[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1060]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Department of Homeland Security

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today is day 32 of Democrats' shutdown of 
the Department of Homeland Security. On Thursday, Democrats, once 
again, blocked the Senate from proceeding to a DHS funding bill--a 
bill, I should note, that already includes a number of reforms to 
immigration enforcement: more money for body cameras, deescalation 
training, and additional oversight of immigration enforcement 
activities. And getting on this bill would not have precluded 
additional reforms from being added. But for the fourth time now, 
Democrats stopped the Senate from proceeding to consideration of this 
legislation.
  For weeks, Democrats have spoken about the urgent need for reforms to 
immigration enforcement, but it has been Democrats who have been the 
biggest obstacle to getting those reforms enacted. The Trump 
administration took a number of steps on its own, I might add, to 
reform immigration enforcement, and on top of that, the White House 
made two substantial and serious offers to Democrats to legislate 
reforms, the most recent of which was sent more than 2 weeks ago.
  But Democrats couldn't even be bothered to respond to the White 
House's latest offer until late last night, 18 days for Democrats to 
even bother replying. And that offer--Democrats' third--was basically 
the same as their first two offers: no compromise and still filled with 
a number of nonstarters that would make it more dangerous for law 
enforcement officers to do their jobs. Meanwhile, on the Senate floor, 
the best Democrats have been able to offer is funding some DHS Agencies 
and leaving others unfunded. It is really pretty remarkable.
  Last summer, Democrats threw a fit over Republicans' rescissions 
package that cut just $9 billion in Federal spending, a fraction of a 
fraction of a percent of the entire Federal budget. Now, to hear 
Democrats talk, they seem to think that entire Agencies--especially the 
Agencies that secure our border and enforce immigration laws--are 
dispensable.
  The Democrat leader had the audacity to call this a ``moderate'' plan 
last week. When did defunding law enforcement become a mainstream 
position in this country? Now, this might be considered moderate for 
Democrats, but I think the average American would view it as extreme.
  We are now a month into Democrats' second shutdown since October. And 
like their record-long shutdown in the fall, the victims of this 
shutdown are beginning to pile up. TSA agents are working without pay. 
A significant number of agents are calling out sick, leading to long 
wait times and lines stretching into airport parking garages.
  CBS reports that 300 TSA agents have quit since this shutdown began, 
and that is on top of the 1,100 agents who quit after Democrats' 
shutdown in the fall. It is pretty darn understandable if you think 
about it. What do you do when, for 2 out of the last 6 months, you have 
to work without pay? Well, that is what Democrats have put these people 
through. So it is more than understandable that they might be thinking 
that there has got to be an easier way to earn a living.
  I heard from one TSA agent in South Dakota who was at the end of her 
rope. She writes:

       It is very hard to live without getting paid. . . . I do 
     not know how long I can keep doing this.

  Well, that is what happens in a shutdown: real people get hurt.
  But if you ask the senior Senator from Hawaii, a Member of the 
Democratic leadership, he says:

       We are very serene with what is going on.

  ``Very serene.'' I suppose that is not a surprising statement 
considering the Democratic leader characterized Democrats' last 
shutdown in the fall by saying:

       Every day gets better for us.

  ``Very serene.'' ``Every day gets better for us.'' For Democrats, a 
government shutdown is just fine as long as it seems to be working for 
them politically, no matter whether it is hurting hard-working 
Americans, no matter if it is jeopardizing public safety and national 
security. Make no mistake, Democrats' shutdown is harming hard-working 
Americans and putting national security in jeopardy.
  Our country is facing a heightened threat environment right now. 
There are a few examples of that. Stryker, a medical tech company, was 
the victim of an Iran-linked cyber attack last week. ISIS-inspired 
individuals attempted to detonate bombs targeting protesters outside of 
the home of the mayor of New York City last weekend. And on Thursday, 
we saw two tragic attacks take place. One of those, in Virginia, was 
perpetrated by an individual who was arrested in 2016 for attempting to 
provide materiel support to ISIS. The other, an attack on a Detroit-
area synagogue, was perpetrated by an individual who was reported to 
have had connections to known or suspected Hezbollah terrorists.
  This is no time for Democrats' political games. Republicans are at 
the table and ready to work whenever Democrats are done playing.