Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said over 1,500 workers in Maine would be impacted if Congress fails to pass a budget funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  The Department's current budget runs out Friday at midnight. 

"This is funding that keeps our country safe and we shouldn't be playing politicswith it," Pingree said.  "In Maine alone the paychecks for over 1,500 DHS employees and active duty Coast Guard personnel depend on Congress passing a budget bill.  These are men and women providing security on the border and at airports, and in the middle of a cold winter they are thepersonnel breaking ice to keep Maine harbors open."

In Maine, there are 905 full time DHS employees and 650 active duty Coast Guard personnel.

"The Senate has agreed to pass a straight funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security and the votes are there in the House to pass one too, butit's being held up by an anti-immigration faction that is trying to make a political point about President Obama," Pingree said.