Good morning. This hear willing come to order. This hearing will come to order. I want to thank acting secretary wolf for his service and for taking the time to come before our committee here today. I know you have a lot of things on your plate here. The committee does appreciate you taking the time for coming in and explaining whats all been happening and answering our questions. Your full testimony, full written testimony will be entered in the record. For my part, im going to read my Opening Statement, and then there will be a twominute video at the tail end of my statement. The federal protective Service OfficerDavid Patrick underwood was 53, on may 29th, when he was shot dead guarding a Federal Building in Oakland California during a protest. His partner was also shot, but thankfully survived. News reports said the protests involving approximately 8,000 people turned chaotic and violent as demonstrators smashed windows, looted stores and broke into a bank a few blocks from where officer underwood was on duty. The suspect that killed the sheriffs deputy a few days before. His antipolice views drew him to oakland where he saw the antipolice protest was an opportunity for more bloodshed. A retired police chief in st. Louis responded to the alarm going off at a shop owned by his friend during a night of antipolice protests that turned into a night of looting. Chief dorn, 77 years old, father of five, grand father of 10, died on june 2nd, in the anarchy unleashed in st. Louis. Unfortunately, the violence did not end there. Just yesterday morning, protesters in portland broke into a Police Association building and started a fire inside. Protesters slashed trucks tires. Shots were fired. It was the 69th straight day of what were constantly told are, quote, peaceful protests, unquote. Against the existence of police in portland. According to the department of Homeland Security, 277 attacks on police and federal officers throughout america have occurred during these peaceful protests that started in may. At least 140 federal officers have been injured in portland alone. At least 113 federal officers have suffered injuries to their sight after Peaceful Protesters have deliberately attempted to blind them with lasers and other weapons. At least 930 nonfederal Law Enforcement officers have been injured. At least one has died. At least 38 federal officers have been in portland meaning personal information about them such as addresses or phone numbers were put on line as a means of intimidation. At least 21 federal courthouses have been vandalized this summer. Protesters in nashville broke into city hall and lit fires in late may. A woman charged this week was caught on video holding a poster reading f the police, lighting it and tossing it through a broken window. Protesters in suburban denver broke into a courthouse and lit fires. Protesters in minneapolis burned down a police station. Others tried doing the exact same thing in seattle. A peaceful protest in oakland in july intensifies as news reports put it, after protesters set fire inside a courthouse, and launched fireworks on officers. During a peaceful protest in madison, wisconsin, at least one individual hurled a gasoline bomb into the city county building, which holds the citys 9 11 dispatch center and a jail. That night also included the beating of at least two individuals one of them a state lawmaker who collapsed in the landscaping near the capitol. These peaceful protests that include arson and assault have left a mark on our cities, our culture, and our country. As journalist Michael Tracy recently wrote, quote, from large metro areas like chicago, minneapolis st. Paul to small and mid sized cities like fort wayne indiana and Green Bay Wisconsin the number of boardedup, damaged or destroyed buildings i have personally observed, commercial, civic and residential is staggering. Keeping exact count is impossible. One might think that a major Media Organization like the New York Times would use some of their galactic journalistic resources to tally up the reck kaj for posterity wreckage for posterity but roughly six weeks later and such a tally is nowhere to be found, unquote. While police were tied up dealing with peaceful protests, homicides elsewhere in our cities were skyrocketing. By the end of july, homicides are up 53 in chicago over the same period in 2019. In minneapolis, murders are up 86 . In milwaukee, 84 . New york, 29 . Atlanta, 34 . Seattle, 42 . Philadelphia, 33 . New orleans, 36 . Denver, 46 . Those numbers measure the loss of human lives. Many are black lives that dont seem to matter much to the movement. Some are children. Some are children whose lives have been cut tragically short. Children whose lives matter. Their names matter. In chicago, alone, child victims include 15yearold terrace malden, 15yearold jeremiah jones, he was shot in the head. 15yearold michael ike. 14yearold verondo jones jr. 10yearold lena nunez. 7yearold natalia wallace, shot at a backyard party. 3yearold mikai james, killed when someone shot at her fathers car in traffic. 