Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Statement Following House Vote to Keep Government Open and Avoid a Second Trump Shutdown

Today, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, released this statement following a field hearing of the House Subcommittee on Administration and Elections in Brownsville, Texas:

"Earlier this evening, the House of Representatives voted to keep government and avert a second government shutdown in as many months. Following an earlier vote in the Senate, the legislation now heads to the President for his signature. I certainly hope that the President signs the bill and averts a second trump shutdown. The president does not consider this evening's legislation in a vacuum. Almost two months ago, the President was presented with a deal that is substantially similar to the one the President rejected, and one which produced the first trump shutdown--the longest shutdown of our federal government in its history. That shutdown lasted five weeks, and caused a loss of $11 billion dollars from our national economy. The cause of the impasse between the President and Congress centered around the President's oft-repeated promise that he would build a wall at the southern border and that it would be paid for by the citizens of Mexico. When the President realized that the American people or their elected representatives would not pay for the wall, the President threw a temper tantrum that had devastating consequences across the country and in my home state of Texas, which included: 35,694 employees in agencies without appropriations funded; 3.7 million participants affected by the disruption in SNAP; 9,000 Treasury Department employees, 5,700 Homeland Security employees and 4,300 employees of the Department of Transportation stationed in Texas, who were affected by this shutdown, including the hardworking employees of the Transportation Safety Administration with whom I visit on my trips between Washington, D.C. and the Eighteenth District of Texas.

"In order to avoid this calamity once again, Democrats have responsibly brought to the floor a bill to fund the government, so as to avoid the consequences wrought by the last Trump Shutdown. Specifically, the bill seeks to fund many of the programs on which Americans rely and for which they expect their government to work for them. For example, the bill does not give money for the concrete wall that the president relentlessly promised. This bill continues language allowing only fencing designs in use as of 2017 and prohibits construction on sensitive environmental areas such as the Bentsen-Rio State Park, the National Butterfly Center, the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, La Lomita Historical Park, and the Lower Rio Grande Wildlife Refuge between Brownsville, TX, and the Gulf of Mexico.

"The bill improves transparency by requiring ICE to make public information about the numbers and types of people in its custody, such as families; border apprehension detainees; interior enforcement detainees; and those who are in custody who have a positive credible fear claim. It also prohibits DHS from preventing a member of Congress from entering any facility that is used to detain or otherwise house children and direct DHS to make no changes to the current operations and facility conditions in anticipation of a congressional oversight visit.

"Moreover, this bill: prevents DHS from destroying any record related to potential sexual assault or abuse of any individual in DHS's custody; prohibits ICE from using information provided by the Office of Refugee Resettlement about sponsors or potential sponsors of unaccompanied children to arrest, detain, or remove those individuals, unless that information reveals the individual has a dangerous criminal background; prevents DHS from placing pregnant women in restraints who are in the custody of DHS, except in extraordinary circumstances; and it provides oversight of ICE treatment of detainees, including protections for pregnant refugees, prohibiting destruction of detainee sexual assault records, and public reporting related to detainees in ICE custody.

"This bill also funds discretionary funding for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) WIC, which is $100 million below the FY2018 enacted level and $325 million above the President's budget request. It also provides &73.477 billion for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which will fully fund the program in 2019. And, it provides $23.141 billion for Child Nutrition Programs, which will fully fund the program in 2019. Moreover, it provides $1.716 billion for Food for Peace and $210.255 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. And, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is funded at $3.08 billion in discretionary funding for the FDA, an increase of $269 million.

"This bill also funds the Departments of Commerce, Justice and related agencies. As the 2020 census approaches, this bill provides money for the Census Bureau, which will enable it to effectively prepare for a thorough, accurate, and cost-effective 2020 Decennial Census. As Hurricane season is just a few months away, the bill also funds NOAA climate research and monies for the National Weather Service.

"As a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, I am pleased that the bill also funds, at increases over the last fiscal year, the following components of the Justice Department: the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the United States Attorneys; the United States Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. And, critically, it funds $3.02 billion in grants in the following amounts to the following agencies: the following grants to state $423.5 million for Byrne JAG; $303.5 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program; $178 million to address sexual assault kit and other DNA evidence backlogs; $87.5 million for Second Chance Act programs; $347 million for grant programs to address the opioid crisis; $100 million for the STOP School Violence Act; $497.5 million for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs; and $75 million for grants to improve the NICS firearms background check system. And, as a member of the House of Representatives from Houston, this bill critically funds NASA at $21.5 billion, an increase of $763.9 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $1.6 billion above the President's budget request. This bill also funds the national parks, the Smithsonian institutions, our diplomatic corps and our commitments to global peace and global health.

"The collateral damage caused by the Trump Shutdown was substantial, long lasting, and unnecessary because it could have been avoided had the President not reneged on his promise to sign the continuing resolution passed by the Senate unanimously on December 19, 2018. Instead, the President callously shut down the government for 35 days, furloughing 800,000 civil servants and forcing nearly half that many to work without pay, which cost the national economy more than $11 billion in lost productivity and economic output. Because the President broke his promise, frontline federal employees, including law enforcement and public safety personnel, worked without pay from December 22 through January 25, 2019.

"The way these federal workers, many of whom risk their lives in the service of this country, were treated was shameful. The shutdown forced some employees to look for new jobs or take on extra work, and the pressure was immense for employees and families with no other source of income. Among those not receiving a pay check for their work were 3,200 Secret Service agents who risk their lives every single day to protect the President and his family. In addition to the federal employees working without pay, hardworking federal employees at agencies like the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, and NASA had been furloughed without pay, plunging them and their families into uncertainty. Shutting down the Government of the United States, or any portion thereof, is not an acceptable tactic or strategy for resolving differences regarding policy, funding levels, or governing philosophy. It should never happen again. Given the damage mercilessly inflicted on the American people and the economy by the Trump Shutdown, Congress has a fiduciary duty to the American people to ensure the continued, uninterrupted operations of the Government of the United States and its services. This is why I voted to keep government open.

"As we work towards FY20 appropriations, it is critical that we ensure robust accountability of DHS, including limiting the agency's transfer authority, and dramatically reducing the number of people that are held in detention--utilizing proven alternatives to detention, including community-based alternatives and parole, for the vast majority of people who are held in detention and pose no public safety or flight risk. ICE's overuse of detention is both expensive and cruel and it must end. The Trump administration's treatment of immigrants is unconscionable and inhumane. Congress can put a stop to this in passing a strong DHS appropriations bill. Members of Congress are watching the Trump administration closely. If DHS tries to go around Congress to increase immigration detention and enforcement, either by transfer, reprogramming, or other measure, we will hold them accountable. The FY20 appropriations bill will be the first one written by Democrats and will require support from all corners of our caucus to pass it. I will not support a bill that does not include meaningful reforms and progressive priorities, including decreases in Trump's mass deportation force; robust and meaningful accountability, oversight, and transparency of DHS; and restoration of critical U.S. humanitarian protections. Until that time, I will support this bill and keep government open."

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