Transcripts For CSPAN Homeland Security Secretary Nomination 20171109

Later on. Karen kelly, general kellys wife showing support for the nominee. I know this nielsen will introduce miss nielsen will is her family. America is facing enormous challenges. Trillions, over the no party is giving us assurances, and were looking at deficits in the horizon. Our enemies are on the rise, as russia destabilizes neighbors and partners with iran to control the middle east. We did modify korans behavior for the worst. Irans abilityy for the worst. North korea continues to develop nuclear weapons. Challenges that face the next secretary of the department of Homeland Security are equally daunting. We have recently experienced unprecedented destruction caused by hurricanes and wildfires. Fema and other budgets are already stretched in for these disasters. And use of the internet spreads, by socialats posed media acts of terrorism, hacking, and Cyber Attacks. This committee has gone through more than 20 hearings lead against the sad reality that our borders are more than secure far from secure. Illicit drugs flow virtually unabated, and we are more honorable than we should be to external forces. Unfortunately, enemies from within currently pose our greatest danger. Five years ago on august 5, 2012, evil struck in old quick wisconsin when six worshipers were senselessly slaughtered at a sikh temple. Since then, mass killings have consistently grown. Im going to read a list area december 4 im going to read a list. December 14, 2012, sandy hook elementary. Three killed and 264 wounded at the bombing in boston marathon. Eight wounded at the navy yard here in washington dc. Killed, 1200 and 400, texas. Killed, and 12 injured at fort hood, texas. Wounded neard 14 university of california santa barbara. Wounded at and 14 gang fight in waco, texas. Episcopal church in south carolina. And two2016, 5 killed wounded in chattanooga tennessee. 2017, nine killed and nine wounded in roseburg oregon. Three killed and nine wounded outs by of colorado. San bernardino, california. 49 killed and at least 68 wounded at the pulse nightclub in orlando florida. 2016, five Police Officers killed or wounded in a parking garage in dallas, texas. Three more Police Officers killed and three more wounded in baton rouge, louisiana. January of 2017, 5 killed and six wounded at the airport in fort lauderdale, florida. Team, 2017, People Killed at a concert in las vegas. Eight killed on bicycle path in your city. Just this last sunday, 26 killed and at least 20 wounded in the first batches First Baptist church in texas. List, i called up the death of 262 american, more than 100 1000 wounded. I would like to take a moment to reflect and remember those big ands and their families. Remember those victims and their families. Later on sunday evening, i doctor asked the questions we are asking ourselves what is happening . Why is this happening . What can we do about it . Those of the questions that the next Homeland Security secretary are going to address. It will not be easy. 200 240ents has manages hundreds of thousands of dollars every day. It has a habitually low morale relative to other agencies. When this nielsen served under general kelly, she saw how quickly morale can improve at dhs when the crew and staff at the supports for the tasks they need to do. General kelly called her a superstar. Weve also received a letter of from several former officials from the department. This nielsen, i thank you for your past service and your willingness to serve again. I look forward to your testimony area testimony. I thank you for this opportunity and the willingness to serve. Look to provide advice for the senior positions of our governments. 16th, President Trump nominated this nielsen to lead the department of Homeland Security. Texas,n citizens in florida, puerto rico, the virgin islands, and other regions, have had their lives and livelihoods upended by the hurricanes. To the west, raging wildfires forced tons of families from their homes. Week, new york city suffered its most deadly terror attacks since 9 11. In crisis, americans come together and crave leadership that brings them together. Brings us together. Plays a critical role. She will oversee a workforce of over 240,000 employees and contractors, and oversee 42 different components, including customs, immigration, transportation and ministrations transportation security administrations. The coast guard, the secret service. Of her workaware ethic, and her expertise and Cyber Security, i appreciate it chance discuss other qualities she would bring to dhs. Hearingis that todays will challenge her and confronts her when she is confirmed. I look forward to see how she plans to improve counterterrorism and abilities, despite massive cuts included in the president s budget. I would like to know what she is going to do stop Illegal Drugs and contraband in spite of the failures of the budget to address those needs and fulfill Border Patrol officer needs. I would i also hope this nielsen will share her priorities for counteracting violent extremism and protecting our infrastructure from foreign actors. Perhaps most importantly, i want to learn about the Management Experience and philosophies that is nielsen dhs. To bring to it is in fact judgment, management, experience, and philosophy that she will have the most important duty, because she will try to surround herself with Department Heads and other highranking officials that will do the daytoday operations of the department. No one has served that served as dhs secretary has had perfect rents and knowledge. I certainly think ms. Nielsen is very knowledgeable and has a good depth of the issues facing the department, but the secretary also must have leadership and management and communication skills to lead a complex and sprawling enterprise on day one. I hope ms. Nielsen will discuss her strategies for promoting collaboration and efficiency. I also want to know how ms. Nelson ms. Nielsen will , so thatmployee morale workers can report without fear of retaliation. Finally, i hope to receive the public commitment that dhs will comply with oversight requests from all members of the committee, including several of mind that remain outstanding. Predecessor, general john kelly, was willing to speak frankly, even when his message was one that would not be particularly wellreceived. Found mostthing i kelly for of general the position that he held and holds. Ition he currently under his leadership, dhs was willing to answer requests from information for both the majority and minority, and while not perfect, was far more responsive than many other departments. We have a constitutional duty to perform oversight of the department, and i would like to continue the cooperation that general kelly showed the members of the committee. The department of Homeland Security is comprised of thousands of talented and dedicated americans who work every day to keep us safe. They developed and intercut counterterrorism policy, administer Immigration Laws, protect National Leaders and Critical Infrastructure and execute preparedness and response. We must continue to ensure these Public Servants have the support necessary to succeed, and i look forward to working with ms. Nielsen should she be confirmed as our nations sixth secretary. Now we have to of our distinguished colleagues to offer support for ms. Nielsen. I wouldtman sen like to yield to senator rubio. Thank you to the Ranking Member and members of the committee. I am honored to introduce a fellow floridian, kirstjen nielsen, as the nominee to be the secretary of Homeland Security. She grew up in clearwater, and florida. County, among her many experiences she began here in the senate where she served on the staff of former florida senator connie mack, and worked on defense, aviation, and Foreign Affairs issues. These are matters that are not only important to our home state of florida but also critical matters for the National Security of our country. She has a long and distinguished career in Homeland Security matters that has spanned more than two decades, earning a nationally respected reputation. He has experience in risk management, Critical Infrastructure, Cyber Security and Emergency Management. We have a nominee that understands the extraordinary and wide range of Homeland Security related challenges and the ever evolving threats we as americans face, including hurricane preparedness and response, combating illicit International Drug trafficking, and ensuring safe and Efficient Air travel. Nielsen served under then secretary kelsey kelly, and i got the opportunity to work with her on a number of Homeland Security issues. I would like to read a short excerpt from a letter in support of ms. Nielsens nomination from general kelly, who could not be here because he is currently traveling with the president in asia. He wrote in part the following to this committee. You have read of Kirstjen Nielsens accolades and success and devotion to duty. What truly sets her apart is her integrity, sense of service to the nation, and dedication to the men and women who risk their lives serving our great country every day. She is undoubtedly qualified to serve as the next secretary of Homeland Security, and i employ the committee to ensure a swift confirmation for the sake of our nation. Thathairman, i would ask the full letter, which i have hear from former secretary kelly, be entered into the hearing record. No objection. Sen. Rubio i know her to be prepared for challenges, committed to working with us here in congress to ensure a safe and secure homeland. I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce this wellqualified nominee, and i truly hope the committee will quickly move forward with her and the senate will soon confirm her as the next secretary of the department of Homeland Security. Thank you again. Thank you. Senator portman. Sen. Portman thank you, i thank you and sen. Mccaskill pledge of introducing the nominee today. Kirstjen nielsen, as was just said by my colleague, is so qualified for this job. I must say when you laid out the challenges we face, it is sobering. We need someone with the experience and qualifications that she has. Before commenting on her distinguished both occasions, i want to acknowledge fellow ohioan and acting secretary elaine duke for hersel for her service. I know she has worked closely with the ranking chair and others. Kirstjen is not a native ohio and, but i am excited to introduce her. We serve concurrently in the white house in the george w. Bush administration, where she was a trusted hand in the formative years of the Homeland Security council. I saw a decade ago a professional dedicated to Public Service and the mission of securing the homeland, just as i see that today in her actions more recently at Homeland Security and the white house. And delighted again that she is stepping forward to take on this responsibility. I appreciate the opportunity to sit down with her a couple weeks priorities. Itr sounds like you have all done the same thing. It is exciting to have someone with her energy and enthusiasm. This hill experience that we talked about a moment ago. She also has private sector experience and Homeland Security. Ishink most importantly, she the First Department of Homeland Security secretary nominee with previous experience at dhs. I think thats important, given the serious challenges described. Homeland security expertise and experience from those transformative years to the department and at the white house, for industry and, Homeland Security consulting experience and her most recent role, she will be the experienced and capable leader we need. Most recently she served as sick chief of staff to secretary john kelly. She proved herself in the early stages of the transition and saw firsthand the challenges of managing this diverse and sprawling agency. Senator mccaskill is right. It is a management challenge. She has seen firsthand those challenges. She has developed expertise in Homeland Security strategy, Cyber Security, transportation security, emergency resilience. She speaks regularly about the need for resilience in the Homeland Security posture. Mr. Chairman, you noted that the Committee Received written information from the former dhs secretarys. Both regret they could not read be hereon