Transcripts For CSPAN3 House Committee Marks Up Homeland Sec

Puts 1. 6 billion towards a physical barrier construction along the u. S. Southern border. Members debated many amendments to the legislation for about four hours. Morning. Meeting will come to order. Thank you all for being here today. We meet today to consider both Homeland Security appropriations bill. I now turn it over to chairman carter. Judge carter. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Before i start, its sort of a tradition to have some kind of snack from your home district. The most famous thing are the doughnuts. The National Magazine have declared it the best doughnuts in the world. However, theyre so good they dont travel well. So as a substitute we have a large Czech Community. Everyones welcome to eat a. Our Czech Community is very proud of them, and theyre very good. We had them here last year. Theyre good. The question is what are they, and then were going to move on. Theyre a roll with fruit on top of them, and theyre good. Judge carter is recognized. Thank you. Now that ive gotten the important stuff outofthe way, im glad to be here to present the 2016 appropriations bill. 1. 9 billion in defense spending, 6. 8 billion for Disaster Relief. The total is 51. 1 billion. Which is 327 million above the president s request and 1. 8 billion fiscal year 2017 baseline. It stands in stark contrast to prior years because the president s budget request is a major policy change in how dhs secures the border and enforces immigration laws. Consequently many of the minority are opposed to the bill. While i regret not having a unified subcommittee mark, i respect everyones right to assert reasonable and dissent. No doubt im sure everyone on this committee shares the same objections, to ensure our homeland is safe, secure and resilient against terrorism and many others. Were going to spend a lot of time today debating the pros and cons of spending nearly 1. 6 billion onboarder wall construction, 3. 2 billion or 44,000 detention beds among other items. These are significant increases in spending and worthy of debate. All too often the discussion veers off to heart breaking stories of illegal migration. But that is only part of the story. The rest is if Illegal Migrants can exploit vulnerabilities in the nations border, so can terrorist, drug smugglers and Human Trafficking organizations. This is unacceptable. The recommendation that the bill change thats dynamic, they enforce current structures and builds 30 secure fencing where Border Patrol agents have convinced me and the committee is needed. They are invested in smart, 21st Century Technologies that assist those who work on the border. Theyre not targeted at areas like the Big Ben National Park and the arizona forbidden desert where Mother Nature has secured the border in ways man cannot enhance. With respect, i disagree. In the early 1990s more than 50,000 people were apprehended as they tried to illegally cross the border in the san diego section. By fiscal year 2016 the number in that sector had plummeted to 25,000. Similar Success Stories have occurred across the yuma, tucson, and el paso sectors. It sends a powerful message that if you break our nations laws, cross the border illegally, you will suffer the consequences and a guaranteed stay in detention. With that here are the additional highlights of the bill. In addition to had wall and associated technology the mark supports increases in the Border Patrol by 500 agents. For i. C. E. , in additional to the funds for 44,000 detention beds, which an increase of 4,676 over 2017, 18 million above the request is provided to expand the Visa Security Program to two additional high threat over seas locations. Under 86 million to increase the investigative and support staff as requested. For fema, 3 billion for fema grants, training and exercise programs. An increase of 939. 7 billion above the request, which includes 25 million increase or Nonprofit Security Grant Programs. 7. 3 billion as requested for the Disaster Relief fund. For secret service, 1. 9 billion to ensure theyre paid for the work they do. For tsa, full funding for transportation Security Officers to support Aviation Security and keep wait times down low. For coast guard, 19 million is provided for a heavy icebreaker to continue programs management activities and design work required to award a Production Contract in fiscal year 2019. 500 million for production of the first offshore patrol cutter and materials for ppc number 2. And 94 million for a fully missioned c130j. For infrastructure and Infrastructure Protection, 950 million is provided to secure Government Network and prevent Cyber Attacks and 380 million for Infrastructure Protection programs including the electrical grid and emergency communication systems. Finally, the everify system which enables businesses to check whether their employees are eligible to work in the United States is fully funded at 131. 5 million. Colleagues, this is a good bill. I ask you to support it. Before i answer any questions, our Ranking Member is recognized and our full committee chairman, Ranking Members and any comments they would like to make. Thank you, judge carter. Chairman carter, pleased to recognize the Ranking Member. Mr. Chairman, i greatly appreciate you and our staff have been collaborative and receptive in developing this bill. We have a Good Partnership in working to address the needs of the department of Homeland Security and its dedicated personnel. Because we understand they are the ones doing the critical work of keeping our country safe. The positive aspects of this bill include restoration of fema grants to current levels and increases of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program from 25 to 50 million. Theres also a significant number of over sight objectives in the Draft Committee report and welcome funding levels for the compartmental components like the office of civil rights and civil liberties. And im grateful for the additionalfunding for coast guard families and the continuation of the Cyber Security internship program. Most alarming is because of the claim that it is a matter of National Security, this bill recognizes a 705 million increase, supporting 44,000 detention beds, an increase of 10,000 above last year. And the hiring of 1,000 additional ice agents and officers to focus primarily on interior enforcement. There is certainly no disagreement. We should be removing dangerous individuals. However, i. C. E. s interior enforcement is targeting the parents of unaccompanied children seeking asylum and people who have lived, worked and paid taxes in this country for years or even decades with no criminal infractions. As a result i. C. E. Interior arrests of noncriminals are up 157 over last year. These arrests are not required for our National Security or our public safety. And they are having tragic consequences forvages, families and communities all over our nation. Many in Law Enforcement tell its people are unwilling to report serious crimes. People tell me witnesses and immigrant children are alike are afraid to go out to play for fear their parents will be gone when they go home. The trauma being inflicted on entire communities throughout this country cannot be over stated. The only solution to this problem is comprehensive Immigration Reform. Another area of concern is the 1. 6 billion for new border infrastructure. The fy17 bill included a risk plan for securing along the border. We have yet to receive that plan. How can we support such an enormous cost without a cacomprehensive plan backed by a clear justification of why it should take priority over other critical investments . For these reasons i cannot in good conscious support the bill in its current form. Instead of wasting money on a unthis saerl wall and enforcement of discriminatory policies, we should be addressing the real threats and those who seek to do our country harm. This includes investing more resources in cybersecurity, Human Trafficking investigations and coast guard vessels and aircraft to address our vulnerabilities along the alaskan coast and enhance our drug interdiction efforts. We should be investing more in new customs officers, research and technology and funding for Law Enforcement viper and officer reinforcement programs. Being in this country illegally is a civil violation. We should not be spending excessive amounts of money for civil Immigration Enforcement at the expense of dangerous criminal and terrorist threats. Most of you in this room have Family History of immigrants who came here of little money or little more than the clothing on their backs. They lived here with other residents until they could find a job and a place of their own. Most American Families came to this land, youd have been allowed to enter the United States and many of us would not be here today. My familys history is a little different. My father served in this house for 0 years. He was a member of this committee and a cardinal. He was born in 1960 to the family, which traces back its roots in this country for eight jen rags. But they never came to the United States. Rather the United States came to the them when the part of mexico they settled in became a u. S. Territory, and in 1912 the state of new mexico. The u. S. Also came to my mothers family, to the part of mexico today known as san diego, california. But no matter how we became americans, the fact is that most of came here from somewhere else. The contributions of past newcomers helped make our country the greatest nation in the world. A and todays immigrants help keep america great. That reality was recognized by our government in the 1920s. Even establishing the Border Patrol, setting up our first consular control system requiring visas to be obtained abroad before admission to the u. S. And putting in place numerical caps and quotas based on race and nationality, discretion was given to immigration officials suspend deportations in meritorious cases and congress created policies allowing many european immigrants in the u. S. Without proper authorization to legalize their status these rules made it possible for millions of people, including many of our ancestors to come and remain in the United States and have the opportunity to realize the american dream. Todays immigrants deserve no less. I sincerely respect the fact that many of us have disagreements on how best to enforce our immigration laws. Unfortunately, the president s malignant immigration rhetoric has poisoned the waters. It has made it difficult for this congress to bridge our differences in a way that protects our hope land while still reflecting our american values. The administration has said the law is the law. And we must enforce it without discretion. Mr. Chairman, just as was true nearly a century ago, our immigration policies are as much a moral question as they are a legal one. Just as other Law Enforcement agencies have discretion in how to enforce our laws, so do agencies like i. C. E. And the department of hope land security. And just as former members of congress exercise disregarding policies impacting european immigrants, members of this committee have discretion in how to vote on policies impacting immigrants of today. I am not making an argument for open borders or the elimination of our immigration laws. What i am trying to convey is my hope that as we Work Together to find the right balance between legal and moral aspects of Immigration Enforcement, we do so guided by the same moral compass and with the same compassion for todays immigrants. Many of whom are escaping the same kinds of tragic circumstances as those we welcomed in the past. How can we not take into consideration our impact on real people who, by different policies or of the past or a different drawing of a border could be you or me. Mr. Chairman, let me reiterate how much i appreciate the way our subcommittee does its business. Even when we disagree, we do it with respect for one another and with respect for the institution in which we are honored to serve. I hope we will continue working together so by the end of this appropriations process, we have a final bill both sides can fully support. In closing, i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge and thank my outstanding staff, derek newbie, matt smith, robin ellerb ellerbee, adam sacks and the majority staff including chris row mig, laura silky, leonardo fin nalddy and subCommittee Staff director valerie baldwin. Again, thank you, mr. Chairman, and i yield back. I want to thank the Ranking Member as well as chairman carter for their remarks. Lucille and i know our fathers served together. Im so proud to be serving with you. We live in the greatest country on the face of the earth. Its good to know the ties that bind us are strong. Thank you so much for your remarks. This bill demonstrates our ironclad commitment to safeguarding our homeland and probinging our citizens. In total it provides 44. 3 billion in discretionary funding for the department of Homeland Security to fulfill its mandate it secure our nation from any threats the many threats we face whether thats terrorism, criminals, and illegal goods crossing our borders or attacks on our cyber networks. This is 1. 9 billion above the fiscal year 2017 bill which we recently passed. Its a strong investment. The security of our nation, our families, neighbors, schools, and businesses. Critical resources are directed to customs and Border Protection to improve infrastructure and technology and put boots on the ground. This includes 1. 6 billion for physical barrier construction along the southern border and 100 million to hire 500 new Border Patrol agents. The bill also provides 7 billion for immigrations and Customs Enforcement to ensure our laws are being followed. This includes funding for additional Law Enforcement officers detention and removal programs, investigation programs ha fight Human Trafficking, drug smuggling and cyber crime. And this complements a lot of what the recent commerce, justice and state bill did that we recently passed. Protect our coasts and s. T. E. M. The flow of illegal goods into and out of the country, the bill provides 10. 5 billion in funding for the coast guard. This legislation addresses other 21st country threats to our nation, as well, namely securing our Cyber Infrastructure against dangerous hacking and Cyber Attacks. Investments into the National Protection and programs director rat will enhance security of that cyber space. Further, the bill ensures our nation is ready and able to respond to any emergencies or Natural Disasters by fully funding femas Disaster Relief account. In addition 2. 7 billion is provided for fema Grant Programs that support our First Responders. The first line of defense in our communities. Id like to thank the subcommittee chair and ranking as well as all members and may i say the Remarkable Group of men and women behind us who make us look good and have worked on a very expeditious basis to bring this bill forward today. I certainly urge support of this bill and my pleasure is to recognize miss lowie for any comments she may have. Miss lowie. Thank you, chairman freeing haasen. I want to shank chairman carter and Ranking Member roy allard and the staff on both sides of the aisle and all the members of this subcommittee for the important work that you have done. With the procedural roadblocks hindering our path forward, specifically no bipartisan budget agreement, one might think the majority would the produce bills that could possibly gain support from democrats. Yet, that has not happened. The bill before us today provides some minority input on funding including the restoration of proposed cuts to fema grantsry are of vital importance to my home state of new york and the chairman was receptive to many of the minoritys requestsing for report language throughout a collegial process which we appreciate. However, this bill unacceptably provides significant increases to carry out the administrations draconian Homeland Security<\/a> appropriations bill. I now turn it over to chairman carter. Judge carter. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Before i start, its sort of a tradition to have some kind of snack from your home district. The most famous thing are the doughnuts. The National Magazine<\/a> have declared it the best doughnuts in the world. However, theyre so good they dont travel well. So as a substitute we have a large Czech Community<\/a>. Everyones welcome to eat a. Our Czech Community<\/a> is very proud of them, and theyre very good. We had them here last year. Theyre good. The question is what are they, and then were going to move on. Theyre a roll with fruit on top of them, and theyre good. Judge carter is recognized. Thank you. Now that ive gotten the important stuff outofthe way, im glad to be here to present the 2016 appropriations bill. 1. 9 billion in defense spending, 6. 8 billion for Disaster Relief<\/a>. The total is 51. 1 billion. Which is 327 million above the president s request and 1. 8 billion fiscal year 2017 baseline. It stands in stark contrast to prior years because the president s budget request is a major policy change in how dhs secures the border and enforces immigration laws. Consequently many of the minority are opposed to the bill. While i regret not having a unified subcommittee mark, i respect everyones right to assert reasonable and dissent. No doubt im sure everyone on this committee shares the same objections, to ensure our homeland is safe, secure and resilient against terrorism and many others. Were going to spend a lot of time today debating the pros and cons of spending nearly 1. 6 billion onboarder wall construction, 3. 2 billion or 44,000 detention beds among other items. These are significant increases in spending and worthy of debate. All too often the discussion veers off to heart breaking stories of illegal migration. But that is only part of the story. The rest is if Illegal Migrants<\/a> can exploit vulnerabilities in the nations border, so can terrorist, drug smugglers and Human Trafficking<\/a> organizations. This is unacceptable. The recommendation that the bill change thats dynamic, they enforce current structures and builds 30 secure fencing where Border Patrol<\/a> agents have convinced me and the committee is needed. They are invested in smart, 21st Century Technologies<\/a> that assist those who work on the border. Theyre not targeted at areas like the Big Ben National Park<\/a> and the arizona forbidden desert where Mother Nature<\/a> has secured the border in ways man cannot enhance. With respect, i disagree. In the early 1990s more than 50,000 people were apprehended as they tried to illegally cross the border in the san diego section. By fiscal year 2016 the number in that sector had plummeted to 25,000. Similar Success Stories<\/a> have occurred across the yuma, tucson, and el paso sectors. It sends a powerful message that if you break our nations laws, cross the border illegally, you will suffer the consequences and a guaranteed stay in detention. With that here are the additional highlights of the bill. In addition to had wall and associated technology the mark supports increases in the Border Patrol<\/a> by 500 agents. For i. C. E. , in additional to the funds for 44,000 detention beds, which an increase of 4,676 over 2017, 18 million above the request is provided to expand the Visa Security Program<\/a> to two additional high threat over seas locations. Under 86 million to increase the investigative and support staff as requested. For fema, 3 billion for fema grants, training and exercise programs. An increase of 939. 7 billion above the request, which includes 25 million increase or Nonprofit Security Grant Program<\/a>s. 7. 3 billion as requested for the Disaster Relief<\/a> fund. For secret service, 1. 9 billion to ensure theyre paid for the work they do. For tsa, full funding for transportation Security Officers<\/a> to support Aviation Security<\/a> and keep wait times down low. For coast guard, 19 million is provided for a heavy icebreaker to continue programs management activities and design work required to award a Production Contract<\/a> in fiscal year 2019. 500 million for production of the first offshore patrol cutter and materials for ppc number 2. And 94 million for a fully missioned c130j. For infrastructure and Infrastructure Protection<\/a>, 950 million is provided to secure Government Network<\/a> and prevent Cyber Attacks<\/a> and 380 million for Infrastructure Protection<\/a> programs including the electrical grid and emergency communication systems. Finally, the everify system which enables businesses to check whether their employees are eligible to work in the United States<\/a> is fully funded at 131. 5 million. Colleagues, this is a good bill. I ask you to support it. Before i answer any questions, our Ranking Member<\/a> is recognized and our full committee chairman, Ranking Member<\/a>s and any comments they would like to make. Thank you, judge carter. Chairman carter, pleased to recognize the Ranking Member<\/a>. Mr. Chairman, i greatly appreciate you and our staff have been collaborative and receptive in developing this bill. We have a Good Partnership<\/a> in working to address the needs of the department of Homeland Security<\/a> and its dedicated personnel. Because we understand they are the ones doing the critical work of keeping our country safe. The positive aspects of this bill include restoration of fema grants to current levels and increases of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program<\/a> from 25 to 50 million. Theres also a significant number of over sight objectives in the Draft Committee<\/a> report and welcome funding levels for the compartmental components like the office of civil rights and civil liberties. And im grateful for the additionalfunding for coast guard families and the continuation of the Cyber Security<\/a> internship program. Most alarming is because of the claim that it is a matter of National Security<\/a>, this bill recognizes a 705 million increase, supporting 44,000 detention beds, an increase of 10,000 above last year. And the hiring of 1,000 additional ice agents and officers to focus primarily on interior enforcement. There is certainly no disagreement. We should be removing dangerous individuals. However, i. C. E. s interior enforcement is targeting the parents of unaccompanied children seeking asylum and people who have lived, worked and paid taxes in this country for years or even decades with no criminal infractions. As a result i. C. E. Interior arrests of noncriminals are up 157 over last year. These arrests are not required for our National Security<\/a> or our public safety. And they are having tragic consequences forvages, families and communities all over our nation. Many in Law Enforcement<\/a> tell its people are unwilling to report serious crimes. People tell me witnesses and immigrant children are alike are afraid to go out to play for fear their parents will be gone when they go home. The trauma being inflicted on entire communities throughout this country cannot be over stated. The only solution to this problem is comprehensive Immigration Reform<\/a>. Another area of concern is the 1. 6 billion for new border infrastructure. The fy17 bill included a risk plan for securing along the border. We have yet to receive that plan. How can we support such an enormous cost without a cacomprehensive plan backed by a clear justification of why it should take priority over other critical investments . For these reasons i cannot in good conscious support the bill in its current form. Instead of wasting money on a unthis saerl wall and enforcement of discriminatory policies, we should be addressing the real threats and those who seek to do our country harm. This includes investing more resources in cybersecurity, Human Trafficking<\/a> investigations and coast guard vessels and aircraft to address our vulnerabilities along the alaskan coast and enhance our drug interdiction efforts. We should be investing more in new customs officers, research and technology and funding for Law Enforcement<\/a> viper and officer reinforcement programs. Being in this country illegally is a civil violation. We should not be spending excessive amounts of money for civil Immigration Enforcement<\/a> at the expense of dangerous criminal and terrorist threats. Most of you in this room have Family History<\/a> of immigrants who came here of little money or little more than the clothing on their backs. They lived here with other residents until they could find a job and a place of their own. Most American Families<\/a> came to this land, youd have been allowed to enter the United States<\/a> and many of us would not be here today. My familys history is a little different. My father served in this house for 0 years. He was a member of this committee and a cardinal. He was born in 1960 to the family, which traces back its roots in this country for eight jen rags. But they never came to the United States<\/a>. Rather the United States<\/a> came to the them when the part of mexico they settled in became a u. S. Territory, and in 1912 the state of new mexico. The u. S. Also came to my mothers family, to the part of mexico today known as san diego, california. But no matter how we became americans, the fact is that most of came here from somewhere else. The contributions of past newcomers helped make our country the greatest nation in the world. A and todays immigrants help keep america great. That reality was recognized by our government in the 1920s. Even establishing the Border Patrol<\/a>, setting up our first consular control system requiring visas to be obtained abroad before admission to the u. S. And putting in place numerical caps and quotas based on race and nationality, discretion was given to immigration officials suspend deportations in meritorious cases and congress created policies allowing many european immigrants in the u. S. Without proper authorization to legalize their status these rules made it possible for millions of people, including many of our ancestors to come and remain in the United States<\/a> and have the opportunity to realize the american dream. Todays immigrants deserve no less. I sincerely respect the fact that many of us have disagreements on how best to enforce our immigration laws. Unfortunately, the president s malignant immigration rhetoric has poisoned the waters. It has made it difficult for this congress to bridge our differences in a way that protects our hope land while still reflecting our american values. The administration has said the law is the law. And we must enforce it without discretion. Mr. Chairman, just as was true nearly a century ago, our immigration policies are as much a moral question as they are a legal one. Just as other Law Enforcement<\/a> agencies have discretion in how to enforce our laws, so do agencies like i. C. E. And the department of hope land security. And just as former members of congress exercise disregarding policies impacting european immigrants, members of this committee have discretion in how to vote on policies impacting immigrants of today. I am not making an argument for open borders or the elimination of our immigration laws. What i am trying to convey is my hope that as we Work Together<\/a> to find the right balance between legal and moral aspects of Immigration Enforcement<\/a>, we do so guided by the same moral compass and with the same compassion for todays immigrants. Many of whom are escaping the same kinds of tragic circumstances as those we welcomed in the past. How can we not take into consideration our impact on real people who, by different policies or of the past or a different drawing of a border could be you or me. Mr. Chairman, let me reiterate how much i appreciate the way our subcommittee does its business. Even when we disagree, we do it with respect for one another and with respect for the institution in which we are honored to serve. I hope we will continue working together so by the end of this appropriations process, we have a final bill both sides can fully support. In closing, i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge and thank my outstanding staff, derek newbie, matt smith, robin ellerb ellerbee, adam sacks and the majority staff including chris row mig, laura silky, leonardo fin nalddy and subCommittee Staff<\/a> director valerie baldwin. Again, thank you, mr. Chairman, and i yield back. I want to thank the Ranking Member<\/a> as well as chairman carter for their remarks. Lucille and i know our fathers served together. Im so proud to be serving with you. We live in the greatest country on the face of the earth. Its good to know the ties that bind us are strong. Thank you so much for your remarks. This bill demonstrates our ironclad commitment to safeguarding our homeland and probinging our citizens. In total it provides 44. 3 billion in discretionary funding for the department of Homeland Security<\/a> to fulfill its mandate it secure our nation from any threats the many threats we face whether thats terrorism, criminals, and illegal goods crossing our borders or attacks on our cyber networks. This is 1. 9 billion above the fiscal year 2017 bill which we recently passed. Its a strong investment. The security of our nation, our families, neighbors, schools, and businesses. Critical resources are directed to customs and Border Protection<\/a> to improve infrastructure and technology and put boots on the ground. This includes 1. 6 billion for physical barrier construction along the southern border and 100 million to hire 500 new Border Patrol<\/a> agents. The bill also provides 7 billion for immigrations and Customs Enforcement<\/a> to ensure our laws are being followed. This includes funding for additional Law Enforcement<\/a> officers detention and removal programs, investigation programs ha fight Human Trafficking<\/a>, drug smuggling and cyber crime. And this complements a lot of what the recent commerce, justice and state bill did that we recently passed. Protect our coasts and s. T. E. M. The flow of illegal goods into and out of the country, the bill provides 10. 5 billion in funding for the coast guard. This legislation addresses other 21st country threats to our nation, as well, namely securing our Cyber Infrastructure<\/a> against dangerous hacking and Cyber Attacks<\/a>. Investments into the National Protection<\/a> and programs director rat will enhance security of that cyber space. Further, the bill ensures our nation is ready and able to respond to any emergencies or Natural Disaster<\/a>s by fully funding femas Disaster Relief<\/a> account. In addition 2. 7 billion is provided for fema Grant Program<\/a>s that support our First Responders<\/a>. The first line of defense in our communities. Id like to thank the subcommittee chair and ranking as well as all members and may i say the Remarkable Group<\/a> of men and women behind us who make us look good and have worked on a very expeditious basis to bring this bill forward today. I certainly urge support of this bill and my pleasure is to recognize miss lowie for any comments she may have. Miss lowie. Thank you, chairman freeing haasen. I want to shank chairman carter and Ranking Member<\/a> roy allard and the staff on both sides of the aisle and all the members of this subcommittee for the important work that you have done. With the procedural roadblocks hindering our path forward, specifically no bipartisan budget agreement, one might think the majority would the produce bills that could possibly gain support from democrats. Yet, that has not happened. The bill before us today provides some minority input on funding including the restoration of proposed cuts to fema grantsry are of vital importance to my home state of new york and the chairman was receptive to many of the minoritys requestsing for report language throughout a collegial process which we appreciate. However, this bill unacceptably provides significant increases to carry out the administrations draconian Immigration Enforcement<\/a> that will target noncriminal immigrants and separate families while under funding other dhs priorities. As a result, the subcommittees allocation is 1. 