[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2089-S2090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we need law enforcement. Nowhere was that 
more evident than on Saturday night, when a gunman attempted to storm 
the White House Correspondents' Dinner in an attempt to kill the 
President, individuals in the line of succession to the Presidency, and 
civilians who got in the way.
  We need law enforcement. We need the police officers who patrol our 
streets, the first to respond when someone is in danger or needs help. 
We need the FBI agents who investigate Federal crimes, from money 
laundering to kidnapping. We need the Secret Service agents who protect 
the President and Vice President and other dignitaries. We need 
sheriffs' offices and transit police and ATF agents, and, yes, we need 
the Federal law enforcement officers who patrol our borders and take 
dangerous illegal aliens off of our streets.
  You could be forgiven for thinking that I am stating the obvious. Ask 
most Americans, and I think you would find they say: Of course--of 
course--we need law enforcement.

[[Page S2090]]

  But that doesn't always seem to be obvious to my Democratic 
colleagues.
  The ``defund the police'' movement and ``abolish ICE'' movements were 
both embraced by Members of the Democrat Party, and now Democrats are 
at it again.
  The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down because 
Democrats decided they don't want to fund border security or 
immigration enforcement. They refuse to fund the Border Patrol. They 
refuse to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are refusing 
to fund any physical presence at our borders or any agents to take 
dangerous criminal illegal aliens off of our streets.
  Not only that, the Democrat leader made it very clear that his party 
doesn't ever--he doesn't even, I should say, respect the work these law 
enforcement agents are doing.
  ``Nobody in this country respects ICE and Border Patrol,'' the 
Democrat leader said on the floor last week. And when asked to clarify 
his comments to say whether he really thinks nobody respects agents who 
put their lives on the line to, for example, stop dangerous individuals 
from crossing the border, the Democrat leader declined to answer. He 
declined to answer.
  And I guess it is no surprise. Declining to fund these key law 
enforcement Agencies is a pretty good clue that Democrats don't respect 
the sacrifices these agents make to protect our country.
  Why do we need law enforcement officers? Because there are dangerous 
individuals out there who choose to do harm. That is just a fact of 
living in a fallen world. And no government program or liberal fantasy 
is going to erase that reality.
  And just as there are dangerous individuals already in our 
communities, there are dangerous individuals who would like to make 
their way illegally across our borders: drug traffickers, human 
traffickers, other criminals, terrorists.
  Border Patrol agents stop them. And when dangerous individuals do 
make their way into our country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
agents work to take these dangerous individuals off of our streets.
  Democrats may not like this reality. They may not like the fact that 
we need border security and immigration enforcement. But the fact 
remains that Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are 
two Agencies that play a key role in our safety.
  And the enormity of what Democrats have opted for cannot be 
overstated: no agents--zero agents--at the border; no one--no one--to 
stop dangerous individuals from making their way into our country; and 
no one--no one--to catch and deport these dangerous individuals if they 
do make it in.
  Republicans, of course, are not going to let that happen. As long as 
we are in charge, we are going to do everything we can to protect our 
borders and keep dangerous criminal illegal aliens off of our streets.
  And that is why, after weeks and weeks of attempting to negotiate a 
funding agreement with Democrats before they ultimately walked away, we 
are now set to consider a reconciliation bill to fund border security 
and immigration enforcement for the next 3 years.
  We have passed the budget resolution that will open the way for the 
final bill, and I hope my colleagues in the House will pass it in short 
order.
  We need law enforcement. It is too bad the Democratic Party doesn't 
always agree.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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