Public Safety & Homeland Security

“Making deep cuts to the Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA in the name of a new national security initiative is totally out of touch with the work that the Department of Homeland Security performs,” said Courtney. “The budget shared by OMB, which explicitly targets the Coast Guard, TSA and FEMA, will weaken security and undermine all of the progress that was made over the last 4-years to recapitalize Coast Guard cutters, rescue boats, and icebreakers. I will join my colleagues from both sides of the aisle on the Coast Guard caucus to stop this destructive plan from ever being implemented.”

“President Trump’s new executive order freezing refugee arrivals and entry of all people from a number of predominately Muslim countries, including law permanent residents of the United States traveling abroad, will boomerang against us both morally and practically,” said Courtney. “The new President signed the order on Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day when we reflect in part on how our country failed to protect Jewish refugees from Nazi atrocities during World War II. This is not who we are as Americans: we do not discriminate against any religion, and we do not shut our doors to suffering people seeking a better life."

“Today, 78 people will likely die of a heroin or opioid overdose,” wrote the members. “This epidemic rages on across the United States, and local law enforcement and public health agencies are overwhelmed by need. It is our responsibility to provide them with the resources they desperately require to save lives and repair their communities. We continue to hear from leaders in law enforcement and in addiction recovery who say they are unable to provide assistance to needy residents because they lack the funds. As you complete work on the 21st Century Cures legislation, we write to encourage you to include immediate funding to combat heroin and opioid addiction and overdose in this package. Knowing that Cures will likely be one of the final pieces of legislation that Congress acts on this year, we hope you will consider this a final opportunity to take needed action to combat this crisis."

“After several high-profile public hearings in Congress and a scathing Inspector General’s report, it is clear that the Departments of Homeland Security and State need to do a much better job of coordinating their efforts to successfully deport the most dangerous criminal aliens,” said Courtney. “In the case of Casey Chadwick, what we now know is that after Haiti repeatedly rejected our requests to deport Jean Jacques, a man with a conviction for attempted murder, the matter was never formally raised with the State department as a means to further pressure the Haitian government to cooperate. These agencies have a responsibility to pursue all the tools and authorities at their disposal to elevate cases like this, and if they will not do so on their own our bipartisan bill will ensure that it occurs.”