[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 25, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, someone asked me today: Since Senate 
Democrats keep moving the goalpost on DHS funding, what kind of 
frustration is there among Republicans?
  I replied: Ask the American people how frustrated they are.
  Americans are being hurt for some political gain that some Senate 
Democrats seem to enjoy.
  This is the New Orleans Airport. These are the lines. At one point, 
it was out of the building and into the parking garage. That is on the 
second floor. They had to come through the parking garage, through the 
second floor, and down to the mezzanine level in order to get into this 
line.
  It was a 5-hour wait for people to be able to go through the TSA 
checkpoint. At that point, people had missed their flights. You came to 
the airport 3 hours early, and you missed your flight after standing in 
that line.
  Now, I am just asking the folks at the airport who came to visit New 
Orleans--maybe a destination wedding, something for their family, and 
then they return to whatever State they are from, having a great time--
call up the Senate Democrats who are opposing ending the shutdown.
  By the way, the rate of callouts from TSA staff exceeded 40 percent 
over the weekend. You know, they have bills to pay. I am not quite sure 
what they are doing. It could be that they are driving for Uber or they 
are driving for Lyft. They are trying to pay their bills. That is the 
issue here.
  By the way, it is not just TSA agents. It is the FEMA agents, the 
people who help process the claims to rebuild communities after natural 
disasters. It is the Coast Guard, the people that rescue you when your 
boat breaks down, the people who are in the boats protecting our naval 
ships--protecting our naval ships right now on deployment outside of 
Iran. It is the people protecting us from cyber attacks--the cyber 
attacks that are coming right now from Iran.
  Now every time an offer is made, Democrats say: Nope. It is not quite 
there yet.
  As someone said, they are now rejecting deals which are better than 
their first offer.
  Now, put this in context. Republicans and Democrats negotiated a 
funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security months ago. At 
some point, that deal was broken. They said: No, this is not good 
enough.
  Then, 6 weeks ago, they refused to fund the Department of Homeland 
Security, at which point folks like TSA agents stopped getting paid and 
FEMA and Cybersecurity and Coast Guard, et cetera.
  So Republicans have leaned forward and offered, for example, body 
cameras. They said they wanted body cameras. I think they wanted $20 
million. I am told the White House has offered over $100 million for 
body cameras.
  No, now we want something different.
  I will just say that at some point, you have to be willing to make an 
agreement. At some point, you have to decide that a line this long, 
inconveniencing that many Americans, and not paying TSA agents, FEMA, 
Coast Guard, and others, is wrong, and you have to accept a deal.
  Now, maybe you don't. Clearly you don't. But at some point, you 
should consider the pain that you are exacting upon fellow Americans, 
upon people who are not getting paid for 6 weeks even though they have 
bills to pay.
  I want to compliment right now the people who are able to work, 
whether it is TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard, or Cybersecurity. Let us just 
thank them. Let us just thank them for doing what they are able to do 
to protect us even though they have not been paid for 6 weeks.
  I will point out that the Department of Homeland Security covers 
FEMA. I would like the FEMA agents to be paid. Hurricane season starts 
in 10 weeks. In my State, in the gulf coast, the Atlantic coast, we 
know what that means. Planning should be taking place now in case a 
hurricane hits in 10 weeks. That planning is not taking place because 
people cannot go to work if their Department is shut down.
  So if you start to wonder how frustrated Republicans are, ask these 
people how frustrated they are, and ask the people who are at the end, 
right where they would be getting checked in, how frustrated they are.
  I ask my Democratic colleagues in the Senate to accept ``yes'' for an 
answer. If we have actually come to where you were, and you move back, 
and we have come forward still yet, and you move back once more, maybe 
at some point, you must examine your priorities. Is it to serve the 
American people? Is it to make sure that hard-working public servants 
are paid? Or is it to gain a political objective? I ask you, please, to 
put the American people first.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

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