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Floor Speech
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Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. President, I rise today to implore my Democratic colleagues one more time: End this ridiculous shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security.
Every day--every day--the stakes get higher, and every day the real- world consequences get more severe. Shutting down DHS to make a point on immigration is reckless, and it is devoid of basic, fundamental common sense. It weakens the Agencies that protect the homeland. It punishes--punishes--the men and women across TSA, CISA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the rest of DHS, who stand watch every day over this country, and it burdens Americans who depend on those public servants.
So what has this shutdown accomplished? What has it brought us?
Well, first, it endangers America and endangers Americans. Since combat operations began in Iran, the homeland has seen five major attacks: an ISIS-inspired bombing attempt outside of Gracie Mansion in New York City; a terrorist shooting in a ROTC classroom at Old Dominion; a vehicle attack at Temple Israel in Michigan; a terrorist shooting at a bar in Austin, TX; and a pro-Iran cyber attack on Stryker, one of America's great medical products companies, whose systems support patient care in hospitals across the country.
These threats come on top of the violence already made possible by the Biden administration's disastrous, catastrophic border policies. Just last Thursday, we saw it on the television. Just last Thursday, an illegal immigrant shot and killed an 18-year-old Loyola Chicago student, Sheridan Gorman.
The killer had crossed the border in 2023, was caught and released, and then, after a later shoplifting arrest, was released once again. And now, sadly, tragically, a young woman is dead at his hands.
And that is why we must keep DHS fully operational, including ICE. We don't know what threats exist among the 10 million illegal immigrants who entered our country during the Biden administration. But we do know that those risks are growing, and they are made much worse, much more severe because of the carelessness of the Democrats in shutting down and not being willing to fund DHS.
And yet, in our moment of real national need, Democrats are choosing performance theater over the safety of the American people. It is irresponsible. It is callous. It is disgraceful. And it must stop. It must stop. We are 40 days into this. It must stop.
Now, second, shutting down DHS hurts the very people who step forward to protect us--to protect all of us. The average TSA agent earns about $50,000 a year. Many live paycheck to paycheck, and those are the paychecks my Democratic colleagues chose to withhold to stage this stunt.
Now, fortunately--and thank God--President Trump, earlier today, has intervened and directed the new Secretary of Homeland Security to find a way to pay these folks.
But, tragically, much of the damage has already been done. Too many Pennsylvanians are already paying the price. TSA officers in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh airports have had to rely on food banks-- that is right, food banks--to get by. The men and women standing between the traveling public and the danger that faces us should not have to depend on charity because Congress can't do its job.
The consequences of this shutdown are mounting. Last Sunday--last Sunday--one in four TSA agents in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh airports called out--25 percent. Twenty-five percent didn't come to work because Democrats have forced them to work without pay. They can't do it. They can't protect their families and come to work and not be paid. Not many Americans can.
And since the shutdown began, at least 450 TSA agents have quit--450 trained professionals gone out of the TSA force. Replacing them will cost money. It will take time. And until then--until then--the risk, the threat facing the American people has gone up. It is irresponsible. It has got to end.
Third, this shutdown imposes real costs--real costs--on the American people, and that creates real vulnerabilities. We have all seen the images: these airport security lines snaking out of the terminal into the parking garages. Families heading out on spring break, workers traveling across the country to see loved ones, people hitting the road for work--all are victims of a politically manufactured crisis.
And I wish I could say it was just the airports, but the consequences go far beyond the airports. The World Cup security preparations in cities around the world--including Philadelphia--have already fallen behind. Security grants for houses of worship are tied up. Local communities are without critical DHS threat information sharing. Our cyber security readiness is diminished. And in Pennsylvania, firefighters and first responders have lost access to critical DHS training.
The bottom line--the bottom line is this shutdown is petty, political theater putting American lives at risk. It is unacceptable, and it has to stop.
And to be clear, I reject--I reject--the false choice between funding and reforms. We can address the legitimate concerns the American people have had about immigration enforcement, while fully funding DHS. We can secure the homeland and insist on professionalism and competence.
That is why I support the commonsense reforms that Republicans in Congress and the administration have put forward: body cameras for ICE, funding for deescalation training, increased transparency requirements, and regular inspections of detention facilities. These are serious proposals. They are commonsense proposals. They have been offered by the administration and Congress in good faith--by Republicans in Congress in good faith--and yet the Democrats have turned their head.
It is because they don't want to find a resolution to this. They want to try to use this as an issue for political advantage in the midterms. And the American people are suffering, and they deserve better. The American people deserve better.
So, moreover, I am confident that my former colleague Markwayne Mullin, whom we confirmed on Monday, will bring the leadership required for DHS at this critical moment. He is the right man to meet this moment.
Now, whatever our differences are in this Chamber over policy, shutting down the government is never the right answer. It is never the right answer. Our citizens who put us here expect more.
President Obama's DHS Secretary, Jeh Johnson, said last week:
We need to get out of the business of coupling policy disagreements in Congress with funding the government.
And shutting down the Department of Homeland Security for the third time this Congress amid major combat operations in the Middle East is not merely wrong; it is reckless.
And I am proud that my friend and fellow Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman agrees that shutting down the government is ``wrong.'' He and I can always be depended on to walk together on this for a better Pennsylvania.
I urge my colleagues across the aisle and I urge the others in the Democratic Party to fund DHS, protect America, pay the men and women who are defending us--putting themselves in harm's way, defending the homeland--and relieve the American people of these ridiculous, politically instilled, unnecessary burdens.
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