Kim on U.S. Senate Budget Breakthrough
The U.S. Senate this morning moved to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, except ICE and border patrol, according to THIS CNN report.
Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ issued a statement:
Through 2:20 AM this morning, Kim was on the Senate Floor to echo Americans’ demands during final debate of a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, which passed the Senate with zero additional funding for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He released the following statement after the vote:
“We said not another dime to ICE while this lawlessness and corruption continues; we’ve kept that promise.
“We’ve also kept our promise to make sure our airports are fully staffed through TSA, and our communities have the support they need through FEMA.
“Americans will not stand for Stephen Miller and Donald Trump weaponizing our own government against us — Congress must stand with the American people and fight until we deliver the reforms to ICE they deserve.”
WATCH SENATOR KIM’S REMARKS FROM THE SENATE FLOOR EARLY THIS MORNING
More from The Guardian HERE:
The US Senate has passed legislation that will finance most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) but withhold funds from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and part of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The Senate approved the funding package by a voice vote in a rare overnight session, ahead of Congress’ scheduled two-week recess on Friday. The agreement would fund the DHS subagencies affected by the lapse in funding which has lasted almost six weeks, such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), US Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa).
However, the House of Representatives will still need to act in order to end the partial shutdown, and they could vote as soon as Friday.
More below:
| Last night, the Senate voted to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the end of the fiscal year with the exception of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Through the partial government shutdown, Democrats effectively used their political leverage to check attempts to provide further funding for Trump's lawless ICE and CBP. This measure, if passed in the House, will put an end to the rapidly developing airport crises across the country due to the lapse in payments for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents.
In response, Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert issued the following statement:“Last night marked an essential win in the Senate. The abuses and horror of ICE, the murders of Pretti and Good, the warrantless forced entry, the fear our friends and neighbors feel, the ICE deployment to airports, all mean there must be no blank check for ICE. This long overdue agreement in the Senate to pass funding for TSA allows Congress to continue to work on necessary reforms to ICE and CBP. The House must now pass this bill.” ### |
