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Lawmaker urges funding for DHS and swift renewal of FISA to avoid security gaps
Summary
On the House floor, a lawmaker said Congress should pass reconciliation funding to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and border protection, and urged quick renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) before it expires to prevent security risks.
A lawmaker speaking on the House floor urged colleagues to pass a reconciliation bill that would fully fund the Department of Homeland Security and explicitly fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border protection, saying such funding is needed amid heightened security threats.
"We're bringing a bill later today on reconciliation 2 to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security," the lawmaker said, asserting the need to fund ICE and border protection. The speaker framed opposition to that funding as a position favoring "open borders," a characterization presented as the speaker's political framing of the debate.
The lawmaker also pressed for quick renewal of FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, saying the program must not "go dark" when it expires. "FISA has been used time and time again to stop terrorist attacks here on our homeland on American soil," the lawmaker said, adding that the Speaker was at the White House working with the president on a FISA agreement and that the House "stands ready to move that bill as soon as it's resolved in the Senate."
The remarks described negotiations occurring in the Senate and emphasized urgency around the program's expiration; no specific proposal text or FISA amendment language was provided in the transcript.
The lawmaker said the House is prepared to act once the Senate resolves its negotiations and reiterated the need to avoid a lapse in the surveillance authority the speaker described as important for preventing attacks.