1yearold sincere gaston, killed when somebody shot his mothers car. Thats just since memorial day, in one city. These people have died because criminals killed them. But they may have also died because police were constrained and prevented from doing their job to protect them. When you encourage disdain for police, you encourage criminals. When you do little or nothing to stop riots, you unleash anarchy. And when you encourage criminals and unleash anarchy, people die. All of us suffer. With that, ive go a twominute video that i would like everybody to watch. It is not easy to watch, but it shows the reality of what these peaceful protests have devolved into. Ten people punched and kicked the politician while he was on the ground. Video shows carpenter later collapsing near the capitol. Senator peters . Thank you, mr. Chairman, acting secretary wolf, appreciate you being here today. I know you have an awful lot on your plate, and i appreciate that time is precious. You have a very challenging role, especially in these unprecedented times. Nevertheless, im extremely disapointed with some of the recent actions dhs has taken under your leadership, actions that put at risk your ability to effectively protect the homeland. I do not dispute that the situation in portland required a response. We cant allow a small number of bad actors who want to instigate violence or harm Law Enforcement personnel take advantage of a peaceful demonstration and demonstrators that are exercising their 1st amendment rights. However, dhs chose in response to the situation on the ground i think is unacceptable. Instead of working together with state and local partners, you sent a surge of federal personnel who did not have proper training to deescalate a situation. Your heavyhanded tactics caused additional chaos, and im concerned that this singular focus on protecting federal property is distracting the department from addressing the threat posed by domestic terrorism. Last year this Committee Held the senates first ever hearing focused on white supremacist violence and domestic terrorism threats. We have seen far too many attacks in this country at the hands of White Supremacists terrorists, attacks that have taken the lives of far too Many Americans. When americans were murdered in Shopping Centers or while at worship, by domestic terrorists, with ties to white supremacist movements, your department failed to respond with the same urgency that we saw on the streets of portland. When one federal Protection Services officer was tragically murdered, and another was seriously wounded, in the line of duty, earlier this year, it was by americans with ties to a movement rooted in white nationalism. Yet you still have not released a complete plan to combat white supremacist violence nearly a year after a long delayed release of the strategic framework for countering terrorism and targeted violence. I want to know why your agency is not focusing on the threat posed by white supremacist violence in our country with the same sense of urgency. I want to know why your own office of intelligence and analysis has no trouble sharing intelligence on journalists with police in portland but makes excuses for not being able to keep tabs on suspected domestic terrorists who frequent White Nationalist forums online. The department of Homeland Security and decisions made to keep our Community Safe should not be or ever be driven by politics. Terrorism is terrorism, whether it fits the ideological narrative of dhs leaders or not. Dhs must never let politics define, limit, or overshadow the truth about the security risks that are facing our country. Instead of aligning your departments resources, personnel and mission to tackle the white supremacist terrorist threat, you have chosen to focus on optics. I know our Law Enforcement personnel put their lives on the line every time they go to work. I have fought hard in congress to make sure they have the resources they need to stay safe in the line of duty and return home to their families safe. But let me be Crystal Clear the decisions this administration has made in recent months have put dhs personnel at unnecessary risk. And because you chose to escalate conflicts, you not only risked your officers safety. You risked the safety of american civilians. Now more than ever we need leadership at the department of Homeland Security. We need coordination with state and local officials. We need to focus on the most prevalent and the most deadly threats that are facing our country. I continue to hope the department can juggle its complex mission, but i have what i have seen so far calls into serious question this administrations priorities when it comes to National Security. I look forward to speaking with you today and continuing to Work Together to protect our National Security and the security of the American People. Thank you thanks, senator peters. Can you please stand and raise your right hand . Do you swear the testimony you give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god . [inaudible]. Please be seated. The honorable chad wolf is the acting secretary of the department of Homeland Security, been serving this position since november 2019. Mr. Wolf previously held numerous Senior Leadership roles in the department including leading the officer strategy policy and plans and serving as the chief of staff for the department. Acting secretary wolf . Chairman johnson, Ranking Member peters, members of the committee, thank you again for the opportunity to testify today. While Many Americans