House Passes Homeland Security Appropriations Bill

Press Release

Today Congressman Kevin Cramer announced the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of a Fiscal Year 2015 funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The legislation passed with amendments to defund President Obama's November 20, 2014 executive order on immigration.

"Today's bill is simple. It absolutely defunds the President's illegal action related to amnesty, as promised by the Speaker of the House when we passed the Cromnibus bill during the lame duck. Now we need to go about the business of fixing the legal immigration system to allow more H-1B visas for high-tech employees, H-2A visas for farm employees, and deal with border security," said Cramer.

Last December, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill to keep the government running through September 30, 2015. The bill funded 11 of the 12 annual Appropriations bills through September 30, and the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill was given a temporary extension through February 27, 2015 to give the new Congress leverage to influence immigration policy. Today's legislation keeps DHS funded through September 30, 2015.

The legislation also prioritizes critical security and counterterrorism programs while reducing overhead costs and spending on programs of a lower national priority. The provisions include:

Requiring DHS to submit comprehensive spending plans to Congress in order to promote transparency and increased public oversight

An increase of $118 million for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), supporting the largest operational force in history with 21,370 border patrol agents and 23,775 officers

$7 billion for disaster relief, including a fully funded Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with $1.5 billion for state and local grants

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