as does in person as the secretary kelly to endorse the nomination, but these leaders know what the job entails. I would like to briefly read a couple of excerpts from their letters and what they said about kirstjen. Has been engaged in counterterrorism, all hazard risk mitigation, protection and response policy from the earliest days of what we now know as Homeland Security. She brings operational expense as well, having managed the daytoday operations of the department. He served as principal jeff beatty chief of staff at the as house she served she is ready to hit the ground running on day one. That is from secretary ridge. She played a key role in helping lead the Lessons Learned effort postkatrina, informing and changing the way we have dealt with disaster preparation and response ever since. Kirstjen is a Homeland Security leader for our times more. Than the previous secretary she understands the 21st century challenges of a borderless cyber domain and has worked in the public and private sectors to address this deeply interconnected and consequential risk to americas National Security and economic stability. Kirstjen offers our nation the credentials required of a secretary, which is experience, equities, and Homeland Security policy operations, and public and private sector experience. Mr. Chairman, i echo those strong sentiments. I believe her work ethic and experience and leadership is what is needed in homeland now. Ity, and needed im sure we will have a fruitful discussion with the nominee today. I look forward to asking questions myself. I hope we can move this quickly out of committee and into the senate to get her to work as the next secretary of Homeland Security at a critical time. Thank you here it thank you. Thank you, senator portman. Ms. Nielsen, please stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear this testimony you will give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Ms. Nielsen i do. Kirstjen nielsen is currently the Principal Deputy chief of staff to President Trump, and prior to that to john kelly for the department of Homeland Security. She holds a bachelor degree from the georgetown universitys of foreign service, and a jd degree from the school of law. Ms. Nielsen thank you. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member mccaskill, distinguished members. Im humbled and grateful for the trust the president has placed in me to lead the men and women. I want to thank senator rubio and portman for their kind words. Thank you to secretarys rich and chertoff for their statements. It was an honor to serve and work with them and i look forward to the continued. Artnership finally, i want to thank general kelly for the leadership. If you could allow me to introduce members of my family here with me today. My father james, my sister, miney, my aunt and uncle, one of my cousins, who managed to get here from germany. I would also like to thank mrs. Kelly for her support in being here for me today. I was raised to believe in our country and its founding principles and ideas to serve our country and appreciate and be thankful every day for the freedoms we hold dear as americans. Im thankful for their unwavering love and support throughout my life. Thank you for your continued encouragement and traveling so far to be here today. If confirmed as the next security,of homeland it will be the greatest honor to again work with and support the remarkable men and women of the department. I just simply cant say enough about the incredible work of the people of dhs. Many of them put their lives on the line daily to ensure the security of the nation. Over more than two decades, i dedicated my career to working on Homeland Security issues. After working on Security Issues for senator connie mack , i practiced current corporate transactional law, when i learned how private sectional operations are my service in the executive branch began in 2002 at the transportation security administration. It was an honor to work alongside and counselor countless Public Servants who tackled the top security challenges we had after the tragic attacks of september 11, and later helped to stand up the department of Homeland Security. I was commissioned by president bush to serve as special assistant to the president for Homeland Security, and as senior director for preparedness prepend invention and response. Charged with interagency policy ordination, i led the development of new National Policy articulating the roles of all levels of government and the private sector in protecting our nation. During this time, the nation experienced the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina coast. He gulf based on the lessons identified from that response, i led the update and revisions to our Disaster Response planning and recovery planning. To strengthen our efforts moving into the future i worked with congress to draft the post community katrina act. As we have seen again during this years severe hurricane and wildfire season, dhs plays a crucial role in disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery, working closely with public and private sector partners. I have worked closely with all staff in the Emergency Preparedness community, and should i be confirmed, i look forward to helping ensure our nations resilience to National Disasters, terrorist attacks, and other emergencies. While east each aspect is the part each aspect is important, i believe one of the most significant is Cyber Security and the overall security and resilience of our nations Critical Infrastructure. The scope and pace of Cyber Attacks against our federal networks and the control systems that run our Critical Infrastructure are continually increasing, with attacks growing ever more complex. Cyber criminals and nationstates are constantly looking for ways to exploit our hyper conductivity and reliance on i. T. Systems. My Cyber Security experience in publice private and sector has prepared me well for the multifaceted challenge that is. Increasingour resilience to Cyber Attacks increasing our resilience to Cyber Attacks. I look forward to working with the department, and the interagency to address functions and secure our nations interests in cyberspace. At the start of the Current Administration i also had the honor of serving as chief of staff of dhs under then secretary kelly. During that time, i worked closely with state and local officials, cabinet secretaries, foreign partners, and members of congress on all the issues dhs faces. I had the opportunity to develop strong working relationships of dhs leadership, and helped to develop many of the current key priorities and strategies. Our nation today is facing a complex Threat Landscape that is constantly evolving. The threats we face are too many and too varied from one entity to address them alone. I understand the risks and resulting challenges the department is tasked with resolving, and i am eager to get to work with all of the justice partners, domestic and international, from all sectors to find solutions. If confirmed, i pledged to continue the record of Exceptional Leadership that general kelly and acting secretary duke have established that dhs. I found that the men and women of dhs ive vowed to the men and women of dhs and the hundreds of millions who rely on dhs to work tirelessly and if actively execute each mission at the department. I will work every day to enforce our laws, secure our borders, and protect americans from dangerous criminals, terrorists, Cyber Attacks, and other threats facing the homeland. Together, we will continue such efforts as those initiated by secretary johnson through his initiatives to unite the department and remove unnecessary stovepipes. Toledge to work every day give the dedicated men and women of the department the support, tools, and resources they need and deserve to carry out their difficult and often dangerous missions. Thank you all again for the opportunity to appear before you today. Should i be confirmed, i look forward to partnering with each of you, the committee and the full congress to protect and secure our homeland and i look forward to answering any of the committees questions. Thank you, ms. Nielsen. There are three questions the Committee Asks of every nominee, for the record. The first is, is there anything you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest . Ms. Nielsen no. The you know if anything, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office . Ms. Nielsen no. Do you agreed to appear and testify before any committee of congress if you are confirmed . Ms. Nielsen without reservation. Thank you. I will defer my questions until the end, but we do have a request for a second round of questions which i am happy to accommodate. I also want to make sure that those who dont stick around can get a full hearing, so i will set the timer for seven minutes. I am going to be very mindful of that. Please, members, do not ask questions until the very end. If you do, i will ask ms. Nielsen to submit her answer for the record. I will turn it over to senator mccaskill. Sen. Mccaskill thank you. I will do my best to make the seven minutes. You scared me to death, i felt like there is an electric shock that will run through my body if i go through seven minutes. [laughter] that you revise your questionnaire last night, and i want to make sure we get that on the record. What you have done is you have gone through and clarified in questionnaires, both for the majority and minority, that you would comply without reservation for any request to appear, that to would without reservation make any subordinate official to available to appear and testify. You agreed without reservation to fully and completely and promptly respond to any requests for documents from any duly constituted committee of the congress if you are confirmed. You went on to do the same thing in the minority. I wanted to get that on the record. There was some confusion in some of the air in your answers from your previous questionnaire, that you, like your predecessor, understand you have a duty to respond to oversight requests. Ms. Nielsen yes. Sen. Mccaskill thank you. I want to read a quote from your predecessor about the wall. It was as follows. One second. It is unlikely that we will build a wall or physical barrier from sea to shining sea. Kelly testified this to the committee. We will not build a wall where it doesnt make sense, but we will do something across the southwest border. Do you agree with general kelly in that regard . Ms. Nielsen yes, maam. Sen. Mccaskill whistleblowers. Im a big believer that there must be whistleblower protection. Can you briefly address how you feel about whistleblowers and protecting them from retaliation within the department . Ms. Nielsen i would be happy to. Should i be confirmed, i would be doing everything in my power to ensure there is no retaliation. Feel whistleblowers are a very important part of the way our democracy functions. I was happy to the president signed into law another whistleblower act. That was greatly due to the chairmans efforts. I believe within each department we need to ensure not only are is an environment of trust and respect, but there is a safe place our voices to be heard. It is vitally understand the concerns of employees. Sen. Mccaskill let me also address contracting after disasters. About all very worried , for the firstns time, i believe in my lifetime, unable to restore basic living necessities to thousands of americans for weeks now. Im confident you will get other questions about puerto rico, but i want to hone in on contracting. You have awarded more than 2 billion in contracts, twice the amount of contracting activity the agency typically conducts in an entire year, just since Hurricane Harvey struck. Circumstances do you think is appropriate to award nobid contracts, and what could you do to prepare the agency with contracts that have been competed that could slide into place in the aftermath of a disaster . Ms. Nielsen thank you for the question. This is an area, should i be confirmed, that i would like to work with congress on. We need the flexibility and accountability and agility in these contracts. In some cases, we need to adjust the rules such that we can get the needed Mission Assignments supply to the people, but we have to make sure there is