I welcome people coming to this country because that
is how my family got here. They came in the right way, and they
participated.
We have an incredible dilemma going on right now, and I want people
to think about this: 5,525 miles of border that is virtually
unprotected. People talked about the balloon from China that came in. I
love the way the administration addressed it. They let it come down
through Canada, come down through our country, and when it exited out
into the Atlantic Ocean, we
[[Page H4188]]
shot it down there. That is marvelous, but that is too late.
Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from Nevada for allowing me to speak
on this. I would hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
acknowledge what is happening and understand that our first oath of
office is to protect the homeland.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Amendment No. 11 Offered by Mr. Clyde
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 11
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 43, line 11, strike the first dollar amount and insert
``$2,379,485,000''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Georgia (Mr. Clyde) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Chair, today, I am offering an amendment to flat fund
the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency, also known as CISA, to keep it at the FY24 enacted
level saving $57.8 million.
On CISA's website, the mission reads: ``We lead the national effort
to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical
infrastructure.'' Unfortunately, CISA has strayed far from this
mission.
Two years ago, CISA was part of the infamous Disinformation
Governance Board, which was established at the Department of Homeland
Security to censor Americans' free speech.
While the so-called Disinformation Governance Board was rightfully
disbanded a few months later after enormous public outcry, many will be
shocked to learn that CISA has not stopped monitoring and censoring
Americans' free speech.
According to a 2022 news report: CISA drafted plans to target
``inaccurate information'' on a wide range of topics, including the
origins of COVID-19, the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, racial
justice, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the nature of U.S.
support to Ukraine.
Also, business records released by Twitter suggest that CISA
distorted its mission from protecting the Nation's critical cyber and
physical infrastructure into controlling what Americans can say and
what speech is acceptable online.
This is terrible. Americans' First Amendment should not be regulated
or controlled through government by proxy censorship.
CISA was first created before my arrival in Congress with bipartisan
support. Under the Trump administration, CISA focused on foreign
disinformation and countering foreign influence. Unfortunately, since
the current administration took office, CISA has aggressively shifted
beyond the original mandate of countering foreign threats.
In January 2021, CISA officials renamed the Countering Foreign
Influence Task Force, one of the key bodies of countering
disinformation founded during the Trump administration, to the ``mis-,
dis-, and malinformation team,'' meaning they took the word ``foreign''
out of the title.
Last summer, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the
Federal Government released a report, titled: ``The Weaponization of
CISA: How a `Cybersecurity' Agency Colluded With Big Tech and
`Disinformation' Partners to Censor Americans.''
Several disturbing details about CISA were released in this report,
including that CISA is ``working with Federal partners to mature a
whole-of-government approach'' to curb alleged misinformation and
disinformation and that CISA wanted to use the same taxpayer-funded
nonprofits as its mouthpiece to ``avoid the appearance of government
propaganda.'' This is simply censorship by proxy.
Last week, I had a conversation with the Director of CISA, and she
told me that this report by the Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of
the Federal Government is full of inaccuracies. Basically, it is not
worth the paper it is written on. I strongly disagree. I think our
Weaponization Subcommittee has done a phenomenal job.
CISA needs to return to its original mission of strengthening and
protecting our national cybersecurity and infrastructure, not censoring
Americans' free speech. CISA's bloated budget and the agency's
increased weaponization mission to police free speech has gone on
simultaneously.
There is a clear connection: Given extraordinary increases in
funding, CISA has used taxpayer dollars to censor Americans and target
speech that they find disagreeable. Therefore, I offer an amendment to
flat fund CISA to maintain the FY24 enacted level. This agency must be
refocused on their true mission, not given more funding to continue
undermining our constitutional rights.
The only thing that gets agency attention in Washington, D.C., is
funding. By flat funding CISA for FY25 it is simply putting them on
notice, a shot across the bow would be the Navy way of saying it, to
get their attention and cease the weaponization of this agency.
Mr. Chair, I hope that all Members of this committee will support
this amendment to correct this weaponized agency and thereby defend our
First Amendment rights for all Americans.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Nevada is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms.
Underwood), my colleague.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I join my friend, the chairman of the
Homeland Security Subcommittee in shared opposition to this amendment.
Instead of discussing cuts to our cybersecurity agency, also known as
CISA, we should actually be discussing investing more. We cannot
continue to play these political games. We don't have the luxury of
doing that if we want to be serious about staying ahead of our foreign
adversaries. Given what we know, we should be serious.
We have all been warned about the clear intentions of the People's
Republic of China, that it considers every sector that makes our
society run fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage.
The FBI Director told us that PRC's plan is to land low blows against
civilian infrastructure to try and induce panic and break America's
will to resist.
They are not alone in their plans to use cyber and other capabilities
to threaten our national security, our economy, and, frankly, our way
of life.
Now, I assure you, our adversaries are not holding back on their
investments and they are not playing by the same rules. We have,
unfortunately, already seen their capabilities and the kind of
disruptions and destruction they intend to cause to the United States
and our allies.
It is really unspeakable that we are having a debate right now about
cutting our premier cyber defense capabilities. Now is not the time to
reduce our ability to defend our Nation's cybersecurity posture. We
should be investing in it.
Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the
same.
Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Georgia has 1 minute remaining.
Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Chair, first, I commend the chairman here of our
Appropriations Subcommittee.
On sections 544 and 545 of this bill, I think it is critically
important to prohibit the funding to classify or facilitate the
classification of any communications by a United States person as mis-,
dis-, or malinformation. I think, though we put the policy in the bill,
it is the funding that gets agency attention, as I have mentioned
before.
I think it is critically important to ensure that the funding that we
have sends that signal to CISA that they cannot abridge Americans'
First Amendment rights through modifying what people can see by
classifying information.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Nevada has 3\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
[[Page H4189]]
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chair, here is a little history, and you can use it
however you like.
In the 2024 appropriations bill, we cut CISA $15 million, and it was
because of this switchboarding issue. I agree that sometimes you want
to get somebody's attention. Appropriations is money. That was done
this last time.
As we look at what this agency has been doing since then--and I
appreciate the history. The history is strong and warrants attention,
and I think we dealt with that the last time. Oversight is an ongoing
and continuing thing. When I sit here and look at this and say: We are
going to flat fund them. That is the proposal. I say: Well, how are you
going to do that? Where is that funding going to come from?
Just the standard, there you go, you are flat funded, at a time when
their mission domestically in terms of infrastructure, whether that is
utilities, communications or any number of things--I mean, in the
media, it is like if you are going to buy a car, somebody hacked the
outfit that does all that cyber stuff to make it easier to do. If you
are going to go to a casino, those folks have been hacked.
The mission is growing. You say: Well, who is the mission? What is
that about? That is not about our friends, Mr. Chair. That is about
folks who do not wish us well, so Russians, Chinese, all that other
sort of stuff.
I would be more comfortable with this if there was a trigger saying,
if we fund that and you do this, we are going to come and get some
money. I would be more comfortable with this if it were like: Here is
where you are going to take it from. It is a funny time to be telling
the folks who are in charge of cybersecurity in the non-DOD sectors: We
are going to flat fund you. I do not believe that money is the answer
to every problem that we come across. This mission has never been more
challenging.
I think the oversight has been good under this Director, and quite
frankly, from recent history they are headed the right way. It doesn't
mean you take your eyes off of them. To go back and say you are flat
funded, quite frankly, I think it is a curious time.
Mr. Chair, reluctantly, I don't support the amendment, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
{time} 1245
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Georgia will
be postponed.
Amendment No. 12 Offered by Mr. Feenstra
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 12
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. FEENSTRA. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 2, line 16, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $1,000,000) (reduced by $1,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Iowa (Mr. Feenstra) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa.
Mr. FEENSTRA. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to
the Homeland Security appropriations bill.
President Biden has overseen the worst border crisis in our Nation's
history. Since the beginning of his administration, nearly 8 million
illegal immigrants have crossed over our southern border with 2 million
evading capture from Border Patrol.
Even known terrorists and drugs have come through this wide-open
border, but this didn't happen by accident.
The administration's policies have created this crisis by failing to
enforce our laws, not holding drug traffickers accountable for their
crimes, and not finishing the wall.
This amendment exposes this administration's refusal to build the
wall and secure our border. It directs the Department of Homeland
Security to use the money confiscated from the drug cartels to build
the border wall and protect our communities.
The cartels do not deserve to keep a single penny of the money they
have made smuggling deadly drugs that are coming into our communities.
They deserve jail time for their crimes.
I urge my colleagues to support my amendment because the American
people deserve secure borders and safe communities, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, we don't even need to discuss the
reasons why wasting funds on additional miles of wall is a bad idea.
The amendment does nothing but make an ill attempt to invest in an
ineffective and costly response to the challenges we are facing at the
border.
Furthermore, it also calls on the DHS Secretary to take action
regarding the use of funds that Congress has already determined he does
not control.
While CBP is the primary agency responsible for the seizure of these
assets at the border, the proceeds typically go into the Treasury
forfeiture fund, which is managed by the Treasury Department.
The allowable uses of these funds are defined in law, and there is an
established process for which the Secretary of Homeland Security can
make requests of the Treasury Secretary for a portion of these funds.
A significant portion of the proceeds are necessary for the agencies
responsible for storing and maintaining seized and forfeited assets and
a series of other mandatory requirements.
Requiring that all of the funds seized at the southern border be used
for an ineffective, outdated border wall would create a problem with
the execution of the fund, causing it to quickly become insolvent.
I oppose this amendment, I urge my colleagues to do the same, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FEENSTRA. Mr. Chair, this amendment is not controversial. It is
actually a very commonsense amendment. We are seizing drugs from the
cartels, and we are using money that is also seized from the cartels to
build the wall.
We need to build the wall to secure our border. We should have the
criminals that are endangering our communities help pay for this
project. It is very simple.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Feenstra).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 14 Offered by Mr. Robert Garcia of California
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 14
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at
the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 12, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $600,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $600,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 20 after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $100,000,000)''.
Page 13, line 5, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $100,000,000)''.
Page 24, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $600,000,000)''.
Page 24, line 19, after the dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $600,000,000)''.
Page 44, line 12, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $700,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from California (Mr. Robert Garcia) and a Member opposed each will
control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to defund
Donald Trump's ineffective and harmful border wall and to restore the
critical funding, which actually helps immigrants in our country.
This is also very personal to me. I immigrated to this country as a
small child, and I love our country for all it has provided me and my
family. The
[[Page H4190]]
day I raised my right hand and swore an oath to become a citizen was
the proudest day of my life.
We know that immigrants love this country. In fact, some of the most
patriotic people in this country are immigrants. We know that
immigrants make our communities stronger and safer.
We should all be able to agree that we need an orderly process at the
border. Democrats and Republicans can agree. We need a process where
people with real asylum needs are protected and funded.
We also need legal pathways to provide an orderly system for people
who want to come here and build better lives.
I thank President Biden on his recent executive order to keep 500,000
families together by allowing members that are undocumented to marry
their American citizen husbands and wives. That is real leadership and
real progress on this issue.
Democrats can agree that we need border security, but that actually
comes from technology, smart strategies, and giving Border Patrol
agents what they need, not from a pointless wall that we know does not
work.
Here are some facts: If you come here to the U.S. and make a
legitimate asylum claim, you have a right to stay here while your claim
is being heard. My colleagues in the majority may not like this, but it
is actually the law of the United States.
While you wait for your claim to be heard, you may also need some
help, and we know people that come here are oftentimes vulnerable. They
are sick. They are hungry. They are fleeing persecution. What happened
to being a good human being and helping people and doing the most that
we can?
Communities and nonprofits that provide shelter and aid are key
partners to border security, and they let our border agencies focus on
actually keeping us safe. Republicans want to defund local governments
and nonprofits.
This bill ignores even what the Gospel teaches us. It ignores that
our brothers and sisters who are tired, poor, hungry, and sick should
not be left behind but helped and given some type of love and support.
If this Republican bill were to become law, it would cause chaos and
suffering in border communities and interior cities across our Nation.
Before coming to Congress, I was the mayor of Long Beach for 8 years.
We actually sheltered over 1,500 migrant children in our convention
center, and I know firsthand how important it is for local
organizations and local cities to get support.
I am offering this amendment to restore $700 million in funding to
local governments and nonprofit organizations by eliminating the
unnecessary border wall and deportation funding increases.
