Tom Cole

Mr. COLE

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7147, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. This bill marks the final measure of our FY26 agenda. Our work here is about one of the most important duties, which is keeping the American people and our homeland safe. This legislation delivers just that and upholds the America First agenda through supporting border patrol enforcement agents, detention and deportation efforts, cutting-edge technology to detect illicit activity, and Coast Guard investments to counter Communist China's aggression in the maritime sphere. We enhance resources to combat fentanyl and other deadly drugs, while safeguarding children through expanded investigation into human trafficking and forced labor. From our borders and ports to aviation and cyberspace, this legislation delivers the personnel, training, and technology needed to reinforce our defenses and confront those who wish us harm. It also prioritizes strong and resilient communities by bolstering disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Subcommittee Chairman Mark Amodei prioritized safety at every level. Even in the face of political challenge, he and the ranking member, Mr. Cuellar of Texas, worked together to produce a serious and responsible bill. H.R. 7147 is focused on outcomes, not partisan rhetoric. It equips frontline personnel, strengthens enforcement, and provides the certainty DHS needs to carry out its mission effectively. I thank our Members and staff for their work, and I urge support for this bipartisan legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei), my very good friend and distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse), my very good friend.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Washington.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford), my very good friend and a former law enforcement official and sheriff.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford), my very good friend and distinguished gentleman who is also the vice-chair of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Dakota (Mrs. Fedorchak), my very good friend.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I want to begin by thanking two outstanding appropriators: Mr. Amodei, the chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee of Appropriations, and his working partner and colleague, the ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar). They have done an extraordinary job on this bill. We have heard a lot of rhetoric today. Not much of it has anything to do with what is in the bill. The bill itself is a good, strong bill. It is a bill for, frankly, the two Members who worked well together. It is not a perfect bill, as my friend Mr. Cuellar said, certainly not from his perspective, but it is a solid bill. There are no poison pills in this bill. It focuses on making the American people more secure. It does so economically and efficiently, and it does so in a way that, honestly, should make every member of the committee proud. This is a difficult bill to bring forward, no doubt about that. Each side has struggled with it over the years. I am very proud that the ranking member and the chairman worked together to bring a bill to the floor. That has not happened in a long, long time. Usually, it just sort of gets muddled in. It says a great deal about their professionalism and their cooperation. If you listened to the debate, you would think we have law enforcement in chaos and that somehow our country is not secure. Quite the opposite is true. Quite frankly, President Trump should be commended for what he and his administration have accomplished in a matter of weeks and months that most of us thought would take years. Our borders are secure. They are more secure now than they have ever been. It wasn't that long ago that I was on this floor talking about 15,000 a day, 10,000 a day coming in illegally. That has stopped. As a consequence of that, crime has gone down, not up. That is a great success for the American people. Drug trafficking is down, not up. That is a great success for the American people. The scourge of human trafficking, the exploitation of usually young women and young men, has been dramatically lowered. That is thanks to President Trump, the people who he has put in charge of our border security and our internal security, and the hard work of our Coast Guard. There is a lot in this bill that has nothing to do with ICE. We fund the Border Patrol here. Are we supposed to not pay those men and women who have kept us secure? We fund the Coast Guard, which, as my friends point out and the distinguished chair of this committee pointed out, has been refocused on some of the maritime security issues, particularly relating to foreign adversaries as far away as China. This bill deals with FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If you are voting against this bill, you are voting against funding the people who will help you in a hurricane and a tornado or a disaster of some sort. Why in the world should they be penalized? I think we should look at the bill in its totality. We should look at the difficulty of the task that we asked the chairman and the ranking member to do. We should thank them for the hard work and wisdom that they both exhibited in bringing this product to the floor. Mr. Speaker, I do worry about the rhetoric around this bill. I personally believe it is not intentional, but it is reckless encouraging people to believe that we have masses of bad actors in a particular agency. Some of the rhetoric--mostly not on this floor, let me say that--that I have heard in the country about comparing law enforcement officers to the gestapo or the Nazis, that is terrible. That is not true. That is not who they are. That is not what they do. That kind of rhetoric, when we hear it and wherever we hear it from, is dangerous and reckless and wrong. We have had a good debate here today on a variety of bills, and I will end on a little more positive note. Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank my friend, the ranking member, for her work. We don't always agree on everything. This bill is probably an example of that, but we work together well and professionally. One of the reasons we can consider this bill separately is my friend made that request and made it very convincingly to me. I know she is a person of good faith, and I will work with her wherever I can. Again, I thank her for her friendship and leadership. We will not agree on this matter today, on this particular item, but there is much, much more that we agree on than we disagree on. We would not have gotten to this point without working together. Having said that, I do think this is pretty clear, Mr. Speaker. The right thing to do here is to fund the people that protect America, that defend our borders, that help us in times of disaster, and, yes, who find criminals who have come into the country illegally, committed crimes, and make sure they are expelled. That makes America safer and better and more secure. I thank the President and his administration for doing that. I think we should rally around them and show our support for what they have done by passing this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COLE