accountability and that we have checks and balances and internal controls. Im not fully aware of every particular avenue fema has besued, but what we need to aware of is the innovation needs to be balanced with accountability. What im looking to hear is generally you have a bias against noncompete contracts . Ms. Nielsen it is a very last resort, in my opinion. If it is life and death, there might be some circumstance. Sen. Mccaskill thats my point. What i really hope that happens is that you begin a comprehensive effort. We know these disasters are coming. We know there are going to be disasters, natural disasters across the country. All we have to do is look at whats going on. That i believe a lot of this is climate. That is for another day and discussion, but this takes fema. Ship from dhs and of course you have to do a nobid contract if you have nothing prepared for the moment where you have to have thousands restoring electricity. Ms. Nielsen i agree. I think we need to have better modeling, and based on that modeling and potential consequences, we need to learn work with state, local, and tribal governments to have that in place predisaster. One of mykill biggest concerns is our ports. ,y colleague to the left senator portman, and many of the are so concerned about the Public Health crisis that grips our nation in terms of the death toll from opioids. We know that a lot of this is coming in. Really, i think if we took a close analysis, we see what is coming across the border in terms of opioids, especially fentanyl. We are adding more Border Patrol officers on the border, and we cannot fill the positions we have, and we are cutting port officers where we desperately need more manpower. Folksare thousands of sure. Im quickly approaching the electric shock, but i would like you to address and make a commitment that you will look at its in balance and address that we are potentially overloading the Border Patrol and ignoring the port. Ms. Nielsen you have my commitment. I look forward to working with the people at cbp, understanding operational needs on the border. It is a combination of personnel and technology and we understand technology can serve as a for small it multiplier if instituted correctly. We need to understand where and how the drugs are coming in. The best combination of resources, including personnel, to combat that. Sen. Mccaskill thank you. How do you like that . Thats good, but for the record i only threatened a light cap of the tap of the gavel. You. Portman thank welcome, we are delighted you are sticking stepping up. Earlier wasntioned congressional oversight. There has been frustration expressed in the committee over my tenure in the last several years that we dont get the kind of responses we need to be able to do effective oversight. This is not a partisan issue, and it shouldnt be. As the chair of the subcommittee, we have worked on a totally bipartisan basis and done some good work, but it requires the administration to be responsive. I would say that it might be helpful for me to give you a specific example rather than talk generally about it. It has to do with senator mccaskills words earlier, which is the ability for us to focus on the supply side. I will not get into details of the investigation, but we are withg to get information looking at packages. We know fentanyl is the number one killer in my state of ohio. It is increasingly the drug pushing up heroin and other drugs. Most of it comes from china and through the mail system. Private carriers have to provide advanced electronic data, but the Postal Service doesnt. The traffic goes the traffickers use the Postal Service. We want to know how to stop this from coming into our communities. We know that if we can stop the poison from coming in, it will save lives, and at a minimum, raise costs for these three. Drugs. We want to interview the people who were actually doing inspection of packages at jfk and other sites where you have the post office bringing in overseas packages. We were told by dhs that those are lowlevel people and you have to interview supervisors. We persist, and they continue to say no. So we interview the supervisors. They dont have the information for us. In fact, i will tell you, even the supervisors, one of them, refuse to look at the emails to be able to provide us responsive answers, which was frustrating. You know what they told us . You need to talk to the online people. Dhs refuses to allow us to talk to the online people. We go to the supervisors, and the supervisors say they dont have firsthand knowledge, you need to talk to the people on the front line. Want to give you that as a very specific, realtime concern. Here, her carper were would echo my concerned. Concerns. We wont want to have to go to subpoenas, but we will. That he will work with us to enhance the responsiveness of the department. It is a largest growing department with a lot of layers. We want a commitment that you will work with this committee, which is vested with the responsibility for providing oversight over dhs to respond to congressional inquiries. [inaudible] with a large department, to be clear with policies regarding. Oversight and transparency those are key not only do leadership, but the Effective Partnership required to combat threats today. Commitment to any providing information to do your job, which in turn helps us do our job. I think my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would appreciate that. Office issue of drugs coming let me ask youy, about a specific legislative initiative. Initiative. The stop act says with regard to private carriers, you have to have advanced electronic data where the package is going. That helps Law Enforcement identify those packages and stop this poison coming in. I have seen this at private facilities dhl same thing with fedex facilities. There is not the same requirement through the Postal Service. Congress required private carriers to do it. That was 15 years ago. Even today the post office is pushing back. What i would like to hear today from you is your commitment to getting this legislation through. It says that the post office has to require the same advanced electronic data, so your folks can identify this poison coming in. They arealk to cbb, very interested in having this legislation passed. When we talk to the postal inspectors, when we talk to Law Enforcement, same thing. Legislation has not moved in part because of the post office push back. The commission the president formidable opioids specifically recommended passage of the stop act. Can you give us your commitment that you will support the stop fixand get this legislative so that we can make progress keeping the supply of drugs out of this country . Yes sir. I will provide any Technical Assistance necessary so we can implement it effectively, working with the post office and customs and Border Patrol so they have the resources and personnel to play their part. So many other questions. I will for the record ask questions with regard to security in the faith community. This is an issue we continue to struggle with. I will ask questions on the management side regarding the complex for of the challenge you had in workforce management. We appreciate that you are here today as a nominee with your experience and background to help during a critical time. Please note i am yielding back 38 seconds. I will note that i really appreciate that. Thank you sen. Portman yielding back. I will utilize those seconds. Thank you for your willingness to serve assuming you will get confirmed. Hopefully montana will be on your docket for places to visit, so we can look at a number of things your agency index a gency impacts in rural america. In terms of Airport Security, reinforced Law Enforcement officer reimbursement grants. Are you familiar with that . It is a problem to help local Law Enforcement agencies secure local airports. I think it is a really important program, just to let the cat out of the bag what i believe about it. The administration would have eliminated this program through its budget. Puts a whole bunch of things at risk by doing that, because terrorists tend to go to the weakest links. My crack staff told me that the program is still at risk of elimination by the administration. I want to know what your view is on those, then i will have a followup. Elimination by the administration. Should i be confirmed, it is certainly something i want to look into. Ys theis a mix of Wa Department of Homeland Security can work with state and local officials. This area is particularly vulnerable. It is a soft target. There is more that we need to do. Dhs can provide training. They can provide information. What i would say is yes, you have my commitment. Senator tester good. End,uld tell you in the whether it is called a Different Program or not small Airport Security is just as important as big Airport Security. I would hope he would fight hard for that. Real i. D. Never been a big fan. There are a number of reasons why. I think we can get this pounded out, but it will require some bipartisan visiting with a number of senators to make this work so that we dont end up doing things in montana, having a real i. D. That costs the citizenry extra dollars. I just want your commitment to moving this issue forward. It would be on a bipartisan manner. It has been around as long as i have in here. Ms. Nielsen yes sir. Senator tester Border Security, big issue. Sorry if this has already been asked. The president has been an advocate for a wall on the southern border. As you well know, i serve as Ranking Member on the appropriations Homeland Security committee, also beside this committee. So the question i have is, from perspective, i assume you been on the southern border . Ms. Nielsen yes. Senator tester you have seen it. Been on the southern border . Ms. Nielsen yes. Senator tester you have seen it. What is your view on a wall, and what is your view on technology . Ms. Nielsen i would like to quote something senator mccaskill said at the beginning. The president has stated, as have my predecessors at dhs, there is no need for a wall from sea to sign in sheet. Sea to shining sea. Should i be confirmed, i look forward to speaking with state and local officials to understand where we need some sort of physical barrier. Technology plays a key part, and we cant forget it. Theres a lot we can do with technology to secure our border. Senator tester in a much more costeffectivetechnology way, i. There was a report that was due by your August August 3 on a confidence of review august 3 on a comprehensive review. One, could you, assuming you get confirmed, put the gas on the pedal to get that . It is important that we have a plan moving forward for the southern border. Ms. Nielsen yes sir. I think the plan needs to be linked in the appropriate way to any appropriation. Senator tester absolutely. I agree with you 100 . Do you have any plans on Port Security . Ms. Nielsen i would say we just need to continue to evolve with the times. Anything from Cyber Security threats to additional, perhaps more innovative ways senator tester is there any technology that you know of right now that ports dont have that they might need . Ms. Nielsen i am aware of some additional screening equipment that we are looking at piloting and using at the borders. I am not aware of any constraints that a portal environment might provide. Certainly we need the best and brightest in terms of technology and personnel at the ports. Senator tester i would like the chairman and to know that i yield back one minute and 13 seconds. [laughter] this is fabulous. Thank you mr. Chairman. I wont disappoint you. You know what is coming, a question on the northern border. The northern border threat julysis was released in legislationpartisan that senator kelly ayotte and i cosponsored. Obviously when we look at the northern border, it is 5500 ands, with a very historic significant partner in terms of canada. Katz is nothing we can ignore our northern border threat assessment. Dhs has already committed to me that items such as improved facilities, improved retention, and better use of technology will be addressed in this strategy, but that strategy is only a first step. The implementation of the strategy must be prioritized during the budget process. Will you, if confirmed, commit to pushing and the next