Loading video...
Source: Congress.gov
Summary
No summary available.
Participants
Transcript
call this meeting of the Appropriations Committee to order. I'd like to welcome everyone to today's meeting. As you know, we have a very busy schedule ahead of us today as part of a very busy week. We'll be marking up our fiscal year 2026 bill covering Homeland Security. Homeland Security markup was originally noticed for June 12th, but delays in our other markups necessitated a move to today. Tomorrow, our Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Bill will be considered on the floor. And on Thursday, we'll be marking up our Legislative Branch Bill for fiscal year 2026. As such, we must and will finish our work on the Homeland Security Bill today. or more probably tonight, and we'll be here until we're done. That said, we will recess in the afternoon for votes, then reconvene immediately following the final vote. As soon as I get 32, we will come to order. I also understand there's a full member briefing on the situation in the Middle East scheduled for 3.15 this afternoon. We will recess for that briefing. We'll go up to as close to 3.15 as we can and give you time to get there, and we will reconvene immediately after. I'll be going to the brief myself, so I'm coming straight back here. As soon as we get 32, we'll be moving. So I appreciate your cooperation. Our only order of business today is the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2026. So I'll now recognize Chairman Amaday to present the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Madam Ranking Member, Madam Ranking Member of the full committee. I've been around this process for a little while, and I know that the bill's been out and that you're all familiar with it.
A robust amendment discussion has taken place and proposed on both sides, and so I am going to assume for the bill presentation that you all know why we're here and what's in the bill, and I yield back. Thank you very much. That must be your opening move to be chairman of the full committee. That's a brilliant start. I'd now like to recognize Ms. Underwood for remarks on the bill. Good morning and thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, while I ultimately cannot support the legislation we're considering today, I've been so pleased to work with you on strengthening and improving our many shared bipartisan priorities in this space.
I thank you and your staff for your hard work and partnership and look forward to continuing to work together. I also want to thank our staff, who I know have not slept much recently, Shannon, Jamie, and Chris, for their incredible work on these critical issues. Now, I think we can all agree that whether it's at the border, the airport, our country's shorelines, or in cyberspace, the Department of Homeland Security cannot fail. But I also believe that the department cannot fail the rights and values that make America the greatest nation in the world. Under the Trump administration, DHS is out of control. illegally spending hundreds of millions of our taxpayer dollars, flagrantly violating constitutional rights, and putting America's security at risk. Under this administration, due process and the limitations that the Constitution puts on our government are being ignored, and this bill must do more to check them. Right now, this bill fails to protect American citizens from being deported by the Trump administration. It fails to protect American citizens from being confronted in their homes and offices or having their property seized as this administration's deportation policies ignore the boundaries of federal law. It shamefully allows law enforcement to continue snatching people off the street at church, at schools without requiring proper identification or due process. And it punishes immigrants who are following our laws, all while rewarding for-profit detention centers with billions of taxpayer dollars and lacks oversight. As members of Congress, we have a constitutional responsibility to keep this administration accountable in both how it spends taxpayer dollars and how it operates. We saw this year after our FEMA hearing what this department does when anyone speaks truth to power. I'm deeply concerned that if this bill passes and DHS goes unchecked, the United States of America will become a country that our own citizens will seek refuge from because of the repeated attacks on our basic freedoms and rights.
Giving unchecked power to this administration is bad enough, but unfortunately, the bill makes things worse. By leaving Americans more vulnerable to catastrophic threats and burdening state and local governments, the bill adopts Doge staffing cuts to CISA and FEMA personnel by roughly $130 million and $93 million, respectively. Let me say that again. As a ceasefire remains elusive with Iran, a nation known for cyber attacks on adversaries, infrastructure and communities, you are doubling down on cuts to our core cyber defenses. That's indefensible. And the only people who benefit from this bill's failure to invest here are bad actors in Iran, China, Russia and around the world who are now find it easier to attack the American people. Meanwhile, the White House requested $0 to supplement FEMA's disaster relief fund that all Americans rely on to recover from major disasters and fails to acknowledge an urgent $8 billion deficit in the disaster relief fund.
Sign up for free to see the full transcript
Accounts help us prevent bots from abusing our site. Accounts are free and will allow you to access the full transcript.