are aware of the Traditional Missions of the department of Homeland Security, such as aviation security, border security, Immigration Enforcement and counterterrorism, just to name a few, many are not as familiar with the Important Mission of the federal protective service or fps. It has protected federal property for almost 50 years and does so at almost 9,000 Properties Around this country. This responsibility was specifically provided to fps through the secretary of Homeland Security by the United States congress. For over 60 days federal properties in portland, particularly the hatfield federal courthouse have been attacked by violent criminals, opportunists and anarchists. I want to be clear we see in portland every day nonviolent protests. The department is aware of the National Dialogue taking place around racism and Law Enforcement practices, and we continue to support and defend every americans right to exercise their 1st amendment rights. The violent activity that i will refer to today is not associated with those protests. The violent activity we see occurring between midnight and 5 00 a. M. Began roughly around may 28th, with the mayor of portland announcing an 8 00 p. M. To 6 00 a. M. Curfew from may 30th to june 2nd. On june 1st, due to the level of violence, well before dhs arrived in portland, the portland mayor asked the governor of oregon to activate the National Guard to help protect facilities in the city. Over the course of june, dhs monitored the situation in portland closely, began deploying additional fps officers into portland to protect federal facilities. Despite surging over 20 additional fps officers throughout the month of june, in late june, it was clear we were overmatched. In early june, at the request of fps officials in portland, i directed additional Law Enforcement assets to portland to protect federal properties as well as officers. Our federal officers have faced assaults from bricks, baseball bats, sledgehammers, molotov cocktails, mortar style commercial grade fireworks, accelerant, ieds and other violent weapons. Since july 4th federal officials in portland have made 99 arrests and dhs officers have experienced 277 separate injury. Those injuries range from minor to serious to include several who may have permanent eye damage. I would like to now to play a short video of what our officers have faced during their time in portland. Unfortunately, whats been absent during the 60 day period was the assistance of local and state Law Enforcement personnel. Dhs and doj officers were provided little to no assistance night after night in protecting federal properties and themselves. Local and state officials did not allow Law Enforcement, local Law Enforcement to police the area immediately around the federal facilities, nor in the parks nearby, which violent opportunists used as a staging ground to prepare for their nightly assault on the courthouse and our officers. Local and state officials did not allow Law Enforcement to make any arrests, i repeat any arrests if the violence was directed at federal properties. In fact, on july 17th, the mayor of portland directed that all federal Law Enforcement agencies be prohibited from accessing the Portland Police bureau Emergency Operations center and on july 22nd, the Portland City Council issued a resolution specifically directing all members of the Portland Police bureau shall not provide, request or receive any Operational Support from dhs and doj Law Enforcement agencies. To put it simply, dhs and doj office officers, Law Enforcement officers, civil Law Enforcement officers were abandoned due to the dangerous policies by local officials. The cooperation and assistance our federal officers received in any other city around the country did not exist in portland. Let me briefly address several inaccurate statements offered by some as the events played out in portland. Our Law Enforcement officers are not an occupying force. They are not serving as a general domestic security agency. They have been deployed for an extended period of time to one city, and thats portland. Its to protect federal properties. Our Law Enforcement officers are not stormtroopers or thugs. They are civil Law Enforcement officers who wear clearly marked uniforms who are properly trained who follow establish Law Enforcement procedures and practices and operate within their authorities. Its been suggested our Law Enforcement officers should not be in portland if not invited by state or local officials. And while our preference is always to partner with local and state Law Enforcement enforcing federal law is not by invitation. Unlike local Law Enforcement, we cannot be directed to ignore criminal activity and actions, and we will never shy away from our statutory duties. On july 14th, i placed phone calls to the mayor of portland and the governor of oregon. I offered the full resources of the department to assist them in ending the violence directed at the federal courthouse. Their answer was stark. It was no thank you and please remove all dhs Law Enforcement officers from portland. Fortunately, the governor felt better about the decision and reached out two and a half weeks later to offer Oregon State Police support to address the violence. As of today, the full augmented dhs Law Enforcement posture re