dhs budget, for sufficient funds to execute the northern border strategy, including funds to improve and facilities, improving recruitment and retention at remote and rural locations, and Smart Investments and technology . Ms. Nielsen iw ill. Senator heitkamp will you commit that the northern border will be a priority of yours is confirmed . Ms. Nielsen it must be. Senator heitkamp north dakota and montana share a border. If you want to come to montana, we will make sure you come to montana and north dakota at the same time. You will see that gap in order security that is particularly difficult in terms of retention and recruitment and staff, monitoring and securing the northern border facility. That would be the wideopen space through the montana border. It is critically important that we get your commitment on the northern border issues. Another Program Within the department of Homeland Security, which i have taken a particular interest in, is the country environment extremism section. We have not heard a whole lot about it. Obviously when the chairman went through a number of those thosents, a number of homemade lone wolf situations, we want to make sure we have relationships within the organization and within the community to avoid radicalization. Will you commit to evaluating dhs andprogram at reporting back in 90 days if with goals and grants and how you intend to prioritize the mission of this organization . Ms. Nielsen yes i do. Senator heitkamp i would ask that you pay particular attention to that problem. I was struck by your opening announced where you the principles of our founding documents. We are sure whos doing the policy and how we can affect seamless integration and implementation if dhs isnt involved. I want to give you an opportunity to respond to this question. If you are confirmed, and if a policy from the white house, not dhs, is illegal and goes beyond do withins able to the law and is not in the interest of the american public, fit the bend the law to policy that has been stated, or will you tell the president and the white house that he has proposed limitations on his power, and otherwise is outside the bounds of law and regulation beyond what is good for the department . Ms. Nielsen thank you for the question. I fully intend in all cases to fully comply with all laws. I would expect the same of any employee or member of dhs. I would answer your question yes. I would definitely tell the president is policy violated any laws of our country. Most importantly it would be my intention in every instance to speak with him and everyone else staff prior to any announcement of policy to make sure they understand both operational question yes. I would definitely tell the president isconstraints, resoure constraints, and the views and insights of other stakeholders. Senator heitkamp i think over the months we have had a suspicion that the righthand doesnt know what the left hand is doing. You come from rules that have been supported. Roles that have been supported. You are in a new role. That means you have to represent the constitution. You have to fulfill your constitutional obligations. You have to be accountable to this committee. I would appreciate ongoing dialogue and making sure that commitment is actually carry forth. Thank you so much. I would note that i left 48 seconds on the clock. Duly noted. Senator peters thank you for being before us to serve today in this capacity. I want to thank you for the opportunity we had to me in my office to discuss a lot of issues related to the state of michigan. If confirmed, i would look forward to the opportunity to work with you going forward. We have seen an uptick in hate crimes in this country, and in my state of michigan recently. I am concerned that this administration has failed to give these incidents the full weight and attention that they certainly deserve. I just have a few questions. First, do you condemn White Nationalism and White Supremacy . Ms. Nielsen absolutely. Senator peters do you condemn antisemitism . Ms. Nielsen yes. Senator peters do you condemn islamophobia . I ask because if confirmed, your tone and rhetoric as secretary will be important for the men and women you lead, as well as all of the American People. Let me turn to an incident in charlottesville, virginia. Do you agree that the individual charged with the murder of Heather Heyer was a White Nationalist . Ms. Nielsen as i understand it, that is the case. Senator peters has the potential leader of a massive and diverse workforce, do you agree with the president s comments related to the charlottesville incident, namely that there were fine people on both sides . Ms. Nielsen what i can say is that i believe is confirmed, and that i disavow any form of violence, any kind of white supremacist, anyone that is wsooses to espouse their vie through violence. I would do everything in my power to work with state and local governments and communities through an awareness perspective, and to provide Key Information sharing that enables them to participate such threats. We cannot tolerate it as the United States. Senator peters in the aftermath of charlottesville, americans are urging congress to examine the threat of White Nationalist violence and broadened the scope of countering Violent Extremism Programs. Nevertheless, many of our nations civil rights groups, including american muslim communities, believe that the cve program has been focused disproportionately on Law Enforcement led outreach. I want to be very clear, while enforcement should continue Law Enforcement should continue to engage Community Leaders across the country. However, this type of engagement should in some ways be decoupled from cve efforts. Permitsent cve approach mistrust,tion of perceptions that are routinely exacerbated by divisive and polarizing messaging coming out of the trump administration. My question is, what are your thoughts on reframing the dhs cve mission to focus on engaging communities through a full range engaging the department of education, health and human services, and others. You can expand your thoughts. Ms. Nielsen i believe it requires the full weight and strength of the United States government. There are many avenues in which we understand individuals become radicalized or find themselves on the path toward violence. The short answer is yes, should i be confirmed, i will work with other cabinets to utilize the tools they have. I believe the only way this works is to constructively and continually engage communities. We have to build the environment of trust and respect so they feel they can come forward and not face retaliation and have alternatives to an otherwise violent cap. Senator peters if confirmed, will you commit to studying this issue and include the perspective of americas ethnic and religious minorities in that perspective . Ms. Nielsen yes sir. Senator peters appreciate that. Secretary kelly visited my home state of michigan earlier in his tenure, which i appreciated, especially with the arab community. I hope you will commit to visiting michigan as well, given the concerns that have been expressed on a regular basis to me from that large and active community. Ms. Nielsen yes sir. Senator peters acting secretary duke said she would provide this committee with information related to the portion of the dhs budget spent on domestic terrorism versus international terrorism. Will you ensure that happens if confirmed . Ms. Nielsen yes i would. Senator peters an ohio man was charged with murder following the charlottesville incident. The department of justice has also opened up an investigation. Unlike international terrorism, there is currently no domestic terrorism statute on the books. Do you think legislation is required to address domestic terrorism . Ms. Nielsen that is a good question. Many americans in the wake of charlottesville were surprised to learn there is no such crime as domestic terrorism. That does not necessarily mean the fbi, department of justice dont have the laws and tools they need. Should i be confirmed, it is a conversation i would like to have with director wray and the attorney general to make sure we have the tools to prosecute such activities. Senator peters do you see any shortfalls . Ms. Nielsen not as of now. Senator peters but you do intend to do a review. Ms. Nielsen yes. Senator peters i look forward to see what may potentially need to be done. Do you support laws and policies that allow police and authorities to demand proof of citizenship or immigration status based on their perception that an individual is undocumented . Id o. Elsen i believe in enforcing the federal Immigration Laws of the United States. Id o. I believesenator peters so in r support, kind of a clarifying question what would constitute reasonable suspicion, and how would that differ from racial profiling . Ms. Nielsen it is a good question, and i would have to understand what states would argue the difference would be. I would do that and happy to report back should i be confirmed, or as a question for the record. Thank you mr. Chairman. Nielsen. Ing ms. Thank you for meeting me in my office last week. I will add to the course of those with states on the northern border that we are looking for real attention to the northern border report and improvements we should be making. Just on to start today the issue of how it was caliphate issue of our postc aliphate strategy. You are familiar with the challenges of the department and the nature of the threat to the homeland. Dhs has been leading the effort to address foreign fighter flows from the u. S. And western allied countries to iraq and syria. Today the socalled caliphate is crumbling, with the isis strongholds of mosul and raqqa being retaken. Isishousands that were in could form a terrorist diaspora that could seek tax on other countries. You alluded to steps he would take if confirmed to address the next generation of terrorist threats. I would like you to specify what steps it would take is confirmed in the first 30 days to address the terrorism threat from the diaspora. Ms. Nielsen first what i would with to speak in detail the leadership at dhs currently. In general, what we have to realize is that the threat has changed. What we see now are more of an inspiration. They are no less dangerous when they are inspired. We are seeing throughout the world, particularly in europe, but unfortunately here as well, that would be terrorists usethee very common items. Senator hassan i understand that. Constraints,r time what concrete actions would you take . One of the reasons you have is you have been there recently and already to lead. Ms. Nielsen awareness, outreach, ensuring that intel is requirements based. Making sure we use a joint task forcelike mentality in the department so that we are leveraging different parts, and prioritizing what the threat is. Ms. Nielsen thank you. I will likely follow up with you on that. I also wanted to followup on a couple questions you have heard about conjuring violent countering violent extremism. You referenced in your answers that dhs must increase its capabilities to address terrorist exploitation on the internet for radicalization. You just talked about the need to constructional to continually build relationships. Could you talk more about how you would do that . Ms. Nielsen dhs has been working with social media providers, internet providers. That is something i will commit to continue. We need to in partnership find terrorist substance on the internet and remove it. When you we know they are using it to inspire, cause confusion in some cases. The internet is vulnerable and we need to work in partnership to remove the. Senator hassan you mentioned in our meeting in my office the need to partner moms and imams. I was trying to get at what you mean by that. Ms. Nielsen my reference was to some of the different nonprofit agreeme nonprofit organizations that we worked with when i was at dhs. They suggested the best way to do Community Outreach and increase awareness was to work with those two groups in particular. Senator hassan sorry for interrupting, but again, time is short. Dhs has a unique office called the office of Community Partnerships that does exactly what you are talking about, and have referenced in answers to a couple questions now. While you are at dhs at chief of staff, the number