Amid Iranian Threats And Airport Lines, NH Democrats Oppose DHS Funding

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

Despite threats from Iran to deliver “devastating blows” to the U.S. and Islamist-inspired attacks in the U.S., Democrats in Congress continue to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

That includes funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), two agencies on the front line of defending the U.S. from terrorist attacks.

All four New Hampshire Democrats in the federal delegation support blocking that funding. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen voted against bringing the DHS budget to the Senate floor as recently as Thursday.

Now, Republicans are accusing Democrats of putting politics ahead of security while America is at war. And members of the travel industry are speaking out, demanding that these federal employees be paid during this time of heightened threats to the homeland.

“As TSA officers are facing a $0 paycheck this week, we are seeing firsthand the significant strains that the current DHS shutdown is causing across the aviation system. TSA lines are two and three hours long at some airports, causing flights to be delayed and passengers to miss flights,” said former N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu, who now serves as president and CEO of Airlines for America (A4A). “The shutdown is having very real consequences, and hardworking federal aviation workers, the airline industry, and our passengers are being used as a political football once again. This is simply unacceptable and un-American.”

Democrats are refusing to pass a DHS budget that doesn’t include changes to the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy. They are demanding ICE — which is fully funded — be pulled out of the bill before they will allow the budget to pass.

Pappas, who is running to replace Shaheen in the Senate, supports that position.

“This administration has gone far beyond ICE’s intended role and shown a clear disregard for the best practices and high standards that federal law enforcement must meet,” Pappas said at the time. “I voted against this spending bill because American citizens and taxpayers deserve accountable government and commonsense guardrails for ICE.”

Republicans respond by pointing to the terrorist threat and the increase in wait times at airports across the U.S. to call out Democrats over the DHS funding issue. That includes the gunman who opened fire in Austin, Texas, last week and ISIS-inspired attackers who threw IEDs outside the New York City mayor’s residence on Saturday.

Those attacks followed a threat to the U.S. issued by Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. “You have crossed our red line and must pay the price. We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”

In a statement, the Republican National Committee (RNC) accused Democrats of “defunding the Department of Homeland Security, which was created specifically to protect Americans from terrorism.”

“Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander are actively bending the knee to terrorists by defunding DHS at a time when America is under threat,” said RNC spokesperson Kristen Cianci.

“If an attack happens, Democrats will have blood on their hands.”

And then there are more practical consequences of the Democrats’ funding embargo.

On Monday, passengers at Boston’s Logan Airport “saw its mid-morning and early afternoon schedules unravel as mounting delays rippled through departure boards and forced airlines to scrub a slate of services altogether,” according to an industry report. Those delays were caused by a variety of factors, including weather and residual impacts of previous delays.

But it highlighted the vulnerability facing America’s air travel system, even as TSA agents go unpaid.

And Lauren Bis, deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, told ABC News that “travelers are facing TSA lines nearly three hours long at some major airports, causing missed flights and massive delays during peak travel.”

That includes airports in Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Charlotte.

Airports reporting extended wait times include Houston’s Hobby Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport, New Orleans International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, and Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

“We are in spring break travel season and expecting record numbers of people to take to the skies. Airlines have done their part to prepare; now Congress and the administration must act with urgency to reach a deal that reopens DHS and ends this shutdown. America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage,” Sununu said.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.