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 7006, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 7006, the Financial Services- General Government bill, which institutes fiscal year 2026 funding for the Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs appropriations measures. This Congress has a fundamental responsibility to fund the government, and this two-bill package is our next step toward completing the full 12 bills. When done the right way, funding the government is not a single vote. It is a process that requires steady, deliberative progress. I am proud to say we are doing just that. Today marks the second time this month that we are bringing bipartisan, bicameral bills to the floor. We promised the American people a responsible Member-driven process, and that is precisely what we are delivering. This two-bill package reflects Member input, the America-first agenda, and the collaboration across political aisles and Chambers that serves the Nation. Advancing full-year appropriations matters because it gives the country certainty and direction. It allows vital agencies to plan, make decisions, and do their jobs based on today's realities and not policies from the past. That is how we move from promises to action and carry out the America-first agenda mandated by the people. Mr. Chair, those priorities are reflected throughout the measure before us. Through the Financial Services-General Government portion of the bill, Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Chairman David Joyce advanced important provisions that drive economic growth, uphold consumer freedom, and support entrepreneurship and small businesses, reinforcing the foundations of the American Dream for people and job creators nationwide. It also advances needed government efficiencies by cutting waste, modernizing technology and cybersecurity, and addressing unused Federal space and buildings. Crucially, it also protects Americans from a supercharged IRS by cutting enforcement and redirecting resources to customer service. This is especially important as we approach tax- filing season and implement the working families tax cut, allowing families to keep more of what they earn. Just as this package strengthens economic security and accountability, it also reinforces America's security and leadership at home and abroad. The National Security-Department of State measures champion an America-first policy agenda. We replaced the weakness of prior administrations by restoring President Trump's Peace Through Strength agenda. National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart took decisive action to reprioritize funding in support of our Nation's security. This allowed us to eliminate $9.3 billion in spending while reasserting deterrence and leadership. To protect the safety, freedom, and prosperity of the American people, we showed that focused strategy, not endless spending, is what delivers results. We make critical investments in high-impact initiatives that combat narcotics and human trafficking, confront the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party, and counter terrorism. We reinforce democracy and human rights efforts, and we defend religious liberty. As both a moral duty and vital American interest, we will not tolerate religious persecution and attacks on faith. Upholding those values strengthens American leadership and advances freedom around the world. We also eliminate wasteful initiatives, implement the necessary accountability at the United Nations, and prohibit any funds for things like UNRWA or the Taliban. The bottom line: We counter our foes, stand with our friends, and ensure investments are focused on security, keeping Americans safe, and enhancing our global edge. Taken in its entirety, the package serves a clear purpose: safety, strength, and freedom. That is certainly something that we can all support. I commend the detailed work of our chairmen, Representatives Joyce and Diaz-Balart. Their leadership and careful stewardship of this package ensured that the substance of the bill matched the responsibility of the task. I thank their accompanying ranking members, Representative Steny Hoyer and Lois Frankel, for their professionalism and engagement in the process. This work demonstrates what we can accomplish through collaboration and respect. I also particularly thank my good friend and working partner, the distinguished ranking member of the full committee, Ms. DeLauro, and I also thank the superb staff on both sides of the aisle who worked tirelessly to present us with the product before us today. As I look ahead, Mr. Chairman, to today's vote, I am grateful for the future that I see, one where President Trump keeps his pen ready because full-year appropriations are advancing and certainty is being restored. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleagues for their time. I urge all Members to support this bipartisan package, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart), my very good friend and the vice chair of the full committee and chair of the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Joyce), my very good friend and the distinguished chair of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), my very good friend who is the distinguished vice chairman of the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota), who is the distinguished vice chairman of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford), my very good friend and valued member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Missouri.

Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my very good friend, the distinguished chairman of the Financial Services Committee.