of personnel was cut in half, the Grant Program was eliminated, and the director of office resigned. In your first few days of dhs, you resend it previous you rescinded a number of grants. One of those was a group of white supremacist working to pull those out of white supremacist groups, and the Muslim Affairs council, which has a track record of engaging the Muslim Community on this issue. Can you tell me the reason why you took these actions at dhs . Rescincally, why did you d grants that have been carefully vetted . The short answer is, it was an attempt to ensure that any grants distributed would in fact be effective. The awards were pretty awarded preawarded days prior to the administration. Secretary kelly put a hold on grants and asked the office of Community Partnership to look at metrics to ensure that any taxpayer money was successful. Track record was one of the considerations. Senator hassan so the question is, what has been done since . Grants andi assume those metrit vetting could have happened by now. Grants, anded more meanwhile the Office Personnel has been cut in half. It does not speak to a real desire or since of urgency about this. Ms. Nielsen should i be confirmed, and just in general, i look forward to hearing the results of the grant. They have been awarded, but it has been four or six months depending on the grant. I am hopeful that we will find best practices that we can then scale,. Weources need to make sure we do it in an effective way. Various instrumental in levels of government. N some cases, i participated so, you were a part of a meeting held in the white house in this room in late august that involved attorney general jeff sessions, and white house Senior Adviser stephen miller, and feeling duke . Him believe so coming at members of the administration i believe so. Meeting last week, when the issue of daca was raised, i was encouraged to hear you say you want to work on it. Daca and recipients include hundreds of thousands of individuals enrolled in colleges , working in fortune 100 companies, serving in our military. Every day, since that announcement was made, they wake up terrified. Night, theyre afraid there will be a knock on their door at midnight, removing them from their home and tearing apart their family. Do you agree that legislation must pass to protect these young people before the end of the calendar year . We must find a permanent solution. Its no way to live to expect them to do this for two months at a time. Thisile Congress Works on issue, and hopefully we will work on a bipartisan way, and i hope that that will happen if confirmed, will you commit that these young people will not be an enforcement priority where congress is working to fix the problem . Yes. Applicants are asked information in a two the allowed in. They were told that their information would not be used for enforcement purposes. The agency was asked to keep its promise by not sharing the information. It demanded this from the on people to deport them. We have not received a response. If confirmed, do you agree that this information will not be shared for enforcement purposes . We i will commit to you that will get to a response. Secondarily, yes. I understand it as understand it, there are very docific circumstances that not enable that information to be shared. If there are any, i will commit to you to come talk to about it and work out a solution together. Will you commit to this committee, if confirmed, that you will make that interpretation, that that information will not be shared for Law Enforcement purposes, you will make that policy position clear . Absolutely. Thank you. At a september 27 hearing, i asked secretary duke to extend the october 5 through will deadline for daca recipients. It did not happen. It has been reported that werely 21,000 recipients not able to gather the documentation and 495 required before the deadline. Reopenirmed, will you the application process, and allow this individuals the opportunity to renew their status . To you to look into it. Im not familiar with the there areumbers, but circumstances we should take into consideration, i would look into those. I would urge you that part of the extenuating circumstances that should be taken into account is a National Survey that found 57 of americans say that right now, the do not have the ability to pay 500 of an unexpected bill. Additionally, there have been natural disasters around the world, including country, including my home state, where americans have lost their arengings, paperwork, and barely getting through the day, much less have the ability to have documentation and come up with 495. We think think of that of the extenuating circumstance. On february 20, the dhs released a memo that included seven factors for Immigration Enforcement area during a meet the press interview on april 16, former secretary step kelly stated, just because you are here in the United States illegally doesnt necessarily get your targeted. Im quoting him. Its got to be something else, and we are operating more or less at the other end of the spectrum, and that is criminal. Do you agree with that assessment . I agree that we should prioritize criminals and many others and any others that are being looked at. I would defer to you, but i would follow the law. Whatever the law tells me a criminal is, thats what we would look at. I appreciate that. I would urge you to consider the definition of criminals to be people who have violated the law, in terms of the penal code, and those are criminals, as opposed to people who are in dark undocumented and in this country because of situations such as streamers, that they were brought here is young children, and have no other home except for this. Yes, the criminality our be talking about, with an special respect to enforcement priority, is above and beyond the original entry. The it has been widely reported that between january and september of this year, three times the number of individuals were arrested, with no criminal history, as can compared with last year. If the dhs is focused, as you have indicated, on true clear thatit is frontline officers have a different impression. You targetd, would criminals that are safety dutch Public Safety threats . I understand that to be the current policy. If theres any question about it, we will clarify. Would you really should direct of c agents . As a morewould work acting appropriate director. Thank you. Thanks for being here, for your leadership in the past. Your willingness to go through this process this is not a fun process. Tonk you for stepping up take that leadership. What me ask you a series of questions. Customs and Border Patrol and other issues in dhs, it takes well over the standard 100 days for hiring, which is way too long for the federal hiring process. Customs systems around 440 days to hire one agent. There was a request put in for a additional 100 million. That is on top of the 65 million put in place last year to be able to help in the process. Thats 165 million for broken process. My question for you is, how do we get this fixed . What is the take 165 million to fix the process why does it take 165 million to fix the process . That would be at the top of my list from being confirmed. The big concern and the difficulty we have for northern border. Cyber security is an area, as you know, where we have difficulty in hiring. We need to look at it holistically. Whether that is the way in which were advertising, the way in us towe are allowing apply. As i understand, unfortunately, some of the websites where jobs are listed, the links are bad. Its something where we can low hanging fruit, if you will from a holistic perspective, we need to have the whole thing through the cycle of attention and development. Should i be confirmed, this is something i would look into. Lets walk through that. I serve in the appropriations onmittee, so i am on both the other rising and appropriating side of this. This something we can do for less than 165 million for broken process. We have to reform how we are doing this. Earlier, a request was brought anyou that had been put in august 1, to get a comprehensive Border Security plan. That is something you have mentioned, for the northern and southern border. The first part of this is the discussion of southern border. Your dimension we are not talking about awol from sea to shining sea. Were talking about technology wallme places about a from sea to shining sea trade were talking about technology in some places, physical barriers in some places. Theres a much higher number of Unmanned Aerial Systems on the southern border than the northern border. The northern border is more open, and 2000 miles longer. We will get greater attention to the northern border. We will figure out cost. Initial cost estimate they came to us was about 20 million per mile for construction of the wall. 10 years ago, where building all of these, about 2. 5 million per mile. Process has gone up 10 times in 10 years. We have inflation, but its not that great. Thats an area where we will get greater clarity on to determine where we are securing the border. I look forward to working with you should be confirmed. Appreciate that very much. Have spoken as well about before about election Security Issues, and foreign actors trying to interfere, not only in our free speech, but in the election process. One of the things i race at the time when we spoke last was about the length of time i raised at the time when we spoke timewas the length of about speaking with foreign actors. Have to notify them, they are being probed. The two things to Work Together on, when his clearances of state elected officials. Electiond one is, at time, there is an election that will work with states, determining what the election system is though is the role of the state. To make sure estate at the end of the election, cannot of their election, would be helpful. Looking for his cooperation, trying to deal with things that i would assume the American People will assume will be done a year from now when there is a largescale general election again. Yes, sir. You have my commitment. Inn i went to vote this week the virginia election, started asking a variety of questions on what this was for the ballot. We all have to be very aware and work with state locals. The role is of dhs is to respond to officials to ensure that they can receive the information and offer a variety of tools for supply chain all the way through to that initiation of voter rolls that is protected. Also, this is very important on the back end to the audit. Whether its a paper ballots or physically moving the ballots as they do in california, as shepherd by the Highway Patrol chaperoned by the Highway Patrol. Couple moreing in a things rapidly. One is a brought in several lets me bring in a couple more things. One is several fema folks. Disaster aid was redefined to not include houses of worship. Locations forre distribution, supplies, everything else, but they are notnonprofits. Can try toing we help clarify. That something is think the administration has the authority to clarify, when it says nonprofits, so it doesnt include faithbased nonprofits,specially after this year clarified in the Supreme Court that we cant go to a house of worship and tell them you cant participate in your government if youre faithbased. Unfair decision for any house of worship to say, yes you can participate with your government, as long as you give up your faith first. Thats not something we are going to do. We will maintain that conversation. We want to bring it is an issue. Waivers, decision wafers decisions on waivers, and how we can go in that zone right now, decisions as early as possible. The longer it takes, the more difficult it is to arrange things. Thanks again. Thank you. Thanks for being here today. Congratulations on your nomination. We certainly look forward to working with you. , in your opinion, to securing the border and enforcing Immigration Law. What are the key metrics that performance . Aluate i would just say at the start that metrics are vital. Dont think we can effectively or efficiently spend taxpayer money without them. We need to work stakeholders, this committee, and others to make sure we have metrics that are indicative of performance. I believe we need to look at it as an integrated system. We need to