9 billion, 1. 9 billion over the current level, and nearly 250 million more than president trumps request. While other bills have been sefly slashed, this bill would waste 1. 6 billion on the president s boone doggle of a wall along the u. S. Mexican Border<\/a> and more than 700 million on thousands of new detention beds an i. C. E. Enforcement officers. Instead of building walls, we should build bridges to advancement by investing in research through the science and Technology Directorate<\/a> to help fill the departments technology and equipment gaps not cut it by 87 million. We should help protect our airports by increasing funding for the tsas Law Enforcement<\/a> office of reimbursement program, not eliminating it. Security at airports is a shared responsibility. And this is no time for the federal government to start pulling back on its commitments. Shooting incidents like the one at the Fort Lauderdale<\/a> airport in january are a tragic reminder that we cannot afford to relax our Airport Security<\/a> posture. Or instead of fulfilling Donald Trumps<\/a> 1. 6 billion concrete monument to a campaign promise, we can increase funds in other appropriation bills to give more hard working americans a fair shake by helping them create jobs and their Small Business<\/a>es, protecting pell grants or building safer, faster Transportation Systems<\/a> or upgrading crumbling infrastructure and the list goes on and on. Democrats are eager to support bills that include appropriate spending levels and are free from misguided politically driven policies. The sooner we can begin to do that, the sooner we can begin to indicate bills that make the investments our communities truly need. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And i look forward to working together to make sure that at the end we have products that we can all be proud of. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Any further discussion on the bill . Mr. Chairman. Yes. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as the first chairman of this subcommittee and first six years of its life, this department is important to me personally. And i want to congratulate the chairman and the subcommittee for doing a good job this year. This is a tough, tough bill. Very few bills that we have are as complicated as Homeland Security<\/a>. When we created the subcommittee after the department was created 15 years ago, we were trying to merge together 22 different federal agencies. As varied as the secret service, tsa, the coast guard, cbp, and on and on and on. They were like dozens of pay scales within those formerly separate offices. 13 different unions, and the like, and that work of trying to amalgamate all of these agencies into a single workable, efficient one still goes on. Were not there yet. These agencies are not amalgamated as they perhaps where is dreamt could be done. Im not sure you ever can malga mate the coast guard with secret service, for example. Or tsa or cbp. And so forth. Nevertheless, this bill does a long way toward achieving that goal and judge, i want to congratulate you you and your staff for putting this together, but when you think about the breadth of the responsibility, Aviation Security<\/a>, border and Immigration Enforcement<\/a>, customs activities, cyber terrorism, Natural Disaster<\/a> response, smuggling of drugs and people into the u. S. , Disaster Relief<\/a>, Emergency Response<\/a> activities through fema and the like, this is a complicated important vital piece of the nations defense. And mr. Chairman, as the first chairman of this subcommittee and of a subcommittee thats near and dear to my heart, thank you for a good job. Thank you chairman rogers. Mr. Cuellar. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I also want to thank judge carter and miss roy well allard for the work. Its a very difficult trying to find this balance. I do have to say that i know this is a process. And were going to keep doing this as miss laurie says move the process and at the end when we get a final bill, were hoping that we can all try to find some consensus in particular as you know, judge carter, ive talked to you. I dont like the wall. The wall is a 14ish century solution. I think im the only member that lives at the border and i live there and drink the water and understand that very well but again, i understand this is a process that we disagree on. I do want to mention three things that i think youve done and miss roy ball larld have done a good job. Let me just mention the cbp, custom Border Protection<\/a> talking about bridges. I know one of the Biggest Challenges<\/a> that we have is the attrition rate that we have. In fact, we found ways to speed up the hiring of cbp officers but the attrition rate still outpaces the people that were trying to hire. As we try to put more of the people on the bridges or at the ports of entry whether its a sea or airport the attrition rate is still larger. We have to continue working on it. I know that there is some lang there to make sure we try to hire good qualified individuals. Second thing is theres about 109 million for new nonintrusion inspection equipment and again, i know theres a proof of concept pilot at the world trade bridge in laredo where we have 14,000 trucks a day. That again is an emphasis weve got to look at most of the emphasis from a lot of the members here is between the ports of entry, but i want to emphasize, weve got to make sure that we dont forget the land ports of entry. Thats very important. I want to thank you mr. Chairman and Ranking Member<\/a> for that will money. The other thing is the humanitarian relief. As you know in 2014, we had a lot of folks that came in so the border communities, a lot of them are very poor communities went out and out of their pocket they went ahead and took care of a lot of those kids that came in. Actually, it was working with chairman rogers at that time and anita laurie that were able to put that language and i think weve had it for three years. Im hoping that the state of texas it looks like governor abott is going to go ahead and allow that money but thats a reimbursement fema reimbursement. Again, thats something that i just wanted to emphasize. Again, mr. Chairman and the Ranking Member<\/a>, thank you so much for the effort that youve done on this committee. Thank you, mr. Cuellar. Gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Dent. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to express my support for the over the road bus Security Assistance<\/a> Grant Program<\/a> known as the inner city bus Security Grant Program<\/a> which was not specifically funded. Last year 2 million was allocated for this specific program. In light of the recent terror attacks abroad which made use of Motor Vehicles<\/a> and ramming attacks against crowds vehicles and buildings, its important to consider further support for this program. Fy17, there was over 22 million in grant requests for the an apropiated amount of a few Million Dollars<\/a>. Theres certainly a desire on the part of the operators to improve the security of their services to protect the traveling public. I hope as we continue working through this process, we can find a wade to support the program which helps protect our nations transportation infrastructure. In my district we send buses by the dozens every day into new york city. A lot of other folks in the Port Authority<\/a> and theyre run by private operators trying to make sure the motoring public is safe. I appreciate your consideration going forward. Mr. Denton. I agree with chairman rogers. Homeland security has way too Many Missions<\/a> and we have a long way to go. I think chairman carter and Ranking Member<\/a> row ball allard have done a great job Work Together<\/a> with the Bipartisan Committee<\/a> to protect us. We are in a dangerous time. Some of the most threats our country has faced. Nuclear weapons probably the most serious. Then we have the north korea, it the iran theyre the, the russia, china threat. It goes on. But one of the most serious threats we have are the Cyber Attacks<\/a>. It could affect our homeland seriously. And not only is china stealing 2 billion a year, we have russia in our systems. Its a serious threat and we have a long way to go to deal with it. Now, cyber funding at dhs comes from defense function dollars. Im getting in the weeds a little bit called 050 money. This subcommittee consistently receives a low location of the money. Last year, there was a gap of over 100 million in what Homeland Security<\/a> nided and what they received. And again, this is money that goes to protecting our country as it relates to Cyber Attacks<\/a> which is the mission for Homeland Security<\/a>. This year, thanks to chairman Ranking Member<\/a>, the gap is only 2 million. So thats a good start. We want to thank you for closing that gap, both of you. And staff, too. There are two sides to the Cyber Mission<\/a> at the department of Homeland Security<\/a>. One being operational that protects the networks with the private sector. It should be known that 80 of our network is controlled by the private sector. We must work in a partnership. And the other we are as we note are competing with russia, china, north korea, many others and we have to stay ahead of that curve. Theyre in our systems and theyre attacking us on a regular basis. The only destructive attack weve had so far is the sony attack. Believe me, there are many people just in this country that could do the same. We are drastically cutting important Cyber Security<\/a> and research and Development Work<\/a> that happens at the science and Technology Directorate<\/a> and shifting that money to fund a border wall. That causes us so much problem between democrats and republicans. The border wall issue. The president made a promise a border wall but i explicitly remember him saying mexico would pay for it. Not saying he would gut the Important Research<\/a> and Development Work<\/a> at the department of Homeland Security<\/a> to fund it. We have to realize the Cyber Security<\/a> threat to our nation as citizens and take it seriously before we have a crisis on our mands threats and protection of our Networks Must<\/a> remain a priority at the department of Homeland Security<\/a> and at this committee. I look forward to working with the chairman and Ranking Member<\/a> and rest of the Committee Members<\/a> to close the funding gap further in the future bills. Mr. Price. Mr. Chairman, as a long time member and onetime chairman of this subcommittee, i want to first thank the chairman, mr. Carter, Ranking Member<\/a> row ball allard for the collaborative process they have exemplifyiied in formulating the bill. Youve both been accessible to be subcommittee concerns. I appreciate your ability to work in a bipartisan manner. In particular, the bill does reflect minority input including rejection of the budget requests, misgood nighted of the Integration Center<\/a> and im particularly grateful for that. However, the bill does provide significant funding increases for Immigration Enforcement<\/a> and border infrastructure that i believe go far beyond whats needed or what can be efficiently expended in one year. The an decisions come at a time when Border Apprehensions<\/a> actually have declined and when i. C. E. And cbp are operating at already high levels of funding. The majority has appropriated more than 1. 6 billion for 74 miles of new border wall in this bill. People wouldnt know it from the president s alarmist rhetoric but theyre already over 700 miles of pedestrian and vehicular fencing on our nations southern border. I know this firsthand since the majority of that fencing was built when i was chairman of this subcommittee. And during that time, congress appropriated funds to build hundreds of miles of fencing. However, we did have some requirements. We required a segment by segment analysis. We required alternative analyses of the best way to secure the border. We required sids of Environmental Impact<\/a> and a number of required fence locations before new fencing was placed. This bill doesnt include language regarding congressional oversight before wall construction including fiscal 18 funds. There are no requirements for dhs to submit cost benefit analysis or to work through work with congress through any modifications. I dont believe funding an unnecessary wall especially one without appropriate congressional oversight will make us good stewards of taxpayer dollars we become complicit in the campaign demagoguery. In that connection, this bill makes clear that the majority intends for the American People<\/a> to foot the bill on a border wall. Not mexico. As the president has so often foolishly claimed. This 1. 6 billion could be spent on much more important priorities that actually would improve the lives of our citizens and the security of our country and i look forward to the Ranking Member<\/a>s proposal to do just that. Thank you. Any further discussion . Mr. Cartwright is recognized. Thank you, chairman freei frelinghuysen. I want to thank the chairman, judge carter, Ranking Member<\/a> ray ball allard and all the subcommittee and the staff for the work youve put into this bill an enormous amount of labor went into it, obviously. While this markup will likely touch on quite a number of controversial issues, i want to pause first and highlight an area where the majority and the minority did come together to help ordinary americans both the homeland bill and the interior bill include language encouraging customs and Border Protection<\/a> and fish and wildlife to cooperate on streamlining the permit process for trade goods covered by environmental regulations. This language also prompts the agencies to bring the process online making it simpler and easier for businesses to comply. These changes will help hard working Small Business<\/a>es. Like my constituent martin guitar in nazareth, pennsylvania, conform to important environmental regulations by reducing Compliance Costs<\/a> across the board. I want to thank the subcommittee for working together to make it possible. I do hope it sets the tone for further bipartisan cooperation moving forward through the appropriations process. Thank you. Any further discussion . Mr. Syrian know. Fer ran know. Thank you. Hello . I know my seat changed but i didnt know my name had changed, too. Youre down with the people now. By the way, if you want to know why im sitting here, dont ask me. Ask the chairman. He put me here today. And im glad to be here. I want to talk briefly about the wall. Its such a waste of money. You know, people who want to get to the this country as badly as they do, no wall is going to stop them. Theyll find a way to get here. And while i understand that we have a border immigration issue, notice i call it an issue. I dont call it a problem because anytime you have the greatest country on earth still invite people by its behavior by its democratic form of government, by its economy, by its wave living, still invites people to come here, thats a good thing. Does it mean that we have to have it uncontrol . No, does it mean we cant adjust some things . No, we should. But we should never feel bad about it. Its not a terrible thing. Those people are coming here the same people that the same way that those other people came here years and years and years before us. And in one way or another, very few of us are not immigrants or come from an immigrant family. Or great grandparents or grandparents or whatever. And so when i hear us always talk about the wall as something that we should build, i keep this image in my mind, my city, new york harbor, with that majestic statue of liberty that says give me people, give me those that hurt, give me those that are hungry, give me those that are poor, give me those that need help and then a wall on the south that says keep those out. Theres something wrong with that. And its not about who we are. So when you think about this wall, as you take the first steps and i was with chairman rogers on that committee on the Homeland Security<\/a> committee when it was first formed, and i remember that we were starting to do some wonderful things and then the building of a fence came into play as sort of i think ruined the whole discussion in the committee. As you think about it, just dont Pay Attention<\/a> to the fact that already promises have been broken. I mean, mexico was to pay for it. Who really believed that . You see it in this bill. Were going to pay for it. But of the symbol, the message it sends to the world, the message it sends to ourselves as a people. We the United States<\/a> of america, the greatest country on earth, the one whose military uniform i was proud to serve in a very lowly rank, but proud to serve, this country should never build a wall to keep people out. Should it deal with an immigration issue . Yes. But never ever, ever build a wall. On the temporary build another statue of liberty on the southern border. Thats our message to the world, that statue, not the wall. And again, the wall would cost billions of dollars. A waste of money. It will divide us. It will divide our country, our rhetoric, our comments, and thats what well become. So i ask you please in closing, when you think about going forward, with the next steps to building this wall, think about what it means for our country. We instead of saying yes, we know you want to come here because were the greatest country on earth, lets talk about how you get here. Instead we build a wall and say stay out. We dont want you. Thats not who we are. Thats not who we should become. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Serrano. Further discussion . Hearing none, turn to mr. Chairman. Mr. Carter for managers amendment. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise to offer this bipartisan measure. The clerk will read. An attempt offered by mr. Carter. Unanimous consent that the amendment be considered . Youre recognized to present your amendment. The amendment is a bipartisan and it includes several noncontroversial to accommodate concerns of several of our members of the committee. Unless there are any questions the various items the committee prompted adoption of the amendment. Thank you. I support the amendment. Any further discussion . Plgs ru pittsburgher. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I stand in support of the managers amendment at the desk. I want to thank the chairman and Ranking Member<\/a> and Committee Staff<\/a> again for including report language that places a stay on the closure of three science and technology labs. Labs are the following. National defense analysis and Counter Measures<\/a> center at fort detri detrick, chemical security is there at aberdeen proving grounds and the National Urban<\/a> Security Technology<\/a> laboratory in manhattan. These labs are critical to defending our nation against by logical path though gence chemical agents and threats too our city centers respectively. The administration has outlined priorities for the coming year. Its our roil to fight for essential programs which may get lost in the shuffle. The National Biodefense<\/a> analysis and Counter Measures<\/a> it Center Provides<\/a> Law Enforcement<\/a> with forensic analysis of con tam nans such as anthrax, ricin and ebola. The chemical security analysis is the only 24hour seven days a week Center Offering<\/a> reach back capability. They provide First Responders<\/a> with immediate guidance and actually instructions to mitigate the damage chemical threats. National urban security lab helps bolster security of our city centers using advance modeling and able to formulate the best game plan to counter and mitigate terrorist attacks in densely Populated Areas<\/a> like new york, new jersey. Essential to maintaining the security of our homeland. Moving forward, i hope we can find a suitable offset and fully fund these centers. Once again, i thank the committee for understanding the value of the three labs including the language in the report. Judge carter to close it. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Poe can. Then mr. Quickly and then miss. Id like to thank the subcommittee chair and Ranking Member<\/a> and your staffs for working with our office on some language specifically looking at report language to see if we should put our nations election infrastructure under the definition of critical infrastructure. We know that one of the companies that makes Voting Machines<\/a> and Election Officials<\/a> in a majority of our states, there are attempts to hack in the last election and by doing that definition of critical infrastructure, its the same as what we do with our Financial Services<\/a> and our utilities and others to provide the greatest protection. I appreciate having that report language in the managers amendment and he support the managers amendment. Mr. Quigleys recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to thank the chairman and Ranking Member<\/a> for including report language in the amendment that would have d High Pressure<\/a> s advise the committee how it can better address the threat on our soft targets and ways to secure these targets. Thank you. Miss pen gri is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chair. I rise too in support of the managers amendment. I appreciate the chair and Ranking Member<\/a> including one of my priorities which you may be surprised to hear in this bill is related to organic imports. Youve probably seen. Organic fraud in imported food. Its nearly a 50 billion industry in the United States<\/a> now which is why these allegations are so troubling to me and to others who care about this issue. Its not fair to consumer whos expect wheth they buy something labeled organic to find out its not. Its not fair to the farmer whos often have to use more expensive inputs or labor to produce those products. Part of the problem is we dont have sufficient tracking of organic imparts which makes it impossible to know the total quantity and origin of imported products. We have a shortage in our country of organic commodities and are not able to track how much were bringing in from other countries to better understand how much more we could grow in the United States<\/a>. Theres language in the amendment that urges u. S. Customs and Border Patrol<\/a> to add questions to the automated commercial environment or ace, their new automated tracking system to track imported products Certified Organic<\/a> under our standards. I thank the chair for including this language and yield back. Miss becauser man schultz is recognized. I want to thank the Ranking Member<\/a> and chairman and rise in support of the amendment for adding language to encourage tsa to continue to move in the direction of making sure that our airports across the country are working towards developing better enter operability and communications as well as integrated Airport Operation<\/a> centers. Im sure all of you remember in january when my home airport, fort later dale International Airport<\/a> had a shooter who checked a firearm in their bag and came off and opened fire in the baggage claim area killing five people and wounding 13 others. One of the items that theyre looking at and have been examining dealing with the public Area Security<\/a> is making sure that there is a better coordination across our country in interoperability and Operation Centers<\/a> and theres language in the bill that encourages that. Thank the gentle woman for her comments. Any further discussion on the amendment . All those in favor, say aye. All those opposed say nay. The opinion of the chair the ayes have it and the amendment is approved. Further anticipates. Ranking member miss roybalallard. Mr. Chairman, i have an amendment at the desk labeled roy ball allard amendment. An amendment offered by miss. Consider it read. The gentle woman is recognized. My amendment would increase funding for the coast guards polar ice Breaker Program<\/a> by 2. 3 billion. The amendment is offset by a reduction to the funding for cbb border infrastructure and i. C. E. Interior Immigration Enforcement<\/a>. As i noted in my opening statement, it is premature to consider the border infrastructure funding and the proposed increases for i. C. E. Hiring and detention beds are not well justified and do not have a security focus. In contrast, the need for heavy ice breakers is well documented. A draft report from the National Academies<\/a> of sciences released just last week warned, and i quote, United States<\/a> has inefficient assets to protect its interests. Implement u. S. Policy, execute its laws, and meet its obligations in the arctic and antarctic because it lacks adequate ice breaking capability. Mr. Chairman, this is because currently, the coast guard only has one functioning heavy ice breaker. The polar star built in 1976 which is well past its 30year expected operational life. It no longer has the reliability we need and the cost to maintain it will continue to rise. At this point, its primary mission is to clear a path through the ice to our Research Facilities<\/a> in antarctica. This means we have no heavy ice breaking asset in the arctic unlike other countries like russia. The polar star is expected to continue functioning for just three to seven years. Leaving the United States<\/a> with know heavy ice breaking capability. We are dangerously falling behind. Russia has 41 ice breakers focused on the arctic that are active or under construction, four of which are heavy ice breakers. This puts the United States<\/a> at a tremendous disadvantage since we are unable to operate in parts of the arctic ocean for months at a time. The national academys report goes on to recommend that, and i quote, the United States<\/a> congress should fund the construction of four polar ice breakers of common design that would be owned and operated by the United States<\/a> coast guard. The fy defense funding bill included 150 million for a coast guard heavy ice breaker as a down payment on what is expected to be nearly a 1 billion price tag for the first ship. The ndaa authorization that passed the house last week includes a provision prohibiting the pentagon from using any fq18 funds to acquire an ice breaker for the coast guard. An amendment to strike that provision failed on a recorded vote. The solution is to fund the next installment of funds direct lit through the coast guard. While the coast guard plans to sign an ice breaker acquisition contract in fq19, 2al release a request for proposal amid fy18. By providing 2. 3 billion in this bill, enough to cover the cost of two and maybe three heavy ice breakers, we can help the coast guard get a better price per ship. In fact, it is estimated that acquiring three ships at one time woman save the government nearly 160 million per vessel according to the national be academys report. Just think what we could accomplish here today with this one amendment. We can put the United States<\/a> on a path to securing our sovereign interests in the arctic region. We cannot afford to delay any further. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Thank the gentle woman for her comments. Chairman cart ir. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to my friend miss probably allards amendment. Cbp funding is essential to attaining operational control of the border. Illegal migrants can exploit vulnerabilities in the border, so can terrorists, and human traffickers. This is unacceptable. Operational control requires the ability to detect, identify, and prevent illegal crossings of the border. Enabling Law Enforcement<\/a> to respond to illegal activity and the appropriately train and equipped Border Patrol<\/a> to conduct their Mission Successfully<\/a> and safely, cutting funding from cbp would leave our border open and threaten our National Security<\/a>. Physical barriers on the border work and are necessary as evidenced by the dramatic decline in apprehensions after the Border Security<\/a> infrastructure was put in place and installed in the san diego and arizona area. That illicit traffic has now shifted to the rio grande valley. Im committed to bringing that same security to texas. The proposal is to cut i. C. E. Funding for enforcement of immigration laws and remove those here illegally will not only endanger the safety of the American People<\/a> but will also convey to the bad actors that the rule of law no longer exists in the United States<\/a> leading to increased Border Crossing<\/a>s and growing overall alien population in the United States<\/a>. Cutting funding for beds will lead to the release of criminals and other removal aliens into communities across the country and weaken the United States<\/a> Border Security<\/a>. Hiring additional i. C. E. Agents is needed to protect communities by reducing crime through vigorous enforcement of immigration and custom laws. This compromises i. C. E. s Enforcement Mission<\/a> jeopardizing Homeland Security<\/a>. It cannot be separated from Border Security<\/a>. A successful Border Control<\/a> and immigration system must be supported by enforcement of all pertinent laws. Adding funds to procure a polar ice breaker while a noble idea and one i support by building ice breakers no doubt about it, but its not practical at this time. The coast guard is still in the ainge of design and will not be ready to procure the first ice breaker till fy2019 at the earliest. Funds will be unexecutable and therefore, a waste of time and a waste of limited resources we have. I ask you to join me in opposing this amendment. Thank you, judge carter. Chair pleased to recognize the Ranking Member<\/a> for the comment on the gentle womans amendment. Thank you. I rise in strong support of the amendment. The coast guard fiercely defends our waters and borders everywhere from San Francisco<\/a> to new york to alaska and the polar region. Russia simply has us beat when it comes to ice cutting. Vastly outperforming us on the construction of ice breakers, and maintaining a significant presence in the polar region. Our antiquated ice Cutting Technology<\/a> is out of the water half of the time due to maintenance leaving russia and china plenty of sea to explore without american deterrence. This is exactly the type of investment we should be focused on. It advances American Foreign<\/a> policy, keeps the homeland safe, puts americans to work, and the need is well overdue. Instead of making this investment, the majority has chosen to spend billions of dollars on a border wall and implement draconian immigration policies. Lets stop fulfilling empty Campaign Promises<\/a> and focus on where the Real Investment<\/a> is needed. Vote for the amendment. Thank you. Miss mccollum is recognized. Thank you. I rise in strong support of this amendment. This amendment fulfills the committees responsibility to make sure that our resources are allocated in a responsible manner that keeps our country safe and upholds our values. We heard earlier in the discussion we are all for secure borders but we need to do it in a common sense way, that not only protects you know, criminal elements and that from entering our country but also welcomes immigrants and people who want to the enter legally. We are putting up a wall thats telling the world that we dont want anyone to join us here in the United States<\/a> to live in hope and prosperity. As we continue this debate, however, on National Security<\/a>, i want to be clear. Russia has taken full advantage of the changing arctic environment. Today, russia has 40 ice breakers and theyre building more. The score is russia, 40, u. S. Two. Make that one because