Merkley Opening Statement at Budget Committee Markup on Republican ICE and Border Patrol Slush Fund Bill

Merkley Opening Statement at Budget Committee Markup on Republican ICE and Border Patrol Slush Fund Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at a Senate Budget Committee markup hearing on the Republican bill that would gift Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nearly $70 billion and throw $1 billion at Trump's gilded ballroom.

Sen. Merkley's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:

American families are pressed to the wall.

I recently held nine town halls throughout Eastern Oregon, and people are unhappy.

They're unhappy that, in Oregon, gas is over $5 a gallon and diesel is over $6 a gallon. They're unhappy that grocery prices keep going up. They're unhappy that rent and housing costs keep going up. They're unhappy that inflation is now going up at 3.8 percent, the highest rate in three years. They're unhappy that health care costs keep going up and that the tax credits that helped them afford insurance were slashed.

Why? To fund bigger tax breaks for billionaires.

It's Families Lose, Billionaires Win.

As President Trump said last week, quote: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody."

To get by, American families are having to turn to their credit cards.

And, on May 6, Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House Economic Council said that Americans' "credit card spending is through the roof. They're spending more on gasoline. But they're also spending more on everything else, too."

Working families are going into debt just to buy the basics. The cost of everything is going up because energy prices keep going up as Trump's war with Iran drags on.

"Operation Epic Fury" has turned into Operation Epic Failure.

Trump promised to end wars and lower prices. Instead, he's starting wars and raising prices.

Families can't afford to put gas in their car. Farmers can't afford fertilizer for their crops. Businesses can't afford to keep operating.

Spirit Airlines just went out of business, laying off 17,000 workers and, in March, home foreclosures reached their highest rate in six years.

So, what is the Republican plan in this reconciliation bill. Trump's billion-dollar ballroom boondoggle?

A massive Louis XIV edifice that turns the White House into an auxiliary dwelling unit.

This is hardly the vision for a democratic republic, with a president focused on delivering for the people.

Instead, it's the vision of a strongman state, with an authoritarian focused on delivering for himself.

And the rest of this irresponsible Republican reconciliation bill?

It doesn't do a damn thing to bring down: grocery prices, gas prices, health care costs, housing costs, or any of the foundations for families to thrive.

There's something else going on here that's important to address: With this bill, our Republican colleagues are turning the reconciliation process into an appropriations process.

When the reconciliation process was first established, not a single Senator voted against it.

Why not?

Because reconciliation was a special filibuster-free fast track to be used only for deficit reduction. But, in 1996, our Republican colleagues nuked those rules to be able to do massive tax giveaways for the richest Americans.

Now, they're going even further by using this reconciliation bill to do regular spending.

Like other federal agencies, ICE and CBP are funded through annual appropriations. But last year's reconciliation bill, Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill - which many of us call a Big, Ugly Betrayal - gave ICE and CBP about $140 billion.

As of the end of March, ICE and CBP were still sitting on $103 billion of unobligated funds. So, Congress shouldn't give them any additional funding until they spend the taxpayer money they already have.

But Trump wants more money.

So, now, our Republican colleagues are using this reconciliation bill to pour an additional $70 billion into that massive ICE and CBP slush fund. And while they're at it, they're also making taxpayers pay for Trump's billion-dollar ballroom boondoggle.

This is the steady destruction of Congress' bipartisan norms and processes. All to appease an authoritarian president and his billionaire buddies.

Nothing in this bill will help a single working family struggling to put food on their table, gas in their car, or a roof over their family's heads.

Congress should reject it entirely.

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