Foxx Opening Remarks on the Senate Amendment to H.R. 7147

As prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon, the Committee will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time.

Today, the Rules Committee is convening to consider the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026 .

In the early hours of this morning, the Senate passed a Swiss cheese-like funding proposal for the Department of Homeland Security. It unwise and sorely deficient.

The Senate's proposal is nothing more than unconditional surrender masquerading as a solution, and the House will not bend itself into submission by acquiescing.

The Senate's proposal operates on the mere hope that funding from H.R. 1 can be used for every aspect of pay and resources for our nation's border protection.

Going that route will undercut all new, important dollars provided by the Working Families Tax Cut Act to backfill current operational needs.

Those points alone disqualify any serious consideration by the House - that won't fly with us. We don't operate on hope. We operate on process, deliberation, and action.

Under President Trump, we have secured the border - and we will be damned if we go down the road of passing legislation that undercuts the progress made by our Republican majorities and the administration on that front.

Let's recollect just how dire the situation was at our border just over a year ago. During the Biden Administration, CBP recorded more than two million gotaways. That's almost double what was tracked during the previous decade.

388 illegal aliens whose names appear on the terror watch listwere apprehended crossing between ports of entry along the Southwest and northern borders during the Biden Administration, up from just 14 between FY2017-2020.

Transnational gangs like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua infiltrated the United States and rapidly exerted growing control in U.S. cities, including a notorious takeover in Aurora, Colorado.

Now, let's compare this record to the Trump Administration's record.

October, November, and December of 2025 combined marked the lowest number of nationwide encounters to start a fiscal year in recorded history, over 76% lower than the encounters recorded from October through December 2024 under the Biden administration.

Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry at the Southwest border in December decreased 86% compared to December FY2025 and 97% compared to FY2024. Southwest border apprehensions are down over 77% compared to President Trump's first month in office.

U.S. CBP agents apprehended an average of 209 inadmissible aliens per day along the Southwest border in December, 96 percent lower than the daily average under the Biden administration.

And let's not forget about the serious reduction in fentanyl trafficking that has been achieved. In 2025, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border was cut by 56% compared to the previous year.

President Trump's decision of allocating funds to TSA is a positive and decisive development. I commend his strong display of leadership in doing so.

His action allows us time to negotiate legislation that will protect the border and fund the priorities that Republicans and Democrats understand are paramount to the entire nation.

Our position on this matter is as simple as it is ironclad - we won't be force-fed a nonstarter by the legislative body that sits opposite of us.

Our eight-week Continuing Resolution provides time for us to deliberate, build consensus, and move forward with a solution that is not soluble like what the Senate has offered up - all while ensuring our homeland defenders are paid.

I encourage our Democrat colleagues to join us in supporting this measure.

With that, I now yield to the Ranking Member for any comments that he wishes to make.

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