one is always unoperational. Ice breakers are needed now more than ever with the arctic melt with, commercial fishing and commercial tourism moving forward. We have a responsibility to protect alaskas border, too. I strongly support this amendment. This amendment does exactly what it needs to do. It redirects did misplaced funding from a border wall and puts it in a pressing need of national interest. I yield back. Thank you. Mr. Price is recognized. Mr. Chairman, i rise in support of the Ranking Member<\/a>s amendment. As she stated the coast guards Mission Statement<\/a> indicates the need to expand ice breaking capacity. Ideally requiring a fleet up to six ice breakers three heavy and three medium to adequately meet mission demands. We need to protect our National Security<\/a> and economic interests and we have the capability. We must have the capability to provide safe passage for marine vessels project american presence as we counter russian aggression in the arctic region. Unfortunately, the coast guards ice breaker inventory is reaching the end of its service life. And we desperately need these construction funds. Now, ordinarily in this committee, we then turn to the pay for and we have to struggle. But not in this case. Not in this case. The Ranking Member<\/a> has a fay i pay for that improves bill. Because she is removing funding for an unnecessary and harmful border wall and shes also taking some funds from the increases for i. C. E. Enforcement, not mind you, the core capacity of i. C. E. But the excessive ice hiring that is aechted in this bill and the unneeded detention beds. So the pay for actually strengthens the bill. And the bill or the amendment and the amendment itself addresses a critical National Security<\/a> need. I urge its adoption. Thank you. Police roy ball allard. Then to close. Mr. Chairman, i just want to repeat that the National Academies<\/a> of science have said that the United States<\/a> has inefficient assets to protect its interests. And that it is estimated that acquiring three ships at one time would save the government nearly 160 million per vessel. I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment. Thank you for your comments. Questions on the gentle womans amendment. All those in favor say aye. All opposed say nay in the opinion of the chair, the aext is not agreed to. Clerk will call the roll. Mr. Aderholt, no mr. Aguilar. Aye. Mr. Am i day. No. Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bish hop yi mr. Col vert no. Mr. Carter no. Mr. Cartwright. Mr. Cartwright aye. Miss clark yi. Mr. Cole no. Almost cuellar. Mr. Cuellar aye. Mr. Cull bert son no. Miss delauro yi. Mr. Dent, mr. Dent no. Mr. Diaz ballart. No. Mr. Fleischmann. Mr. Flirn i fleischmann no. Mr. Fortenberry no. Mr. Freeing haasen no. Miss granger, no. Mr. Graves. Mr. Graves no. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris no. Police Herrera Butler<\/a> no. Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins no. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce no. Miss cap tore yi. Mr. Kilmer. Mr. Kilmer yi. Miss lee. Miss lee yi. Mrs. Lowie. Mrs. Lowie yi. Miss mccollum yi. Miss manning yi. Mr. Mo lay nar no. Mr. New house no. Mr. Palazzo no. Miss pingry. Yi. Mr. Poe can. Mr. Poe can aye mr. Price aye. Mr. Quigley. Mr. Quigley. Mrs. Robie. Plas robie no. Mr. Rogers no. Mr. Rooney. Mr. Rooney. Miss roy ball allard yi. Mr. Rufus berger yi. Mr. Ryan yi. Mr. Serrano. Mr. Serrano yi. Mr. Simpson no. Mr. Store the no. Mr. Taylor no. Mr. Val dayio no. Mr. Vos closs ski yi. Miss becauser man schultz yi. Mr. Womack no. Mr. Yoder no. Mr. Young, no. Are there any members to wish to change their vote . Mr. Quigley. Mr. Quigley recorded yi. Mr. Rooney, youre recognized. No. Mr. Rooney recorded no. Any further members . If not, the clerk will tally. On this vote the yeas are 22, the nays are 30. The amendment is not agreed to. Further amendments . Miss lee, excuse me. Mr. Aderholt recognized. I have an amendment at the desk. Clerk will read. An amendment offered. Unanimous consent. Consider it read. Gentleman recognized for five minutes. I rise to offer an amendment urge my colleagues to support it as many of you know this amendment is not new. It basically is one that has been passed for the last several years in this committee. The purpose of the language is simply to codify the policy that i. C. E. Already follows. It is not codified in stout tute. This deals with abortion limitation. And so that will dealing with anyone that is detained by i. C. E. Would not be would not be paid an abortion would be paid for by the federal government. The cgs bill already has the exact same language. And it covers the federal bureau of primps. And this language is being carried many times by both democrats and republicans. Again, this is not really new language. It just simply codifies what i. C. E. I. C. E. Already follows and thats why we need to have it just because of the lack of not being codified. Thank you, mr. Aderholt. Chairman carter. I thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in support of this amendment. And in a nutshell this amendment does nothing more than codify current i. C. E. Policy. A policy i. C. E. Has followedince its creation and that its predecessor the immigration and Naturalization Service<\/a> followed for years. Respectfully i ask for the adoption of this anticipate and yield back. Miss row bal allard is recognized. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. I wont belabor the debate on this since it has become a pren gral exercise. There is already a government wide prohibition on the use of federal funds for abortion procedures. And the restrictions are specifically formalized in part 4. 4 of i. C. E. s 2011 detention standards. There are many urgent Homeland Security<\/a> matters actually facing the department and this country. We simply dont need the distraction of this amendment which is a solution in search of a problem. I urge my colleagues to oppose it. Thank you. Miss becauser man schultz is recognized. I dont have anything further. Miss lowie is recognized for her own time. I rise in strong opposition to this anticipate. This ideaologically driven rider from the majority is introduced year after year. It is particularly troubling on a Homeland Security<\/a> spending bill. If we keep weighing down this bill with partisan riders, we do it at the detriment of First Responders<\/a>. Terrorism prevention and the safety of our communities. Most of us in this room have met with our First Responders<\/a>. I. C. E. Agents, Border Patrol<\/a>, other hard working security personnel. Frankly, my friends, at no point have any of them said to me that womens reproductive rights makes their job more difficult. Not one. With the serious threats facing us today is restricting womens Reproductive Health<\/a> really a Homeland Security<\/a> priority in this congress . Lets do the right thing and oppose this is misguided amendment. Miss becauser man schultz is recognized. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. Here we are once again going through yet another unnecessary up justifiable and unsafe amendment regarding a womans right to make her own Reproductive Health<\/a> care decisions. Once again this amendment is unnecessary because as my colleagues know full well, current i. C. E. Policy guidelines provide that a woman held in an immigration detention facility may receive abortion care only in cases of life endangerment rape or incest. Once again the amendment is an attempt to deny care to women already facing overwhelming circumstances. This amendment is a painful reminder of how year after year, the majority is willing to socal lusly disregard the plight of roughly 3,000 women held in immigration detention any given day. This is especially cruel in light of the fact that human rights advocates estimate the rate of women raped on the journey to be between 60 to 80 . Restricting access to safe legal medical procedures is never justifiable. The amendment is unsafe because the safest medical and Health Decisions<\/a> are always made between a woman, her family, her faith and her doctor. Once again, and i dont know how i could make this more clear, Women Deserve<\/a> the right to make their own choices about their bodies and health and notice i did not say with the guidance of their member of congress. I urge my colleagues on the committee to trust that women know whats best for our own bodies and to vote no on this unjustifiable amendment. I thank you for your comment. Mr. Stewart is recognized. I rise in strong support of this amendment. As some of you know, im the father of six children and i think all of us remember the day that we hold our first child and your life is forever changed after that. And i feel the same way about my grandchildren now. I just think this is one of those times when its important that we stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. This is more than anything a political its not a political issue. Its not a legal issue. This is a moral issue to me. I think we have a responsibility to defend. As mr. Andrew holt stated this amendment is consistent with the current law and continues a standard thats been carried for more than 20 years in cgs. I understand there are engs semgss and a Womans Health<\/a> is just as important as a childs. The amendment includes the amendment which provides for exceptions for rape and for incest. I encourage my fellow colleagues to defend innocent lives and support the amendment. Miss lee is recognized. Thank you. Of course, i rise in strong opposition to this proposed rider as i have year after year after year. Its inappropriate and its purely based in ideology. Its really shameful that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are introducing languaging to this bill that further allows politicians to interfere with a womans personal Health Care Decisions<\/a> just because of who she is. This language prevents immigrant women in custody from making the best Health Care Decisions<\/a> for herself and her family. Elected officials should not be playing politics with womens access to health care, period. Its wrong. Its misguided. Its cruel. And its an immoral attack on the ability of immigrant women in their most vulnerable moments and although this harmful amendment provides an exception in the case of rape and incest and a very narrow definition of life endangerment, it would still allow nonmedical personnel such as Detention Center<\/a> employees with no medical training to block access to lifesaving care and information for women. Lets be clear. This amendment poses a direct threat to the lives of pregnant women in Detention Center<\/a>s. Once again, politics is being put before womens health. And inserting politicians into decisions that should be made by a woman and her health care professional, this is irresponsible and it has no place in this bill. And yes, as my colleagues have said, the Hyde Amendment<\/a> is currently in law. That doesnt mean its right. And that does not mean it does not discriminate against certain women and personally, we should take hyde off books also. Thank you. Thank the gentle woman. Mr. Aderholt, a minute to close. Let me ask that the reading be suspended. Let me clarify this. I think theres miscommunication. Basically no federal funds shall be in danger if the feet us were carried to term or in case of rape or insist regarding ice detainers. It is simply no federal funds shall be used. I want to clarify that for those who may be under a misunderstanding. I ask for support of the amendment. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Nai. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it, seeing the requisite number of hands. Mr. Aderholt, aye. Mr. Aguilar, no. Mr. Amaday. Mr. Bishop, no. In calvert, aye. Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter aye. Mr. Cartwright, no. Misclark no. Mr. Cole aye. Mr. Culver son, aye. Mr. Delauro. No. Mr. Dent. Aye. Misdiaz gal art. Mr. Diaz gal art. Aye. Mr. Fleischmann, aye. Mr. Fortenberry, yes. Mr. Frelinghuysen. Yes. Mr. Granger. Yes. Mr. Graves. Yes. Dr. Harris. Yes. Mr. Hererra butler. Yes. Mr. Jenkins. Yes. Mr. Joyce. Yes. Ms. Kaptur. Ms. Capture. Mr. Kilmer. No. Ms. Lee. No. Mrs. Lily. Yes. No, no. Ms. Mccollum. No. Mismeng. No. Ms. Molenaar. Yes. Mr. New house. Mr. Palazzo, yes. Ms. Pingree, no. Mr. Poe can. No. Mr. Quigley. No. Mrs. Roby. Yes. Mr. Rogers. Yes. Mr. Roon ooh. Mr. Rupers berger. No. Ms. Serrano. Mr. Serrano, no. Mr. Simp, yes. Mr. Stew ward, yes. Mr. Taylor. Yes. Mr. Valadayo. Yes. Mr. Wasserman schultz. No. Mr. Womack. Yes. Mr. Yoder. Yes. Mr. Young. Yes. Other members who wish to record their vote . Ms. Kaptur . Ms. Kaptur recorded as no. Anyone further . Mr. Rooney is recognized. Aye for mr. Rooney. Recorded as aye. Anyone further . Mr. Newhouse. The clerk will tally. The ais ayes are 29, the nays are 21. The amendment is agreed to. Further amendment . Ms. Lee is recognized. The clerk will read. The amendment offered by ms. Lee. At the end of the bill regret the gentle woman is recognized. Thank you very much. I want to thank our Ranking Member<\/a> and chairman for including language which i requested to accelerate the completion of a fiber Security Strategy<\/a> and also for the customs and Border Control<\/a> to submit a report on its allocation of over time resources. Thank you both for including this in the bill. I am offering this amendment, but i will withdraw it, but i think we need to reflect upon what it would do and really look at our role in aiding and abetting this muslim ban. My amendment would prohibit funds from being implement, administering or enforcing executive order 13780, which is known as the muslim ban 2. 0. Signed into force on march 6, 2017, this executive order is bet better known as the muslim ban for replacing a broader ban signed into order by executive order. As you may recall the first ban created chaos at airports and kept thousands stranded as the custom and Border Control<\/a> and other Law Enforcement<\/a> officers struggled to really interpret the broad guidelines. Once the administration realized the first muslim ban would not stand up in court because of its unconstitutionality and hateful intent, quite frankly, they issued the retooled muslim ban in march 2017. Now, this continues to significantly flash the number of refugees the United States<\/a> will admit and continues a broad ban on visitors from six muslim countries, iran, libya, somalia, sudan, syria and yemen. While the supreme kormt allowed partial enforcement of the ban last month, our nation should be deeply concerned about the administrations interpretation that we are closing doors to muslim refugees. Im concerned because ive heard from many, many constituents and others that they and their families abroad are really quite afraid to travel. It is unacceptable. Thats why my amendment is so critical. It would prevent funds from being used to implement this very heartless executive order because it is just dangerous and it is unamerican. This ban forced on refugees and loved ones, it does not make america any safer. It diverts resources away from the real threats, and it weakens our leadership on the world stage. Contrary the claims in this executive order, none of the 9 11 highjackers would have been affect by this ban. According to the cato institute, which is a conservative think tank as you know, not a Single Person<\/a> has been killed in the United States<\/a> by a terrorist attack committed from the countries under this ban. More than 100 bipartisan National Security<\/a> experts argue that this bannen dangers americans more. The fact that the United States<\/a> has enacted a muslim ban is a propaganda victory for extremist groups like isis who are already using it as a recruiting tool. More importantly, it is a hateful, unjust ban, and it really takes a wrecking ball to the statue of liberty. How can refugees and immigrants from six predominantly muslim nations, face islamophobia. This is not who we are as a nation. We are a nation of immigrants who came together to form a more perfect union. Congress should not allow the president to turn us into a country that turns its back on refugees and discriminates against people based on their religion. So, you know, i know the arguments that were going to hear here, that the issue is being litigated in the court and the congress shouldnt meddle. I tell you one thing, we as appropriators and as americans really have a duty as a member as members of this committee to continue to do the work to reflect upon our american values, and that is to ban the to use our resources to further address National Security<\/a> in ways that are reflective of the american way. Thank you, ms. Lee. Chairman carter. I rise in opposition to this amendment. The executive order protecting the nation from terrorists entering the United States<\/a> is a valid exercise of the president s authority under section 212f of the immigration, nationality act and of the president s inherent powers concerning foreign policy. The majority of the provisions were not challenged in court. Thus, this amendment is overly broad. Those who would challenge have been held to be within the president s authority are or are still being litigated in front of the Supreme Court<\/a>. For these reasons i oppose this amendment and ask others to vote no. Thank you. Do you plan to withdraw the amendment. Anything further on the amendment . Ms. Lee . No, i do plan to withdraw the amendment. Thank you. I would just encourage members of this committee to really understand what is taking place in terms of these executive orders, and in the future we need to debate it more slowly in this committee in terms of what we want to allocate and appropriate our resources for. