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Department Of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

Date: June 12, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Immigration

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 12, 2007)

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman giving me the time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2638. This legislation goes a long way to meeting the Nation's homeland security needs. It also provides funding in a number of areas at the Department of Homeland Security that have repeatedly been shortchanged.

Specifically, the bill before us today provides DHS with $36.3 billion, a $2.1 billion increase over the President's request. Additionally, H.R. 2638 addresses many of the areas identified in the authorization bill that the Committee on Homeland Security developed.

The House overwhelmingly approved the authorization bill in early May. At the same time, it also is shaped by many of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, as well as programmatic changes called for in H.R. 1, legislation that I authored and that passed the House in January on a bipartisan basis.

For instance, this bill includes $78 million to double the amount of cargo screened on passenger aircraft. This would put TSA on the path of inspecting 100 percent of cargo, a key provision in H.R. 1.

Chairman Price is to be commended for producing a bill that makes the homeland more secure, especially given the tight budget constraints. We all know that to get border security right, we need to put more trained ``boots on the ground.'' H.R. 2638 provides funding for 3,000 additional Border Patrol agents to bring the number of agents to 17,819 by the end of the fiscal year.

It also makes some major enhancements to the operations of the Department. It mandates that all grants and contracts can only be used for projects that comply with Davis-Bacon. It also allows State and local governments to set chemical security rules that are stronger than those issued by the Federal Government. And it sets information protection standards for vulnerability and security plans for chemical facilities.

I support this bill and urge its passage.

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