Floor SpeechBipartisan2026-02-10

CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026

ImmigrationEnvironmentTradeEducationHousingCivil Rights

Context

On 2026-02-10, Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN-4) delivered a floor speech titled "CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026" in the House. The speech addressed immigration and also covered the environment, trade policy. It referenced legislation: HR7148.

Full Text

CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 28 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E121] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026 ______ speech of HON. BETTY McCOLLUM of minnesota in the house of representatives Tuesday, February 3, 2026 Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I do not support continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I will vote no on H.R. 7148 because it does nothing to stop the dangerous and illegal activity of ICE and Border Patrol agents. The Department of Homeland Security's Operation Metro Surge, under the direction of Secretary Noem, has brought 3,000 unidentified federal agents into Minnesota's communities. This surge is not about immigration enforcement. If it were, the Trump Administration would focus their efforts on states like Texas, which has 20 times as many undocumented immigrants as Minnesota, or Florida which has 12 times as many. Instead, President Trump and Secretary Noem have brought fear and chaos to the Twin Cities and across Minnesota with this disproportionate and punitive surge. I want to state for the record what is happening on the ground in my state. Minnesotans are experiencing a coordinated violation of our civil rights by the federal government. Journalists and protesters are being arrested in violation of their 1st amendment rights to speech. The right of protestors under the 2nd amendment to lawfully be armed in a public space is being questioned by President Trump. DHS agents are entering homes using administrative warrants that conflict with the 4th amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Minnesotans are being detained without cause in violation of the 5th amendment right to due process. And this entire surge is being used to attempt to coerce our state government into capitulating to federal government demands, in violation of the 10th amendment. Minnesotans are being racially profiled on a mass scale, assaulted on our streets, and kidnapped from their homes. Two United States citizens--Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti--were killed in our streets by DHS agents. Today, in my district and throughout the state, people are afraid to leave their homes. Children are not going to school. Families are not attending religious services. Small businesses are closed. Many of my neighbors now live in a consistent state of chaos and fear. When they do go out, many citizens and legal immigrants are now carrying their passports with them. If they do not have a valid passport, which half of Americans do not, they may resort to carrying around birth certificates or whatever other legal papers they have. This is not the America that I learned about as a child or that I taught about as a social studies teacher. This is what we learn about when we study the behavior of dictatorships and how they rule with fear and oppression. I ask my colleagues to believe your eyes, not the lies. This is what we are seeing and experiencing in Minnesota, and it is all being done at the direction of the President of the United States. Right now, in Minnesota, we are standing up for our neighbors. We are defending our rights and the rights of everyone in this Nation. To all who are volunteering their time and effort to drive their neighbors, to escort children to school, and to deliver food: I thank them for standing together. We are one Minnesota. To the peaceful demonstrators and observers: I thank them for their voice and their commitment. They are often the only ones delivering the transparency that our federal government refuses to provide. For that, they have not only experienced frostbite, but they have also been threatened and roughed up and detained for exercising their constitutional rights. Agents have shown up to some of their homes to tell them they are watching them. But they continue to be a model for our Nation of courage, compassion, and conviction. I could not be prouder of my state and its people. And so that brings me to my vote this week. I strongly oppose combining Homeland Security funding with the other important Appropriations bills in this package. I wish that it had not been tied to funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Treasury, State, and Defense. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I know the hard work and collaboration that went into producing these bipartisan funding agreements. However, I cannot in good conscience support any bill with funding for DHS while this dangerous surge in Minnesota continues and without real oversight and constraints on ICE and Border Patrol. I understand that some of my colleagues will be voting for this package with the hope that we will make those changes. But, unfortunately, in the face of this Administration's words and actions, I cannot share that optimism. Last Thursday, White House border Czar Tom Homan announced that there would be a drawdown of federal immigration agents in Minnesota. When asked by a reporter that same day whether a drawdown would occur, President Trump stated: ``No, no, not at all.'' Considering that President Trump has rejected his own Border Czar's intentions to reduce the presence of federal agents in Minnesota, I have no reason to believe that the Trump Administration will implement the reforms necessary to protect the safety of the people of Minnesota. I will vote no today on H.R. 7148. In the coming weeks, my vote will depend on what controls we can put in place for ICE and Border Patrol. We must see an end to the surge in Minnesota, and a guarantee of independent investigations into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and of other abuse and misconduct by DHS agents. We must institute changes for the conduct of ICE and CBP agents, including restrictions on their use of force, mandating the use of judicial warrants for searches, and an end to the use of roving patrols and racial profiling. We must improve the transparency and accountability of DHS operations by requiring that ICE and CBP agents wear functioning body cameras capturing archival footage. Proper uniforms must be worn displaying agency affiliation so that the public knows they are interacting with federal officers. Clear identification with a unique ID number must be displayed so that illegal behavior of an individual officer can be prosecuted in a court of law, as with any other public servant. My vote against DHS funding today will stand in solidarity with Minnesotans, to honor the lives of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and to demand changes that will protect our democracy. It will be a vote to uphold the values I brought with me to Congress, which are the values of Minnesota: honesty, respect, and caring for our neighbors. ____________________

