Legislative Activity

House Appropriations Panel to Consider Homeland Security Measure

This Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee will meet to consider its draft FY 2016 bill funding homeland security programs. The Subcommittee on Homeland Security unanimously approved the measure, which provides $39.3 billion in discretionary funding, on Thursday, July 9. Though the subcommittee vote was unanimous, Democrats on the panel voiced concerns that the bill provided $2.1 billion less in funding than the President’s request, including $70 million less than requested for the Transportation Security Administration and $157.8 million less for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The legislation also provides no funding for implementation of the President’s proposed executive actions on immigration; last year’s final measure funding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was delayed by Republican concerns with these proposals.

House Judiciary Committee to Hold DHS Oversight Hearing

On Tuesday, July 14, the House Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing with DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. The hearing will focus on the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, including the use of “prosecutorial discretion” and “administrative legalization” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, as well as implementation of the President’s executive actions on immigration announced in November 2014.

 This Week’s Hearings:

• Tuesday, July 14: The House Appropriations Committee will meet to mark up its draft FY 2016 spending bill for homeland security programs.

• Tuesday, July 14: The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security will hold a hearing titled “Securing the Maritime Border: The Future of CBP [Customs and Border Protection] Air and Marine.”

• Tuesday, July 14: The House Homeland Security Subcommittees on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies and on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications will hold a joint hearing titled “Weapons of Mass Destruction: Bolstering DHS to Combat Persistent Threats to America.”

• Tuesday, July 14: The House Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with Secretary Jeh Johnson.

• Wednesday, July 15: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Securing the Border: Understanding Threats and Strategies for the Maritime Border.”

• Wednesday, July 15: The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing titled “The Rise of Radicalization: Is the U.S. Government Failing to Counter International and Domestic Terrorism?”

• Thursday, July 16: The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security will hold a hearing titled “Examining the Federal Air Marshal Service and Its Readiness to Meet the Evolving Threat.”