"My most important job is keeping our community and our country safe and doing so in a way that reflects American values, not fear and hate."

As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, maintaining the safety and security of Illinois communities is Congresswoman Underwood's number one priority. On the Homeland Appropriations Subcommittee, she brings her background in emergency response and preparedness to help protect America from natural disasters and emerging threats in the areas of cybersecurity and bioterrorism.

Congresswoman Underwood has introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3526, the Counter Terror Network Act, to strengthen U.S. border security and counterterrorism efforts.

Congresswoman Underwood believes in fixing our nation's broken immigration system with policies that protect American jobs and communities while aligning with our moral values. She has traveled to the U.S.–Mexico border multiple times to observe and provide oversight of the inhumane, unacceptable humanitarian crisis, and strongly opposes to the Administration's family separation policy.

In response to what she learned at the border, Congresswoman Underwood introduced the U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening and Standards Act (H.R. 3525) to ensure migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border are appropriately and consistently screened for treatable conditions. Furthermore, H.R. 3525 instructs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish an electronic health record (EHR) system to streamline the medical screening process and to allow medical information to be easily shared across all DHS components.

Sign up for Congresswoman Underwood's updates on these issues and more here. You can also share your views with Congresswoman Underwood by emailing her here.