Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. MACKENZIE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.

For nearly 3 weeks, key pieces of the Department of Homeland Security have been shut down, and families face uncertainty about their paychecks. This is happening because some in this Chamber are choosing to play politics at a time when the work of DHS staff is urgently needed and despite having negotiated this bipartisan agreement themselves.

Today, some DHS components are operating at limited capacity. Trainings are halted. Long-term planning is paused. Only bare-minimum essential services are being continued. This is not sustainable for our national security.

While some have chosen to politicize this debate by exclusively focusing on ICE, this ignores the fact that DHS is responsible for a wide range of responsibilities that are essential for our national security.

TSA officers stand on the front lines every single day to secure our skies, yet they are working without paychecks.

The Coast Guard could fully execute marine security if they had funding. Search and rescue operations and drug interdiction missions are in jeopardy because, again, of the opposition from the other side.

FEMA's disaster response and recovery efforts are scaled back as severe weather and emergencies approach.

CISA, our Nation's cyber defense agency, is operating at limited capacity during heightened global tensions.

The Secret Service faces constraints in protecting our leaders.

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Mr. MACKENZIE. All of this, again, is after the other side voted in a bipartisan way to support this effort initially and then pulled back their support because of politics.

It is despicable what we see happening in our budgeting process here in Congress. We should stand up right now at this time more than ever to protect the American people and protect our homeland by providing this funding.

It is time to put the politics aside. Support the men and women who protect our Nation. Prioritize the safety of the American people. That means ending this shutdown, passing the bill, and fully restoring the operational readiness of the Department of Homeland Security.

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