{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://dean.house.gov/2019/12/reps-dean-schneider-lead-letter-restoring-good-governance-and-accountability", "Reps. Dean, Schneider Lead Letter on Restoring Good Governance and Accountability in Department of Homeland Security FY20 Appropriations Bill", "2019-12-13", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "PA", "Madeleine Dean", "D000631", "dean.house.gov", "dean", "https://dean.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 On Monday, Reps. Madeleine Dean (PA-04) and Brad Schneider (IL-10) sent a letter to House and Appropriations Committee leaders urging them to include good governance and accountability mechanisms in upcoming Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations legislation.\n\n\u201cOur Constitution is clear: Congress \u2013 and only Congress \u2013 has the power of the purse,\u201d said Rep. Dean. \u201cYet for the past several years, DHS has defied Congressional appropriations decisions \u2013 detaining thousands more people than Congress has authorized, overspending on detention and enforcement, and then raiding other parts of the DHS budget to make up the difference.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis defiance of Congressional intent is part of the administration\u2019s pattern of lawlessness \u2013 including \u2018reprogramming\u2019 funds appropriated to other agencies to pay for the President\u2019s border wall,\u201d added Rep. Dean.\n\n\u201cThe Trump Administration continues to ignore the will of Congress by attempting to divert funds appropriated to other agencies toward the President\u2019s wasteful and ineffective border wall,\u201d said Rep. Schneider. \u201cWe\u2019ve also seen far too many horrifying stories of inhumane treatment of individuals in the custody of CBP and ICE. The upcoming Homeland Security Appropriations bill is an opportunity to rein in the President\u2019s lawlessness and hold him accountable. I am proud to join my colleague Madeleine Dean in advocating for language that will reinforce the Congressional power of the purse and ensure the humane treatment of individuals within our nation\u2019s detention facilities.\u201d\n\nThe letter, which was also signed by 24 other Members of Congress, encouraged appropriators to \u201cprioritize the following good governance and accountability mechanisms in any final negotiated bill:\n\nExplicit language revoking DHS\u2019s transfer and reprogramming authority for the detention and enforcement accounts;\n\nProhibit funds appropriated outside of DHS \u2013 including Department of Defense funding \u2013 from being used for border wall construction;\n\nShould there be another CR [Continuing Resolution], rejection of any anomaly that would increase the budget for additional ICE or Customs and Border Control (CBP) agents, detention, or the border wall; and increased oversight of ICE\u2019s spending in the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) account, including the agency\u2019s use of exceptions to the automatic apportionment of funds; and\n\nStrong humanitarian guardrails to ensure that individuals are treated humanely and with dignity in CBP and ICE custody.\u201d\n\nIn addition to Reps. Dean and Schneider, the letter was signed by Reps. Jim Cooper (TN-05), Josh Harder (CA-10), Scott Peters (CA-52), Chris Pappas (NH-01), Thomas R. Suozzi (NY-03), Darren Soto (FL-09), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Salud O. Carbajal (CA-24), Cedric L. Richmond (LA-02), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Sean Casten (IL-06), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Adam Smith (WA-09), Bill Foster (IL-11), Tony Cardenas (CA-29), Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (VA-08), Eliot L. Engel (NY-16), Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02), David J. Trone (MD-06), Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), and Kim Schrier (WA-08).\n\nRep. Madeleine Dean is a mother, grandmother, attorney, professor, former four-term member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and U.S. Representative for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://dean.house.gov/2019/12/reps-dean-schneider-lead-letter-restoring-good-governance-and-accountability"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9910161606967449, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}