Chairman Aguilar: There is only one real solution to end this shutdown and that's passing this bipartisan DHS funding package TODAY.

Chairman Aguilar: There is only one real solution to end this shutdown and that's passing this bipartisan DHS funding package TODAY.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar joined Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark for a press conference calling on Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to stop blocking paychecks for federal workers and pass the bipartisan Department of Homeland Security funding package today. You can watch the full press conference here and read Chairman Aguilar's remarks below.

CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Thank you, Whip Clark, Leader Jeffries. House Democrats have been clear from the start: we must pay TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA and other public safety agencies while we negotiate commonsense reforms to ICE. Weeks ago, we put forward legislation that would do just that, and outlined a list of changes that we knew we wanted to see made at ICE to make communities safer. Democrats held firm in our position and never gave in, and as a result, you saw early this morning that Senate Republicans agreed with our approach. But now, Speaker Johnson is calling this bipartisan agreement a 'joke,' simply because it doesn't give more money to Trump's out-of-control ICE agency.

Think about it. After witnessing the chaos at our airports, after hearing about TSA agents quitting or picking up second jobs or sleeping in their cars, this is the response that Mike Johnson has. This isn't a joke, as the Whip said. These are people's real lives. And there is only one real solution to end this shutdown, and that's passing this bipartisan DHS funding package TODAY. Republicans cannot continue to hold funding for airport security, disaster assistance and the Coast Guard hostage because they want an out of control ICE that brutalizes our communities, detains children and kills U.S. citizens. Republicans know they need Democratic votes in order to pass this-they can't keep ignoring our calls to rein in ICE. The American people elected us to make their lives better, not worse. We have the opportunity to do that now with this bipartisan bill. We urge our Republican colleagues to do the right thing and put this bill on the floor.

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