DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026

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

Referenced legislation: S4277, S4277, HR7147