Wasn't Mexico supposed to pay for the wall? Isn't that what the
former President kept claiming? Yet, it keeps being repeated by the
majority that they want to continue to fund something that doesn't work
and was supposed to be paid for by Mexico.
Instead, we should be investing in organizations like Catholic
Charities, The Salvation Army, and the United Way.
Please don't defund Catholic Charities, don't defund our cities, and
vote for our amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Nevada is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chair, the Shelter and Services Program is a failed
program. It does nothing but facilitate the administration's self-
created policy crisis on our border.
It is interesting to hear the discussions in terms of now that they
are here, we should do something and skip over the whole issue of what
has happened in the last 36 months?
It is undeniable that the numbers are significantly larger. Once you
are here, we have to focus on what we do.
When you look at shelter services, we are renting tents. By the way,
it is a single vendor. It is not even put out for bid. We spend over a
billion something a year just for tents.
While it is nice to talk about how we should be good stewards of
whoever happens to show up, to ignore how they came to be here in such
massive numbers in the last 36 months, to me, it is a bit--and you can
fill in the blank.
What began as a $30 million effort has ballooned to a $650 million
grab bag for nongovernmental organizations to swiftly resettle migrants
across the border illegally into our country.
Even large city Democrat mayors are screaming: We can't sustain this.
We should not be spending money on programs that incentivize illegal
immigration.
This amendment would directly undercut border security by reducing
funds for border wall construction by $600 million.
The men and women in the field have told us walls work, and it is
time for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to accept that
fact.
This amendment would also cut immigration enforcement efforts by $100
million. Somebody earlier said: Hey, we are turning our backs on Border
Patrol. Really? A hundred million bucks is a pretty good look at
somebody's back.
That significantly reduces our ability to remove these migrants that
no longer have a legal basis to remain in the country.
Remember the backlog that requires over a million dollars to get
folks who have failed the test for claiming asylum.
By the way, there are those who pose a risk. I won't repeat what
other people have and will talk about. Instead of allowing this
administration to continue to positively manage the unmitigated flow of
migrants entering our country without consequence, this bill proposes
funding and policies that address the crisis by empowering Federal
agents and officers to do their jobs and not spend money on folks that
enable a political agenda of this administration. I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the
gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood).
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the amendment. The
Shelter and Services Program is incredibly important to communities
across the country, including mine, Illinois' 14th District.
We all must realize that the flow of migration doesn't just impact
communities at the border. It can be felt across the country, including
in my home State of Illinois.
Eliminating the Shelter and Services Program will not stop migration.
This funding provides States, cities, and nonprofits with the resources
they need to provide temporary aid to new migrant arrivals.
As people come to our country legally seeking a better life, we
cannot ignore their humanitarian needs. Last year, we were successful
in providing $650 million for the Shelter and Services Program, but we
know the needs of our communities go far beyond what we provided last
year and even what this amendment provides.
However, I am grateful for the gentleman's amendment because it is an
important starting point, and it provides a strong foundation for
future discussions.
It is no secret that we need to overhaul our immigration system and
that there appears to be bipartisan agreement on that. Until then, we
must provide our communities with the resources they need to manage the
surge now.
Reducing funding for a ridiculous border wall and ICE transportation
funding to pay for this program makes sense.
We need to move away from expensive, ineffective, and outdated
solutions that do not address the migration challenges we are
experiencing today.
I urge support for this amendment, and I look forward to increasing
this funding for the Shelter and Services Program in our final enacted
bill.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chairman, clearly, this is one of the differences
between the two sides of the aisle.
This amendment is a double whammy. It weakens the border through lack
of physical investment, physical improvement, and capital improvement.
I agree with what my colleague from Illinois said. They can't handle
it with the present levels of funding with what is coming across the
border. The last thing we need to do is try to put more money into
dealing with self-imposed impacts that are avoidable.
[[Page H4191]]
I urge opposition to the amendment, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Robert Garcia).
The amendment was rejected.
{time} 1300
The Acting CHAIR. The Chair understands that amendment No. 15 will
not be offered.
Amendment No. 18 Offered by Ms. Greene of Georgia
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 18
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. The salary of Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of
Homeland Security, shall be reduced to $1.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentlewoman
from Georgia (Ms. Greene) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Georgia.
Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, my amendment would effectively fire
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security for the
atrocious job that he is doing with our southern border and the overall
security of our Nation.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed my Articles of
Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas, making him the first Cabinet
Secretary to be impeached since 1876. If the House impeached Secretary
Mayorkas, we should certainly not pay him.
Here are some real-life consequences of Alejandro Mayorkas's
failures.
Rachel Morin, a mother of five from Maryland, was brutally raped and
murdered by an illegal alien from El Salvador, who Mayorkas allowed to
enter our country as a got-away.
A 13-year-old girl in New York City was violently raped at knifepoint
and kidnapped in broad daylight by a vicious illegal from Ecuador. He
is a monster who was previously caught crossing the border with a 3-
year-old child on his back in 2021, and then he was released into the
United States of America under Secretary Mayorkas.
Jocelyn Nungaray, 12 years old, was strangled to death and dumped in
a creek in Houston, Texas, by two illegals from Venezuela, who were
released under Secretary Mayorkas earlier this year.
I can't understand and comprehend why my colleagues across the aisle
want to keep this going. This child was 12 years old.
Kayla Marie Hamilton, 20 years old, was raped and strangled to death
by an illegal MS-13 gang member who was apprehended but subsequently
released under Mayorkas. By the way, he was covered in gang tattoos.
They knew exactly what he was, but under the leadership of Secretary
Mayorkas, these monsters get released into our country.
Laken Riley, 22, was brutally kidnapped and murdered by an animal
from Venezuela, who was released into our communities under Secretary
Mayorkas and not prosecuted in the justice system in the State of New
York.
No more Americans should have to die because Secretary Mayorkas
refuses to enforce the laws of our country. Secretary Mayorkas'
policies are escorting murderers, rapists, criminal trespassers, gang
members, and terrorists into American communities.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this
amendment.
The Secretary of Homeland Security plays a critical role in our
national security. Secretary Mayorkas has served in his role admirably
and has been an honorable public servant for decades, including service
as a U.S. attorney, the Director of USCIS, and the Deputy Secretary of
Homeland Security.
If my majority colleagues were sincere about addressing and ending
the humanitarian crisis at the border, they would not have rejected the
opportunity to even debate one of the toughest bipartisan border bills
in history simply to appease the desires of those who wish to keep
chaos on the border for political gain.
When the President and Secretary Mayorkas requested additional
resources to secure the border, my colleagues across the aisle ignored
that, too--even after they demanded that we take care of our own border
first before we consider providing any funding to Ukraine and our other
allies.
My colleagues and I remain ready to address the challenges facing the
Department of Homeland Security and to work toward building a modern
immigration system that reflects the realities of the world we live in
today and advances the best interests of American families, businesses,
and communities.
In addition, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that this
amendment raises serious constitutional issues. Punishing the Secretary
is not the way to handle policy disputes. Unfortunately, this amendment
prioritizes legislative theater over the American people.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, may I inquire how much time I have
remaining.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman has 2 minutes remaining.
Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, my colleague across the aisle talks
about Secretary Mayorkas and his so-called critical role in our
Nation's security, yet Secretary Mayorkas has allowed over 360
individuals on the terrorist watch list to be caught while illegally
crossing the southern border between ports of entry. We have no idea
how many terrorists are in the interior of our country. Two million
that we know of have gotten away. How many of the 2 million are
terrorists?
He has enabled a 7,000 percent increase in illegal crossings of
Chinese nationals ever since 2021 when he took the job.
His open border is allowing fentanyl to pour into our communities,
which is killing 300 Americans every single day.
I would argue the Ukraine war is not murdering any Americans, yet
this House of Representatives and the people in Washington are obsessed
with using American taxpayer dollars to fund that war while fully
ignoring the war on our southern border.
According to the Georgia Narcotics Association, approximately 7 out
of 10 pills on the street are laced with fentanyl coming across the
southern border, yet my colleague across the aisle says that we are
ignoring the humanitarian crisis at the southern border.
What this government, this administration, and Secretary Mayorkas are
doing is ignoring the humanitarian crisis all across our country.
Fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction that is murdering Americans.
That should be the issue this House cares about.
Secretary Mayorkas' policies have killed Americans, bankrupted
communities, overrun schools, besieged towns, drowned hospitals, and
incapacitated law enforcement while empowering cartels and foreign
entities.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Greene).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Georgia
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 19 Offered by Ms. Greene of Georgia
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 19
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
[[Page H4192]]
Sec. __. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used by the Department of Homeland Security to partner
with the Department of State to establish Safe Mobility
Offices.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentlewoman
from Georgia (Ms. Greene) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Georgia.
Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, my amendment prohibits the
Department of Homeland Security from working with the State Department
to establish something they call Safe Mobility Offices. As if
legalizing and enabling the invasion of America is not enough, the
Biden administration wants to create offices down in foreign countries
to bring more people in in their foreign country and help them invade
the United States, and they want the American taxpayer to pay for it.
It is unbelievable.
Secretary Mayorkas is not only allowing illegals to invade our
country, but he is also actively importing these terrorists and rapists
into our country through the establishment--taxpayer-funded, by the
way--of Safe Mobility Offices.
In a recent ABC interview, Mayorkas bragged about this fact, stating:
``We have built Safe Mobility Offices in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala,
Costa Rica to reach people where they are so they don't have to take
the perilous journey.''
I can't even believe this is a real thing. He is not discouraging or
preventing these illegals from invading our borders. He is showing them
how to do it, and he is making it easier for them to come by
establishing offices in those foreign countries, bringing them in, and
telling them how to come to the United States.
According to the State Department, the Safe Mobility initiative is
one of the many ways the United States is facilitating access to safe
and lawful pathways from partner countries in the region, at no cost to
them, so refugees and vulnerable migrants don't have to undertake
dangerous journeys in search of safety and better opportunities.
I bet Americans would love to feel safe. I bet Americans who have
lost children and family members to illegal alien crime, rape, and
murder would love for their family members to be safe and their dead
family members to have better opportunities. No, the Biden
administration won't allow it. They have to open up offices to bring in
more people.
Once aliens apply, experts from international organizations help
individuals assess which legal pathways might work for them. If the
individual qualifies for resettlement into the United States, which,
according to the Biden administration, everybody gets resettlement into
the United States, they get a bus ticket, a plane ticket, or a train
ticket to any of the 50 States that they want. Then, the individual
will undergo expedited refugee processing under the Safe Mobility
initiative.
So our taxpayers are paying for offices in these foreign countries to
recruit people to come to our country and be expedited in at the cost
of the American people. This is outrageous, infuriating, embarrassing,
and pathetic.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois
for 5 minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, Safe Mobility Offices are strategically
situated in Central and South America and intended to be an alternative
way for individuals to seek lawful pathways to the United States other
than the dangerous journey that many migrants resort to in an effort to
flee from persecution or dangerous conditions.
They are good, commonsense policies. My colleague across the aisle
may be interested to know that these offices are also a useful tool in
combating illegal border crossings.
Globally, we are facing the greatest displacement of people since
World War II. That is why these offices are also in partnership with
Canada and Spain.
Let's talk about the effect this amendment would actually have on the
Department of Homeland Security. Taking away options for lawful
pathways only further burdens Border Patrol and Customs and Border
Protection with more encounters.
These Safe Mobility Offices enhance our security posture because they
allow the vetting of individuals before they ever set foot on U.S.
soil.
It also takes money out of the cartels' pockets because it prevents
individuals from paying smugglers and coyotes thousands of dollars to
get them through our borders.
Finally, it takes the burden off of our already jammed immigration
courts that are managing over 3 million cases and counting.
I hear so often my colleagues on the other side of the aisle complain
about the chaos at the border, yet when the administration comes up
with innovative solutions that aim to establish a more orderly,
efficient, and less chaotic border environment, it is met with
resistance, as demonstrated by amendments like this one that we are
debating today.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, talk about burdening Border Patrol,
we can talk about the over 12 million illegal aliens that have flooded
into our country ever since Joe Biden took office, all under the
direction of Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, that has definitely burdened
Border Patrol.
Talk about innovative solutions, I think we could call it innovative
if you are talking about completely invading the United States of
America by the Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas. His
creative idea of an innovative solution is to open offices in foreign
countries to recruit people to come to the United States and be
expedited wherever they want to go.
