The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved its version of a spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security with controversial provisions for spending on a border wall and an increase in immigration detention beds that are rejected by almost every Democrat in Congress, prompting Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) to warn of a potential full-year continuing resolution unless Democrats and President Trump can resolve their differences over border security.
Highlighting that there is still work to be done by the House and Senate in meeting spending targets agreed to earlier this year by both chambers, Shelby said, “For those negotiations to begin in earnest and on a level footing, the House will have to cut its total non-defense spending recommendations by $21 billion just to live within the statutory limit set by the Bipartisan Budget Act.”
Speaking at the outset of his committee’s markup of the fiscal year 2020 spending bills for a number of departments and agencies, including DHS, Shelby said, “Most importantly here, for those negotiations to end in success that we all wish, my Democratic colleagues and the president will have to reach an agreement, once again, on border security. If these conditions are not met, I fear we are moving headlong toward a year-long continuing resolution.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, told Defense Daily on Thursday that “We put a marker down, a very firm one,” with the bill. However, asked about plans to conference with the House on the measure, she said, “so, I think there will probably be negotiations at the White House, and Democrats and Republican leadership. So, I don’t expect it to come up to the floor anytime soon.”
The Senate on Thursday agreed to a short-term CR that will continue to fund the federal government at FY ’19 levels until Nov. 21. The federal FY ’20 begins next Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Most of the DHS spending bill enjoys bipartisan support but the Trump administration’s requests for $5 billion for physical barriers on the southern border and a proposed increase for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase the number of beds for detained illegal immigrants are non-starters, particularly after the president has reprogrammed $6.1 billion in Pentagon funds toward the border wall.
Earlier this year, to end a 35-day shutdown of DHS and several other departments and agencies, Democrats and President Trump agreed on a spending bill that only provided $1.4 billion for physical barriers versus $5.7 billion that was requested. Trump effectively maneuvered around Congress to obtain additional funding for the wall by reprogramming more that $6 billion in various Defense Department military construction projects and also using over $600 million in Treasury forfeiture funds.
The vote to advance the DHS bill to the Senate was largely along party lines with only West Virginia’s Joe Manchin (D) switching sides and voting with Republicans in favor. Manchin was also the only Democrat to vote with Republicans against an amendment offered by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, that would have removed the $5 billion for the wall and added nearly $1.4 billion for border security technology, Coast Guard assets, transportation security technology, and flood mapping for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Capito, arguing against the amendment, said CBP is pursuing a border wall system that includes other infrastructure as well as technology as part of the $5 billion request. CBP budget documents for FY ’20 say the border wall system “includes a combination of various types of infrastructure such as internally hardened steel-board barrier, all-weather roads, lighting, enforcement cameras and other related technology.”
Other than the cameras, the other technologies are not listed and there is no breakout of spending for technologies that make up the wall system. Capito mentioned sensors to detect attempts to tunnel beneath the bollard fencing.
In its request, the mainstay border security technologies such as radar, electro-optical and infrared cameras, mobile surveillance systems, are all broken out in line items separate from the border wall system.
Speaking in support of his amendment, which failed on a 17 to 14 vote, Tester said the provision would add $992 million to the Coast Guard for national security assets, including fully funding a second Polar Security Cutter (PSC) and providing long-lead time materials for a third ship.
The Senate appropriators didn’t provide any funds for the second PSC, in line with the administration request, while the House Appropriations Committee is proposing startup funding for the second heavy polar icebreaker. Tester said his proposal would help the program achieve efficiencies and “preferable pricing” on the second and third ships. VT Halter Marine, a U.S.-based unit of Singapore’s ST Engineering is the shipbuilder for the PSC.
Tester’s amendment also would have added two more Fast Response Cutters for the Coast Guard than the four agreed to by the committee. House appropriators provided funding for five of the vessels. Bollinger Shipyards builds the FRCs.
The amendment also would have added $208 million for border technology at ports of entry where most illegal drugs and other contraband are smuggled into the U.S. He said the funds would purchase additional non-intrusive inspection (NII) equipment at inbound lanes on the southern and northern borders.
For FY ’19, Congress appropriated $564 million for NII equipment, a huge sum for a program that often counts its obligations at closer to $100 million.
Tester said that Customs and Border Protection on the southern border scans 2 percent of personal vehicles and 16 percent of commercial vehicles entering the U.S. and on the northern border 1 percent of personal vehicles and 9 percent of commercial vehicles. Combined with the FY ’19 NII appropriation, he said CBP would be able to scan 40 percent of the personal vehicles and 72 percent of commercial vehicles on the southern border by 2022 and would allow for increased scanning on the northern border.
The amendment also would have added $60 million to the Transportation Security Administration for accelerating the acquisition and deployment of computed tomography (CT)-based scanners at airport security checkpoints for screening checked bags. The agency later this year expects to begin deploying the first of 300 CT systems at airport checkpoints under an initial $97 million contract to Smiths Detection.
Tester said his proposal would boost CT procurements from the 320 funded in the Senate bill to 400, a number in line with industry manufacturing capacity.
The added funding for TSA also would have allowed TSA to purchase additional body scanners, called Advanced Imaging Technology, to deploy to airports “with known needs,” he said.
The committee also rejected another amendment from Tester that would prevent the transfer of funds from military construction projects to pay for the border wall.