Morning, this hearing will come to order. I will ask my written Opening Statement be entered in the record. Without objection. I want to welcome secretary kelly. This is a hearing on the department of Homeland Securitys fiscal year 2018 budget. This is the third time secretary kelly has appeared before this committee. The second time as secretary of the department and, again, we welcome you and appreciate your service to this country, many, many years of it. In lieu of my written Opening Statement, i just want to make a couple comments. Im by vocation, im an accountant. So ive gone through budget meetings many, many times. First, i want to just talk about the history of the budget of the department of Homeland Security. Were not quite ready for the chart. When you take a look at total Budget Authority. When the department was first stood up, the first fiscal year was 2004. The departments budget was this is total budgetary authority, mandatory and discretionary, 36. 5 billion. Now, had that budget just grown by inflation, today hes request would be a little under 50 billion. 48. 25 billion. Instead, total Budget Authority is 70. 6 billion. But a 93 increase. Now, from my standpoint, that represents on a bipartisan fashion president bush, president obama, now president trump, realizes the threat environment that america faces has become more severe. Its growing. Its evolving. Its metastasising. The Department Needs more resources to try to keep this homeland safe. So as much as im concerned about longterm budget situations in this country. The 20 trillion were already in debt. We cannot be penny wise and pound foolish. Ive seen an accurate assessment of how much Economic Loss we suffered because of 9 11. We have to do everything we possibly can and lets face it the defense of this nation and defense of our homeland is a top priority of government. So i want to be completely supportive of the secretarys request. Tough budget times. We need to allocate the resources to keep this nation safe. Next point i want to make is just the dramatic change in terms of total apprehension. What ive done, because we really only have three months worth of history in the new administration. Ive just gone back and had my staff prepare a threemonth moving average of apprehensions along the southwest border. And its incredibly revealing. Prior to the last three months on average we were apprehending a little more than 2122,000. The last three months total, it was just under 156,000. In other word, about 45 , about 46 of the previous four, five years average. Thats pretty remarkable result. Ive been, you know, since taking over this chairmanship and really been on this commit quit looking at the problem of our illegal entry into our southwest border, ive been saying repeatedly the first thing we need to do is be committed to securing our border and then eliminate the incentives for illegal immigration. I would say lack of enforcement of our immigration laws has been a huge incentive for people coming to this country under the new administration, under new secretary, weve obviously committed to securing our border and i was a little concerned when people were taking credit for this reduction. I think after three months, well see what happens after four months, i think just that signal alone that were committed to securing this border and were going to enforce our laws has had a powerful effect and i think were seeing the results now. I commend the secretary for standing strong against severe criticism. With that, ill turn it over to our Ranking Member senator mc mccaskill. Just look at the developments that have occurred in the few months since then, where you have had to be all hands on deck for serious issues facing the national and Homeland Security. On may 11th, you met with the Airline Executives about your concern about large electronic bans, in terms of international travel. On may 12th, we had a ransom ware cyberattack that struck more than 200,000 computers in 150 countries shutting down auto production in france, Police Departments in india and closing doctors offices in britain. And then of course tragically on may 22nd, a terrorist suicide bomber killed 22 innocent children and adults in manchester, england. And then this past weekend, terrorists killed seven in london. These are just a few examples of why we are counting on you and why we respect the job that you have to do every day and how difficult it truly is. The importance of your work also speaks to the critical responsibility this committee has in providing oversight. Ive never, ever, ever known of a Government Agency that worked better with less oversight, asking hard questions is of course the way you do aggressive oversight and im really particularly pleased that youre not afraid to answer tough questions. Its kind of who you are. Youve been that way. Throughout your career. I noticed in the speech you gave to the coast guard cadets. Tell the truth to your seniors even though its uncomfortable, even though they might not want to hear it. They deserve that. Tell the truth. I know you will continue to speak truth to power and i look forward to your honest assessment of what we can do to help you in that regard. While none of the three terrorists who did the attack over this past weekend would have been impacted by the president s proposed travel ban, a lot of discussion, united kingdom, is now about the government the conservative partys cuts in Police Resources over the last decade and how many fewer resources there were actually on the ground to try to prevent those terrorist attacks. Im concerned that the president s budget plans to cut critical tsa programs at a time when we cannot afford to let up on the security measures. A large portion of this cut is taken from the viper teams, the viceability intermodal prevention and Response Teams which are deployed all over the country to provide critical assistant to securing airport, subways and bus terminals. Some of the most attractive soft targets for terrorists in our country. The president s budget aims to cut the viper teams from 31 down to just 8 teams to cover the entire country. The urban Area Security initiatives which has been a lifeline for major urban areas that have so many soft targets because of the large populations, those also have been cut. Additionally, the police, the