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Floor Speech
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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, as we enter spring and schools across the Nation approach their spring breaks, millions of families will soon be traveling. They will be relying on our airports to travel to visit family, to go on vacation, but unfortunately, they will be met with longer lines because Washington Republicans refuse to pay our TSA agents.
That is right--the Department of Homeland Security is currently without funding because Washington Republicans would rather see it shut down than pass commonsense--just commonsense--guardrails on ICE. In fact, every Senate Republican present voted just this past weekend against paying our TSA agents.
As a result, the American people are paying the price. When TSA staffing levels drop because officers aren't getting paid, wait times at airport security checkpoints--well, they stretch longer and longer. This doesn't just inconvenience travelers; it undermines security and directly threatens jobs and businesses and livelihoods.
The situation is so dire at our airports that the Trump administration is going to send untrained ICE agents to our airports-- untrained ICE agents--to try to do the job of our highly trained TSA agents.
That is why I rise yet again with a simple, practical proposal to pay hard-working TSA agents, pay them right now. They deserve it. If we cannot move forward with funding for the entire Department of Homeland Security, we should at least be able to come together on this. The Trump administration and Senate leadership are having ongoing negotiations on the guardrails on ICE, and TSA officers should not be caught in the middle of that fight.
So today, I am asking my colleagues to take just a simple step: Pass my legislation right now to pay TSA workers so that commercial air travel remains safe and functional.
Let me say this: Claiming that you will not agree to pay TSA agents because this bill doesn't fund the entire Department--well, it is, frankly, just an excuse because if Washington Republicans truly believe that, then why did they agree to literally fund everything else in our government except for DHS?
If it has to be all or nothing, like they are now claiming, then why agree to fund parts of our government where we have an agreement and leave DHS unfunded?
I can tell you why. It is that they know it is the right thing to do. They know that other government employees should not be penalized for the President's mass deportation agenda.
That is exactly why we are asking for this today. Don't penalize TSA and the traveling public for the fact that you refuse to rein in ICE. Have them be held accountable. Have them be trained, transparent, and accountable like every other law enforcement agency in this country.
So, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 362, S. 4127; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, I reserve the right to object.
I think we would all agree that it would be better to fund the DHS as a whole rather than piecemeal, but you won't agree to commonsense reforms. In fact, the President himself said, this weekend, that he will not agree to any reform or funding of the DHS, and he is holding other bills hostage. So it is on the President's desk. The President has clearly interjected himself in this by putting ICE in our airports when we can fund the entire Department of Homeland Security and continue the discussions on ICE, which are going back and forth with the President and his team and leadership, and be done with it.
In the meantime, if we pass my piece for right now, we can at least pass the TSA, but the President has interjected himself again. He doesn't want guardrails. So I want to just, at least, prevent those TSA agents from missing another paycheck.
In the meantime, get ICE out of our airports.
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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, you know, I find this really disappointing. Paying our hard-working TSA officers shouldn't be controversial. It is not partisan. The funding isn't controversial. People in my State and in every State are waiting 3 hours, maybe more than that. They are missing their flights.
Everyone here has the power to do something about it. My Republican colleagues have the power to do something about it. They don't have to wait for the President. So, if Washington Republicans--my Senate colleagues--really wanted to do what was right by their constituents regarding the TSA workers, you would have passed my bill to pay the TSA officers, instead of punishing them and the American people because of your inaction.
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