Referenced legislation: HR7148

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CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026 Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 28 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E121] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026 ______ speech of HON. BETTY McCOLLUM of minnesota in the house of representatives Tuesday, February 3, 2026 Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I do not support continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I will vote no on H.R. 7148 because it does nothing to stop the dangerous and illegal activity of ICE and Border Patrol agents. The Department of Homeland Security's Operation Metro Surge, under the direction of Secretary Noem, has brought 3,000 unidentified federal agents into Minnesota's communities. This surge is not about immigration enforcement. If it were, the Trump Administration would focus their efforts on states like Texas, which has 20 times as many undocumented immigrants as Minnesota, or Florida which has 12 times as many. Instead, President Trump and Secretary Noem have brought fear and chaos to the Twin Cities and across Minnesota with this disproportionate and punitive surge. I want to state for the record what is happening on the ground in my state. Minnesotans are experiencing a coordinated violation of our civil rights by the federal government. Journalists and protesters are being arrested in violation of their 1st amendment rights to speech. The right of protestors under the 2nd amendment to lawfully be armed in a public space is being questioned by President Trump. DHS agents are entering homes using administrative warrants that conflict with the 4th amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Minnesotans are being detained without cause in violation of the 5th amendment right to due process. And this entire surge is being used to attempt to coerce our state government into capitulating to federal government demands, in violation of the 10th amendment. Minnesotans are being racially profiled on a mass scale, assaulted on our streets, and kidnapped from their homes. Two United States citizens--Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti--were killed in our streets by DHS agents. Today, in my district and throughout the state, people are afraid to leave their homes. Children are not going to school. Families are not attending religious services. Small businesses are closed. Many of my neighbors now live in a consistent state of chaos and fear. When they do go out, many citizens and legal immigrants are now carrying their passports with them. If they do not have a valid passport, which half of Americans do not, they may resort to carrying around birth certificates or whatever other legal papers they have. This is not the America that I learned about as a child or that I taught about as a social studies teacher. This is what we learn about when we study the behavior of dictatorships and how they rule with fear and oppression. I ask my colleagues to believe your eyes, not the lies. This is what we are seeing and experiencing in Minnesota, and it is all being done at the direction of the President of the United States. Right now, in Minnesota, we are standing up for our neighbors. We are defending our rights and the rights of everyone in this Nation. To all who are volunteering their time and effort to drive their neighbors, to escort children to school, and to deliver food: I thank them for standing together. We are one Minnesota. To the peaceful demonstrators and observers: I thank them for their voice and their commitment. They are often the only ones delivering the transparency that our federal government refuses to provide. For that, they have not only experienced frostbite, but they have also been threatened and roughed up and detained for exercising their constitutional rights. Agents have shown up to some of their homes to tell them they are watching them. But they continue to be a model for our Nation of courage, compassion, and conviction. I could not be prouder of my state and its people. And so that brings me to my vote this week. I strongly oppose combining Homeland Security funding with the other important Appropriations bills in this package. I wish that it had not been tied to funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Treasury, State, and Defense. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I know the hard work and collaboration that went into producing these bipartisan funding agreements. However, I cannot in good conscience support any bill with funding for DHS while this dangerous surge in Minnesota continues and without real oversight and constraints on ICE and Border Patrol. I understand that some of my colleagues will be voting for this package with the hope that we will make those changes. But, unfortunately, in the face of this Administration's words and actions, I cannot share that optimism. Last Thursday, White House border Czar Tom Homan announced that there would be a drawdown of federal immigration agents in Minnesota. When asked by a reporter that same day whether a drawdown would occur, President Trump stated: ``No, no, not at all.'' Considering that President Trump has rejected his own Border Czar's intentions to reduce the presence of federal agents in Minnesota, I have no reason to believe that the Trump Administration will implement the reforms necessary to protect the safety of the people of Minnesota. I will vote no today on H.R. 7148. In the coming weeks, my vote will depend on what controls we can put in place for ICE and Border Patrol. We must see an end to the surge in Minnesota, and a guarantee of independent investigations into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and of other abuse and misconduct by DHS agents. We must institute changes for the conduct of ICE and CBP agents, including restrictions on their use of force, mandating the use of judicial warrants for searches, and an end to the use of roving patrols and racial profiling. We must improve the transparency and accountability of DHS operations by requiring that ICE and CBP agents wear functioning body cameras capturing archival footage. Proper uniforms must be worn displaying agency affiliation so that the public knows they are interacting with federal officers. Clear identification with a unique ID number must be displayed so that illegal behavior of an individual officer can be prosecuted in a court of law, as with any other public servant. My vote against DHS funding today will stand in solidarity with Minnesotans, to honor the lives of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and to demand changes that will protect our democracy. It will be a vote to uphold the values I brought with me to Congress, which are the values of Minnesota: honesty, respect, and caring for our neighbors. ____________________ Referenced legislation: HR7148