On Wednesday, voting along party lines, the House Appropriations Committee voted 29-22 to approve the Homeland Security appropriations bill, which includes $5 billion in funding for the border wall President Trump wants to build along the southern border of the United States.
The $5 billion figure was a step up from the $1.6 billion in funding in the Senate’s version of the bill; that amount was only sufficient to reinforce existing barriers. But the $5 billion figure could fund 200 miles of a border wall. Democrats tried to block or redesignate the $5 billion.
As The Washington Times reported, the bill includes $51.4 billion in base discretionary spending for DHS and an additional $6.7 billion for disaster relief, The Hill added that the bill includes $7.2 billion funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), funds for hiring 400 new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and $1.9 billion for cyber security efforts.
Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) stated, “Globalization, cybersecurity, and terrorism are changing our way of life and we need to change with it. This bill fully supports our men and women on the frontline who work tirelessly to keep us safe. The bill also provides the necessary funding for critical technology and physical barriers to secure our borders.”
The bill must be passed on the House floor and then resolve differences with the Senate version.