Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1095, I call up the bill (H.R. 7744) making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, we are here once again on the House floor amidst a partial government shutdown. The bill before us isn't new. In fact, we debated this very same bill just 2 months ago. It reflects the bipartisan, bicameral agreement that Senate Democrats, at the last minute, failed to honor.

Shutting down the Department of Homeland Security over a partisan fight hasn't changed the stakes, but maybe, knowing how critical it is to keep the homeland safe at this heightened moment, Democrats will side with reason and protecting the Nation.

No matter the question, shutdowns are never the answer. I know my colleagues think that by shutting down the government, they are somehow punishing Donald Trump for winning the election, but President Trump is not the one feeling the pain of a shutdown.

They are punishing the TSA agents, who are working hard to keep their communities safe. They are punishing FEMA employees, who are trying to help Americans who are fighting through these winter storms. They are punishing the cybersecurity analysts at CISA, who are combating constant threats to our infrastructure and electric grid.

Hundreds of thousands of Federal employees in critical national security positions are being forced to work without pay. Their jobs leave no room for error, but they are being asked to continue that critical work with the added stress of not knowing when they will receive their next paycheck and not knowing if they will be able to put gas in their cars or food on their table.

A few weeks ago, we heard from TSA Acting Director McNeill at an Appropriations Committee hearing. She talked about the impact of the longest shutdown in history, which was also initiated by Democrats. She told us about agents sleeping in their cars in the airport parking lot rather than spending money on gas to drive home because they couldn't afford it, and officers who sold their blood and plasma or took second jobs with what little spare time they had just to have money to feed their families.

These hardworking families are just now barely recovered from the previous shutdown antics, and they are once again in the same confusing and undeserved position.

Closing down or shortchanging Federal agencies is irrational and irresponsible. This isn't something that anyone should be proud of.

It breaks my heart to hear of these stories. We know that shutdowns cause pain and uncertainty for the Nation. Personally, I would find it unconscionable if my vote was the reason that someone was sleeping in their car or if my vote was the reason that someone couldn't pay their mortgage this month. This isn't a game. These are real people and real lives.

In addition to the astoundingly negative human impact that this shutdown is having on men and women who work for DHS, it is directly impacting our ability to keep Americans safe during heightened national security threats.

In-person trainings at the National Fire Academy, the National Emergency Training Center, the Center for Domestic Preparedness, and the National Disaster and Emergency Management University have been canceled.

The FEMA Disaster Relief Fund has a low balance, and the account will continue to be drained without new appropriations. Wait times through our Nation's airports are already increasing as staffing strains hit the TSA workforce. There will be no new national flood insurance policies processed, impacting Americans who are buying homes.

CISA operates at limited capacity, with the majority of the workforce furloughed. Meanwhile, Iranian, Russian, and Chinese cyber actors continue targeting U.S. networks and critical infrastructure.

While Coast Guard servicemembers received their most recent check, civilian personnel are working without pay.

Homeland Security investigators, who investigate wide-ranging illicit activity, like drugs and weapons smuggling, as well as human trafficking, are not moving forward.

These limitations on our national security capabilities should concern us all. There is no reason to vote against this critical funding for our Department of Homeland Security at such an important time for our country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes'' to end this shutdown and to keep our Nation safe.

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my very good friend, the ranking member, for participating in debate and for working with us to get most of the government open.

Quite frankly, I want to--not correct my good friend from Maryland who spoke earlier, but just provide some context. When we were in negotiations over this bill--we are in the majority in each Chamber--we asked the minority what did they need.

My friend, the ranking member, told me what she needed, and we compromised on almost every bill, all but one. She said that this is the form in which I would like to receive it and would maximize the chances of funding most of the government.

She followed her word to the letter, and we got most of those bills through. We actually got all of those bills through because we did it.

By the same token, I asked our friends, the Senate Democrats: What do you need in terms of this to be able to pass the legislation? It doesn't mean you have to agree with everything in it. It is a compromise bill.