This is a slap in the face of every single American. It is a complete
embarrassment. It is outrageous. Our Nation is over $34.5 trillion in
debt right now, and Democrats want to open up and spend money to open
up more offices to bring more people in? My colleague talks about
overwhelming Border Patrol. This is overwhelming the American people.
Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues in the House to pass my
amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Greene).
The amendment was agreed to.
{time} 1315
Amendment No. 20 Offered by Mr. Grothman
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 20
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used for the parole program entitled ``Processes for
Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Amendment No. 20 seeks to address an often underdiscussed part of the
ongoing border crisis: the surge in illegal immigration from Cuba,
Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Recent years have witnessed an
unprecedented increase in the number of migrants from these four
countries attempting to cross our southwest border.
In fiscal year 2020, Border Patrol agents apprehended about 17,500
illegal entrants from these nations. That was the final year before
President Biden. This number surged more than tenfold in fiscal year
2021 to 181,000 and skyrocketed to over 600,000 in fiscal year 2022.
From 17,000 to 600,000, these numbers are common in the increase during
this administration. Understanding the factors behind this dramatic
rise is crucial to understanding the challenges it poses.
The Biden administration's approach to border security has played a
significant role in this surge. Look no further
[[Page H4193]]
than the introduction of the CHNV parole process targeting nationals of
Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Initially created as a limited parole program for Venezuelans, this
program expanded significantly in January of 2023. Now it offers parole
for up to 30,000 nationals per month from these countries. Remember, we
used to have 17,000 in a whole year. Now it is 30,000 per month. This
policy has led to a system of all carrots and no sticks, incentivizing
illegal entries without adequate deterrents.
Through the end of May, over 462,000 CHNV parolees have entered the
U.S. This figure surpasses the current population of New Orleans just
from these four countries and far exceeds the annual immigration limits
set by Congress.
Despite these parolees lacking visas or legal rights to enter, they
have been granted work authorizations, potentially impacting the wages
and working conditions of American workers.
The administration claims that each CHNV applicant undergoes robust
security vetting and requires a U.S.-based supporter. However, this
system is ripe for exploitation, human trafficking, and fraud.
Moreover, the security vetting process is insufficient, particularly
given the limited cooperation from hostile governments and the lack of
a stable government in Haiti.
When I have been on the border, the only country they get criminal
background checks from is Canada.
My amendment is straightforward. None of the funds appropriated by
this act can be used to run the CHNV parole program.
Congress must act to correct these misguided policies, prioritize the
enforcement of existing immigration laws, and ensure that our border
security measures are both effective and humane.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, as a threshold matter, the underlying bill
already includes a provision that would effectively end the current
operation of the program referenced in this amendment.
That is because applicants must use the CBP One mobile app from
abroad to submit information that is then used to conduct background
checks. The majority's bill already includes a harmful provision that
prevents the use of the CBP One app to facilitate the parole of
migrants into the United States.
Setting aside the redundancy of this provision, it is worth spending
a moment discussing the harmful impact of preventing this program to
continue.
The parole process in place for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and
Venezuelans provides the Department an opportunity to provide an
alternative to the dangerous journeys that many migrants resort to
taking to flee from persecution and dangerous conditions. It also
enhances our security posture because it allows the Department to vet
people before they arrive. It has resulted in a significant reduction
in the number of these individuals being encountered between ports of
entry at our southern border, which helps with having a more orderly
and less chaotic border environment.
I really do wish my colleagues across the aisle, who talk all the
time about wanting to secure the border, would start working with
Democrats to provide DHS the resources it needs and stop trying to
prevent it from executing programs that are actually working.
Instead of ending programs that are reducing chaos at the border, we
should be discussing how to build upon the successes of these efforts.
Once again, this amendment has no chance of being enacted. I urge a
``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Turner).
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chair, I thank Congressman Grothman, my friend and
colleague, for his leadership on this issue.
I ask for strong support for this amendment which prohibits funding
to be used for the parole program titled: ``Processes for Cubans,
Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.''
More than 10,000 Haitian migrants have settled in my congressional
district in Springfield, Ohio, sent there by the Biden administration's
unlawful use of the immigration parole program. I am going to say that
again. More than 10,000 Haitians have settled in my congressional
district in Springfield, Ohio.
America is a Nation of immigrants, and Ohio has undoubtedly been
enriched by those seeking the tremendous opportunities that our country
has to offer. However, Biden's administration policies incentivize
migrants to locate in the United States rapidly and in large
numbers, moving to small and rural communities like in my district.
You cannot find a city in this country that would be able to
sufficiently handle this kind of surge. The city of Springfield is
strained with infrastructure, housing, and schools all pushed to the
limit.
Last year, the community of Springfield formed an immigration
accountability response team to address this unprecedented population
explosion. These Biden policies are wrong and put these people and the
city of Springfield in impossible circumstances.
Mr. Chair, I urge strong support of this amendment.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to support this
amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman has the only time remaining.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Chair, the CHNV program is another example of this
administration clearly violating the limits on parole established by
Congress. None of the migrants being paroled into this Nation under
this program have a legal basis to enter.
Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to support this amendment, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 29 Offered by Mr. McCormick
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 29
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 26, line 14, insert ``, including any barrier
constructed by a State government,'' after ``barriers''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Georgia (Mr. McCormick) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment No. 29 to H.R.
8752, the fiscal year 2025 Homeland Security appropriations bill.
My amendment would add language to section 212 of the bill to make
sure that no Federal funds can be used to dismantle, demolish, remove,
or damage barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border that are placed there by
State governments.
The crisis at our southern border has never been worse. Since
President Biden took office, there have been easily over 9 million
encounters nationwide and over 7.5 million at the southwest border
specifically. There have been around 2 million known got-aways and over
350 encounters with those on terrorist watch lists, massive numbers of
aliens who are considered inadmissible by law entering our country,
with about 400,000 from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela mass
paroled into our country.
We are willfully and knowingly allowing murderers, rapists, and spies
into our country as a byproduct of the Biden administration's attempt
to skew future elections. They do not care about the carnage and would
literally be happy to be king of the ashes.
[[Page H4194]]
The border crisis has also created a public health crisis. This
fiscal year, there has been over 13,000 pounds of fentanyl seized. That
is enough to kill billions of people. We have seen 110,000 people who
have died from opioid overdoses. That is just what we stop, though,
13,000 pounds.
In the meantime, the President and his allies in Congress have said
time and time again that nothing can be fixed without congressional
action. I am all for congressional action. This body passed H.R. 2 over
a year ago, a bill that would fix issues in the code by doing things
like raising the standard for credible fear determinations and
requiring most migrants to arrive at official ports of entry to have
their asylum cases processed. Sadly, it is not surprising that this
bill hasn't seen the light of day in the do-nothing Senate.
Here is the other reality. Immigration law hasn't changed
significantly in years. The border crisis was never this bad before.
Under President Trump, and even under Presidents Clinton and Obama--as
a matter of fact, Obama ran on border security, let that sink in--we
didn't see the same absolute humanitarian crisis that is going on
today. This is the fault of the current administration.
In response to the negligence of this administration, Texas, under
the leadership of Governor Abbott, started Operation Lone Star to
secure the border. His plan included the placement of more than 100
miles of razor wire along the border. What was the administration's
response? To oppose Texas every step of the way and even go so far as
to cut razor wire installed by Texans. This is completely unacceptable.
It is an example of the administration starting a problem and then
preventing anyone else from fixing it as Biden has done nothing to
secure our sovereign border.
My amendment would prevent this and guard the ability of Texas,
Arizona, New Mexico, and other border States to protect their citizens
and their border.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, the U.S. Constitution grants the Federal
Government the sole authority to control immigration and secure the
Nation's border. That includes determining who is allowed to enter the
country and how the borders are to be secured. This is for a good
reason. It is critical that we have uniformity and consistency in our
immigration and border security policies across all States.
The Federal Government protects our national interests while
maintaining positive relationships with neighboring countries. With
this amendment, we are placing Border Patrol in the unfortunate
position of being unable to properly secure the border where a State
independently constructs or allows the construction of border barriers,
such as a wall or fencing.
Furthermore, this amendment would impede CBP's ability to carry out
its mission. CBP has indicated it would have challenges if this
language were enacted.
For example, this provision would present an extreme life and safety
risk to asylum seekers and other migrants who may need to be rescued.
Border Patrol agents and CBP air and marine officers regularly save
migrants from drowning. Preventing the removal of concertina wire or
other structures on the border will cause an increase in drowning
deaths, which would further place our law enforcement officers and
agents at risk.
Mr. Chair, I will vote ``no,'' and I encourage my colleagues to do
the same. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I will quote the ``protects our national
interests.'' That is the justification of removing barriers to illegal
invaders; it protects Americans' interests. These are the same people
who would do harm to our American citizens through fentanyl overdoses,
rapes, murders, crime, and then consuming American resources at a time
when we cannot afford it.
{time} 1330
President Biden's executive order is too little too late. It won't
fix the border crisis and would still give tacit legal permission to
about 1 million illegal immigrants to enter every year. That is if he
didn't tell agents to ignore his own guidance. Further Biden's latest
legal action, amnesty for 500,000 illegal immigrants based on their
marital status will encourage more immigrants to break the law and
cross the border to do something else.
This policy of the administration has shown that they aren't
seriously attempting to secure the border and to solve this problem.
In closing, Mr. Chair, my amendment would simply protect the State
governments and allow them to secure their borders while the President
refuses to do that.
This is an 80 percent issue among the American public. This is an
issue of We the People protecting our house.
With the policies of this current administration, we, at the very
least, must make sure we allow State governments to protect their
citizens and protect their borders.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. McCormick).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 30 Offered by Mr. Molinaro
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 30
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 1, line 14, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $5,000,000)''.
Page 11, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $5,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Molinaro) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is very simple. It is a
modest increase to funding for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Agency which will assist in ensuring our southern border is secure.
There is little question that this administration has created a
crisis at our border. Every State across America is facing the
significant challenge of millions of undocumented individuals crossing
into the country, in some cases even being transported to cities and
States across America by this very administration.
With that comes significant increases in human trafficking and the
drug trade increases of fentanyl and synthetic opioids crossing the
border, taking American lives, and devastating communities all across
the country.
My own State of New York, admittedly, through bad policy decisions of
the mayor of New York City and the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul,
has become a border State. Hundreds of thousands of individuals are
being relocated to the State of New York all at the same time making an
enormous crisis even worse.
In our own State we have seen individuals transported from downstate
to upstate all with the sanction and the incentivizing from this
President and the administration.
Every tool, every resource, and every additional dollar we can
provide Customs and Border Patrol is critically necessary to not only
securing our border but saving lives, as well.
Congress needs to put forth greater focus and greater dollars, but at
the same time this crisis was created by the President, and it is time
that this crisis comes to an end.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, while I can support additional funding for
DHS components in fiscal year 2025, I must respectfully oppose this
amendment. We are debating increasing a multibillion dollar agency by a
miniscule amount at the detriment of the Office of the Secretary which
is consistently under attack by this majority.
[[Page H4195]]
The Office of the Secretary and Executive Management has already been
cut by 23 percent.
Mr. Chair, I support the men and women of CBP, but let's not continue
with these amendments to message the majority's opposition to the Biden
administration on the backs of the other career public servants this
amendment will undoubtedly impact.
Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, I urge my colleagues to do the
same, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Chairman, I certainly wasn't going to take the
dollars from Border Patrol to rededicate to Border Patrol, so it seemed
quite clear to me that we ought to take it from the Office of the
Secretary.
If it were up to me, having served as an executive for 12 years, not
only would I not have hired Secretary Mayorkas, I would have called for
his resignation immediately. If it were up to me, I would eliminate him
from the office as it is, but that is not a message.
It is critically important we give the tools necessary to CBP to do
its job. It is critically important that, in fact, we hold the
administration accountable. It is critically important that Americans
understand there is one side of the aisle that is actually fighting to
secure the border, and we will continue to do so.
Mr. Chair, I ask support for the amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Molinaro).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 32 Offered by Mr. Moore of Alabama
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 32
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. MOORE of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 14, line 14, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $50,000,000) (decreased by $50,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Alabama (Mr. Moore) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alabama.
Mr. MOORE of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of amendment No. 32 that would
express congressional opposition to TSA's use of facial recognition
technology at American airports.