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for withdrawing the amendment. Further amendments . Mr. Pocan is recognized. I have pocan amendment number one. Number one. The clerk will read. An amendment offered by mr. Pocan. Consider it read. Please proceed. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to thank ms. Lee for her amendment, and she talked about the muslim ban, but this specifically is a very narrow approach regarding the decision to allow familial relationships. I would hope we might be able to recognize those familial relationships that include grandparents and grandchildren, that would close as close family relationships. Just listening to my colleague mr. Stuart talk about holding his grandchild, it is a common feeling people have. It is a close relationship. Under the Trump Administration<\/a> those grandparents wouldnt be considered as close family relationships. The bona fide relationship that came through the Supreme Court<\/a> decision on the preliminary ruling on the muslim ban. Under the directive of the Trump Administration<\/a> made an arbitrary list of relationships that warrant an exemption from a ban. This list only included a small number of family relationships while continuing to ban grandparents and other close members of People Living<\/a> in the United States<\/a>. The justification the Trump Administration<\/a> used that essentially considered the bona fide Family Member<\/a>s, but it doesnt consider grandparents. Step siblings count but not nieces and nephews. Parents parentsinlaws are covered but not cousins. This arbitrary determination faces people navigating arbitrary rules that devalue family relationships. One of our colleagues, the person who i took her seat in congress, Tammy Baldwin<\/a> who now serves in the senate was raised by her grandparents. That relationship is as close as any relationship that she has, and thats true for so many people. The fact that under the current ruling under the Trump Administration<\/a> they dont count doesnt make sense. I think we have the opportunity to at least broaden that relationship to match what the courts in hawaii have decided, the u. S. District court, derrick watson, and i would hope that this is something we could support in this amendment. Thank you, mr. Pocan. Chairman carter. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the amendment. My opposition is the same talking points that i just used for ms. Lees. So i will save time and not say them over again. Okay. I will mr. Chairman, i rise in support of the pocan amendment. When the Supreme Court<\/a> misguidedly allowed the administration to go ahead with its flawed travel plan, the administration took a narrow view of who counted as close relatives. Grandparents do not count, neither do grandchildren, brothers in law, sisters in law, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and cousins. A district court, as mr. Pocan said, stated that they should be counted as close relatives. This amendment would do just that, and i urge my colleagues to support the amendment. Ms. Wasserman schultz is recognized. Thank you. I rise in support of the pocan amendment. Since united loving families should always be a goal. One of the greatest treasures we have in life and something that unites all of humanity is our desire to be with our close family. The freedom to visit these relatives is one that america cherishes. Im sure each and every one of us has at some point worked on a constituents case related to the goal of allowing a close Family Member<\/a> of a constituent to immigrate to the United States<\/a>. It is something that has a very strong pull. So i strongly support mr. Pocans amendment to ensure that grandparents, inlaws and other close relatives can visit their u. S. Relatives. This month a federal judge ruled president trumps temporary ban on travelers and refugees from six predominantly muslim countries should not stand in the way of grandparents and other close relatives from entering the u. S. Grandparents, brothers, sisters in law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins are bona fide relationships and should be permitted to visit u. S. Relatives. In fact, the state department issued a similar directive just yesterday. Despite that confusion around this muslim ban has been ram pant, and Congress Must<\/a> make clear thats our job that these recent rulings to respect relationships is important. I think it must also be said more broadly this muslim ban does nothing to make us safer. On the contrary it makes us less so by diverting resources from legitimate threats. Worth wile education and business exchanges and it is used for radical recruiting tools for groups like ice. The gentleman, further remarks. Mr. Pocan, a minute to close. Thank you. I know we often talk about family values in the town, and i think if we want to respect the family values this is an opportunity. Grandparents and grandchildren clearly are part and parcel of family values. In our debate half an hour ago, that was part of the conversation. I would hope that we could honor those close family relationships with this amendment. I yield back. The gentleman. Questions on the pocan amendment. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say nay. Nay. In the opinion of the chair, the nays have it. Mr. Ator holt. No. Manage aguilar. Aye. Mr. Amadae. No. Mr. Calvert. No. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Cart right. Aye. Misclark. Aye. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Cuellar. Mr. Culvert son. Mr. Dent. Aye. Mr. Diaz val art. No. Mr. Fleischmann. No. Mr. Fortenberry. No. Mr. Freelying house en. No. Ms. Granger. No. Mr. Graves. No. Dr. Harris. No. Mr. Hererra butler. No mr. Jenkins. No. Mr. Joyce. Ms. Kaptur. Aye. Mr. Kilmer. Aye. Ms. Lee. Aye. Ms. Lowey. Aye. Mismccom uhm. Aye. Mismeng. Aye. Mr. Moolenaar. No. Mr. Palazzo. No. Ms. Peng re. Aye. Mr. Pocan. Aye. Mr. Price. Eye. Mr. Quigley. Aye. Ms. Roby. No. Mr. Rogers. No. Mr. Rooney. No. Ms. Roybalallard. Aye. Mr. Ryan. Aye. Mr. Serrano. Aye. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Stuart. No. Mr. Taylor. No. Mr. Valladao. No. Ms. Wasserman schultz. Ms. Wasserman schultz. Aye. Mr. Womack. No. Mr. Yoder. No. Mr. Young. No. Members who wish to record their vote . Mr. Cuellar. Aye. Mr. Joyce recorded no. Anyone want to change their vote, seeing or hearing no . The clerk will tally. The ais are 23, the nays are 29. The amendment is not agreed to. Mr. Serrano is recognized. For an amendment. An amendment, mr. Chairman. I rise to offer an amendment. I ask that the reading be waived. Consider it done. The gentleman is recognized for five minutes. Thank you. This amendment would help reduce the hard corby the administration, increase enforcement efforts. It would protect children and families from damaging separations by preventing i. C. E. From removing parents of citizen children absent some serious criminality on the part of that parent. Let me repeat that again. If the parent is a criminal determined by the court, this does not apply. This is a serious problem according to a 2015 report more than 500,000 parents of u. S. Citizens children were deported between 2009 and 2013. The two options available for citizen children in these circumstances are harsh. First, if a child chooses to remain in the United States<\/a>, then they can loose contact with their parent and often come to rely on the Child Welfare<\/a> state at significant cost to state and local governments. Second, if a citizen child decides to remain with their deported parent, then they are de facto deported to a country they are likely unfamiliar with and forced to abandon their country, the United States<\/a>. By the way, im not a lawyer, but i would ask those of you who are, i wonder if it is constitutional in a case like this or any case to deport an american citizen, and thats what you would be doing with the child. It is a lose lose situation and it should be our job to prevent this. Our immigration policy should not promote family separation. We should be promoting family unity. Unfortunately, as with much of our immigration policy under this administration and others, these times of tragic circumstances are likely to rise unless we take action. In the absence of comprehensive Immigration Reform<\/a>, we are left with the appropriations process as the only vehicle to introduce some reasonableness into our immigration system. That is why im offering this amendment here today. We should prioritize our childrens best interests over mass deportation agenda. Separating children and parents is no ones idea of a good immigration policy. This is our chance to stop this policies that are against everything we stand for as a country. I urge support for my amendment. Mr. Serrano. Chairman carter. I rise in opposition to this amendment. The program is an unconstitutional program created by the obama administration, and the description of the congresss plenary power over immigration, foreign policy. The amendment would authorize the main element of the program which is currently under injunction until the Supreme Court<\/a> rehears the case. Further, any provision regarding the immigration status of aliens who are here illegally is an issue for the House Judiciary Committee<\/a> and beyond the jurisdiction of this committee. Therefore i oppose this amendment and ask that you vote against it. I will recognize. Mr. Chairman, i rise in strong support of the serrano amendment. When it comes to children who are citizens of this country, we should be putting their needs first, particularly if their parents have not committed serious crimes and do not pose a threat to others. During the last half of 2016 dhs removed 14,161 people who were parents of a United States<\/a> citizen minor. In los angeles where i am from, 424 were removed. In new york city, 95 were removed. In houston, 369. El paso, 281. Chicago, 241. Atlanta, 418, and the list goes on. Each one represents a family torn apart and at least one u. S. Child faced with either leaving their homeland to be with their parents or facing a life without that parent. I urge the adoption of this amendment. Thank you the gentle woman for her comments. A minute to close, mr. Serrano. I think the important point to keep in mind is that were not talking about giving a free pass to a criminal. Any parent who has committed a crime serious enough for the court to consider serious would not be covered under this ruling. What im trying to do is to say that a child that was born here, is an american citizen should not be deport. In many cases the child gets deported or the child gets left behind to become a ward of the state because theres no one to take care of them. Theres not necessarily a family to take care of them. So it is a unique situation. It is a difficult situation, but i think this is a simple solution to it. No child born in this country can have a parent who is found by the court not to have committed a serious crime deport for any reason. I thank you. Questions on the gentleman from new yorks amendment . All of those in favor say aye. All opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair the nays have it. Sufficient hands, the clerk will call the role. Mr. Aderholt. No. Mr. Aguilar. Aye. Mr. Bishop. Aye. Mr. Calvert. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Cart right. Aye. Mr. Clark. Aye. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Cuellar. Mr. Cuellar. Mr. Culver son. No. Misdelauro. Aye. Mr. Dent. No. Mr. Diazbalart. No. Mr. Fleischmann. No. Mr. Fortenberry. No. Mr. Freelying house en. No. Ms. Green. Im sorry, ms. Granger. No. Mr. Green. No. Dr. Harris. No. Mr. Hererra butler. No. Mr. Jenkins. No. Mr. Joyce. No. Ms. Kaptur. Aye. Mr. Kilmer. Aye. Ms. Lee. Aye. Mrs. Lowey. Aye. Ms. Mccollum. Aye. Ms. Meng. Aye. Manage molenaar. No. Mr. Palazzo. Mr. Palazzo. Ms. Pingree. Aye. Mr. Pocan. Aye. Mr. Price. Aye. Mr. Quigley. Aye. Mrs. Roby. No. Mr. Rogers. No. Mr. Rooney. No. Mr. Roybalallard. Aye. Mr. Ruperts berger. Aye. Mr. Serrano. Aye. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Stewart. No. Mr. Taylor. No. Mr. Valadao. No. Mr. Vast loss ki. Eye. Ms. Wasserman schultz. Aye. Mr. Womack. No. Mr. Yoelder. No. Mr. Young. No. Members who wish to record . Mr. Cuellar . Aye for cuellar. Mr. Calvert is recognized. No. Recorded no. Mr. Palazzo is recognized. No. Recorded no. Anyone further . If not, the clerk will call the roll the tally. On this vote the ayes are 22 and the nays are 30. The amendment is not agreed to. Further amendment cincinnati lets see who was in line here. Mr. Price, i guess in order of seniority, whatever. Amendment of the desk. The clerk will read. An amendment offered by mr. Price. Distinction, of course. Im offering this amendment on behalf of ms. Kaptur and myself. It would address cbts front line Staffing Shortage<\/a> and pay for the increase in cvp staffing by reducing the bills bloated funding for i. C. E. Enforcement. Mr. Chairman, in past years this subcommittee target our limited immigration resources to prioritize individuals who committed serious crimes or who pose a threat to our communities. Thats not providing a free pass for anybody, but it has assumed that discretion must be exercised by enforcement authorities. Of course, thats something that every Law Enforcement<\/a> agency does. President trump and secretary kelly also talked a good talk about targeting dangerous people, but their Enforcement Actions<\/a> in reality are unfocused and indiscriminate. For example, in the region covered by i. C. E. s atlanta field office, including my home state of north carolina, there were nearly 700 arrests of immigrants with no criminal records from january through march of this year compared with only 137 such arrests during the comparable period in 2016. The bill before us unfortunately would lavishly fund such undisciplined actions, increasing by 705 billion interior Immigration Enforcement<\/a> by ice. They would support 44,000 detention beds. Thats an increase of 5,000 at a time that apprehensions actually are down. And it would hire 1,000 additional i. C. E. Officers and agents. The number of i. C. E. Agents has already nearly tripled from fiscal 03 to 16. Theres not a need for 1,000 hires in fiscal 18, it is more than the department could train. We could address the front line Staffing Shortage<\/a> at the nations ports of entry. Despite the officers have been under staffed at the ports of entry, the bill includes no new funding for the new officers today. They serve our country by promoting legitimate travel and trade, preventing illegal entry of individuals and prohibited goods, enforcing custom and agricultural laws and relg lags. In 2016, these officers encounted 274,000 undocumented immigrants, seized 600,000 pounds of illegal narcotics, 62 million in illegal currency, all the while processing over 390 million legitimate travelers and 2. 