1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I urge you to vote against the $1.2 trillion funding package released this week. Congress has until January 30 to pass this legislation before the government shuts down, and I am asking you to use this deadline to demand a fundamentally different approach to federal spending priorities. This package allocates over $839 billion to defense, continuing the pattern of bloated military budgets that drain resources from essential domestic programs. While the bill increases funding for Housing and Urban Development by $7.2 billion to $84.3 billion and provides modest increases to Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Transportation, these gains are overshadowed by excessive military spending that does not serve the security needs of your constituents. I am particularly opposed to the $10 billion allocated to ICE for the fiscal year ending in September. The recent killing of Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis demonstrates the urgent need to defund, not reform, this agency. The compromise provisions in this bill, including $20 million for body cameras and $20 million for detention facility oversight, are inadequate responses to systemic problems. These cosmetic reforms do not address the fundamental issue that ICE operates with impunity and causes immeasurable harm to communities across the country. The bill's failure to include meaningful restrictions, such as preventing deportation of U.S. citizens or blocking DHS from using other agencies' personnel for immigration enforcement, shows that this compromise prioritizes political expediency over human rights and public safety. I recognize that without this bill, the Trump administration could continue funding ICE with $75 billion from the tax and spending package enacted last summer. However, voting for this package legitimizes current funding levels and sets a dangerous precedent for future budgets. I ask you to vote no on this funding package and demand a budget that reduces military spending and defunds ICE entirely. Your constituents deserve investments in housing, education, and healthcare, not agencies that harm our communities.