Ranking Member Lauren Underwood Delivers Remarks at Homeland Security Subcommittee Markup to Highlight How Republican Funding Bill Weakens National Security and Makes Americans More Vulnerable to Terrorism
WASHINGTON — During today’s House Appropriations subcommittee markup of the 2026 Homeland Security funding bill, Ranking Member Lauren Underwood (IL-14) delivered the following remarks:
“Good evening, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think we can all agree that whether it is at the border, the airport, our country’s shorelines, or in cyberspace, the Department of Homeland Security cannot fail.
But I also believe the Department cannot fail the ideals and values that make America the greatest nation in the world. Under the Trump Administration, DHS is out of control: illegally spending hundreds of millions of our taxpayer dollars and flagrantly violating the rights and civil liberties of Americans.
Under this administration, due process and the limitations that the Constitution puts on our government are being ignored, and this bill does nothing to protect Americans from being targeted.
It fails to protect American citizens from deportation.
It does nothing to protect American citizens from being confronted in their homes and offices, or having their property seized, as this Administration’s deportation policies ignore legal safeguards.
It allows ICE agents to continue to grab people in places of worship and in our schools without a warrant, and it punishes legal immigrants who speak their minds all while rewarding for-profit detention centers with billions of taxpayer dollars.
As Members of Congress, we have a constitutional responsibility to keep this Administration accountable in both how it spends taxpayer dollars and how it operates.
We saw this year after our FEMA hearing what this Department does when anyone speaks truth to power. I am deeply concerned that if this bill passes and the Trump-Noem DHS goes unchecked, the United States of America will become a country that our own citizens will seek refuge from because of the repeated attacks on our basic freedoms and rights.
Giving unchecked power to this Administration is bad enough, but unfortunately, the bill makes things worse, by leaving Americans more vulnerable to catastrophic cyber threats and burdening state and local governments. The bill adopts DOGE staffing cuts to CISA and FEMA personnel by roughly $130 million and $93 million, respectively.
The burden to respond to the next ransomware attack on your local hospital or deadly hurricane in your district – will increasingly fall to state and local leaders who lack the resources to protect your sensitive health care information from hackers. States don’t have the ability to rebuild after disasters on their own. This bill abandons our neighbors after a crisis.
Both the Acting Administrator and the recently named Acting Deputy Administrator of FEMA have little to no emergency management experience.
Let me say that again: the two most senior people running FEMA are severely-under qualified at a time when an above-average hurricane season is forecasted, and when the disaster relief fund is already expected to end fiscal year 2025 with an $8 billion deficit.
Listen, as recently as last week, the White House had to clean up after the brand new FEMA Administrator was caught supposedly joking about the upcoming hurricane season. We are also heading into wildfire season in the West, and friends, the funding level provided in this bill is insufficient to help us dig out of this hole, and it all but guarantees that FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund will be at a dangerously low level again by next summer.
Meanwhile, the White House requested zero dollars to supplement this critical fund that all Americans rely on to recover from major disasters, and fails to acknowledge an urgent $8 billion dollar deficit in the Disaster Relief Fund.
The bill fails to address the catastrophic cybersecurity threats facing our critical infrastructure: our hospitals, banks, schools, and secure government systems.
And it does nothing to protect Americans from growing attacks on their privacy. The only people who benefit from this bill’s failure to invest here are cybercriminals in China, Russia, and around the world who will now find it easier to attack Americans.
Finally, the bill does not include funding for the Citizenship and Integration Program that has been running for more than a decade by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
This initiative funds faith-based organizations and community-focused organizations that help legal immigrants prepare to become citizens by preparing them for the citizenship exam and helping them learn English.
Mr. Chairman, we make America stronger and more secure when we make investments in our communities stronger, and when we uphold our values. But this bill does neither, and I cannot support it.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to note for the Record that Ms. Escobar is not able to attend today’s markup due to a canceled flight from Texas. I know she would join me in opposing this bill if she were here and I would like that to be reflected.”