STATEMENT: Senator Blunt Rochester Opposes Multi-Billion Dollar Slush Fund for ICE, CBP

U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) released the following statement on her opposition to the Republican budget bill.

"It's Groundhog Day for Senate Republicans. Their repeated attempts to provide ICE-a roving secret police force that has killed at least two American citizens- with billions of dollars in additional taxpayer funding, on top of the slush fund they pushed through last year, illustrate what their priorities really are.

"Instead of working with us to reform this broken agency or address the kitchen-table issues American families care about most, Senate Republicans gave ICE another $38 billion with no strings attached. They even rejected an effort by a member of their own party to redirect Trump's so-called "anti-weaponization" fund for protecting January 6^th insurrectionists to the Capitol police and the surviving families. This is yet another example of the GOP folding under the pressures of the president and turning its back on the needs of the American people.

"ICE now has an additional $38 billion that we could have used to bring down the cost of health care by funding Medicaid, invest in affordable clean energy to curb skyrocketing prices at the pump, or maintain food and nutrition programs to keep our communities fed. Democrats want to spend our time and federal dollars addressing the affordability crisis that is making it nearly impossible for Americans to make ends meet. Senate Republicans clearly do not. I could not, in good conscience, support this bill."