HIGHLIGHTING THE DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN CHARADE

HIGHLIGHTING THE DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN CHARADE

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E225-E226] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HIGHLIGHTING THE DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN CHARADE ______ HON. JOE WILSON of south carolina in the house of representatives Tuesday, March 17, 2026 Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, due to weather-related flight cancellations, the following is a one-minute speech I was unable to deliver in-person. I include in the Record the following editorial The New York Post correctly editorialized yesterday: The United States saw four terror attacks on its soil in just the two weeks since the Iran war began, yet Democrats voted yet again last week to #Defund Homeland Security. Are they trying to help the terrorists? They also seem to hate TSA workers and flight passengers: Chaos has reigned at airports around the nation, with hours- long security lines; the shutdown has prompted 300 agents to quit and others to take unscheduled leaves rather than work without pay. [[Page E226]] The defunding's latest horror: The Department of Homeland Security's Office for Bombing Prevention just canceled a training class on how to handle IEDs. Actually, it's unthinkable: Airport misery and flight safety are bad enough, but defunding bomb prevention--at a time like this? Dems are holding the nation's security and air travel hostage in a purely symbolic protest to prove their hatred of ICE to their base. The funding cutoff doesn't even hit ICE, which already got ample cash in last year's Big Beautiful Bill Act. It's well past time for Democrats to end the games and think about everyday Americans for a change. Appreciated former House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul has correctly warned that Democrats are being irresponsible by shutting down the Department of Homeland Security during an increased threat from Iranian terrorists, and that they will have ``blood on their hands'' by not preventing attacks. Provocative insightful Sean Hannity stands with Trump exposing isolationists as either dumb or evil. Coordinating with determined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, destroying the capability of eleven nuclear bombs boasted by Iran to Envoy Steve Witkoff is existential for Western civilization. Iran building intercontinental ballistic missiles puts all of Europe and South and Central Asia at risk with drone attacks already our valued NATO member Turkiye, along with Azerbaijan. In conclusion, God Bless Our Troops as the Global War on Terrorism continues. Trump is reinstituting Peace Through Strength, revealing war criminal Putin lies, insulting and mocking Trump as Putin provides targeting directions to Iran to murder Americans. ____________________