CQ Today Online News | Homeland Spending Bill Advances Amid Abortion Debate

Homeland Spending Bill Advances Amid Abortion Debate
By Lauren Gardner | CQ Today Online News | May 16, 2012

House appropriators engaged in a contentious debate on abortion services for illegal-immigrant detainees Wednesday before endorsing a spending blueprint for the Department of Homeland Security.

The Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote a draft bill that would provide $39.1 billion to the department. As amended in a 28-21 vote, the bill would prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from paying for an abortion, except in cases of rape or when the woman’s life would be endangered if the pregnancy was carried to term. The amendment would bar funds from being used to require anyone to perform, or facilitate the performance of, an abortion, though it would not prevent the agency from taking a female detainee outside of a detention facility to obtain abortion services.

Virginia Democrat James P. Moran successfully argued for the panel to amend the proposal to include an exception for cases of incest. His amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Homeland Security Subcommittee cardinal Robert B. Aderholt, R-Ala., said the amendment language he proposed was identical to language that has appeared in the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations measure for more than two decades and codifies a policy that ICE already follows.

Democrats expressed outrage at what they called a political stunt that detracted from the underlying purpose of the spending measure.

Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro said ICE considers the amendment duplicative and unnecessary. Past leaders of the panel have “not tried to inject something that would create divisiveness” around security issues, she said.

“It is wrong, it is politically motivated and it really states that this is the only weapon or tool you have to create divisiveness, and that’s to move at women’s basic rights,” DeLauro said.

Subcommittee ranking Democrat David E. Price of North Carolina said the inclusion of “incest” on the list of exceptions to the funding limitation is consistent with current practices but added that any comments implying bipartisan support for the language was false.

“If there’s any impression that this aspect of the Homeland Security drafting process, markup process, has had the slightest of bipartisan flavor to it, then I have to correct that,” he said.

The total for the spending measure is about $393 million less than President Obama’s request and $484 million below current levels. The Transportation Security Administration would experience a reduction of $422 million from current spending to $5.1 billion, the largest cut among the department’s agencies.

Democrats tried to remove language from the bill that would prevent the department and Coast Guard leaders and their deputies from using their aircraft after Congress receives the president’s fiscal 2014 budget request unless the secretary has submitted two statutorily required reports. The restriction would not apply in cases where the agencies must respond to a major disaster or address national security issues.

“While I support efforts to hold the department accountable, such unrealistic limitations are so excessive that they detract from our ultimate purpose,” Price said.

The amendment was rejected by voice vote.

However, the panel adopted by voice vote a bipartisan amendment to maintain language included in the spending bill since 2009 that would allow the department to use Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grants to help local fire departments retain firefighters. The amendment also would waive certain budgetary requirements that local fire departments must meet to be eligible for the grants.