not talk about physical barriers. Training,nality, technology. Its pricking with state locals, understanding things that might be needed in special cumstances, such as is if such as if there is a natural disaster. Should it bey, confirmed, i look forward to working with you in more detail. I dont think this can work from an appropriations perspective or come out with security but these metrics. It should be transparent, ones that are repeatable, can be measured, and that we have the ability to update. Includes making sure you are enforcing Immigration Law within the country. Yes. When you talk about those metrics. Yes, sir. That needs to be measured and understood. Yes. For the general public as well. Agreed. Some of my colleagues have talked about the northern border. I want to have a northern and southern border as well. I want to ask for your opinion in regard to the use of Unmanned Aircraft for Border Security. Case. Ts an interesting the ability to have not only that situational awareness, but sensors we now have available to to have as variety of threats across the border. Perspective, this moving through to people, to illicit goods, the first multipliers that we should absolutely be looking at, the ways they are integrated. We need to look at the phone or abilities and make sure we are up front, not having security on the backend. Support the use of Unmanned Aircraft technology is a piece of Border Security. Onif the operators and folks the ground believe this can be useful, absolutely. What about defending against Unmanned Aircraft, whether that be at the border or addressing it in terms of this within the country . Thats the flip side. In our use, we would have to the front end to think about the vulnerability that things provide. As you know, weve seen unmanned , everything from improvised explosive devices to come unfortunately, dispersal devices. We have to them seriously as i understand it. We have to watch very carefully, and include in our planning. Erases everything from privacy issues all the way to a potential threat, as you said. Dakota, part of the Northern Plains test sites, one of six in the nation, we are already working on some of those issues. Partnership between not only the test site, but also the university of north dakota of theof aviation, one premier schools of aviation in the world, with the u. S. Air with customs and Border Protection which has responsibility for 900,000 forces, all the way west through the montana border. And then, with Companies Like general atomics with global hawk. This is an opportunity for us to work with dhs on developing all these things. You and i talked about this, i appreciate that, but again, ask for your attention and looking at how it can partner with this, exactly what we are talking about. Yes, sir, you have my commitment. The other thing i wanted to ask about we saw this in new york city. In this case, the use of a truck. Talk to me about not only how we prevent or do more to prevent those types of attacks, respond to them, but also how come in your opinion, we can address this radicalization of people either, who are radicalized overseas, or here in this country. Prevent, respond, and address radicalization . From vulnerability assessments of soft targets, vulnerability the fbi is crucial, ensuring that they have the tools they need, working closely with the department of justice to offer everything they cant can from a federal government perspective. To radicalization, in my mind, we have to look at it as two different points. The first point being, why and how do, or does, an individual become radicalized in our country what are they accessing . . What are the hearing . What are they not reading or accessing or hearing . Once they are radicalized what can we do, to help them see that there is a better, more productive way to express their views, that are protected in this country, in a nonviolent manner . Should we should i be confirmed, i look forward to working with dhs, but also, the many organizations, lawenforcement communities, and International Partners to determine the best practices we can to eliminate this threat. All lawnetworks, with enforcement agencies, security agencies, not only at a local, state, federal level, but not only this country, other countries, is so important. What you represent, thats absolutely right. Thank you for your willingness to step up and serve in a challenging and demanding, important position. Thank you. As light as you raise this issue, i want to go down the same path for continuity. One thing i was struck by is, in the recent new york terrorist attack using a truck, apparently, he read a howtwo manual on the internet that showed what kind of truck two wheels in the back axle so you have a great chance of running over people. From the lawfulness of that type , what do youual think we have to do in terms of exploring . What should we do in terms of that height howto manual for violence on the internet . We would need a serious discussion, frankly, in conjunction with the consecutive executive and legislative branch. Obviously, our rules and values that we often enable each one of us to speak freely within this country. Having said that, there is a point at which certain very specific descriptions of weapons have to conduct a tax. We also jump right into this on the internet. There is something before that. We have to have that conversation, then work with those who provide and enable that information on the internet , to find a way to identify and remove it, should we determine its not appropriate. This was a different kind of enemy. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here today. Its nice to have you back. A number of us on this Committee Like to address symptoms of problems. What would you say are the root of hundreds of thousands of people trying to get out of central america, get into the United States . Where the root causes of that . Think it is push and pull i think it is push and pull. Generally, to me that means the conditions on the ground, unfortunately, are some of these countries, they have a better opportunity. On that note, what i would do thats a good job. I can throw that in here. Thats to continue to work in partnership with this government. We have to increase prosperity there. Theres programs you and i discussed, including this from prosperity. He help the Community Find jobs. In and of itself, this provides the type of environment citizens want to say stay. Pro that there is an underlying factor of that push, if you will. This is like no other. Americans come unfortunately, we have a higher not only, death rate from it, but other rates in the country. Thats good. As you know, the Generals Office this is something youd call a high risk list, wasting money. Things, high risk was four years ago, the fact that we spend a lot of money trying to prepare for it and fight against the rising oceans. We see this rise every day. Do you really that Climate Change has caused temperatures to rise, and is primarily caused by human beings . I believethe client its changing, but i cant unequivocally state their many contributions. My question was, do you believe its primarily caused by beings . I believe it exists, im not pair to determine causation. Not . Y this people from almost 200 nations gathered here, focused on this issue. 98 of our scientists theyre saying this is a problem, and where the root caused. We sit there and say, its not really clear. Somethings happening, and i think it is clear. One of i think you are smart. A think you are well spoken. I like your leadership, and your experiences or lack of experience. I was privileged privileged to be governor for eight years. The idea of me taking on an thingsthat had 24,000 all over the world would be daunting for me. Thing for her, jeh johnson, close friend. Why should we believe that a smart, well spoken as you are, as far as i know, never let an organization of people, much less 240,000, ready to take on this responsibility. Offer that,ike to ive had privileges throughout my life, to professionally volunteer in another endeavor, and be a big part of managing, and very clear about this and rules and responsibilities, to empower those that i work with, to ensure they have the tools and resources they need. Many of the leadership skills that are probably to the lace are scalable. What i would do should be theirmed his work with operational components, ensure that my expectations of them are very clear. I believe in accountability, i would hope that you would hold me accountable and others accountable. We need to ae knowledge successes. I want to be led my by my principles of leadership, integrity, transparency, unity of effort. I would work with the work men and women to not only ensure that they have the tools they need, but that we consistently cannot it, have internal control, and hold them accountable. Respond to a to request for information from democratic, republican senators . Yes. The talk to us about reorganization, possible reorganization of National Protection and public directory. Of agreement between you and me, talk about what your views are. Think iten i do should should be confirmed i would appreciate an opportunity to work with you to change the name. Confuse stakeholders and eliminates some of the positive our morel morale. Of resilience are operational missions. Any river is should take that into consideration and find the best way to balance those in the National Capital region and those who should be in the field working with the owners and operators with the private sector and our state, local, tribal, territorial partners. We need to do it for any other reason then driven by the mission. Richard nixon send the only people who do not make mistakes of people who do not do anything. I make a lot of mistakes, i have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I have learned from the things i have done well. Talk to us about your biggest mistakes and how you learn from them. Ms. Nielsen some of my biggest mistakes are in general i would learned to speak quickly, clearly, and repetitively when i disagree with something that is being proposed. Ofis the best cost cause action. That variety of experience policy must be informed by those operators and by operational environments. Many times and we have had great ideas, they are not going to be implemented in a way that reaches the original intent. I would say that resources go handinhand with policies and strategies. Authorities must be looked at in terms of the best way to leverage them. They have been times when i have perhaps suggested a new authority was needed from policy perspective only to find out upon further examination there was authority, it needed to be differently leveraged. During that review before looking for Additional Authority is important. Richard nixon would be pleased. Nice to hear you quoting richard nixon. I was quoting john f. Kennedy this week. A bipartisan quote. Great to see you again. Thank you for your service and thank you for your willingness to continue serving our nation is our secretary of Homeland Security. Regarding leadership it is a fair question from senator carper. Prior note that to secretaries of Homeland Security have stated that you are a leader for our times in a letter that was submitted to the committee as well as a son of a u. S. Marine, a forced armory and that sat right there not too long ago. He put his confidence in you to lead that organization working with him, that tells me about your leadership. I have a lot of confidence in general kelly, secretary kelly, kelly picking great people to lead organizations. I am confident of your leadership abilities. One of the greatest successes this administration has been President Trump signaling the u. S. Will enforce its laws. This has led to quantifiable improvements and a leadership of general john kelly, secretary kelly with you as the chief of staff. Illegalsion rates for southwest border crossings have dropped nearly 30 year to date very at compared to last year. Some months have seen over a 60 reduction. Drug seizures have increased by many measures and morel moraele has improved. You stated this was the highest priority from a risk perspective. How will you maintain this positive trajectory we have seen mitigating the risk and further securing our borders . Ms. Nielsen