Facial recognition technology encroaches on the privacy of American
citizens. This gives the government unprecedented surveillance
capabilities that can track a person's movements in real time.
At a time when the government already conducts warrantless searches
of our data through the FISA programs, we should not give our
weaponized government another inch when it comes to mass surveillance,
especially without a sophisticated system of checks and balances.
TSA has expanded its facial recognition technology at American
airports. While TSA states that the program is optional, it is the
stated intent of the TSA to expand this technology beyond the security
checkpoint and require that passengers undergo facial recognition scans
every time they travel. Further, there are several airports that I have
traveled to that do not have sufficient signage to alert passengers
that they have the option to opt out of this intrusive technology.
In April of 2023, TSA Administrator Pekoske admitted at the South by
Southwest Conference that we will get to a point where we will require
biometrics across the board.
The potential for misuse of this technology extends far beyond
airport security checkpoints. Once Americans become accustomed to
government facial recognition scans, it will be that much easier for
the government to scan citizens' faces everywhere, from entry into
government buildings, to passive surveillance on public property like
parks, schools, and sidewalks.
This powerful surveillance technology as deployed by TSA does not
make air travel safer. As a matter of fact, the 3 percent error rate
cited by TSA represents more than 68,000 mismatches per day if used on
all 2.2 million daily travelers.
Recent news reports that hundreds of passengers have bypassed TSA
security checkpoints entirely in recent years suggest that TSA should
focus on the fundamentals, not expanding its facial recognition
program.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, the use of facial recognition
technology, which is still a fairly new capability, requires robust
oversight and internal controls, including a privacy impact assessment
by DHS's privacy office.
I know that the Department of Homeland Security and TSA have been
taking important steps in that direction, including departmentwide
governance policies and allowing travelers going through TSA
checkpoints to opt out of the use of this technology.
More work needs to be done to address the potential for biases and
inaccuracies in the facial recognition algorithms, particularly
regarding their ability to accurately recognize individuals from
different demographic groups, as well as ensuring that travelers are
aware of their rights to opt out of the facial recognition screening
process.
However, I believe we should continue to lean in to address these
challenges to ensure the appropriate protections and safeguards are in
place while also embracing and investing in modern solutions that not
only strengthen our security and expedite the traveler experience with
DHS, but also improve the lives of everyday Americans.
Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Mr. MOORE of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague from
Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley) for cosponsoring this amendment. I
encourage my colleagues to support this effort, as well.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I encourage all Members and friends to
support this important amendment, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Moore).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 37 Offered by Mr. Mullin
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 37
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. MULLIN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 2, line 10, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $18,168,000)''.
Page 43, line 24, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $18,168,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from California (Mr. Mullin) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
Mr. MULLIN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, America's Urban Search and Rescue teams are vital task
forces that deserve adequate funding so they can continue to bring hope
during our country's darkest hours.
Deployed across the country whenever a major disaster strikes, these
task forces have pulled victims out of the rubble after the World Trade
Center collapsed, searched for those stranded in flooded homes during
Hurricane Katrina, responded to raging wildfires in Maui, and answered
the call to help with many other disasters across America and the
world.
These heroes have been there for our Nation when we have needed them
the most. While we cannot forecast the next national emergency,
Congress must proactively support the needs of these task forces so
they may adequately prepare for the next moment they are called into
action.
That is why I am leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers with
Representatives Young Kim from California and
[[Page H4196]]
Jill Tokuda from Hawaii to advocate for an $18 million increase in
Federal funding for America's 28 Urban Search and Rescue task forces.
This would prevent cuts to funding the task forces received in fiscal
year 2024, and it would meet the actual expenses that local fire
departments and other first responders have on the ground.
Our proposal is also extremely modest. It represents just $2 million
per task force. It is the least we can do to ensure emergency
responders have the training and equipment they need when a disaster
strikes.
I am grateful to have their support and the support of task force
leaders from across the country for this effort.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. KIM of California. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition,
even though I am not opposed to it.
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Ogles). Without objection, the gentlewoman is
recognized for 5 minutes.
There was no objection.
Mrs. KIM of California. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this
bipartisan amendment to provide much-needed resources to the FEMA
Operations and Support account for the National Urban Search and Rescue
Response System, or US&R.
This increase is offset by the management directorate for operations
and support account.
US&R has been critical in disaster response efforts in the aftermath
of the major wildfires, hurricanes, and tropical storms across the
country, including in California.
We are reminded of the importance of this program as communities in
our area face a scorching heat wave and a threat of devastating
wildfires, and I am grateful to Orange County Fire Authority Chief
Brian Fennessy's leadership as the Western representative for nine US&R
task forces in our region.
Unfortunately, costs associated with operating the task forces have
increased with higher labor and equipment costs and more deployments.
My amendment ensures US&R's task forces are equipped with the tools
needed to protect our communities.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. MULLIN. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Mullin).
The amendment was agreed to.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of the gentlewoman
from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), and I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island
(Mr. Magaziner).
Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
The most solemn duty that we have as Members of Congress is to keep
Americans safe. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on the very real
threats facing our homeland, too many House Republicans are playing
politics trying to defund the FBI and the Department of Justice,
refusing to take action on gun violence and cheerleading for violent
extremists like those who attacked this Capitol and the people in it on
January 6.
They are putting their political agendas ahead of keeping everyday
American people safe.
{time} 1345
Let's not forget that it was House Republicans who killed the
bipartisan plan to secure the border because Donald Trump told them he
would rather have an issue to campaign on than fix the problem.
Shameful.
When asked to explain his opposition to the bipartisan border
security bill, one House Republican even said, ``Let me tell you, I am
not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to
help Joe Biden's approval rating,'' putting politics ahead of securing
the border.
This appropriations bill proposed by House Republicans cuts funding
for regional counterterrorism efforts that keep Americans safe from
both domestic and foreign terrorism and cuts all funding to help States
and cities manage the impact of migration.
I sit on the Homeland Security Committee, and I saw as House
Republicans brought in officials from States and cities to talk about
how difficult it is to deal with the challenges of migration in their
communities. Guess what? If those State or city officials are watching
now, this budget that the House Republicans are proposing zeros you
out, cuts you off. They are saying to you that you are on your own at
the State and local level to deal with these challenges.
The American people want House Republicans to stop playing political
games and work together across the aisle with Democrats to secure our
homeland.
For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to
recommit this bill back to committee for further work. My amendment
would secure our homeland by providing an additional $51 million to
Customs and Border Protection to improve information sharing and
prevent people who are on the watch list from entering our country and
to enhance security at ports of entry and combat fentanyl trafficking
by purchasing equipment, including license plate readers and substance
detection devices.
It would also provide over $150 million to detect radiological and
nuclear materials and biohazard threats, and prevent terror attacks,
and it would restore funding and authorities to combat domestic
terrorism, domestic extremists like those who violently attacked police
officers and tried to stop the people's votes from being counted on
January 6.
I ask my colleagues, let's put Americans first by working together
across the aisle, the way people expect of us, to secure our homeland
and keep people safe instead of advancing the extreme agenda of the
former President, who, by the way, was just convicted of 34 criminal
counts.
I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to
recommit.
Mr. Chair, I include in the Record the text of my amendment.
Mr. Magaziner of Rhode Island moves to recommit the bill
H.R. 8752 to the Committee on Appropriations with the
following amendment:
Page 2, after line 6, insert the following:
FEDERAL ASSISTANCE
(INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
For necessary expenses of the Office of the Secretary and
for executive management for Federal assistance through
grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other
activities, $20,000,000, which shall be transferred to
``Federal Emergency Management Agency--Federal Assistance'',
for targeted violence and terrorism prevention grants to
remain available until September 30, 2026.
Page 2, line 16, after the dollar amount insert
``(increased by $15,000,000)''.
Page 11, line 4, after the dollar amount insert
``(increased by $51,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 8, after the dollar amount insert
``(increased by $30,000,000)''.
Page 12, line 9, after the dollar amount insert
``(increased by $30,000,000)''.
Page 25, line 1, after the dollar amount insert
``(increased by $30,000,000)''.
Page 58, line 22, after the dollar amount insert
``(increased by $105,798,000)''.
Page 12, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert
``(decreased by $221,798,000)''.
Page 12, 1ine 10, after the dollar amount, insert
``(decreased by $221,798,000)''.
Page 24, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert
``(decreased by $221,798,000)''.
Page 24, line 19, after the dollar amount, insert
``(decreased by $221,798,000)''.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The Chair would remind Members to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward presumptive nominees for the Office of
President.
Amendment No. 38 Offered by Mr. Norman
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 38
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to purchase electric vehicles.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from South Carolina (Mr. Norman) and a Member opposed each will control
5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, my amendment is pretty simple. It prohibits
[[Page H4197]]
funding for the purchase of electric vehicles.
We have a Member here in Congress who owns a dealership who is
burying his electric vehicle, which doesn't work, as a testament to how
useless these vehicles are.
I rise in support of my amendment that prohibits funds for the
purchase of electric vehicles. As part of the Department of Homeland
Security's Climate Action Plan, whatever that is, the agency
responsible for the safety and security of our Nation is wasting hard-
earned taxpayer dollars on EVs.
DHS has set a goal to transition 50 percent of its vehicle fleet to
zero-emissions vehicles by 2030 in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Where is DHS' goal to reduce the number of illegal
immigrants entering this country?
DHS is proud to be the first Federal agency to debut electric
vehicles for law enforcement. How does an electric vehicle help a law
enforcement officer do his or her job better? How does an electric
vehicle protect our Nation? The DHS' website says it is implementing a
new approach to meet the climate crisis, whatever that is, which
includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr. Chair, this is a joke. What about the real crisis that is
threatening our Nation, the crisis at the border, the crisis that has
resulted in many deaths that are reported daily?
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, first, we should all support sensible steps
to reduce the government's greenhouse gas emissions. Electric vehicles
have the potential to significantly improve Federal fleet efficiency
and reduce vehicle operation and maintenance costs.
Prohibiting the Department from buying one type of cutting-edge
technology just because some of my colleagues want to score political
points and continue to deny the existence of climate change is shameful
and impractical. Transitioning our Federal fleet to electric vehicles
where possible is not part of some woke agenda. It is a matter of
practicality, risk mitigation, efficiency, and safety.
I support these efforts, and I believe the American people support
the cost savings, cleaner air, new jobs, and healthy environmental
future that will come with working to achieve our climate goals.
This amendment is just another partisan policy rider that gets us no
closer to a final enacted bill for the Department before the close of
the fiscal year.
Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to vote
``no.'' I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, the real crisis at the border is the invasion
that is now taking place with over 9.6 million illegal immigrant
encounters since the Biden administration took office 3\1/2\ years ago,
over 1.8 got-aways who evaded Border Patrol since the Biden
administration took office 3\1/2\ years ago, over 50 illegal immigrants
with ties to ISIS infiltrating our Nation, and over 27,000 Chinese
Communist nationals encountered in fiscal year 2024.
I don't know how much longer we are going to have to put up with the
killings that are taking place. In one 2 days ago, a 13-year-old girl
was dragged under a bridge, tortured for 2 hours, raped, and then
killed.
How long will my friends on the opposite side of the aisle put up
with this kind of insanity? Since the Biden administration took office,
it has opened the borders to anybody from anywhere, any country,
without any vetting.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to ensure DHS
is focused on their true mission to secure the Nation from the many
threats that we face and to keep America safe.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 39 Offered by Mr. Norman
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 39
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used for the Inclusion Action Committee of the
Transportation Security Administration.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from South Carolina (Mr. Norman) and a Member opposed each will control
5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment that
prohibits funds for TSA's Inclusion Action Committee.
In August 2020, TSA announced the Inclusion Action Committee, which
it describes as a coalition of diverse leaders focused on measuring the
current state of diversity and inclusion at the TSA. The committee was
instrumental in creating a gender-neutral option for the TSA PreCheck
to serve nonbinary and gender nonconforming passengers and allow
applicants to select their gender based on self-attestation, regardless
of the sex assigned at birth.
This is flat-out insanity. Where else does this work in our society?
Can I go to a bank and say I am Bill Gates and need a $10 million loan?
Can I go to any NFL team and say I am a star football player and get
automatically on the team? It is insanity. How does letting a confused
man check a box calling himself a woman make our country any safer? Is
this really what we should be focusing on?