2 trillion in legal imports over land, air and sea. Trade and travelrelated job creation, Border Security<\/a> and mitigating wait times at the ports of entry all require adequate staffing. Our amendment would take a significant step to fixing this problem. It would take 704 million in additional increased funding for Immigration Enforcement<\/a> and reallocate first 543 million to hiring an additional 2310 customs officers, and then secondly directing 161 million to Homeland Security<\/a> investigations. This prioritizing the investigation work will do far more to keep our Community Safe<\/a> and our nation secure than arresting students, Small Business<\/a> owners, religious leaders, others who committed no other crime beyond crossing the border to better their lives and those of their family in the United States<\/a>. I urge adoption of our amendment. Thank you, mr. Price. Chairman carter. I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by mr. Price and ms. Kaptur. Cutting the ons funding for beds will lead to release of criminals and other removable aliens in the communities across the country. That will lead to increased Border Crossing<\/a> and smuggling it as the rule of law no longer exists. Adding funding to hire cvp officers is commendable, but as we all know the department has struggled to hire officers in recent years. The same can be said for adding funds to i. C. E. Homeland security investigations. Funds will be unexpendable and therefore a waste of the limited resources we have. I ask you to join me in opposing this amendment. Thank you. Is recognized. Mr. Chairman, i rise in support of the price amendment. As mr. Price has made clear, cvp has a staffing model for customs officers that makes clear we are well short of where we need to be. If history is a guide, then we cannot count on the authorizing committee to move legislation that would authorize new fee revenue. If we hope to hire new custom officers, we will need discretionary funding on this bill. While there are some increases in the bill for Homeland Security<\/a> investigation Additional Support<\/a> would have a significant beneficial impact on investigations into Human Trafficking<\/a>, child exploitation, intellectual Property Rights<\/a> violations and other critical priorities. By adopting this amendment we would be prioritizing criminal investigations, Border Security<\/a> and the facilitation of trade and travel over civil Immigration Enforcement<\/a> that is more aggressive than necessary. I know that there are concerns about whether cvp could actually hire all of these additional officers, and i share that concern. I will say, however, that based on what weve seen over the last year i have more confidence in cvps ability to hire and retain custom officers than its ability to hire and retain Border Patrol<\/a> agents which is bill already funds. I am hopeful that improvements cvp has made to its hiring processes will allow it to hire the additional custom officers mr. Price is proposing to fund. I know one thing for sure however. If we dont provide funding for new officers, cvp will definitely be unable to make any progress towards its hiring goals. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. Thank you, gentle woman for your comments. Ms. Kaptur is recognized. Thank you very much. I rise in strong support of the price kaptur amendment, and just say to my colleagues ports, ports. Thats what we have to focus on. The budget itself is nearly two billion dollars over last year if you look at the different accounts, and i offer this amendment along with mr. Price because of the importance of ports, which has been shortchanged for far too long by the department of Homeland Security<\/a>. These positions have experienced chronic understaffing at the ports for years. What is interesting is if you read the report itself it says that most foreign source Illegal Drugs<\/a> and contraband are transported through the ports of entry. Pretty clear. I offer this amendment because it includes no new funding to address cvps current front line Staffing Shortage<\/a> at the ports of entry. To reiterate, theres a long standing vacancy rate of nearly 1,400 existing cvp officers at the ports, and cvps own analytic workload staffing models needs an additional 2,100 cvp officers need to be funded and hired to meet the 2017 staffing needs. Were talking about a total ports officer understaffing of 3,500 today. Meanwhile, an additional 100 million has been included in this bill to hire 500 more Border Patrol<\/a> agents for the southern border. This is despite the reality that the committee acknowledges in this very bill their concern that attrition continues to outpace hiring of the Border Patrol<\/a> agents. Further, we have already seen a steady decline in individuals attempting to cross the border as weve seen a steady up tick in the violations of human rights perpetrated by the current Border Patrol<\/a> agents. Again, this committee acknowledges in our report that the current agents have gone as far as to violate our laws in denying asylum to refugees who present themselves at the border. The reality is the number of immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> agents has nearly tripled since 2003, and this bill provides funding for an additional 1,000 more. We know what will happen to children, to dreamers and their families, to Asylum Seekers<\/a> and longtime residents of the country that pose no risk to public safety. To fund 500 more Border Patrol<\/a> agents and 1,000 additional i. C. E. Agents when our ports are desperate and the need is desperate for inspection, we also have an economic argument in that for every 33 additional cvp officers hired the u. S. Potentially gains over 1,000 private sector jobs. Dont you get complaints from your companies with the boats lined up and they cant get stuff through the ports . Understaffed ports lead to long delays in passenger and commercial lanes and they wait to enter our country, and these delays result in economic losses to our economy. Let me tell you in the Great Lakes Ports<\/a> are significantly understaffed. So trade and travelrelated job creation, Border Security<\/a> and mitigating wait times at the ports of entry require adequate cvp staffing at our ports of entry. That is why we must reprioritize our accounts and fund agents who will help our economy grow. I know, chairman carter is capable of this and i am begging him to somehow if the bill moves forward to support the price kaptur amendment in a workable form. Thank you. Ms. Mullens is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in strong support of the amendment which would remove funding from i. C. E. Enforcement and unreasonable increases to detention beds and use it more wisely, including to combat a real epidemic facing our nation, Human Trafficking<\/a>. It will also provide support for cvp officers at ports of entry. Their presence is widely understood to be integral to cross border trade. These are much worthiyer efforts deserving of funding than an unnecessary wall or increased funding to tear families apart. For example, in 2016 alone listen to these numbers. The national Human Trafficking<\/a> hotline received reports of 8,042 cases of Human Trafficking<\/a>, a 35 increase from 2015. We must provide Law Enforcement<\/a> with the tools to eliminate Human Trafficking<\/a> and, frankly, increase awareness. Human trafficking is happening everywhere every day, affecting all nationalities, age ranges and socioeconomic statuses. Robustly Funding Initiatives<\/a> to stomp it out is a far better use of taxpayer dollars than increased enforcement and increased detention beds. Vote for the amendment. Ms. Wasserman schultz is recognized. I rise in strong support of mr. Prices important amendment for much of the reasons that the gentle lady from new york just went through. I think it is important that we note that this nation currently sends two billion dollars a year and over five Million Dollars<\/a> a day on immigrants detention. I. C. E. Is mandated to keep 34,000 detention beds occupied each day. This is a completely arbitrary and costly detention bed mandate, and the majority now seeks to increase that number even more. It is disgraceful. No other Law Enforcement<\/a> agency is subjected to a quota dictated by congress. Instead of spending critical taxpayer funds on this in denver, as ms. Rowe indicated we should be spending money to combat genuine atrocities such as Human Trafficking<\/a>. It is a devastating crime and a form of modern day slavery involving the exploitation of primarily women and children who are societys most vulnerable members. Thats who we need to look out for in the Homeland Security<\/a> bill. The department of state estimates between 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked in the United States<\/a> each year. Under the justice for victims of trafficking act, Congress Asked<\/a> the Justice Department<\/a> to develop a National Strategy<\/a> to combat Human Trafficking<\/a>, and that report was completed in january of this year. We talked about how horrific it is. We ordered studies and report and it is time for us to act. We should support mr. Prices amendment which prioritizes resources with an aggressive response to protect the defenseless. I urge my colleagues to do more than talk about our relentless to Human Trafficking<\/a> and support the price amendment. I thank you the gentle woman for her comments. Mr. Price, a minute to close. Thank you, mr. Chairman. The amendment that ive offered is quite straightforward. It increases our security while simultaneously increasing the legal flow of people and commerce. Increasing the number of cvp officers has been a bipartisan priority for members of the committee for many years. The request i know dates back to the bush administration. We now have a an opportunity to act on this and we can do it without a single fee increase and without a single change in the tax code. We do it simply by being good stew wards of tax bear dollars and redirecting wasteful enforcement funding toward genuine National Security<\/a>. I urge you to adopt the amendment. Thank you. The question is on the amendment. All in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. Mr. Aguilar. Aye. Mr. Bishop. Yes. Mr. Calvert. No. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Cartwright. Aye. Ms. Clark. Aye. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Cuellar. Aye. Mr. Culver son. No. Ms. Delauro. Aye. Mr. Dent. No. Mr. Diaz val ard. No. Mr. Fleischmann. No. Mr. Fortenberry. No. Mr. Frelinghuysen. No. Ms. Granger. No. Mr. Graves. No. Dr. Harris. No. Mr. Hererra butler. No. Mr. Jenkins. No. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. Ms. Kaptur. Aye. Mr. Kilmer. Aye. Ms. Lee. Aye. Mrs. Lowey. Aye. Ms. Mccollum. Aye. Ms. Meng. Aye. Manage molenaar. No. Mr. Newhouse. No. Mr. Palace owe. No. Ms. Pingree aye. Mr. Pocan. Aye. Mr. Price. Aye. Mr. Quigley. Aye. Plrs roby. No. Mr. Rooney. No. Mr. Roybalallard. Aye. Mr. Ryan. Mr. Ryan. Mr. Serrano. Aye. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Stewart no. Ms. Wasserman schultz. Aye. Mr. Womack. No. Mr. Yoder. No. Mr. Young. Mr. Young. No. Are there members who wish to record their vote . Mr. Ryan. Aye. Mr. Ryan is recorded as an aye. Mr. Joyce, how would you like to be recorded. Mr. Joyce is recorded a no. Anyone further voting one way or the other . If not, the clerk will tally. On this vote the ayes are 22, the nays are 30. The amendment is not agreed to. The chair recognizes mr. Newhouse for an amendment. Mr. Chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. Will you consider it read by the clerk . Reading. Okay. The time is yours, five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I would like to bring to you an item of great importance. Repeated evidence over the past decade has shown that there are some jobs in agriculture and you may find this surprising that Many Americans<\/a> simply do not want to do. Even though a lot of these jobs offer competitive wages with similar nonagricultural types of occupations, theyre physically demanding, theyre outdoors so youre subject to the elements, all seasons, all weather. Theyre often seasonal, transitory. It is just hard work. The labor situation in agriculture has been a concern for many years. Today large segments of the Agricultural Industry<\/a> in our country faces a critical lack of workers. This is worsened by the fact that the hqa program, commonly thought of as the ago guest worker program, is just not working for all of agriculture. Agriculture has changed. Modern techniques are different than they used to be. What used to define agriculture does not exist as it used to. More and more Fresh Produce<\/a> is produced in green houses. Crops like mushrooms can be harvested year around. Certainly, a great example is the dairy industry which is currently excluded from utilizing hqa program because milking cows is not seasonal. Cows need to be milked every day, two to three times a day, 365 days a year. Most of you have dairy in your district. Most of you have i know all of you have a dairy in your state. This is something that should be of importance to you. Many operations also have multiple kro multiple crops on their farms with harvests that come one after another. In short, farms have multiple seasons con denialsed indensed operations. My amendment today is simple. It clarifies all of agriculture may use hqa programs so it is more truly our nations ag guest worker program. To be clear, h 2 a would still be a temporary program. It would not change the time limits a worker employed in the program can stay in United States<\/a>. It would not change the requirements on farmers to show theyre hiring domestic workers. It would ensure all of agriculture can utilize this valuable program. It is a Small Starting<\/a> point but something we can do to provide farmers who need access to workers by just making it clear that all of the ago can utilize h2a. I would ask that all of my com padres would please accept the amendment. Thank you, mr. Newhouse. Chairman carter. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in support of this amendment. This program has a long needed reform. The Judiciary Committee<\/a> is not opposed to us with the language. Thank you, mr. Chairman. You have a minute to close. Anyone further . Mr. Chairman. Ms. Kaptur. I would like a clarification from the chair or the gentleman offering the amendment. Would it be considered language for authorizing employee, you are including authorizing language in an appropriation bill. Who can clarify it. Would be happy to yield to whoever can address it. Anyone further on this . Im informed the Judiciary Committee<\/a> has no objection to this. It is legislation thank you. The other bills are being invaded by authorizing language, and though the gentleman made a worthy proposal it is a deep concern of mine as a member of this committee. Thank you, ms. Kaptur. Ms. Delauro or however you want to split it. I hear time and time again it is okay with the authorizing committee. When i was first on this committee, what we needed to have was a letter. We literally had a letter from the Ranking Member<\/a> and from the chair of the committee, saying that they were waiting, that they didnt need to have a hearing on this, maybe they didnt want to do this. So i noticed this trend before and i was going the Say Something<\/a> the last time it came up, mr. Newhouse, on new legislation. Who has signed off on this . Has the Ranking Member<\/a> signed off on it . The committee is both minority and majority. I yield back. Thank you, ms. Mccollum. Ms. Delauro is recognized. Thank you, very much, mr. Chairman. It is a radical step that changes the program which was intended to provide labor for businesses that are seasonal or temporary. The reason for the temporary seasonality limitation in the h2a program is that it prevents year round jobs from being taken by foreign workers. Employers that are trying to fill year around jobs should do so by competing like other employers by raising wages and by improving working conditions. This is clearly legislating on an appropriations bill. The united farm workers of american, the aflcio, the ufcw and farmer worker justice just learned of this amendment, and oppose both the way that this is being done and the substance of the amendment. The place to start if there is a labor shortage the legalization of workers that are here and who are experienced. The implications of this amendment are not thought through, and without a policy that discourages overstays and protects u. S. Workers that want these jobs, this is very misguided. We strongly urge you to oppose this amendment. I strongly urge you to oppose this amendment. And the notion that we can just all of a sudden come up with something at the last minute for some reason or for someones interest on this is inappropriate in the appropriations committee. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr. Cuellar. Thank you. Again i respectfully disagree with my fellow colleagues here. I do support this amendment because, again, i represent an area that has a lot of ag. I have seen a lot of my constituents that have been willing to pay 14, 15 an hour more but they cant find any workers. As i mention, my father was a mieg ran migrant worker. It is a hard job. If an american want to do it, let them do it. I know it is a hard job because my mom and my dad did that. If theres no American Worker<\/a> that wants to do that, then in order to keep our ag industry moving we got to have some workers. So i strongly support this amendment. It is the right thing to do. Thank you. Mr. Aguilar is recognized. Thank you. I wanted to stand and speak in support of mr. Newhouses amendment which supports the Agriculture Community<\/a> by allowing employers to support this program. They struggle to have the domestic workforce required to keep up with production, and allowing them to hire temporary foreign help. Our Rural Communities<\/a> and agriculture communities continue to struggle. Having a work for that meets production. While i think there are details that could be worked out and i encourage the author of the amendment to work out those details through rule making and other avenues, this amendment would help us in the short term and allow us to continue to have conversations about longerterm policies. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you, gentleman, for the comments. Have a minute to close, mr. Newhouse, and then well get a vote. Mr. Chairman, thank you all for your thoughtful comments on this important issue. Let me remind you these still will not be permanent workers. There is still an 11month limit that these people could be in the United States<\/a> and then have to go back to their home country. So it has been thought through also. Let me just tell you the implications of doing this have been very well thought through, and the implications are that our important agriculture industry will have the necessary workers they need to continue to put food and fiber in front of the american population. So i would ask the court for the amendment, please. Okay. The question is on the newhouse amendment. All in favor say aye. All of those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it and the amendment is agreed to. Further amendments . I have an amendment at the desk. Clerk will read. An amendment offered by ms. Roybalallard. Request it be considered read. Considered read. The gentle woman is recognized. It is a simple straightforward amendment. It would give the secretary of Homeland Security<\/a> the authority to continue the deferred action for Childhood Arrivals Program<\/a> or daca. Although i believe the secretary implicitly has such authority today, my amendment would make it explicit. Daca provides an official way for certain young people who were brought to this country as children, also known as dreamers, to continue living here in the only home they know or remember. It allows them to continue their studies and work legally in the economy. To be eligible they must have clean records verified by background checks. When daca participants first signed up for the program it was an opportunity to come out of the shadows, to put anxieties of the past behind them and focus on the future. It would be the very definition of cruelty to take that away from them now. I know this committee is often uncomfortable with inserting authorizing provisions into appropriations bills, although i think we are a little bit pregnant in this regard. In general, i agree we should avoid using authorizing language unless the circumstances are particularly compelling. I can think of nothing more compelling than helping these individuals who find themselves in such dire circumstances through no fault of their own. This amendment is intended as intended to have the highest, lightest possible touch to hopefully achieve a just result. While it is an authorization, it would not compel the president or the secretary to do anything. The president said he would be the one to decide if daca continues. This amendment would simply make clear that he has the authority to continue the program if he chooses to do so. I urge my colleagues no, i actually plead with my colleagues to not waste this opportunity and to do the right thing by these young americans. Lets not turn our backs on them now. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I ask for an aye vote. Thank you, gentle woman, for the comments. Chairman carter for remarks. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. While i understand the Ranking Member<\/a>s concerns, this bill is not the proper place to adjudicate this program. The future status of these individuals should be decided by the committee of jurisdiction and by the administration, not by the appropriations committee. Therefore, i oppose this amendment and i urge everyone to vote against this amendment. Thank you. Further discussion . Ms. Lowey is recognized. I rise in strong support of the amendment. With the mix messages coming out of the administration on deferred actions for dreamers, families need the stability this measure provides. Dreamers are brought to this country at very young ages. They grow up with our children or grandchildren, have similar cultural experiences to our children or grandchildren, and know america as home. We are in dire need of comprehensive Immigration Reform<\/a>. Until then, lets give families in our communities the clarity to live productively and free from fear. Support this amendment. Gentle woman, thank you for the comment. Mr. Aguilar is recognized. Thank you. I want to speak in support of the amendment that recognizes the daca into law. They were brought to this country as Young Children<\/a> by their parents through no fault of their own. They consider themselves to be americans, living, working and going to school in the only nation they have ever known. The daca program has shield more than half a million law abiding young people from deportation. These young people actively contribute to our communities and have bit lives here. Daca is currently upheld by an executive order, and over the past several months its certainty and with that the future of hundreds of thousands of young People Living<\/a> within our borders has been unclear. This would still allow the administration an opportunity to weigh in. It merely authorizes them to do so. When we talk about daca, this is not just about a policy. These are about people and families and their lively hoods have been bit on the promise that they can stay if they follow the rules, and they have. As we work toward a comprehensive solution, we should keep that promise to these young folks. Thats exactly what this amendment does. If we want to let the promise to dreamers crumble, we directly threaten the future of hundreds of thousands of young People Living<\/a> in our communities and across this country. I urge the committee to do the right thing and support this amendment. Thank you, gentlemen, for the comments. Mr. Wcuellar is next. Thank you. The legislation right before the writer by mr. Newhouse was authorizing language. His is also authorizing language, and i would ask the chairman to consider this. I know it is difficult, but it is one of the right things to do. Theres a lot of kids brought in at a very young age. In fact, in texas under governor rick perry when i was his secretary of state we actually had the first dreamer, one of the first dreamer legislations to allow kids to be able to go off to college. We have done that in a very conservative state like texas and we ought to do this. These kids, some of them dont know anything else, might not know mexico, might not know gaut ma guatemala. They know the United States<\/a> and this is where they were raised. I would ask that we support this particular rider. It is the right thing to do and we need to do it for our country. Thank you. Any further discussion . Mr. Carter. I move to strike the last words. The gentleman is recognized. This is a very emotional issue and the emotions run rampant. It is emotional for both sides of the aisle. But the reality is patchwork on top of patchwork on top of patchwork is what is wrong with our immigration policy in the United States<\/a>. Now, many of you know that were here i guess it will be now five years ago, a group of republicans, very conservative republicans and democrats, very liberal democrats, gathered in a room for almost two years and met every week. We decided as hard headed as everybody in that room was concerned we could if we could actually make progress on Immigration Reform<\/a> it would be something that would be support by both sides. The most amazing thing about that was and some people in the room, i know a few were there, the amazing thing was the staff was included the ones we always accuse of telling people whats going on and not one word was picked up by the press in the entire time we did that. If nothing else, i think that was Divine Providence<\/a> putting a hand on that action. We came up with a solution that were discussing right here today. It was done the right way. We had a bill, we came out with a bill that was support by liberal democrats, conservative republicans, and both sides were going to have trouble selling their side but they felt like they could do it. Thats the way you fix immigration policy in the United States<\/a>. What was the result . Leadership of both parties opposed it. Now, thats a fact. It is still sitting in my righthand drawer, and one of these days somebody will have sense to ask for it. Although by that time all of the people on the effort either will be dead or will have left congress. But the bottom line is thats what we need to do. Many times our democratic friends say we need to have Immigration Reform<\/a>, and theyre right. But we need to do it through the way it was designed by our Founding Fathers<\/a> and not by apaches, by regulators and people who have a cause in this this appropriations committee. Thats the wrong way to do it. Right now the president has said this is on hold. The courts are looking at the policy of this, and it is not the way to go about doing this. This is serious. This is affecting many, many thousands of lives. I admit that. Friends on our side admit that. If we dont do it the right way, then the next time we change people in this congress they will do it the wrong way again. On something as serious as this, it is time for us to step back and say this is not the right way to do it, and the threat is not so real we need to do it. Fear drives fear in this country. I would urge you, urge you to lets try to do this in regular order in the committees of jurisdiction, and lets fight that battle there on something so serious as these young people that youre talking about. I want to say that this process, the way were doing it today, i oppose. I hope you will join me in opposing. Thank you, mr. Carter. To close, mr. Serrano is recognized. Very briefly. I dont usually like to disagree with another member because im not that kind of a person. But you said that there are emotions on both sides, mr. Chairman, and there are. I think you also alluded to that there was a difference of opinion. Well, i have done something in the past few years that as i watch on the other side the faces of people and im wondering what theyre thinking when we discuss this subject because this subject is not as simple as other subjects. It is not as cut and dry as other subjects. I believe and notwithstanding what the final vote will be on any of these amendments, there is sentiment on the other side of the aisle, on the republican side for this issue to be resolved and resolved here. Listen to me closely. I honestly believe that many of you honestly agree with us or agree with yourselves that this is the right thing to do to take care of these young people that know no other country except this one. So probably the final result will be a party line or whatever people think a party line is, but i dont think in the Republican Party<\/a> it is clear cut on how people feel about dreamers and about daca and about these young people. I think people understand that they fall into a different category. They came here through no choice of their own. They grew up in this country. Youve heard it a million times. They know no other country. They dont speak english with a spanish accent. If they speak spanish, they speak it with an american accent. They are as american as apple pie and they should remain that way and we should not throw them out. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Serrano. The gentleman has a minute to close. Mr. Chairman, i wish the Authorization Committee<\/a> had the will to do the right thing. I wish the congress had the will to do the right thing. But how many more years do we have to wait for that to happen . In the meantime, i would like to believe that we are not doomed to perpetual and transient when it comes to immigration. I would like to think theres middle ground and compromise we can find, something that recognizes the importance of controlling our borders while acknowledging the difficult poli plight faced by so many immigrant families. If we are ever to reach middle ground, we need to start somewhere, and i can think of no better or fair place than with this amendment. My colleagues, i ask that you support this amendment so that the dreamers can continue looking forward to the future as part of this great nation, the only nation they know. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and i ask for an aye vote. Thank you. Questions on the gentle womans amendment. All in favor yes . One other the last word, if you would, please. The last word. Happy to recognize you. I have Great Respect<\/a> for","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia800805.us.archive.org\/33\/items\/CSPAN3_20170721_013400_House_Committee_Marks_Up_Homeland_Security_Spending_Bill\/CSPAN3_20170721_013400_House_Committee_Marks_Up_Homeland_Security_Spending_Bill.thumbs\/CSPAN3_20170721_013400_House_Committee_Marks_Up_Homeland_Security_Spending_Bill_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240628T12:35:10+00:00"}