So they told us what they needed. They wanted a package, not a separate vote, and they got exactly what they asked for and exactly what they had agreed to. Nobody got everything they wanted, but this is a compromise bill. You give it to us in this form, and we can pass it.

They didn't.

Now, the reality is a majority of each Chamber is in favor of this legislation. They were in favor of the other five bills which, thankfully, were enacted, or we would be in the middle of a complete government shutdown now.

The majority of both Chambers have voted for this bill. This is a case of the minority deciding to hold the majority hostage. No legislative majority is ever going to agree to that. My friends would not agree to that.

I was here when we were debating the repeal of ObamaCare. We adopted a similar strategy to what Senate Democrats are pursuing today, and note I said Senate Democrats. It didn't work. I didn't think it was very smart. We brought whole sections of the government out to reauthorize. We could say exactly what our friends are saying today: Well, gosh, we are not for shutting down the Department of Defense. We are not for this. You should vote for that.

They didn't vote for any of it because they said they weren't going to be blackmailed. They also said that it was nonsensical to pick and choose which of the different agencies and particular departments we would keep open. They were right about that. They are now pursuing exactly what Republicans did and exactly what they condemned so vociferously and, I would say, correctly at the time.

This is legislative blackmail, and the people who are being hurt are the people who have nothing to do with this dispute. They are doing their jobs, the people at FEMA, the people at TSA, elements of the Coast Guard, the civilian elements of the Coast Guard, and the whole range of things I went through in my opening statement. There is simply no justification for it.

There are negotiations going on on these various matters dealing with Homeland Security. Some of them were in the bill. Body cameras are an excellent Democratic suggestion. Nine times out of 10, I think body cameras show the law enforcement official is almost always in the right, but on the 10th time, we certainly want to know when they are not so we can correct that problem. That is a good idea. That was a Democratic suggestion that we incorporated in the bill.

Let's have de-escalation training to lower tension. That is a good idea, and that is in the bill. There were other things we tried to get in the bill that, frankly, probably, ought to be done just by operation that we weren't able to succeed. We have to have a bill that can pass both Chambers and be signed by the President.

Now, government and appropriations, more than any other part, is a give-and-take process, and we negotiated almost everything very openly and honestly. We negotiated this bill openly and honestly. It was Senate Democrats who, after agreeing to one thing--which, by the way, is exactly what happened in the first government shutdown.

We should look at that. How did that end up?

It lasted 43 days. It was the longest government shutdown in history.

Did Democrats achieve any of their objectives? No.

Now, they think they scored political points.

They think it made them more popular, but did they substantively achieve anything? No.

Right now, there are negotiations going on, largely involving the administration and Senate Democrats. That is fine. I understand there are some changes being made there. We ought to allow that process to continue. We should not shut down the government.

This bill is substantially the same--as the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Amodei, said--as what we saw on this floor 2 months ago, but the situation is fundamentally different. We are in even more dangerous times.

We can debate about that ad infinitum, but I don't think we should be debating as to whether our Homeland Security apparatus should be up, paid, operational, vigilant, and alert. This is the time, of all times, that should happen.

I think some of my friends on the other side--not all of them, but some of them--will have changed their minds because circumstances are different. Frankly, we want to give them the opportunity to go ahead and vote that way if they have changed their minds. If they haven't, that is fine. They can go ahead and keep the Department shut down, but it is at odds with everything they have stood for and preached for many, many, many years.

In the end, I don't think it is helpful in moving the country forward or solving problems. I have never favored shutdowns. I have never argued for them. I have always argued against them, whether my party did it--and we have certainly done it--or the other side. The same thing is true now.

Mr. Speaker, I think if we reflect, we should, in a bipartisan way, do what we did 2 months ago and pass this bill. Hopefully, the Senate will have the opportunity to do the same thing.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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