Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman yielding me time. I also want to pay tribute to the gentleman before he leaves us. I believe this is your last effort, Mr. Sabo. You have been a very, very good person to work with on the committee. I wish you well. I am not sure what the future holds, but I know it is very positive.

Mr. Chairman, in the 3 short years since the Department came into existence, it has been in a constant state of transition and turmoil. Chronically understaffed at the border and in our airports, the Department has had to execute its critical national security mission without the people and resources it needs.

Time and again the dedicated men and women of the Department of Homeland Security are asked to do more with less. There have been numerous turnovers at the highest level in the Department. In a week from today, the 2006 hurricane season will begin and FEMA is still not fully staffed. The Department also has a significant number of leadership vacancies, including the chief financial officer, the chief privacy officer, the commissioner of customs of border protection, and the Under Secretary of Science and Technology. There are so many ``actings'' at the Department that the agency might want to start handing out Screen Actor Guild cards.

Seriously, it is no wonder that morale at the Department is practically dead last among all Federal agencies. This bill funds the Department at $33 billion, 5 percent over last year's funding measure. I am glad that we were able to increase the budget without raising the passenger ticket tax, but the level of resources provided is far short of what is needed to make real progress in the war on terror and partner effectively with State and local governments as well as the private sector.

Grants and training programs are funded at $2.5 billion. That is just 2 percent over what was provided to our communities to train and equip emergency responders last year. At this rate we are not even keeping up with inflation.

This bill also does not fulfill the funding commitments made in the 9/11 act. It does not fund 2,000 more Border Patrol agents. It does not fund 8,000 new detention beds. It does not fund 800 new immigration investigators. No wonder the border, Mr. Chairman, is in crisis.

If we are not willing to fully invest in securing the border permanently, what do we expect? The decision to send our already overtaxed National Guard to the border is a Band-Aid solution to hide the fact that we are failing the good men and women of the Border Patrol, ICE and CBP by not giving them the resources and additional support they need to do their job.

The bulk of my criticism is not for the appropriators. It is for the administration. The parameters for this year's appropriations were dangerously unrealistic. Mr. Obey attempted to correct this shortfall and infuse another $3.5 billion into the Department. Had the money been appropriated, the Department would be in better position to meet its responsibilities to the American people.

The Department is in its toddler years, barely out of the terrible twos. It is going to take a significant commitment by this Congress to do the oversight and provide the support needed if the Department is to ever grow into the Federal agency that Congress envisioned and the American people deserve.

Mr. Chairman, I again want to pay tribute to Mr. Sabo for guiding us during our terrible twos and threes in this Department. We wish him well.

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