Watch: Senator McCormick Delivers Late-Night Floor Speech Last Night to Fund ALL of the Department of Homeland Security

"I rise today to implore my Democratic colleagues one more time: end this ridiculous shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security. Every day the stakes get higher, and every day the real-world consequences get more severe."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) spoke on the Senate floor last night to call out Senate Democrats for refusing to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security - arguing that the decision undermines a critical agency responsible for protecting the country at a time of heightened domestic threats and ongoing operations in Iran.

Click here to watch the video.

Senator McCormick's remarks below (as prepared):

"Mr. President, I rise today to implore my Democratic colleagues one more time: end this ridiculous shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security. Every day the stakes get higher, and every day the real-world consequences get more severe. Shutting down DHS to make a point on immigration is reckless, and it is devoid of basic, fundamental common sense. It weakens the agencies that protect the homeland. It punishes the men and women across TSA, CISA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the rest of DHS who stand watch every day over this country. And it burdens the Americans who depend on those public servants.

"So what has this shutdown accomplished? What has it brought us?

"First, it endangers America. It endangers Americans.

"Since combat operations have begun in Iran, the homeland has seen five major attacks: an ISIS-inspired bombing outside Gracie Mansion in New York City; a terrorist shooting in a classroom at Old Dominion; a vehicle attack at Temple Israel in Michigan; a terrorist shooting at a bar in Austin, Texas; and a pro-Iran cyberattack on Stryker, one of America's great medical products companies, whose systems support patient care and hospitals across the country.

"These threats come on top of the violence already made possible by the Biden Administration's disastrous, catastrophic border policies. Just last Thursday, we saw it on the television: an illegal immigrant shot and killed an 18-year-old Loyola Chicago student, Sheridan Gorman. The killer had crossed the border in 2023, was caught and released, and then - after a shoplifting arrest - was released once again. And now, sadly, tragically, a young woman is dead at his hands.

"That is why we must keep DHS fully operational, including ICE. We do not know what threats exist among the ten million illegal immigrants who entered our country during the Biden Administration. But we do know that those risks are growing - and they are made much worse because of the carelessness of Democrats in shutting down and refusing to fund DHS.

"And yet, in our moment of real national need, Democrats are choosing performance theater over the safety of the American people. It is irresponsible. It is callous. It is disgraceful. And it must stop. We are 40 days into this - it must stop.

"Second, it hurts the people who protect us.

"Shutting down DHS hurts the very people who step forward to protect us. The average TSA agent earns about $50,000 a year. Many live paycheck to paycheck - and those are the paychecks my Democratic colleagues chose to withhold to stage this stunt.

"Now, fortunately, President Trump earlier today intervened and directed the new Secretary of Homeland Security to find a way to pay these folks. But tragically, much of the damage has already been done. Too many Pennsylvanians are already paying the price. TSA officers in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh airports have had to rely on food banks to get by. The men and women standing between the traveling public and danger should not have to depend on charity because Congress cannot do its job.

"The consequences of this shutdown are mounting. Last Sunday, one in four TSA agents in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh airports called out - 25% didn't come to work, because Democrats have forced them to work without pay. They cannot protect their families and report to work without being paid. Not many Americans can. And since the shutdown began, at least 450 TSA agents have quit - 450 trained professionals, gone. Replacing them will cost money, it will take time, and until then the risk facing the American people has gone up.

"Third, it imposes real costs and real vulnerabilities on the American people.

"We have all seen the images: airport security lines snaking out of the terminal into the parking garages. Families heading out on spring break, workers traveling across the country, people hitting the road for work - all victims of a politically manufactured crisis.

"And I wish I could say it was just the airports. But the consequences go far beyond. The World Cup security preparations in cities around the world, including Philadelphia, have already fallen behind. Security grants for houses of worship are tied up. Local communities are without critical DHS threat information sharing. Our cybersecurity readiness is diminished. And in Pennsylvania, firefighters and first responders have lost access to critical DHS training.

"The bottom line is this: this shutdown is petty political theater that is putting American lives at risk. It is unacceptable, and it has to stop.

"I reject the false choice between funding and reforms. We can address the legitimate concerns the American people have had about immigration enforcement while fully funding DHS. We can secure the homeland and insist on professionalism and competence. That is why I support the common-sense reforms that Republicans in Congress and the Administration have put forward: body cameras for ICE, funding for de-escalation training, increased transparency requirements, and regular inspections of detention facilities. These are common-sense proposals offered in good faith - and yet Democrats have turned away. Because they do not want a resolution. They want to use this as a political issue heading into the midterms. And the American people are suffering.

"I am confident that my former colleague Markwayne Mullin, whom we confirmed on Monday, will bring the leadership this moment demands. And whatever our differences in this chamber over policy, shutting down the government is never the right answer. As President Obama's DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said last week, we need to get out of the business of coupling policy disagreements with funding the government.

"Shutting down the Department of Homeland Security for the third time this Congress, amid major combat operations in the Middle East, is not merely wrong - it is reckless.

"I am proud that my friend and Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman agrees that shutting down the government is wrong. He and I can always be depended on to walk together for a better Pennsylvania. I urge others in the Democratic Party to do the same: fund DHS, protect America, pay the men and women who are defending us, and relieve the American people of these ridiculous, politically-imposed, unnecessary burdens.

"I yield the floor.

###