Transcripts For CSPAN3 Homeland Security Secretary Testifies

Welcome to the subcommittees first hearing of the department of Homeland Securitys fiscal year 2018 president ial budget request. I would like to extend a special welcome to todays witness, secretary john kelly. Mr. Secretary, we are very pleased you answered the president s call to lead dhs. Having someone with your credentials to lead this department will strengthen it and enrich it. Its good to begin the fy 18 appropriations cycle. Despite its late start, im confident this subcommittee will produce a bill that supports the departments mission, balances competing interests, and is affordable to the american taxpayers. Before i go into the numbers, mr. Secretary, i have a couple of pieces of advice. First, never lose focus on the departments highest priority, to keep the nation safe and enforce the laws of the United States. With your reputation, i know you will do that. Second, stay in touch with me, with mrs. Robybal allard, and te subcommittee. Everyone on the subcommittee wants dhs to be successful in meeting its mission. Failure is absolutely unacceptable. I know i speak for everyone when i promise we will always listen respectfully to your suggestions and advice. And we will be reasonable and evenhanded in our responses. I for one am grateful that the president directed you and the men and women of dhs to focus on the departmentals Law Enforcement missions. Im tremendously pleased catch and release is a relic of the past. As a result, illegal crossings on the border are 64 lower than in april the same time last year. This is proof that the thread of enforcing the nations immigration laws is a forceful deterrent. Im also satisfied with the 1. 5 billion Border Security package included in the fy 17 omnibus bill. Simply enacting legislation that supports enhanced Border Security and interior enforcement sends a powerful message to drug runners that the time of lax enforcement is over. The fy 18 request to continue the administrations emphasis on Law Enforcement is important. The total discretionary funds requested is 44. 06 billion, which is an increase of 1. 66 billion over last year. Items im pleased to see you included are the 2. 6 billion for Border Security, which includes 74 miles of physical barriers along the southwest border and significant investments and Surveillance Technology and aviation systems. 4. 9 billion for enforcement and removal operations, including 3. 6 billion of the 51,379 detention bends, increasing to 12,055 above the numbers provided in fiscal year 2017, as well as additional funding necessary to actively enforce the nations immigration laws. Substantial increases are proposed for additional Law Enforcement agents and Border Patrol and immigration customs enforcement. Although i support this initiative, this committee will take a hard work on whether it will succeed. As im sure you know, attrition in both organizations has outpassed, outspaced hiring in the last two years, despite congressional increases for city programs. Im not inclined to leave money on the table if dhs is unable to meet these hiring goals. For the first time in many years United States secret Service Request meets their requirements. I have concerns too. The cyber threat to the Nations Network and Critical Infrastructure grows daily. Yet the budget for cybersecurity has not increased at all from your current level of funding. While there is funding for Border Security, there should also be corresponding increase for our ports of entry where the majority of all drugs and currency enter or country. Physical barriers may stop Human Trafficking but there is only one means of decreasing Illegal Drugs and currency. Slashing programs by 918 million is worrisome and shortsighted, especially for cities that are targets of terrorism. Likewise, im surprised and disappointed that the administration chose to perpetuate the last administrations bad habit of proposing fees increase for tsa and using it as an offset despite knowing the increase is unlikely to become law because there is no authorization for that. While balancing all the competing priorities of dhs is a challenge, our main concern about reliance on budget gimmicks and to cut Important National security programs. I hope the fy 19 request will focus on the nations Homeland Security priorities and not rely on offsets that this subcommittee doesnt control. In conclusion, i want to restate my commitment to work with you and i also want to take a moment to commend the budget offices of every dhs component and at dhs headquarters. Executing under a cr proposing and advocating for a Budget Amendment and developing a new budget request over a twomonth period is a monumental undertaking. They deserve our thanks. I want you to know im blessed to have Lucille Roybal allard as my Ranking Member. She and i dont agree 100 on policy but her balanced approach engenders collaboration which means a better bill for the men and women of dhs. I want to thank her and recognize her for any remarks she wishes to make. