ENDING DHS SHUTDOWN

ENDING DHS SHUTDOWN

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)] [House] [Pages H2533-H2534] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] ENDING DHS SHUTDOWN (Mr. Mann of Kansas was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because the Department of Homeland Security remains shut down, and the consequences are real for the American people and for the men and women who work every day to keep our country safe. [[Page H2534]] Right now, more than 100,000 DHS employees are working without pay. TSA officers who screen passengers at our airports have now missed another paycheck. These are hardworking Americans who show up every day to do their job, protect travelers, and secure our homeland, even while Washington politics leave them without the pay they have earned. This isn't some distant issue for Kansans. Families and travelers across the Big First depend on TSA officers every single day. From airports in Manhattan, Salina, Garden City, Dodge City, Liberal, and Hays, TSA agents are on the front lines making sure our skies are safe. Just down the road in Wichita, the Air Capital of the World, thousands of Kansans build aircraft that carry passengers across the country and around the globe. Aviation is part of who we are in Kansas, and aviation safety is something we take very seriously. Yet, Senate Democrats have allowed the men and women responsible for securing our airports to work without pay. As spring-break travel picks up, airports across the country are already seeing longer lines and staffing challenges because of this shutdown. These are dedicated public servants who continue showing up for work every day, even while Washington fails to send them a paycheck. The impacts of this Democrat refusal to support DHS funding reaches far beyond airport security. FEMA training for first responders has been canceled. Cybersecurity personnel defending our networks are being furloughed while foreign adversaries continue probing our systems. Coast Guard training and maintenance have been disrupted. These are not theoretical consequences. They are happening right now. Mr. Speaker, what makes the situation even more frustrating is that the House has already acted. House Republicans have twice passed full- year funding to keep the Department of Homeland Security fully operational. That legislation reflects a bipartisan framework negotiated by Members of both parties and deserves and ensures the Department has the resources it needs to protect the American people. Mr. Speaker, Senate Democrats still continue to block that funding. Instead of allowing the department responsible for protecting our homeland to do its job, they are prolonging a shutdown that harms workers, weakens preparedness, and undermines public safety. National security should never be used as a political bargaining chip. The men and women who protect our borders, screen our airports, respond to disasters, and defend our infrastructure deserve stability and support, not uncertainty and missed paychecks. Mr. Speaker, the solution is simple. The Senate should take up the funding the House has already passed and reopen the Department of Homeland Security. The safety of the American people, including Kansans across the Big First District, depends on it. ____________________