Amodei Remarks at FY27 Homeland Security Bill Full Committee Markup (As Prepared for Delivery)

I know some of you may question voting on a bill in this Committee that funds ICE and Border Patrol while we just passed a reconciliation bill that provides three years of funding for those components. The most important thing to remember is that this is the first step in the process, not the last step. 

We wrote the bill before us well before reconciliation passed, and frankly, it represents the way these agencies should be funded – through the normal appropriations process.

Let me be clear, the Senate put us in a terrible bind. Senate Democrats walked away from a bicameral, bipartisan negotiation and caused a shutdown that endangered our national security and harmed federal workers, all for the sake of scoring political points.

Then the entire Senate agreed to gut the appropriations process by sending us a bill with no ICE and Border Patrol funding and refusing to negotiate. In contrast, we passed full funding for Fiscal Year 2026, on a bipartisan basis, for all of DHS, three times from January to March.

So, what’s next? Should we just cross out ICE and Border Patrol from this bill and call it a day? I don’t believe that is prudent, and I’ll tell you why. This bill and report contain important oversight provisions for ICE and Border Patrol. Also, there is language that reflects your requests and your priorities – provisions important to your districts. 

Now I agree that we don’t want to double-fund ICE and Border Patrol. But what I do want is for us to think deliberately and carefully about how we preserve the important provisions in this bill. I understand the Senate is not moving forward with markups anytime soon, so we are going to have plenty of time to put some pen to paper as we consider our options. 

My recommendation is that we press forward with the bill in front of us and finish the important work of passing this bill out of the Appropriations Committee, through regular order. Then let’s get serious about talking through what options we have to preserve the good work in this bill. 

Bring your thoughts to me or my staff. This is unchartered territory, and it is not going to be easy. But I can assure you, what will not work is throwing up our hands and crossing out a few sections because it is too hard to figure out the path forward.  

In terms of the details in this bill, it takes into account the substantial one-time investment of nearly $191 billion in the first reconciliation package and does not duplicate those funding decisions, but instead focuses on base requirements such as:

• Fully funding 22,000 Border Patrol Agents;
• Maintaining 41,500 detention beds, so that ICE can fulfill the Administration’s priority of detaining and deporting all criminal and removable aliens; and
• Providing $40 million for body-worn cameras for DHS law enforcement personnel – double last year’s level.

We build on investments in Fiscal Year 2026 by providing the Coast Guard increases of: 

• $135 million to counter China by increasing the Coast Guard’s Indo-Pacific footprint;
• $48 million for overdue facility maintenance; and
• $45 million for maintenance shortfalls.

Additionally, we provide $148 million for Waterways Commerce Cutters and $69 million for unmanned aircraft. DHS has an important role to play in defending critical infrastructure and Federal networks against cyberattacks, but CISA strayed from the authority given to it by Congress.

We have responsibly streamlined the agency’s budget by eliminating duplicative contracts and positions and returned CISA’s focus to securing our Nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure. But China and other nation-state adversaries continue to target our cyber defenses, so this bill includes strategic investments in CISA personnel and programs that mitigate cyber threats.

Additionally, this bill ensures our communities have the necessary funding to respond to natural and man-made disasters by: 

• Providing an increase of approximately 2.5% for all FEMA grant programs, including those that aid volunteer fire departments; and
• Increasing the Nonprofit Security Grant Program by $55 million so houses of worship and other institutions can reduce terrorist and other attacks.

In short, this bill ensures that we fund the core mission of the Department – protecting the Homeland. I want to thank the staff on the subcommittee for their tireless work on the bill and report—for the majority, Paul Anstine, Anna Lanier Fischer, Fern Gibbons, Ashley Truluck, Alessandra Ramirez, Nkosi Thomas, and our intern, Sara King—and Shannon McCully, Jamie Wise, and Jim Ellsworth for the minority.