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, mr. Secretary, and welcome to your first appearance before this subcommittee. There is no doubt that you have a really hard job and in my opinion, among the hardest in government. The department is still quite young and still maturing in institutional terms, and it has a large and diverse set of components and missions. Some of those missions, as you well know, are extremely controversial. We will disagree about some policies and priorities as we did with your predecessor, in some cases well strongly disagree. We do however share the common goal of protecting our country and its values. My hope is that we will have the same constructive working relationship with you that we had with secretary johnson. The members of the subcommittee have the common goal of appropriately resourcing the department to protect and to serve our country. This includes supporting the men and women who make up your department, the vast majority of whom are fully dedicated to their work and are performing admirably. Immigration enforcement will be our biggest challenge in working together. I hope you understand that in my view the crux of this issue is not simply a matter of enforcing the law or not. It is the manner in which that enforcement is done. It is also a question of the incremental benefit to the nation of significant new investments in Border Security and Immigration Enforcement actions and capabilities. Each additional segment of physical barrier at the border and each initiative to hire more Immigration Enforcement officers comes potentially at the expense of things like state and local preparedness, cybersecurity, investments in the coast guard fleet, and a multitude of other priorities outside of our bill. So it isnt enough to simply ask whether an investment would improve Homeland Security. We must also ask what the incremental benefit is, what the downsides are, and what the tradeoffs are. Mr. Secretary, our immigration laws are entirely out of step with the situation on the ground in this country. On your watch, i know you see an aggressive enforcement posture as faithfully carrying out the laws currently on the books. But you do have discretion. And right now, that suggests enforcement is upending the lives of millions of people, the vast majority of whom are valuable, contributing members of their communities. The vast majority of whom are guilty of no criminal acts. The vast majority of whom have been in this country for many years, working jobs that others are unwilling to do. For example, i have had growers from california, representatives from the hotel and Restaurant Industry tell me and other members of congress the devastating Economic Impact current enforcement policies will have and in some cases are already having on our state and national economy. These consequences are also a threat to National Security. The ultimate answer is for congress to enact comprehensive Immigration Reform that lays out a path to legal status and eventually, if one meets all the criteria for eligibility, citizenship. Many of us desperately want that to happen. While it is up to congress to pass reform legislation, you as secretary of Homeland Security could play an Important Role in helping that to come about. I also want to encourage you to continue an effort that was begun by your predecessor that is very important to this subcommittee. Secretary johnson made a high priority of maturing the departments planning, budgeting, and acquisition processes, including working with us to establish a common appropriations structure. I hope that you will capitalize on his accomplishments by also making it your priority to further improve and institutionalize those processes. We have a lot to discuss this afternoon, and i look forward to your testimony and your responses to our questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, ms. Roybal allard. I now recognize the chairman of the full committee, rod freck frelinghuys frelinghuysen. Thank you, mr. Carter. Mr. Secretary, we look forward to hearing your testimony. We appreciate your service over 45 years and now as secretary of the department of Homeland Security. We appreciate all you have done for our nation. Todays hearing is an important part of the oversight duties of this committee. Now that we have received the administrations budget request, the committee will undertake a thorough analysis of it. Well go through each and every budget line, question every witness, and demand credible spending justifications. And only then will we make our own determinations on the best use of tax dollars. We intend to put forward a complete set of Appropriations Bills that adequately Fund Important programs while working to reduce and eliminate waste and duplication. Ill work with the Ranking Member, ms. Lowey, chairman carter, and ms. Roybal allard, to complete the Appropriations Bills. Again, todays hearing is part of a process we follow to determine the best use of taxpayers dollars. After all, the power of the purse lies in this building. It is the constitutional duty of congress to make spending decisions on behalf of the people we represent at home. Some here on the committee may know that hundreds of families, almost 700 in new jersey and in my congressional district, lost loved ones on september 11th in those terrorist attacks. Although it took years for the nation to recover from that attack, the events of that day made us rethink how we protect the nation and allowed us to learn from prior mistakes in order to prepare for and stop the next attack. Mr. Secretary, i wholeheartedly agree with your recent assessment