The committee also came out with a report on best practices to
support an inclusive, diverse environment. Where is the report on the
best practices to secure our border, which has been open for the last
3\1/2\ years?
The Department of Homeland Security has utilized over 50 airports to
process over 400,000 inadmissible aliens through this administration's
unlawful Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan mass parole
programs as well as any other country.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, there is probably no agency in the
Department that interacts with everyday Americans, our constituents,
more than the Transportation Security Administration.
TSA's interaction with the traveling public is one that should
reinforce TSA's commitment to the safety and security of the traveler
and their experience with TSA. That is not just limited to screening
baggage. It means respecting all travelers, including travelers from
diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and the LGBTQIA+ community. TSA's
recognition of inclusivity should be celebrated, not handicapped.
Whether this majority wants to accept it or not, we are a diverse
nation. That is what makes us great. This amendment is simply another
pointless culture war and a waste of our time. I oppose the amendment,
and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Chair, I would just say this is insanity. For those
listening in the balcony, I am sure if they flew here, they had to
present a valid ID, a valid verification, a valid ticket before they
got on the airplane. With illegals, it is no photo ID, no verification
or information, just a piece of paper provided by the illegal
immigrant.
This is a blatant mockery of United States law. Instead of securing
our transportation system, TSA is more worried about diversity and
feelings.
As a side note, can I go up to the TSA agent and claim to be a pilot
and get in the pilot seat? No, I can't. It is insanity to even say
that. It is amazing this is even something we have to spend time
debating.
As I explained with my last amendment, DHS' mission is to secure the
Nation from the many threats we face and to keep America safe. TSA's
mission is to protect the Nation's transportation system, to ensure
freedom of
[[Page H4198]]
movement for people and commerce. How does an Inclusion Action
Committee that advocates for a woke diversity, equity, and inclusion
agenda make our Nation any safer? The answer is it doesn't.
Again, it is insanity to even have to debate this on the floor of the
House of Representatives with all the other crises that we are facing.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 42 Offered by Mr. Ogles
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Norman). It is now in order to consider
amendment No. 42 printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 1, line 14, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $10,000,000)''.
Page 95, line 23, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $10,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
{time} 1400
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment to cut the
budget of the Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security by $10
million.
If we want our government to function, there must be consequences for
poor performance. We have a record number of illegal aliens flooding
across our borders. Under Secretary Mayorkas' so-called leadership, the
U.S. Border Patrol's migrant encounters have reached five times the
rate they were even under the Obama administration.
Nearly 371,000 illegal aliens were apprehended in the United States
in December alone, with over 5.4 million illegal alien apprehensions
occurring between fiscal year 2023 and the present day. We know this
failure comes from the top.
That is why this body voted to impeach Secretary Mayorkas for his
willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law. It is a breach
of the public trust.
My amendment imposes a measured cut to the Office of the Secretary to
make it clear that we find his work unacceptable.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this
amendment.
This amendment would further cut funding from the Office of the
Secretary and Executive Management beyond the damaging cuts already
included in the majority's base bill. The bill already eliminates
funding for the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman and for the
Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships. It slashes funding for
family reunification efforts and includes several undefined cuts to
contracts, travel, personnel, and other base activities.
It includes no additional funding for much-needed investments in the
Department's electronic health records management system, nor does the
bill address the growth and workload for the Office of Civil Rights and
Civil Liberties.
The bill also withholds important investments in the new Office of
Homeland Security Statistics, which should serve as the foundation of
evidence-based decisionmaking across the Department's diverse set of
mission responsibilities.
This amendment would require deeper cuts that will further harm
important priorities. For example, the Office of Health Security is
funded within this account, and it provides employee wellness and
suicide prevention services for the Department's workforce. This
account also provides funding for child well-being specialists to
oversee the care of kids in CBP custody, ensuring they receive the
proper level of care and helping to ensure that Border Patrol agents
are able to prioritize their primary law enforcement duties.
Mr. Chair, amendments like this are unserious and unhelpful. I urge
my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, serious? I think this is serious. Actions
have consequences. Inaction should also have consequences.
A 12-year-old girl, intending to connect with her 13-year-old
boyfriend, instead was intercepted by two drunk illegals. They took
her. They raped her. They strangled her. Two hours later, they tried to
get money to leave the country.
I pause because this is serious. We have a Secretary who is not doing
his job.
Mr. Chairman, this is a modest cut. It is not going to turn out the
lights, but it sends a clear message that the Secretary's job is to
protect American citizens. It is not diversity. It is not political
points. It is to protect America.
There were 400 individuals just designated as having potential ties
to terrorists, but they weren't apprehended because they weren't on the
terror watch list.
Inaction has consequences. This is serious. This cut is meant to send
a message: Enough is enough.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. DesJarlais). The question is on the amendment
offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 43 Offered by Mr. Ogles
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 43
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to carry out Executive Order 14019 (86 Fed. Reg.
13623; relating to promoting access to voting), except for
sections 7, 8, and 10 of such Order.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, Executive Order No. 14019, allegedly
promoting access to voting, is an effort to divert Federal resources to
partisan politics.
This dangerous executive order instructs a wide range of agencies,
including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Small
Business Administration, to engage in voter turnout operations. Worse,
it instructs agencies to partner with approved third-party
organizations to assist them in their voter registration and other
election-focused efforts.
Who will approve these organizations? What criteria will be used? The
executive order doesn't say.
Congress has never granted the administration any authority to
approve such groups or specified any criteria for doing so. This
executive order is illegal.
We all know how this will play out. The Biden administration will
partner with groups focused on mobilizing Democratic voters. The
executive order instructs agencies to let these groups use Federal
property to conduct their voter registration initiatives with the
assistance of Federal employees. The use of Federal resources may free
up their other resources for more nakedly political operations
elsewhere.
Attorneys general in 13 States wrote to President Biden in opposition
to this executive order.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.
It is absolutely disheartening to learn that any Member of Congress
[[Page H4199]]
would actively work to undermine voting rights in this country. Yet,
once again, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are
demonstrating that House Republicans have no regard for democracy and
no desire to uphold every American's right to vote.
That is why the majority is so desperate to draw district lines to
choke out the voices of vulnerable and underrepresented Americans. Now,
with this amendment, we see another one of their tactics, which is
cruel and un-American. It is an antidemocratic provision by the
majority, this time seeking to suppress access to voting and removing
steps the administration is taking to ensure that our elections are
fair and free from outside influence.
Executive Order No. 14019 on voting access will help ensure that all
Americans can exercise their right to vote, such as voters in
underserved communities, voters who are younger and older, rural and
urban, new citizens, servicemembers and veterans, Native Americans,
voters with disabilities, and voters with language access concerns.
Every Member of this body should support these ideals. While the
amendment would allow the administration to continue these actions for
servicemembers, voters with disabilities, and Native Americans, it
would remove such efforts for other populations. That should tell my
colleagues everything they need to know about their real intentions.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, also known as
CISA, is funded through this legislation. CISA plays a critical role in
election security. For example, the Agency is working with the
Department of Justice to combat the increased threats to election
officials and election workers. How is that a bad thing?
Honestly, I cannot comprehend how anyone who holds public office in
our country could possibly support an amendment that attacks the very
foundation of our democracy. This amendment does nothing more than
threaten the integrity of our electoral process by limiting CISA's
ability to ensure safe and secure elections for all U.S. citizens.
Mr. Chair, I will vote ``no,'' and I encourage my colleagues to do
the same. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, we all understand the importance of
maintaining the American people's faith in our elections. We understand
that voting and access to the ballot box is important.
My colleague spoke to the idea of outside influence, and that is
exactly what this order does. It brings outside influence onto Federal
property. The 13 attorneys general raised objections because, with
individuals and outside groups being hosted on Federal property, if
there is a violation, those AGs may have problems or troubles
prosecuting the State law because it is on Federal property.
This creates a conflict between the Federal Government and the
States, as pointed out by attorneys general. It seems impossible that
this executive order can be carried out without violations of the
Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the use of funds for purposes not
authorized by Congress; the Administrative Procedures Act; and the
Hatch Act.
Congress must clear this up. This amendment is clean. It is clear. It
blocks some of this undue outside influence.
Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Tennessee
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 44 Offered by Mr. Ogles
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 44
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to enforce any COVID-19 mask mandates.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, my amendment prohibits the Secretary from
requiring individuals to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Mr. Chair, this may seem like an old argument, but when we see the
testimony of Fauci talking about how much of the recommendations were
made up and fictitious, I think it is important that we keep this
conversation in the forefront.
I think we remind individuals that our government overreached its
authority and infringed on liberty. I think it is important we draw a
line in the sand and tell the Secretary that he can't offer a mandate
that forces someone to wear a mask.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, first, these policies should be debated
in a different context, on a different bill. DHS' role here is guided
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DHS does not develop
independent policies on these issues, but, rather, implements policies
that originate with the CDC. Second, vaccines and masks are for the
safety of self and others.
If enacted under this amendment, the Department would struggle to
ensure the health of the traveling public in the face of a pandemic.
This amendment undermines public health and the Department's authority
to ensure the safety of the traveling public. Instead, it needlessly
prevents risk control measures at great risk to our communities.
Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate my colleague for her sentiment,
but I would argue that this bill needlessly allows for the Secretary to
infringe on the medical relationship between an individual and their
doctor. It needlessly forces someone to wear a mask when there is no
science to back it up.
There was a New York Times article by leading epidemiologist Tom
Jefferson, not to be confused with Thomas Jefferson, that said even the
N-95, the gold standard in masks, wasn't effective at blocking the
COVID-19 virus.
It is important that anything that is infringing on someone's
liberties be based on fact and science and not on conjecture and panic.
Mr. Chairman, I ask adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 45 Offered by Mr. Ogles
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 45
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to administer, implement, or enforce the Memorandum
on the Deferred Enforced Departure for Certain Palestinians,
issued by the President on February 14, 2024.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, following Hamas' brutal attack on October 7,
this administration said all the right
[[Page H4200]]
things. Joe Biden said he was ready to offer all appropriate means to
support the government and the people of Israel.
The Acting U.S. Ambassador to Israel said he was sickened by the
images coming out of southern Israel of dead and wounded civilians at
the hands of terrorists from Gaza. The White House said it
unequivocally condemned the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists
against Israeli civilians.
Of course, the Office of Palestinian Affairs, defunded by this act,
called on Israel not to respond militarily to the crimes of rape and
murder. Aside from that, the U.S. response couldn't have been stronger.
{time} 1415
Fast-forward to June 2024, the Biden administration is withholding
precision-guided munitions as Israel is facing down an existential
threat from Hezbollah. The administration and its sycophants in the
House and the Senate are attempting to undermine Israel's democracy by
telling the Israeli Government not to defend the Israeli people and
Israel's security interest.
Meanwhile, American citizens taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 have
died in captivity, and this administration's response continues to be
insufficient, by proposing a cease-fire that is essentially on Hamas'
terms. Most importantly, it preserves Hamas.
We have done little to apply pressure on the negotiations,
particularly Qatar, to use their extensive leverage against Hamas on
getting Americans back. We have seen the Biden administration cave to
the demands of student protesters who chant ``kill the Jews'' in
Arabic.
There is an old expression in the ``History of the Peloponnesian
War'' in which it is said that: What men did once in private, they now
do in public. He spoke of this in the context of the dying Athenian
morality. I do fear that Hamas' goal of promoting international
terrorism has emboldened far more public demonstrations of anti-
Semitism.
We have seen pro-terror activists wielding bear spray while
preventing Jews from using the entrance to their synagogues in L.A.,
seizing a building and holding custodial staff hostage at Columbia
University, and other outrages. It is one sign among many of our
growing societal rot.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, last November, I joined my Democratic
colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden to urge him to
designate the Palestinian territories for temporary protected status
and/or authorize Deferred Enforcement Departure for Palestinians in the
United States.
I called on the President to take this action because I knew it would
save lives, and I applaud the administration for taking this action.
The administration's policy includes important exemptions, too, such
as for individuals convicted of felonies or who otherwise pose a public
safety threat. We know that many civilians remain in danger in Gaza
after the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7. The humanitarian
conditions in Gaza continue to be appalling, and children have been
disproportionately harmed.
This amendment is cruel and unjustifiable.
Furthermore, even if it were adopted, it likely would not accomplish
anything except creating chaos related to the implementation of a
policy that involves agencies that are not only in DHS, but also in the
Departments of State, Justice, and Labor.
