[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 57 (Thursday, March 26, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 311, H.R. 7147.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 7147) making further consolidated
appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026,
and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the substitute
amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to and that the bill, as
amended, be considered read a third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 4790), in the nature of a substitute, was agreed
to.
(The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of
Amendments.'')
The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a
third time.
Mr. THUNE. I know of no further debate on the bill, as amended.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the bill?
Hearing none, the bill having been read the third time, the question
is, Shall the bill pass?
The bill (H.R. 7147), as amended, was passed.
Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Missouri.
Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4277
Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, the bill in the Chamber well right now
does one simple thing: It gives U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement stable, long-term funding so it can do the job the Congress
assigned it to do--enforce the immigration laws on the books and
protect the American people. It provides $100.36 billion for operations
and support and provides $5 billion for procurement, construction, and
improvements, all available through September 30, 2036.
This bill is necessary because Democrats are trying to do through
appropriations what they could not do in public debate. They could not
persuade the American people to support amnesty for millions of illegal
aliens who poured into this country under the Biden Presidency. They
could not stop President Trump from closing the border. So now they are
trying to cripple interior enforcement by defunding and hamstringing
ICE.
But either today or through reconciliation, we will fully fund ICE.
That is what this fight is about. The border is closing. The next task
is deportation, and deportation requires officers, detention space,
transportation, technology, and operational support. It requires an ICE
that is funded to do the job it is charged to do, not be starved out by
politicians who want enforcement to fail. My bill says plainly we are
not going to let that happen.
Democrats' own rhetoric gives away the game. They say they only want
to deport the worst of the worst, but if that were true, they would not
be trying to weaken the very Agency responsible for finding, detaining,
and removing criminal illegal aliens. You cannot claim to support
deporting dangerous offenders while working to cut the legs out from
underneath ICE.
We are not going to abolish ICE by a budgetary gimmick. We are not
going to force the Agency to do more with less while the left expands
sanctuary policies, wages lawfare against deportation, and turns
enforcement into a political target. We are not going to accept the lie
that immigration enforcement should begin only when an illegal alien
has already committed a violent crime in this country because by then,
for some American families, it is already too late.
And we know what that looks like. It looks like Laken Riley; it looks
like Stephanie Minter; it looks like Sheridan Gorman; it looks like
Katie Abraham--Americans whose lives cannot be restored after the fact
because Washington refused to enforce the law before the next crime was
committed.
That is why this bill matters. This bill funds deportation
operations. It funds the officers who carry them out. It funds the
actual enforcement of our laws Congress has passed, Republicans and
Democrats alike. It says that the answer to a border invasion is not
performative outrage followed by bureaucratic surrender; the answer is
enforcement.
So the question before the Senate is simple: Are we going to fund
immigration enforcement or not?
We will be back in reconciliation, where 50-plus-1 votes are enough
and the filibuster cannot save you. We will be back to deliver the
funding for ICE needs, and we will be back to deliver the policy
changes the American people are demanding.
By the way, if we are going to do another reconciliation bill, I may
want to do something more than budgetary measures to help ICE do its
job, like defunding sanctuary cities or removing the financial
incentives for illegal immigration. So be careful what you wish for.
All of it--all of it--will be paid for, all of it targeted, all of it
designed to give ICE the tools and funding it actually needs.
To my Democratic colleagues: This bill is the moderate option. What
is coming next is going to supercharge deportations.
To my Republican colleagues: Let this be a rallying cry. Every time
the Democrats obstruct the safety of American families, the wall gets
10 feet higher and ICE gets another $100 billion. Because the American
people are watching. They see exactly who is standing in the way of law
enforcement and public safety, and they are not going to forget it. The
safety of American citizens is not optional, and neither is our resolve
to defend it.
With that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4277, which is at the
desk. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and
passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid
upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. KIM. Mr. President, reserving the right to object. That is right;
the American people have been watching. What they have seen is that the
Democrats have been steadfast in our insistence that we not support
providing more funding for ICE without also including commonsense
reforms to rein in the abuses we have seen in Minnesota and elsewhere,
particularly after two Americans were shot and killed.
All we have been demanding here is what the American people are
demanding: body-worn cameras; no masks; keeping ICE agents out of our
hospitals, schools, and churches; and ensuring ICE follows the same
practices and procedures as local law enforcement.
We have just spent 6 weeks having this very fundamental argument with
Republicans over providing new funding to ICE in 2026. Now, this UC
would provide 10 years of funding to ICE with zero reforms--10 years,
$100 billion, and that is on top of the $75 billion Republicans already
gave ICE last year.
So for those same reasons Democrats have made on the floor the past
several weeks, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
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