TRANSCRIPT: Congresswoman Escobar Speaks on Republican Reconciliation 2.0 Bill, Discusses Republican Priorities, Camp East Montana, ICE & CBP Funding

This press release from Representative Veronica Escobar (D-TX) was published on 2026-06-08 and titled "TRANSCRIPT: Congresswoman Escobar Speaks on Republican Reconciliation 2.0 Bill, Discusses Republican Priorities, Camp Ea".

TRANSCRIPT: Congresswoman Escobar Speaks on Republican Reconciliation 2.0 Bill, Discusses Republican Priorities, Camp East Montana, ICE & CBP Funding

Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) provided testimony during the House Rules Committee hearing on S.2, the FY2026 Budget Resolution (also known as Reconciliation 2.0). This legislation passed in the Senate last week and is to be considered in the House this week. In her opening remarks, she spoke about Camp East Montana, the $1.8 billion slush fund Donald Trump continues to advocate for to pay off domestic terrorists, hypocrisy by Republicans proudly supporting this legislation, and more. Congresswoman Escobar also had several follow up interactions with the Rules Committee. In the first, she was asked by Democratic Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon to further discuss the waste, fraud, and abuse she’s seen with ICE and CBP, particularly in regards to Camp East Montana. In the second, she discusses with Representative Teresa Leger Fernández what she believes the purpose of the Republican legislation is. She also responds to several Republican talking points about the bill. The videos can be found here (opening remarks), here (first follow up), and here (second follow up), and a transcript of all of the Congresswoman’s speaking roles can be found below: Opening Remarks House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx: Representative Escobar, you’re recognized. Congresswoman Escobar: Thank you, Madam Chair and Madam Ranking Member. Let's bring some facts back into this room. I want to begin by saying it's a privilege for me to serve on both the House Budget and Appropriations Committees. I serve on the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which is where we should be talking about appropriations. But unfortunately, Congress is helping the president take away our obligation and duty to fund the government through this reconciliation bill. I want to remind everyone here and everyone watching that the One Big, Beautiful Bill provided $140 billion - billion with a B - for CBP and ICE. It increased our deficit by $4.7 trillion - trillion with a T - and the Department of Homeland Security still has $100 billion left. $100 billion. There is money in the bank, and Republicans want the American taxpayer to give them $70 billion more in order to blow up the deficit even further. I want to talk about also what this money - what the One Big, Beautiful bill money - has unleashed in our country. And I want to begin by by saying I live on the US-Mexico border. I am one of a handful of members of Congress that actually live on the border. No one wants a safe, secure border more than those of us who live there. Those of us who raised our families there. Those of us who go home every weekend. But what the reconciliation dollars are doing is not creating a safer or more secure country. In fact, this money has unleashed abuses that U.S. citizens are offended by. If you look at President Trump's polling numbers, you will see that American voters, American people, do not like the way this administration is unleashing those dollars against our very own fellow citizens. In fact, as a result of this money, 170 US citizens were arrested and two were killed on the streets of Minneapolis. 60 people have died in ICE custody. This is a historic, shocking number, and that includes a homicide that occurred inside the detention facility in my district at Camp East Montana. This money has unleashed abuses and violations of law and violations of the Constitution. And there have been attempts, after attempts, after attempts to limit our oversight of this money. I want to tell you about Camp East Montana in my district, which is funded with the One Big Beautiful Bill dollars that Republicans approved. That facility can hold up to 5,000 human beings. It is a $1.24 billion facility. I've had conversations with my constituents about what that $1.24 billion could do to help them improve their lives. Instead, it's going into a tent city that is run by a private contractor who has prioritized profits over meeting federal standards. And that's not all. This money has also been used by DHS to purchase three warehouses, warehouses that were created to hold pecans from our agricultural industry, purchased by DHS in my district for $122 million. ICE is now going to spend probably hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit these warehouses so that they can hold 8,500 immigrants. It is - that should shock the conscience of everyone. There's not even the water capacity or wastewater capacity to hold that many people. But this money has emboldened and empowered ICE to do this. And I will say, instead of - it is shocking that instead of using the $100 billion still available - this $70 billion that's being added will really further empower ICE to do more of the same. And we all do support law enforcement. I take great offense to Republicans claiming we do not support law enforcement. This is why Democrats uniformly are opposed to the $1.8 billion slush fund that Donald Trump wants to use to pay off insurrectionists who beat cops on