The funds made available by the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act do not impact USCIS's fee-funded operations, which
would create confusion even within DHS about how to implement this
amendment if it were enacted.
This amendment is nonsensical, and it ignores the realities of how
our agencies actually work to solve pressing issues. I do not
understand why we would want to be a Nation that sends civilians into
dangerous, war-torn conditions to needlessly put their lives at risk.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the
balance of my time
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, if this administration supported Israel as much
as it has worked to preserve Hamas, this war would be over.
Of course, it doesn't. Rather than signal its support for Hamas'
extermination and Israel's right to defend itself, Joe Biden now wants
to keep thousands of Hamas sympathizers in the United States.
On February 14, 2024, perhaps chosen to demonstrate the
administration's relative affinity for the so-called Palestinian cause,
Joe Biden announced he was extending Deferred Enforced Departure for
Palestinians, allowing up to 6,000 Palestinians to stay in our country
through August 13, 2025.
Think about that: Hamas has just been organized, and they attacked,
and they raped, and they killed, and what does this administration do?
It defends Hamas. It allows Palestinian sympathizers to stay in our
country.
Again, Mr. Chairman, enough is enough. This is the United States of
America. It is time to secure our border. We get to decide who comes in
and, by George, we get to decide who has to leave.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Tennessee
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 46 Offered by Mr. Ogles
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 46
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
SEC. __. NONE OF THE FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE UNDER THIS ACT MAY
BE USED TO DEVELOP OR IMPLEMENT ANY DEPARTMENT
OF HOMELAND SECURITY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
STRATEGY.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, environmental justice is a concept closely
intertwined with DEI principles.
Rather than seeking to use Federal resources to mitigate
environmental harms as effectively and efficiently as possible,
advocates of environmental justice want resources allocated based on
their misguided notion of equity for marginalized communities.
DHS owes all Americans fair treatment regardless of race, ethnicity,
or any other factor. It also owes it to taxpayers to dedicate its
resources to where they can provide the most benefit.
Whatever some critical theory professor might claim, we all know that
the weather is not racist. A tornado will not check the race of a
homeowner before damaging a house. If the temperature reaches 100
degrees in your town, it will be 100 degrees for everyone.
The existing environmental justice strategy for 2021 through 2025
sets such goals as: expand department-wide awareness of environmental
justice considerations that might result from its programs, policies,
and activities; further the integration of environmental justice
principles into DHS lines of business, prominently including
mitigation, adaptation, and resilience; strengthen outreach to
communities and stakeholders. It goes on and on and on. It doesn't say
anything about providing resources in the case of a catastrophic event.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
[[Page H4201]]
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, this amendment seeks to defund
environmental justice efforts at the Department of Homeland Security.
As we continue to face unprecedented climate events, including
extreme heat, poor air quality, flooding, and natural disasters of all
types, vulnerable Americans have been struggling to adapt. It is no
secret that minority communities have been disproportionately impacted.
I will remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that many
of the communities that would benefit from environmental justice
efforts exist in their districts, too. They exist all over the country,
and we need a whole-of-government approach to environmental justice to
meet their needs.
For too long, minority and low-income populations have endured
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects from various local, State, and Federal governmental policies.
Environmental justice strategies are a responsible step toward
righting those wrongs. DHS' implementation of environmental justice
efforts does not prevent it from securing the border, responding to
disasters, or defending our critical infrastructure.
On the contrary, these efforts strengthen DHS' outcomes by ensuring
that the Department considers the impact on human health and the
environment of historically marginalized and low-income populations as
it executes its mission.
Why would we want to prevent the fair treatment and meaningful
involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin,
disability status, or income with respect to DHS' execution of its
responsibilities?
I will vote ``no,'' and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleague's perspective.
Prior to being in Congress, I was a county executive. One of my
departments was emergency services, emergency management, county fire.
We also had a county hospital and a county health department. What I
can say is, during my tenure, I witnessed tragedies, tornadoes, fires,
and in each case, those first responders, those in charge of deploying
resources did so without concern for race, color, creed. They responded
to a disaster.
The idea that resources would be diverted for justice, I can speak
for the men and women on the front lines, they don't see by way of
color; they see people, their friends, their neighbors in need, and I
trust they will do the right thing.
There are procedures and mechanisms in place if there is truly an
injustice that can be resolved.
Mr. Chair, this is a good amendment. At a time of burdening debt, we
have got to start cutting. This is wasteful. I urge adoption, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 48 Offered by Mr. Gottheimer
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 48
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Chair, as the designee of Mr. Pascrell, I have an
amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 44, line 12, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $30,000,000)''.
Page 45, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $30,000,000)''.
Page 45, line 9, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $15,000,000)''.
Page 45, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $15,000,000)''.
Page 58, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced
by $30,000,00)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer) and a Member opposed each will control
5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the bipartisan
amendment to increase the budget of the Nonprofit Security Grant
Program by $30 million.
I thank my dear friend and colleague and great leader from New
Jersey, the great Congressman Bill Pascrell, and the gentleman from
Texas, Chairman McCaul, for his leadership in spearheading this effort.
I also thank my great friend, Chairman Amodei, for his phenomenal
leadership and all he does for his State to support all those who
benefit from this important legislation.
Mr. Chair, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is all about
protecting religious freedom and our houses of worship, schools, and
community centers, including temples, churches, and mosques, the very
places everyone should feel safe. We especially need to protect
religious freedom now more than ever.
Nonprofit Security Grants fund physical barriers like ballasts and
bulletproof glass, technology to help with monitoring threats like
cameras, and the hiring of onsite security officers. On top of that,
these critical grants equip our nonprofits with the training and
education they need to stay secure.
This program is vital and majorly oversubscribed, especially given
this moment we are living in.
Applicants requested $679 million in funding this year for a program
that only has about $300 million available. As a result, just 42
percent of applicants, fewer than half, receive funding despite their
need for these resources to protect the families and our communities
more than ever.
Here in America, the greatest country in the world, we must ensure
that religious freedom endures. We must do everything we can to protect
our children, our families, and communities from hate and
discrimination. Unfortunately, New Jersey is a hub for anti-Semitic
hate.
Nearly 1 in 10 of the incidents reported to the ADL occurred in our
State. Bergen County, where I live, led the State in shameful anti-
Semitic attacks. There were almost quadruple the number of insults,
assaults, and death threats reported right here in our country in 2023
as compared to the prior year.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, which is a leading vital
provider of facts and resources for this kind of information,
nonpartisan, 2023 was the worst year for anti-Semitism since they began
collecting data in 1979. There were more than 8,000 anti-Semitic
incidents reported in 2023, including more than 5,000 anti-Semitic
incidents reported after October 7.
Anti-Semitism is just part of the story. We must reject hate and
bigotry in all forms wherever it is. We are seeing disturbing incidents
of Islamophobia and anti-Asian racism in northern New Jersey and in the
tristate area.
In New Jersey, during Eid al-Fitr, Rutgers' Center for Islamic Life
was vandalized as the suspect smashed artwork and plaques. It is
shameful.
Our Asian-American, Pacific-Islander community is also under attack.
A March survey from The Asian American Foundation found that one in
five Asian-American New Yorkers had been physically assaulted. It is
disgusting and completely unacceptable.
We must ensure that all people are safe on college campuses, in our
neighborhoods, at our schools, at our churches, at our mosques, and at
our synagogues. That is what the Nonprofit Security Grants are all
about and why this program is so important.
{time} 1430
As the only Jewish Member of New Jersey's congressional delegation,
and as the only Jewish Member of the House Intelligence Committee, this
is very personal for me. I believe strongly in our American values, one
of which is freedom: freedom from fear, freedom from hate, and freedom
to worship, live, and learn however you choose.
To safeguard these freedoms that we hold so dear, we must invest in
our security to combat hate. Since I was sworn in, I have been focused
on clawing millions of Federal dollars from Washington back to north
Jersey through this very program to protect our religious institutions,
$4.8 million in these vital grants for my district this year alone to
protect them. They come to me every day and ask for help.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back the
balance of my time.
[[Page H4202]]
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 50 Offered by Mr. Roy
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 50
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Pfluger), and I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to administer,
implement, or enforce a ``Remain-in-Texas'' policy.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Roy) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, I do have an amendment at the desk, and I do
want to make clear that this is on behalf of August Pfluger, my
colleague from Texas, who has been a champion of this issue since he
has been in Congress.
The issue that is before us as we take up the Department of Homeland
Security appropriations is the policy that the administration has put
forward and, indeed, some Members of this Chamber, even some on this
side of the aisle, have put forward. The policy would limit the ability
to transport people who have come here illegally and that have been
released into the United States by the administration into Texas. It
would limit the ability to transport these individuals to other places
in the country.
We have referred to this as the remain in Texas policy, which we
Texans take significant issue with. The impact on the State of Texas
cannot be overstated.
Texas, more than any other State in the Union, has been bearing the
brunt of the wide-open border policies that have endangered the
American people now for 3\1/2\ years, something that we hope to end
soon.
We, in Congress, have a duty under Article I to do something about
it. That is why we put forward, I believe, a good DHS appropriations
bill.
We made clear that we need to secure the border in the process, but
what we are not going to do is allow funds to be used to limit the
ability of Texans to alleviate the damage being done to our State.
We have spent now, I think, $13 billion, with a b, to carry out the
duties that the Federal Government are supposed to carry out under the
Constitution of the United States. That is what Texas has had to do.
We have now been able to defray some of the traffic. We have now been
able to decrease and force some of that traffic to other States, but we
shouldn't be having to do that. We shouldn't be having to put up razor
wire. We shouldn't be having to move our DPS troopers down to the
border instead of allowing them to do their job to patrol the rest of
the State, particularly because in the rest of the State, there are
massive amounts of fentanyl pouring into our communities and our
schools, killing our kids and killing the people in our community.
Our position is that under no circumstances should any of the funds
in this bill be used to limit the ability of the Governor of Texas or
any of the other leaders of the State of Texas, or, frankly, leaders in
other States from transporting people out of Texas so that other States
have to bear the burden equally or at least partially. It is not even
close to equally, by the way, partially, as much as Texas.
In particular, take Kinney County, Texas. We had testimony in the
Judiciary Committee from the leadership, the county attorney from
Kinney County, Texas.
Prior to the Biden administration's policies being implemented, in
2021, they had about 150 arrests. Do you know how many they have had in
the subsequent 3 years? Mr. Chair, there have been 7,000 arrests in a
county of 3,000 people.
We have documented evidence of individuals who have been unable to go
get 911 services in Kinney County because the sole ambulance in Kinney
County, population 3,000, was out dealing with issues involving illegal
aliens.
Meanwhile, the people who live there and pay taxes, a person died
because they weren't able to get a 911 response because it is being
consumed and those activities are being used to deal with the issue
that the Federal Government not only refuses to deal with but, in fact,
is purposely putting gas on the fire.
I am here to advocate for the amendment being offered by Mr. Pfluger
to say that no funds shall be able to be used to implement such a
policy.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment not because I
support the remain in Texas concept but because we are debating
nonsense. This policy never happened. Why are we wasting time debating
amendments to prohibit the implementation of nonexistent policies?
We heard a rumor about this becoming a policy over a year ago.
Despite all of the executive actions we have seen since, the
administration has done nothing to suggest they are planning to move
forward with this one.
We can all invent amendments that prevent rumored policies from going
into effect, and our bills would be loaded with nonsensical references
to nonexistent policies.
Digging up old, rumored policies that never went into effect and are
no longer being discussed is a waste of our time.
If I didn't know better, I would say my majority colleagues are
running out of ideas on how to find failure with what the Biden
administration is doing to secure our border.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, my simple question, although the gentlewoman has
yielded her time back, would simply be: What is the problem? What is
the harm of putting the language in the bill if it is a policy that is
not being implemented? I would tell you that it is a $13 billion rumor.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
The amendment was agreed to.
The Chair understands that amendment No. 52 will not be offered.
Amendment No. 53 Offered by Mr. Rosendale
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 53
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be used to carry out the Department
of Homeland Security memorandum titled ``Worksite
Enforcement: The Strategy to Protect the American Labor
Market, the Conditions of the American Worksite, and the
Dignity of the Individual''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Montana (Mr. Rosendale) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Montana.
Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Chair, my amendment No. 53 would prohibit funds
from being used to enforce Secretary Mayorkas' memo titled: ``Worksite
Enforcement: The Strategy to Protect the American Labor Market, the
Conditions of the American Worksite, and the Dignity of the
Individual.''
With the stroke of a pen, Secretary Mayorkas eliminated an essential
method of interior enforcement by requiring our Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents to fight with one hand tied behind their backs.
The memo prohibits ICE from conducting worksite enforcement
operations except in extremely limited circumstances.
There are currently at least 16.8 million illegal aliens in our
country, and estimates suggest that upwards of 65 percent of the
illegal aliens are employed.
[[Page H4203]]
Businessowners and ranchers in Montana work hard to ensure they
follow Federal immigration law, and this memo punishes law-abiding
businesses who refuse to hire illegal aliens.
This memo tells employers that they no longer need to follow the law
and literally incentivizes the hiring of illegal aliens.
Additionally, Americans should not have to compete in the labor
market with illegal aliens who are depressing wages and keeping good-
paying jobs away from American citizens.
President Biden's and Secretary Mayorkas' refusal to allow ICE to do
their job and enforce our Nation's laws is a clear dereliction of duty
and presents a risk to our country's national security.
Simply put, my amendment would allow ICE agents to do their job
enforcing immigration law with the most effective methods possible.
Under President Trump, worksite enforcement operations were a common
practice, making it clear to illegal aliens and the employers that
there would be consequences for breaking the law, putting all
businesses on a level playing field.
While impeaching Secretary Mayorkas was a needed first step, we must
use the appropriations process to fix the policies that he has enacted.
It is time we protect small businesses and owners and workers and
force Secretary Mayorkas to let ICE do its job.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, this amendment ignores the horrors for
those who are exploited into forced labor trafficking and dangerous
working conditions, many of whom are subject to strenuous work while
making substandard wages.
The DHS memo referenced in this amendment was a reasonable and much-
needed step toward combating worker exploitation and the problems that
follow. We still have so much work to do.
Even the Department has noted that: `` . . . the most pernicious
aspect of our country's unauthorized employment challenge: exploitative
employers.''
Yet, I don't see my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
bringing forward amendments that would comprehensively address that
issue.
There is no denying that mass worksite operations furthermore
threaten those who are most vulnerable to speak out about labor
violations which has downstream impacts such as driving down wages and
working conditions.
Adoption of this amendment only empowers bad employers and undermines
the enforcement of our country's core labor standards to the detriment
of all workers.
I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Chairman, unfortunately, much like the complete
disregard for the time limit on the first vote of the day that takes
place in this Chamber every single day, it is because there are no
consequences. There is no downside. There is no hammer. That is what we
have to have.
In Secretary Mayorkas' own memo, he says on the first page: ``In
addition, unscrupulous employers harm each worker competing for a job.
By exploiting undocumented workers and paying them substandard wages,
the unscrupulous employers create an unfair labor market. They also
unfairly drive down their costs and disadvantage their business
competitors who abide by the law.''
Once again, they are not offering, my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle, anything about fixing this problem.
If we not direct but allow ICE to do their job, we can start
identifying and deporting these illegal aliens who are hurting our
labor market and American workers.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rosendale).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Montana will
be postponed.
Amendment No. 54 Offered by Mr. Roy
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 54
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. ___. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to carry out,
enforce, or implement the process entitled, ``Process to
Promote the Unity and Stability of Families'', announced by
the Department of Homeland Security on June 18, 2024.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Roy) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, in the wake of 3\1/2\ years of abject failure,
but worse than that, purposeful action by the executive branch of the
Federal Government to undermine the security of the American people,
empower cartels, empower China, and allow little children, little girls
to get sold into the sex trafficking trade for political expediency for
the radical progressive Democrat left, in the wake of all of that with
dead Americans, with Laken Riley, with Lizbeth Medina, with Kayla
Hamilton, with all of the horrific stories, the stories of a 12-year-
old little girl getting raped, a 13-year-old little girl getting raped,
in the wake of all of that, now the administration wants to continue
its lawlessness by the use and abuse of executive power to grant
amnesty.
{time} 1445
That is the goal. That is the aim. Our colleagues on the other side
of the aisle, our radical, progressive Democratic colleagues, view this
as political opportunism--nothing more, nothing less. This is not about
the huddled masses being invited into the United States. This is not
about anything of the sort. This is about political power. That is what
this is about.
As a result, 53 human beings roasted in the Texas heat in a tractor-
trailer in San Antonio, Texas, which I represent, because my radical,
progressive Democratic colleagues and the radical, progressive
Democratic regime in the White House at the other end of Pennsylvania
Avenue care more about political expediency than these human beings.
That is the truth.
They care more about political expediency than the individual
Americans dying from fentanyl poisoning or any of the individuals that
I just described who were murdered or raped or killed because we are
allowing criminals to be released into the United States illegally,
unlawfully, using and abusing parole authority.
Now, the administration wants to grant amnesty. Why? Trust us, it is
out of the goodness of our hearts, we are told. No, it is for the
political expediency of setting up future voters.
Importantly, and more presciently, this is all about creating more
incentive for more people to flood the zone, to flood the border, to
come into this country. That is what it is about.
It doesn't matter whether it empowers cartels. It doesn't matter
whether it empowers our enemies. It doesn't matter what it means for
the security of the people of Texas or anybody else in this country. It
is all about flooding the zone with more numbers.
The legislation that we have before us, the amendment that we are
putting forward, would prohibit the use of funds from promoting such a
foolish amnesty plan by this radical administration that refuses to
follow the law.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, first, let me clarify what the policy
being attacked by this amendment actually does.
[[Page H4204]]
This policy does not confer a new path to permanent status, let alone
a new path to citizenship. The people who will benefit from the policy
are already eligible for a green card, but the policy removes a barrier
that would require almost all families to be separated for 10 years
before the undocumented immigrant could be eligible for a green card.
On average, these immigrants have been in the United States for 23
years, are married to U.S. citizens, and still must go through a
lengthy green card process.
However, with this policy in place, people get to go through the
legal steps of getting a green card without being separated for a
decade or longer from their families.
Any advocate for family values and unity should support this new
process, which only applies to a limited subset of immigrants. Instead
of being attacked, we should all applaud the Biden administration for
advancing this policy. It demonstrates that the United States
prioritizes family unity over archaic and harmful bureaucratic
processes that serve no value and certainly provide no deterrence
effect.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this new policy and vote
``no'' on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Self), my good friend.
Mr. SELF. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of Mr. Roy's
amendment to prohibit any government funding for the Biden
administration parole-in-place mass amnesty scheme.
This parole-in-place executive order clearly demonstrates that the
Biden administration is not and has never been serious about securing
the border. His process would grant mass amnesty to approximately
80,000 inadmissible alien spouses of American citizens per month.
Make no mistake, the timing of this executive order was purposeful.
On June 21, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Department of State
v. Munoz and concluded that a U.S. citizen spouse does not have a
fundamental liberty interest in her alien spouse's admission into the
United States. The Biden administration rolled out his executive order
directly contradicting this opinion just 3 days prior. The decision was
obviously leaked to the Biden administration.
This is another example of in-your-face tyranny. This administration
is lawless.
We must not pass a DHS appropriations bill that funds this mass
parole order that would grant amnesty to possibly thousands of
criminals and further endanger communities across the Nation,
particularly in light of the cynical and lawless timing of this order.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleague from Texas. I agree
with him, and I associate myself with his remarks.
The unilateral action by this executive branch is nothing new. They
have been doing it with student loans. They have been doing it with all
sorts of laws, where they ignore the law--parole authority, abuse of
law, endangering the American people.
This would give permanent residence and a path to citizenship to
hundreds of thousands of illegal alien spouses of U.S. citizens and
their noncitizen minor children. That is being done through unilateral
action by the executive branch.
This is not how we are supposed to make policy or law. It is
important for us to use the power of the purse to push back.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas will
be postponed.
Amendment No. 55 Offered by Mr. Roy
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 55
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act be
used implement any of the following Executive Orders:
(1) Executive Order 13990, relating to Protecting Public
Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle
the Climate Crisis.
(2) Executive Order 14008, relating to Tackling Climate
Crisis at Home and Abroad.
(3) Section 6 of Executive Order 14013, relating to
Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and
Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration.
(4) Executive Order 14030, relating to Climate-Related
Financial Risk.
(5) Executive Order 14057, relating to Catalyzing Clean
Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.
(6) Executive Order 14082, relating to Implement of the
Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation
Reduction Act of 2022.
(7) Executive Order 14096, relating to Revitalizing Our
Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Roy) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment will prohibit Homeland Security
appropriations from being used to carry out President Biden's climate
executive orders.
People might wonder why this is important. President Biden and
Secretary Mayorkas have been doing a massive amount of damage to this
country with wide-open borders. Not only do they endanger the American
people, but they have literally lied and been caught lying about their
own Border Patrol agents, who they accused of whipping Haitian migrants
when they knew full well it wasn't true.
They have been targeting, undermining, and attacking their own
personnel, their own law enforcement community, going after CBP and
Border Patrol simply because Border Patrol wants to do their job. That
endangers the American people.
That is not it. That is not all they are doing. The President's
executive orders are undermining our national security and making us
beholden to China in other ways, making us beholden to the rest of the
world by undermining our ability to produce reliable energy--all in
pursuit of radical, progressive Democrats' vision of unicorn energy
policy, which is unreliable and will not produce the energy needed to
be able to carry out and be competitive in the world.
EVs are piling up on lots as we speak. Dealers can't unload them.
They literally can't. They can't sell them. Why? Because if I want to
get in my car in Austin, Texas, and drive to Midland, I have to stop
three times along the way and can't even find charging stations. Put
aside the fact that the cars are more expensive, more unreliable, and
more difficult to repair. That is the reality.
Meanwhile, unreliable energy is dotting our grids across the entire
country, including Texas. Why? Because instead of pursuing logical
policies like nuclear, if you care about CO2 production, or
clean-burning natural gas, which has been driving down CO2
production around the world, we instead are choosing to litter the
landscape with windmills and solar panels, which, by the way, are made
out of what? Materials from China, which, by the way, come from what?
They come from forced child labor, which is going out and forcing
children to have to go out and be in work camps, to go mine the cobalt
necessary for batteries, mine the minerals that are necessary for all
the solar panels, the solar panels and the windmills that all have to
be buried and filled in the ground, all of which, by the way, produces
unreliable energy and puts us behind the rest of the world in energy
production when 3 billion people on this planet don't even have
reliable energy.
We are literally shooting ourselves in the economic foot. That is
what we are doing. We are doing it all because, I don't know, the
feels. I don't know, put a sticker on your Tesla while you drive around
and feel good about yourself. Pat yourself on the back when you are
[[Page H4205]]
not denting CO2 production. You could actually get rid of
every internal combustion engine car in America and you wouldn't reduce
CO2 around the world by less than about 1\1/2\ percent, if
at all.
The radical climate change executive orders by the President are
undermining our national security, forcing the DOD, DHS, all these
executive branch agencies to weaken their ability to be productive and
get their job done.
Can you imagine the Border Patrol can't even talk right now on
radios? They can't even communicate when they move along the border, if
they are even allowed to go man the border. Instead, they are changing
diapers in some room in one of the ports of entry because we have been
dumping people in through parole policies.
Now they are going to be stuck down there trying to charge their
batteries, hoping they can even go find the people crossing the river.
You can't even make this crap up.
If you set out to destroy a country, if you set out to literally
destroy a country, I don't know how you could come up with policies
better than those of the radical, progressive Democrats, who want to
remake this country in their radical, leftist image.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, this is yet another attempt by my
colleagues across the aisle to attack any effort by the Biden
administration to tackle the climate crisis and help our communities
become more climate resilient. It is obviously misguided, antiscience,
and will put all of us at greater risk of harm as a result of climate
disasters.
Only flawed and shortsighted thinking would presume that the climate
crisis does not intersect with so many of the issues relevant to the
Department's mission, including migration, national security, and
disaster relief.
Mr. Chair, I will vote ``no,'' and I encourage my colleagues to do
the same. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I would just note that it is critically important
that we adopt these amendments to restrict the executive branch from
carrying out these executive orders. They are undermining our
efficiency and effectiveness.
Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 56 Offered by Mr. Amodei
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 56
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chairman, I rise as the designee of Congresswoman
Stefanik to offer and support amendment No. 56.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. The salary of Nejwa Ali, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services Adjudication Officer, shall be reduced
to $1.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Nevada (Mr. Amodei) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment and
thank the gentlewoman from New York for offering it.
Our Conference has been quite clear about standing with Israel in
their fight against a brutal and inhumane terrorist organization that
not only committed the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the
Holocaust but continues to hold innocent men, women, and children as
hostages.
I also recognize the Jewish community has been the target of
increasing anti-Semitism, which was one of the reasons for the
amendment that we did earlier regarding supplementing FEMA's program
for protection against bigotry.
Bigotry has no place in America. It certainly has no place in the
Department of Homeland Security.
Nejwa Ali is a DHS immigration adjudication officer. She was exposed
celebrating the October 7 terrorist attack online. It was later
revealed that she previously worked for the Palestine Liberation
Organization, also known as the PLO, which some people would say has a
troublesome reputation, to put it kindly. Their reputation is in the
tank when it comes to anti-Semitic policies and things like that.
During the budget hearing this last April, Secretary Mayorkas
confirmed for us that she was still employed and on paid administrative
leave in April, and the Department confirmed to my staff within the
last 2 weeks that this continues to be the case. This is unacceptable.
The Department has had more than 8 months to investigate and terminate
this employee with cause pursuant to the applicable civil service
regulations.
While the Secretary and Biden administration refuse to do the right
thing, I invite the Members of the House of Representatives to
terminate this employee. We must do the right thing and act with
urgency to force their hand.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the temptation to take
congressional action against government individuals when we hear they
have done something that we find offensive, but as lawmakers, it is
important that we defend the core principles upon which our country is
founded, and that includes a system of checks and balances.
We know from the Secretary's testimony earlier this year that there
is an active investigation related to Nejwa Ali, a Trump-era hire, and
that she has been placed on leave and is not performing the duties and
responsibilities for which she was hired. We must allow this process to
work.
Ironically, the bill we are considering today would cut important
departmental resources that are meant to strengthen its personnel
security vetting policies and procedures, such as a cut of nearly $14
million to the Office of the Chief Security Officer.
It is a shame that, throughout this process, my majority colleagues
continue to criticize the Department for not doing its job while at the
same time they propose cutting the resources the Department needs to
address the very concerns that they continue to raise.
In addition, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that this
amendment also raises constitutional issues.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the
balance of my time.
{time} 1500
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 57 Offered by Mr. Steube
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 57
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. STEUBE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be used to make payments to the
Department of Veterans Affairs for medical claims of
individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Florida (Mr. Steube) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
Mr. STEUBE. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment that
would prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement from sending funds
to the Department of Veterans Affairs to process medical claims for
illegal immigrants in ICE custody.
This is a similar amendment to one that I led earlier this month on
the
[[Page H4206]]
funding bill for the VA. I was pleased that my amendment was included
in that bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment that
would ensure that the VA focuses its resources on veterans, not illegal
immigrants.
Last December, I led a letter to the VA with 23 other Republican
Members after seeing reports that ICE was using VA personnel to process
medical claims for illegal immigrants in ICE custody.
Thanks to the Biden administration's reckless policy on the border,
we continue to see record numbers of illegal crossings. This will
inevitably increase the burden on VA workers who should be fulfilling
their duties to serve veterans instead.
The VA exists to serve American veterans who risked their lives to
protect our country. For far too long, the VA has fallen short on its
mission: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise ``to care for him who
shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan'' by
serving and honoring the men and women who are America's veterans.
Veterans continue to experience unacceptable wait times in receiving
medical care and disability benefits. Under the Biden administration,
the disability claims backlog has exploded. As of last week, there are
273,307 outstanding disability claims that have been pending for more
than 125 days. This is unacceptable, and the VA personnel should not
lift a finger for illegal immigrants in ICE custody while thousands of
veterans are forced to wait to receive the benefits they deserve.
Mr. Chair, I ask my colleagues to support this amendment to ensure
that VA personnel work for veterans, not illegal immigrants held by
ICE. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, the Department of Veterans Affairs'
Financial Services Center provides a purely administrative function for
Immigration and Customs Enforcement to process third-party medical
claims for those in CBP's and ICE's custody.
Regardless of your stance on immigration, those seeking medical
attention should not be denied access to care. The third-party medical
providers who provide any medical care that can't be provided within
ICE and CBP facilities deserve to be paid in a timely and accurate
manner.
The VA's Financial Services Center has that capability, and we are
fortunate that it does. This is not unlike how the Department of
Agriculture's National Finance Center is the finance center that is
used to process the payment of paychecks for thousands of employees
across the Federal Government.
Further, this amendment does not prevent ICE from providing medical
care to those in its custody. It will simply make it more expensive and
more cumbersome not only for DHS but also for the local medical service
providers seeking reimbursement for the services that they provided.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. STEUBE. Mr. Chair, the money appropriated by this body and by
Congress for the VA, for veterans and for veterans healthcare, should
not be used to provide medical claims for illegal immigrants.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Steube).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida will
be postponed.
Amendment No. 58 Offered by Mr. Tiffany
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 58
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to grant
temporary protected status under section 244 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) to any
national of El Salvador.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chair, this amendment would prohibit the expenditure
of funds to extend what is known as temporary protected status, or TPS,
for nationals of El Salvador.
TPS is a tool provided by Congress that allows for the President,
acting through the Department of Homeland Security, to allow foreign
nationals to remain temporarily in the United States if conditions in
their home country are too dangerous to send them back.
The intent was to authorize a short reprieve from removal, with the
idea being that the beneficiaries would be repatriated when conditions
improved. Unfortunately, however, like so many immigration laws, this
narrow authority has been repeatedly abused.
Nationals of El Salvador, for example, were granted TPS in the
chaotic aftermath of an earthquake. Here is the problem: That
earthquake was in 2001, more than two decades ago.
Mr. Chair, times have changed. Since 2001, America has had four
presidents and El Salvador has had five. El Salvador now boasts the
lowest homicide rate of any country in our hemisphere, other than
Canada, not to mention a robust tourism ministry that markets whale
watching, surfing, gourmet coffee tours, scenic volcano hikes, and posh
all-inclusive resorts.
Mr. Chair, I am glad that El Salvador has recovered from the 2001
earthquake, and I applaud the progress their leader has made in
combating crime and promoting economic reform.
However, the ``T'' in TPS stands for ``temporary.'' TPS was never
intended to operate as a permanent loophole to provide rolling amnesty
to hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals, most of whom were here
illegally to begin with.
Mr. Chair, I ask for a ``yes'' vote on the amendment, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, throughout the debate today, it is not
clear if our colleagues saw today's announcement, so I just want to
make sure that we all know that the Presidential proclamation issued by
President Biden to temporarily suspend the entry of certain noncitizens
across the southern border and the complementary joint interim final
rule issued by DHS and DOJ have now been in effect for 3 weeks,
resulting in a significant reduction in the number of encounters at our
southwest border.
Under that interim final rule, asylum eligibility is generally
limited for those who cross the southern border unlawfully or without
authorization during times of high encounters. While it is still early,
the Border Patrol's 7-day encounter average has decreased more than 40
percent to under 2,400 encounters per day.
The Immigration and Nationality Act outlines the conditions under
which a country may be designated for temporary protected status, and
it requires periodic reviews to determine whether the conditions for
this status continue to be met.
Based on USCIS' latest review, the Secretary extended El Salvador's
TPS designation through March 9, 2025. Since the earthquakes of 2001,
El Salvador has continued to suffer from hurricanes, floods, and other
natural disasters, making it difficult for the country to fully recover
and allow for the safe return of individuals currently receiving TPS
benefits.
El Salvador also continues to struggle with gang violence, crime, and
general insecurity and economic instability, which pose risks to the
safety and well-being of any potential returnee.
[[Page H4207]]
I encourage my colleagues to take these concerns to the appropriate
authorizing committee if the gentleman feels that the INA should be
amended in any way, but singling out a country through this amendment
process is an inappropriate way to handle this matter.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the amendment, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Nevada (Mr. Amodei).
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chair, I will just put on the Record that I associate
myself with the remarks of Mr. Tiffany, and I support the amendment.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Wisconsin has the only time
remaining.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chair, I would just add, in response to the comments
that we just heard from the other side of the aisle, they should tell
the American people who have suffered through the fentanyl deaths that
are the number one killer of young people in America. Tell that to the
American people as they see terrorists come into this country. Tell
this to the people of America as they see murders happen all over the
country, including people dying in my district clear up in northern
Wisconsin.
We also heard about continuous natural disasters. There are always
natural disasters in every country. Do we let people from every country
come in just because they have natural disasters?
This is TPS. It is temporary. Twenty years is plenty of temporary. It
is time to stop the temporary protected status for El Salvador.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 59 Offered by Mr. Tiffany
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 59
printed in part C of House Report 118-559.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. __. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be made available to grant
temporary protected status under section 244 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) to any
national of Honduras.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1316, the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chair, this amendment is very similar to the prior
amendment. It prohibits the expenditure of funds to extend temporary
protected status, in this case to nationals from Honduras.
That ``T'' in TPS is important because it stands for ``temporary.''
In the case of Honduras, this temporary designation was issued in
response to a hurricane. When did that hurricane make landfall, you
might ask? It was in October of 1998. Bill Clinton was in the White
House, gasoline was $1.05 per gallon, Microsoft had just replaced
General Electric as America's most valuable company, and the first
BlackBerry wouldn't hit store shelves for another year. Yet this
temporary amnesty continues.
Like El Salvador, conditions in Honduras have improved. The country
elected a new President in 2022, completing a peaceful transfer of
power. Honduras also has an active tourism industry, marketing
ziplining, visits to U.N. World Heritage sites, world-class scuba
diving, and some of the Caribbean's best beaches and all-inclusive
resorts.
If Honduras is safe enough to welcome millions of tourists each year,
isn't it safe enough to welcome Hondurans back home?
Mr. Chair, it is time to put the ``T'' back in TPS. TPS was never
intended to be the ``Hotel California'' that says illegal aliens can
check in anytime but they can never leave.
Mr. Chair, I ask for a ``yes'' vote on the amendment, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the
amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Illinois is recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, the Immigration and Nationality Act
outlines the conditions under which a country may be designated for
temporary protected status, and it requires periodic reviews to
determine whether the conditions for the status continue to be met.
Based on USCIS' latest review, the Secretary extended Honduras' TPS
designation through July 5, 2025.
Since the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Honduras has
continued to suffer from hurricanes, floods, tropical storms, and other
natural disasters, making it difficult for the country to fully recover
and allow for the safe return of individuals currently receiving TPS
benefits.
Honduras also continues to struggle with gang violence, drug
trafficking, crime, and economic instability, which pose risks to the
safety and well-being of any potential returnee.
{time} 1515
I encourage my colleagues to take their concerns to the appropriate
authorizing committee if the gentleman feels that the INA should be
amended in any way, but singling out a country through this amendment
process is an inappropriate way to handle this matter.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Chairman, this is the appropriate forum to bring
this before. It is to deny funding for something that is no longer
temporary. This has become, we might as well rename it PPS, permanent
protective status rather than TPS.
This is the appropriate venue to deny the funding to allow the
President to continue to use this just like every other means, whether
it is parole and all other type things, to be able to allow people to
illegally come into our country.
By the way, what country around the world hasn't had a natural
disaster?
Are we going to let people come in from every country in the world
when there is a hurricane, a typhoon, or an earthquake, whatever
natural disaster happens?
That is what we are being set up for here.
When we hear gang violence being talked about, why is there so much
gang violence in those countries?
It is, in part, because we have open borders. I was in Panama 3 years
ago. I went to the Darien Gap. I saw what was going on down there when
hundreds of thousands of people were coming in through the Darien Gap.
It is now tens of thousands of people who are going through the Darien
Gap making their way up through Central America, including Honduras.
That is, in part, what is destabilizing these countries.
If we would pass H.R. 2 and we had a President who chose to secure
the border, then we would see safer countries, and we would no longer
need TPS in countries like Honduras.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin
will be postponed.
Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Tiffany) having assumed the chair, Mr.
[[Page H4208]]
DesJarlais, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the
state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under
consideration the bill (H.R. 8752), making appropriations for the
Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September
30, 2025, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.
____________________