thank you. Was at dhs under thensecretary kelly we had the opportunity to travel and meet with government officials in our southern neighbors and to tell them publicly to speak direct the to the people in some cases, please do not take this dangerous journey. It is dangerous to you. It is dangerous to your children. You are putting your life in the hands of those who have no other concern for you than the money that they can take from you trying to smuggle you or traffic you across the border. I think the cost of medication with desk constant communication with partners is important. General kelly was successful making clear we will enforce our laws. It is final that we do so. E will do so i intend to do so should i be confirmed. We need that makes on the border that you and i have talked about. It is not just. I intend people or physical barriers but it is that technology. It is the policies and procedures that enable us to quickly respond. Something seemingly as simple as of road along a physical barrier allows us to monitor and respond should a threat get past. Would do many things i land on continuing. I appreciate your comments on the humanitarian side. The foldable young men and women and children. The coyotes you mentioned, when we see one we havethe foldable n a certain response that i will not talk about here. Lets just say i am grateful to see both the results we are seeing coming off the southern border. And this softer area of helping these women and children, young people who would otherwise be vulnerable to what happens who try to make the crossing. As we discussed, we spent 28 years in the private sector before i came to the hill. Daily. D Cyber Threats we were delivering security for fortune 500any were clients. You have a background in Cyber Security. Recently, and columbia falls, montana, the School District was hacked from overseas. They were using the stolen data of childrens of children and violent andake direct threats. Crimes of this nature surpassed the authorities and the resources of state and local Law Enforcement and we were very uponful for and depended resources coming from the federal government to get to the bottom of this threat. As the secretary of Homeland Security, you have confirmed you will be the whole of the cyber crime efforts. How will you make citizens and personal information safer . Ms. Nielsen i did enjoy our extensive conversation. Thank you for having that with me. , thewe look at information threat has changed. If i were sitting here maybe 10 years ago i would talk a lot about confidentiality. Data breaches continue as you know. What is more concerning is the ability of those who would do us harm through the internet to change the integrity of that information. What happened in the example that you gave was they were able to get in and take the information and use it for a purposes. That is different from the traditional data breaches we have been dealing with over the last 15 years which still exist but we have morphed into a more dangerous area. Particularly integrity of information. I would like it to be correct should i need to go to the hospital. Ensuring that we have integrity of information, resilience builtin, redundancy to include information includes vital. When i look at the way in which we have worked as a department for the last 13 years, i think it has served us well to develop and create partnerships within the private sector, state and local governments. Step, next evolution is to look across sectors, across regions and look at the critical assets and critical pieces of information we need to ensure will be protected. I am out of time. I have a concern where this is headed. And the fact that our nation is likely to not be in a leadership position in terms of the cutting edge ability for perhaps others to break encryption and that threat is over the next hill here. It is moving even closer as we speak. Seeing you in to montana. I did not get a chance to talk about the northern border but we have one and we would love to take you up to the northern part of our state to look at what is going on with the northern border. Ms. Nielsen thank you. I share your concern that we are not in leadership on quantum computing. That is something we need to keep our eye on. We will start the second round. I will hold my questions to the end. Senator mccaskill i know you were very involved in an after action report on katrina when you worked in the bush administration. If confirmed, will you commit to review of the federal governments response to harvey, irma, and maria . Ms. Nielsen yes, maam. Pretty aggressive cuts in the budget. While we are dramatically increasing the funding for a border wall, for immigrant detention and interior enforcement, it is cutting programs severely like the viper team which are essential in our airports, cutting those teams from 31 down to eight. Also the urban Area Security initiative. Which is very important to cities like new york where we saw the terrorist attack recently. The state Homeland Security program. State Emergency Management performance grant, its euros out the Law Enforcement Reimbursement Program that serves our nations airports. It zeros out the conjuring Violent Extremism Program and the terrorist attack program. 582 million has been taken out of these programs. Are you aware, whether new york city relied on any of these Grant Programs in their response to the deadly attack that occurred there recently . I do not have any doubt they did. Committee love this to get information on how many attacks in new york city have been prevented because they have prevented a bunch of them because of this funding and what role does the funding play in their response to the recent attack . Know of any rationale for cutting the viper team so significantly knowing what has gone on in airports across the world . Ms. Nielsen the termination was balancing of risk. There are a variety of threats that tsa faces. Do you think there are metrics that have evaluated the risk on more walls versus the viper team . Ms. Nielsen i am not aware of that cost benefit analysis. Predecessor said there was no cost benefit to the wall. None. We are getting ready to spend money on where they has been no cost benefit done. Likere good at metrics, i you talking about metrics. We were discussing it informally up here, i would like you to take a swing at the metrics of the programs that are being increased in terms of real risk to our country. In terms of Homeland Security, versus the programs that are being cut. That is what the analysis should be. It should not be based on politics. It should be based on the metrics of risk and if that has occurred, it will surprise me. If it has i will be the first to admit what you were willing to admit, this has been done on the basis of politics rather than risk. I look forward to you getting back on to me on that. Ms. Nielsen it has to be risk based, i think we fail and we do not look at risk across departments. Becausehe interagency there are other departments that play a role in Homeland Security so i could not agree more, it cannot be done in a stovepipe way. It dovetails with some of the questioning of my colleagues. No one here wants you to do anything but prioritize people who are in this country illegally that are committing crimes. There is no argument, no divide on that. But that is not what a lot of these resources are being used for right now. There are resources that are being expended that i do not think that analysis has occurred and i am worried as it relates to some of the funding that has joined state and local law federalent with the responsibility of Homeland Security. The more we abandon those usgrams that niche of together, the more vulnerable we are going to be to an attack. I look forward to getting back to me on that. I will yield the rest of my time. Chair let me chime in on riskbased. There is another component combined with other effective solutions. There is an easy solution for something lower risk, you have to concentrate on that as well. It is a twopart formula. Harris i joined senator mccaskill about those points. We discussed this earlier but the Previous Administration prioritized violent and serious crimes and conduct that would pose a risk to National Security. Do you agree that that is the highest priority with limited resources, that is where the resources should go in terms of deportation and enforcement action. Ms. Nielsen yes, maam. A 10yearold girl by the name of her as a Maria Hernandez to a hospitaled in Corpus Christi for an emergency gallbladder surgery. What a control officers stopped the ambulance and followed it to the hospital. Surgeryely after her was over, she was arrested and taken away from her family. Current dhs policy prohibits enforcement action at or near sensitive locations such as hospitals, schools, and churches unless prior approval is given circumstances exist. Rosa maria was apprehended after her surgery was over. If confirmed, do you commit to maintaining dhs policy as it relates to sensitive locations . Ms. Nielsen i do. Should clarification be needed i would ensure that it hers. I appreciate you making that point. I would urge you to issue guidance to agencies, to the agents that this policy exists in this type of sanction not happen again. And inlsen i would conjunction with the commission and director. Thank you. You stated as chief of overseeing 240,000 dhs staff and had resourced and budget related decisionmaking on authority of the office of secretary. The office of the Inspector General issued its annual report. The report reads dhs often fails to update and clarify guidance and policies and ensure full and open to medication between employees and management, offer sufficient training and reduce administrative or dense. Our reports are replete with examples and of insufficient training to enable and enhance job performance. Have you read this report . Ms. Nielsen i have. The Inspector General issued a similar report last year. Ms. Nielsen yes. Nothere seems to have been improvement since last year. If confirmed would you agree to report back to this committee within the first three months on what you have put in place to andect course core emphasize the importance of training. And clearly communicating policies with employees. Ms. Nielsen i will and my other big takeaways would focus on unity of effort and ensuring we have internal controls a set by leadership. I would be happy to. Having had the experience of running a Law Enforcement agency it is clear people to me based on my experience that when you are running a large agency, you cannot run it from the top down. It has to be from the bottom up and that means clearly getting giving guidance and training to the good men and women who have the authority, the power, and responsibility to enforce our laws and there have been many nominees who said in that chair who have had varying levels of appreciation of that point. I would like you to commit to this committee that you will prioritize training and Clear Communication and guidance to an agency of hundreds of thousands of people. Ms. Nielsen absolutely. At a june Senate Intelligence dhs was developing a policy to help secure their election system. Virginia and new jersey had elections. What are the timelines and we talked about this in our meeting for establishing and incrementing the dhs policy . Aware,lsen as you are thensecretary johnson clarified that election infrastructure is considered Critical Infrastructure under our partnership model. The court needing counsel has been created you and i have verified it is in existence today. It works closely with the Election Commission and uses Third Party Certifiers at request of the state. And then provides a variety of vulnerability assessments. Should i be confirmed i would absolutely ensure we have reached out to all states and territories to ensure they have what they need from local and state and federal elections. Are you giving yourself a timeline or deadline to accomplish that . Ms. Nielsen i will if myself one but i would like to make that deadline in conjunction with the state and local officials and would be happy to report to you. Thank you. It has been reported that the administration is moving forward on a policy that would lead to expedited removal of unaccompanied children who are arriving at the border