Which statements did each of the seven Democrats give explaining their vote on the DHS bill?
Executive summary
Seven House Democrats crossed party lines to vote for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill; reporting identifies who they were but contains only limited, specific public explanations for that choice, with Representative Henry Cuellar providing the clearest account to colleagues about negotiated concessions and other Democrats’ explanations left largely unrecorded in the cited coverage [1] [2] [3].
1. Henry Cuellar — negotiated compromises and urging rank-and-file to consider district needs
Henry Cuellar, the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee that handles Homeland Security, actively urged fellow Democrats in a closed-door meeting to support the DHS funding bill and “touted some wins in the bill for Democrats,” according to reporting that quotes sources in the leaders’ meeting—an account that explains his public role in negotiating the measure and pressing colleagues to consider district-level impacts when voting [2].
2. Jared Golden — voted for the bill; no individual justification reported
Representative Jared Golden of Maine is named among the seven Democrats who voted with Republicans to pass the DHS measure, but the articles assembled for this briefing do not record a public statement or floor remarks from Golden explaining his vote, so his specific rationale is not documented in the provided reporting [1] [3].
3. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez — voted for the bill; no individual justification reported
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington is likewise listed as one of the seven Democrats voting for the bill, yet the sources here do not contain any quoted explanation, press release, or floor statement from her describing why she supported the appropriation [1] [4].
4. Laura Gillen — voted for the bill; no individual justification reported
Representative Laura Gillen of New York appears on the published vote roster as a Democratic yes, but the reporting provided does not include a direct statement from Gillen to explain her decision or the considerations she relied upon when breaking with party leadership [1] [4].
5. Don Davis — voted for the bill; no individual justification reported
Don Davis of North Carolina is identified among the seven Democrats who joined Republicans on the DHS vote; the assembled coverage notes his vote but does not capture any attributed comments or public justification from Davis in the items cited [1] [3].
6. Tom Suozzi — voted for the bill; no individual justification reported
Tom Suozzi of New York is included in multiple outlets’ lists of the seven Democrats who supported the DHS appropriation, but the provided reports do not publish an on-the-record explanation from Suozzi about his vote [1] [3].
7. Vicente Gonzalez — voted for the bill; no individual justification reported
Vicente Gonzalez of Texas is listed as one of the Democrats who voted in favor, yet the sources here do not supply a quote, staff statement, or floor explanation from Gonzalez laying out his reasons [1] [4].
Context: broader Democratic objections, limited public record of individual rationales
House Democratic leaders and many rank-and-file members publicly opposed the DHS bill arguing it lacked guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and negotiators including Representative Rosa DeLauro said the bill did not include the reforms Democrats sought—contextual critiques that set the backdrop for why seven members’ votes stood out even as individual justifications remain mostly unreported in these sources [5] [3] [6]. Several outlets also noted practical arguments that complicated the calculus: Democrats warned that failing to fund DHS could harm agencies like FEMA and TSA and risk a partial shutdown, an implicit pressure point mentioned by negotiators and appropriations staff but not tied to specific justifications from the seven crossing voters in the supplied articles [7] [8].
Limitations and what the record shows vs. what it does not
The contemporary reporting assembled here consistently lists the seven Democrats who voted yes—Henry Cuellar, Jared Golden, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Laura Gillen, Don Davis, Tom Suozzi and Vicente Gonzalez—but aside from Cuellar’s reported floor-room urging and description of negotiated “wins,” the materials do not quote or document individual explanations from the other six representatives, so any account attributing specific rationales to them would exceed what these sources provide [1] [2] [3].