May 13, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 90 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page S2419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                     CONFIRMATION OF TROY D. EDGAR

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the 
confirmation of Troy Edgar to be Chief Financial Officer of the 
Department of Homeland Security.
  The nominee would have authority over the transfer and reprogramming 
of funds within the Department of Homeland Security. While he has 
pledged to notify Congress in advance of any such action, this 
administration has made it clear that it will continue to use every 
available tool to fund the wall that President Trump said Mexico would 
pay for and his administration's abusive immigrant detention policies. 
For that reason, any nominee to this position merits heightened 
scrutiny.
  I am alarmed by rampant overcrowding and squalid conditions in DHS 
detention facilities. Despite DHS IG reports and numerous congressional 
inquiries and hearings, the Department has consistently mismanaged 
these facilities and shown a disregard for the care of those in its 
custody. To date, 674 detainees and 39 detention facility personnel 
have tested positive for COVID-19. Notwithstanding its failure to 
ensure the safety of its facility personnel and detainees, the 
Department has continued to use its transfer and reprogramming 
authority to increase the number of detention beds. Last August, DHS 
transferred or reprogrammed $271 million, including $155 million from 
the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund, to expand ICE operations at the southern 
border.
  A promise to notify Congress does nothing to stop these activities. I 
am confident that anything short of a statutory limitation on transfer 
and reprogramming authority will be ignored and that any official who 
stands in the way of these efforts will be circumvented or fired. The 
Senate should not confirm a nominee with the power to approve such 
actions until reasonable limits are enacted into law. For that reason, 
I voted against this nominee.

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