DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

On 2026-05-11, Senator John Thune (R-SD) delivered a floor speech titled "DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY" in the Senate.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 79 (Monday, May 11, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 79 (Monday, May 11, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S2189-S2190] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we have a lot to do over the next 2 weeks: confirm Kevin Warsh to the Federal Reserve, approve a nominations package, and fund law enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security. That last item should not need to be on our agenda. We should have been able to have funded border security and immigration enforcement officers as part of the final Homeland Security funding agreement, but my Democrat colleagues refused. In fact, the Democrat leader said today that Democrats will fight legislation to fund law enforcement at DHS with ``every tool we have.'' It is difficult to believe that we are here again. We all remember the ``defund the police'' movement embraced by the left and members of the Democrat Party. We also remember how cities who moved to defund the police backtracked in pretty short order because it turns out, as even some leftists came to realize, we need police officers; we need law enforcement. We live in a fallen world, and there are always going to be people out there who seek to hurt and exploit the innocent, and we need men and women who will stand between the innocent and danger. We need men and women who courageously dedicate their lives to law enforcement. All of this should go without saying. I can scarcely think of anything more obvious, but, apparently, the need for law enforcement is not obvious to my Democrat colleagues because they are right back to a ``defund the police'' position. This time, it is defunding law enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security, specifically Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the men and women--the men and women--who patrol our borders and take dangerous criminal illegal immigrants off of our streets. Mr. President, when I say defunding law enforcement and DHS, I don't [[Page S2190]] mean reducing the budget. I mean complete and total defunding. My Democrat colleagues refused to provide a single dollar for the men and women who protect our borders. They refused to provide a single dollar for the men and women who take dangerous criminal illegal aliens off of our street. And I want you to think about that for just a minute. My Democrat colleagues, apparently, believe there should be no physical presence at our borders and no law enforcement officers to deport dangerous criminals who have entered our country illegally. We had 4 years of chaos at the southern border under President Biden, but at least we had the Border Patrol, overstretched as it was. Now Democrats, apparently, believe in removing all law enforcement officers from our Nation's borders. I shouldn't need to state the obvious here: that we need border security and immigration enforcement officers to protect our Nation, just as we need police officers and FBI agents and Secret Service agents and all of the law enforcement officers who serve our communities. Democrats might like to pretend otherwise, but there are dangerous individuals who would like to make their way illegally across our border--drug traffickers, human traffickers, other criminals, terrorists. And the men and women of the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are the men and women who stand between us and these dangerous individuals, who turn them back at our borders and take them out of our communities, if they do manage to make their way into our country. These are the men and women my Democrat colleagues want to defund-- not reform. Nope, my Democrat colleagues repeatedly rejected reforms. They want to defund and defund completely--zero--zero agents at our border, zero agents to deport criminals here in the United States illegally. That is what my Democrat colleagues opted for. It is Police Week this week, a week to honor our Nation's law enforcement officers and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting our communities. Perhaps--perhaps--it will remind my Democrat colleagues of just how much we rely on law enforcement and just how much we need all--all--of our Nation's law enforcement officers. ____________________