having fled incredible violence. Pleaseirmed, will you share with my office any policy memos that the department of planning implement effecting the processing of unaccompanied minors . Ms. Nielsen yes. It is am aware of is limited to those who come, those who are from canada and mexico. Attempt to work with congress to ensure that when appropriate, anybody who comes with an illegal entry can [indiscernible] to bey are in a situation deported in an expedited way. I am not familiar with particular policy papers or other descriptions. You are aware that the unaccompanied minor issue as it has been playing out in the last few years is not about the children of mexico or canada. It is about Central American countries. The five top murder capitals of the world. Yes, maam. Are you aware of a shift in the policies that relates to those children . Yes. Ielsen what is the shift . Woulduld i be confirmed i dive into the policy papers and descriptions but as i understand it the concern is that right now the system is such to to a variety of factors that when somebody does come in illegally they are detained and sometimes they are detained for quite a long time as you know. You do you agree with a policy that would expedite deportation of unaccompanied minors who are coming from those Central American countries . Ms. Nielsen i believe in reuniting children with their families. Are you saying you would deport the children to reunite with them them with their families when they want them to be safe . Ms. Nielsen i would want to work with you to understand the implications. I appreciate the chance to have a second round of questions. Expressing start by my concern about your answer to one of senator carpers questions about Climate Change. In charge of our countrys security. When you are in charge of our response to natural disasters, you need to be able to rely on science and technology and consider and assess the science and technology that you are being advised with objectively. It well before politics. What a heard was politics before science. Hat concerns me very much as governor of the state of New Hampshire when we were dealing with natural disasters one of the first things we did was have the National Weather service advising us as to what we were going to see, what we were going to be dealing with. In dealing with security measures, i had to rely on engineers and technologists about the power of certain kinds of responses to possible threats. This a concern expressed by me that if you are willing to dodge a question when 99 of the world scientist agree that the primary cause of Climate Change is human activity, that concerns me about your qualifications to take on this role. Ms. Nielsen could i just answer that if i could . What i would have said is that not only do i think the climate is changing but it is vital that we change our modeling, our preparedness and response is. Responses. If you are unwilling to acknowledge the primary cause is Human Behavior then youre not going to be able to change the modeling appropriately. But we are looking for his people who are willing to acknowledge that there is a huge and incredibly well fitted peerreviewed of science that tells us Climate Change is primarily caused by human activity. One of my concerns as should you be confirmed of my fellow cabinet members are also people who will not acknowledge the primary primary cause of clever change and they are often the people who will be advising you in times of National Disaster or threat and the are not willing to listen to science, either. The question i wanted to ask in the second round i hope you would educate yourself about what science says about Climate Change and the primary cause of it. Our countrys safety depends on that. Now, onto Election Security. I wanted to followup on senator harriss line of questioning new according to a newsweek report from early october entitled russians still have an open path to u. S. Election subversion, and higher outreach teams known as the coordinating council are only just now reaching out to states to assist their cyberneeds. I would like to submit this article for the record without objection. It seems that you confirmed with this article said which is dhs has started to reach out to states and Election Officials within the last few weeks. We are more than a year away from russias hack of our election. We just had given editorial elections in two states yesterday. We are just months away from the 2018 election cycle. Why did it take so long for dhs to establish this Government Coordinating Council and what actions do you take as chief of staff to help accelerate the establishment of this council . Ms. Nielsen thank you for the question and the opportunity to clarify. Dhs has been working with states for many months, my understanding is it just started now to reach out to the election officers which is an absolutely critical step. Ms. Nielsen i do not think that is correct respectfully in my understanding. We ensure that following on the work that secretary johnson did, we established a Subsector Coordinating Council which is , it alsote sector side has government folks on it. The gcc is a specific sister part of that, that was set up in conjunction with the commission that is focused on Third Party Certification of the infrastructure. Monitoring or the threat information sharing which has been occurring since prior to january. I hope you will read this article and we will have further discussions about it. My concern is whether in fact Election Security is really a priority for this president. Ms. Nielsen it must be. You accelerate preparations to make sure that our election Cyber Systems were secure. A policyen only from perspective. I did not have any commander control or assets at my disposal in my white house job yes. Ensure that the policy process address any risks we face today. Are you comfortable that our states would be able to defend against russias hacking efforts in the 2018 cycle . Ms. Nielsen i would like to be in a place where i can answer toin the firm 80 in the insure that. Have we have your commitment to ask for additional funding, to ask for Additional Resources to work with states, to ensure that when people go to the polls and remember that there is early voting in many states, they can be confident again that the election system in each and every state our secure . I would love to work with you another members, because this issue has been raised many times. In terms of the resiliency models we are using, to design a hearing. One question i would want to have on the table is that if we millions if not billions of dollars trying to address this science in this problem, what kind of bang for the buck do we get . I would love to work with you on designing a hearing to deal with that kind of information. Let me start with some of my questions. And week we held a hearing throughout the process, including the hearing, after hundred 72 days on the job, government has learned a lot of lessons from katrina. One of my concerns, and i had a poster produced by the heritage dramaticn, showing the increase in a number of fema declared disasters, i am concerned about the reliance of state and local officials on the federal government to not only to understandso what the responsible is our when i think that is a state and local responsibility. This is the question i have for you. You talk about the partnership model. Who is primarily responsible for the response to natural disasters and what is fema and dhss role . I would like to answer two different ways. I believe the primary responsibility is to state and local governments. They are on the ground, know their community, know their vulnerabilities. It is the role of the federal government to provide assistance. Role of funding, that can be in the role of personnel, and it can also be in training and exercises and other preparedness activities prehazard. In terms of the bank for the buck part of the question, i think you need to look at it. Its not a question all the eliminating question of eliminating, making sure were doing it the right way in partnership with state and local governments. Perhaps there are some grants on the front end that can help us capacity build. Or distribute money afternoon event to make sure this spent efficiently. Following katrina and other disasters, we have learned that certain state and local governments are better prepared than others area others. There are some best practices in other states that you might want to follow. Having been involved with lessons . What were the the Lessons Learned from katrina and from previous disasters that set us up to respondent preplanned on hurricanes. I think all of these major disasters have shown us, given their size and scope, our plans have to be scalable and actual. You hear in a dod and military constructs, plans rarely survivors contact. The reason is that there is always contextual information given the context of any storm. The unity of effort concept i believe in strongly. Into thato be present all parties understand their roles and responsibilities that understand those responsibilities could be different given a thighs and scope of a storm. Given katrina, we saw a need to do more ahead of time. We need to make sure contracts are in place prior to an event and we are trying to contract last minute. We had to be clear when was appropriate for the National Guard to be included. When it was appropriate for activeduty forces to be utilized. Learning theas lesson that when something is that being in the scope is that complete and the local government, as you mentioned, was incapacitated, what is the additional federal on how best can we support . We have had another questions number of questions about the wall. In israel they built a hundred. Nd 50 mile wall that would be a pretty good model. We were together at the southern border in san diego. One of the things i was struck by was the oldest unanimous you point of Immigration Judges that how over time, based on decided by the ninth circuit, we have picked told that our Immigration Laws they create incentive for illegal immigration. Eyewall for better various were there needed that i think we need to address the incentives created in a laws in our laws. Can you speak to that issue . I have had the pleasure speaking about it in general capacities at the attorney general and officials in places like san diego. To be clear, not only for us to be able to force it, but to serve as a deterrent, the more they are picking away through discretion or through application or through backlogs or to the lack of Immigration Judges, we disable ourselves from not only enforcing the law but from getting the effect of the law that was meant to be provided to begin with. I look forward to having his conversations with the attorney general and understanding the need for Immigration Judges to quickly and competently enforce our laws on the part of the system. To work with state and locals to see what is working and nonworking. We are trying to solve the whole issue of dreamers. From my standpoint, the main thing is to stop the low of children flow of children and to stop the dangerous journey. I want to thank you for your past service. This confirmation process is not really fun. You are agreeing to step into a position with the very daunting task. I think youre sure so very knowledgeable. You have a great deal of relevant experience. I think youre very wellqualified for this position. The nominee has made some Financial Disclosures and made responses to the biographical and prehearing questions. This we made part of the record with the Financial Data which is in the committees offices. The hearing record remain open until noon tomorrow. If members wish to receive responsessponse to questions, they must cement by 5 p. M. Today. This meeting is adjourned. [indiscernible] our coverage of capitol hill continues tomorrow with the house ways and means committee. We will have live coverage when they return at 9 a. M. Eastern on cspan3. Earlier this evening, Vice President pence, the second lady, and the Texas Governor spoke at a vigil for these Sutherland Springs church shooting. Let me welcome our beloved texas. F texas, [inaudible] as governor of texas and with the first lady here with me, we wanted you to know that the people of texas join with you