Mark Alford: “Mr. Speaker, I will begin with a simple reminder: We are here today to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.…”

“Mr. Speaker, I will begin with a simple reminder: We are here today to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security. Tomorrow, many of our dedicated DHS workers, heroes who show up each and every day to secure our borders, screen our passengers in our airports, and protect our homeland, will be unpaid yet again. Some in the Department of Homeland Security will even begin to get furlough notices tomorrow. Republicans refuse to let that happen, Mr. Speaker. We have tried to do this the right way. We have gone through the appropriations process. We passed all 12 bills to fully fund the 2026 budget. We had agreements at the very top level, including homeland, but those agreements were not adhered to. We fully funded DHS in the House. Four times we have sent the funding package over across this very Hall to the Senate. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, it has come to this. We need--no, we must pay our DHS workers. We must get back to the work that the American people sent us here to do. No more obstruction, no more games, and no more delays. Let's get this done, and let's get back to work.”