that the risk of a terror attack on these United States, in your own orders, is as threatening today as it was on that fateful day in september in 2001. Unfortunately there week we witnessed another horrific attack on our british allies. And we extend our greatest sympathy to these young victims and their families. That is why we must be certain to continue to invest in critical programs like the early if Emergency Management agencys urban Area Security initiatives that ensure our communities, which face the greatest risk, are able to respond to evergrowing and more complex threats. The fiscal year 2018 budget request proposes a 25 cut to what we call uasi. I look forward to hearing how your department will absorb such a large deduction. In spite of the recent spike in antisemitic crimes which were directed at hundreds of jewish schools, synagogues, and Community Centers in the United States including in my district, we must continue to direct funding to the uasi Nonprofit Security Program which provides institutions critical assistance to bolster their physical security. Lastly, i would like to give a shoutout to one of your most important urban search and rescue teams, including new jerseys task force one, which became a federally designated team this time last year. New Jersey Task Force one, which was the first team to respond to the tragedy at the World Trade Center on 9 11, was activated and responded also to Hurricane Matthew in october. These teams are essential to the entire nation. In conclusion, i welcome you and i thank the chairman for the time, and yield back. I thank you, mr. Chairman. I now recognize ms. Lowey, the Ranking Member of the full committee. Thank you. And i would like to thank chairman carter and Ranking Member Roybal Allard for holding this hearing. Of course its always a pleasure for me to appear with chairman frelinghuysen who is the distinguished chair of the full committee. Secretary kelly, welcome, and thank you for joining us. The department of Homeland Securitys in addition is to secure our nation from consistent threat is not an easy one, as underscored by the tragic attack in manchester earlier this week. To keep us safe, different agencies within the department of Homeland Security must effectively coordinate and cooperate, while also working closely with other federal, state, and local agencies. The budget request unfortunately does not fully reflect the grave character of the threats we face. In new york and many other states, preparedness grants are the difference between being able to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism or not. Secretary kelly, put simply, your Budget Proposal would make communities like those in my district and region less safe. The state Homeland Security Grant Program which enhances local Law Enforcements ability to prevent and respond to acts of terrorism would be reduced by 118 million or over 25 . Reduced at this time of the absolute need for response as quickly as possible. That results in a nearly 20 million reduction for my home state of new york alone. The urban areas security initiative, which as you know assists high density, high threat urban areas, arguably the most vulnerable, would be cut by 26 or 156 million. That is a nearly 45 million cut for new york. Maybe the people who put this budget together are not really watching the news that we all were watching just this week. The emergency food and Shelter Program is eliminated, as is the flood hazard mapping and risk analysis program. State and local jurisdictions cannot effectively plan for the worst when support from their federal partner is inconsistent or insufficient. In addition to terror threats, we know that the severity and cost of Natural Disasters are increasing, and mitigation efforts can reduce taxpayer support in response to a disaster. We cannot expect communities to realistically prepare for Natural Disaster with proposed cuts of 55 million to the predisaster mitigation program. As i said while negotiating the fy 17 omnibus, i cannot support a single cent, let alone 1. 6 billion, for a boondoggle of a wall. It is an unjustified request based on a Campaign Promise and simply cannot be taken seriously by this committee. President trumps budget request slashing 54 billion from nondefense investment would decimate the department of Homeland Security. In fact even existing sequestration local level caps are insufficient and would lead to reduced services that American Families and communities need, including Law Enforcement and first responders. Its time, mr. Secretary, for a new budget deal to end sequestration once and for all, in part to prevent disastrous cuts to critical Homeland Security Grant Programs. Now more than ever, this committee must support the departments essential and complex mission. But we cannot do that at the expense of state and local preparedness. So i look forward to a productive discussion today, and i thank you for your service to our country. Thank you, ms. Lowey. Were going to stick to a fiveminute rule. Ill try to warn you when you have one minute left, but keep an eye on the count. Mr. Secretary, were going to allow you to make your Opening Statement now. Your statement will be entered into the record, so you can make it shorter and easier on us. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Roybal Allard, an