president s budget is going to completely eliminate the Law Enforcement officer Reimbursement Program which provides assistance to local Law Enforcement agencies who help secure our airports. Hundreds of airports across the country take part in this program. And particularly for smaller airports. This assistance is critically important. The president s budget will also slash other dhs programs that provide critical security to our transportation systems. The Transit SecurityGrant Program will be cut in half. The port Security Grant Program will be cut in half. The president is calling for a complete elimination of the complex coordinated terrorist attacks Grant Program. Im concerned that these priorities are not getting the attention they deserve. Especially in light of whats going on around the world. I think we may be focused open a shiny object which has come to be known as the travel ban when instead we need to be focused on how many people we have, in your terminology, general, boots on the ground, in terms of being able to identify, track and prevent these terrorist attacks. Were being asked to Fund AdditionalBorder Patrol agents and air and marine officers but theres no provision in the budget for additional cpp officers and the difference in terminology is very important because as you know, secretary kelly, the majority of drugs and other contra band come through our country through the ports of entry and the cpp officers are the ones responsible for finding them and stopping them. We cannot neglect our ports of entry as we try to increase resources in terms of Border Patrol and ice agents. Im glad youre here today, secretary kelly. Theres a lot of important issues before us. I have a lot of questions. I know the rest of the committee does too. I cant tell you how much it means to all of us youre willing to come here, to bothp ares a republicans and democrats, and answer our questions. Thanks, senator mccaskill. It is the tradition to swear our witnesses. If you please rise and raise your right hand. Do you swear the testimony you will give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . I do. Please be seated. Secretary john f. Kelly is the fifth secretary of Homeland Security. Prior to joining dhs, general kelly served as commander of the u. S. Southern command where he worked closely with u. S. Law enforcement and dhs personnel in a coordinated effort to combat the flow of drugs people and other threats against the homeland into the United States from across the southern border. Secretary kellys career has included Extensive Service in the marine corps where he commanded Marine Forces reserve and Marine Forces north. Two secretaries of defense, secretaries gates and secretary panetta. Less than a year after his retirement from service, secretary kelly returned to serve the American People as secretary of Homeland Security. General kelly is a retired forward star general. A gold star parent. America could not be more appreciative to have you serving in this capacity. We thank you for your service and look forward to your testimony. Ranking member mccaskill, distinguished members of the committee. The department of Homeland Security protect americans from the threats we face. And so it is a great pleasure to appear before you today to talk about the tremendous men and women of the department and the Critical Missions they carry out in service of our america every day and night, 24 7 365. I believe as anyone who fully understands the fundamental role of our government also believes that the federal governments responsibility every day begins and ends with the protection of the homeland and the security of our people. No other mission is as important. No other consideration more pressing. None. The president s fiscal year 2018 budget request for the department will make it possible for us to continue and expand in many ways on our ability to protect our nation and its people. The world is a different place today. We can no longer think in terms of defense over there but rather much think in terms of the security overall of the homeland across the numerous do mains of a potential attack in defense. Making a difference in fighting the home game while the department of deft figof defense away game. Because of the dedication and effective interagency integration with the dni, cia, nsa, dea, atf and over 1 million state and local and tribal enforcement professionals, America Today is safe. Secure. And prepared in a way that most could not have envisioned the day before 9 11. The perpetrators relentless. We need a fully funded budget that matches our mission. No more continuing resolutions. And i think this budget does that. The president s fy 2018 budget request 44. 1 billion in net discretionary funding for the department of Homeland Security. It also requests 7. 4 billion to finance the cost of emergencies and major disasters and Disaster Relief fund. When youre talking about numbers like these, its easy to lose sight of whats behind each dollar. When you get right down to it, behind each and every dollar are hardworking men and women who have dedicated their careers and in many ways risked their lives to protect the American People. Every dollar invested in the men and em with of dhs and every dollar invested in the tools, infrastructure, equipment and training they need to get the job done is an investment in prosperity, freedom and the rule of law. Above all, it is investment in the security of the American People. As far as i am concerned, recent events show you cannot invest too much in security. Terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in kabul, cairo, south asia, manchester, now london, are horrific reminders of the global dangers we face globally. That means Getting Better about verifying identity. Making sure people are who they say they are. And working with our International Partners to raise their awareness and raise their defenses. And force them to do is, if need be, to at least operate at the levels that we work at. Domestically one of the most important enhancements to this effort is the real i. D. Initiative. An enhancement passed into law 12 years ago by the congress. One which most of our states and territories have taken seriously and have already adopted. Many others are working hard at compliance. In those 12 years, some elected or appointed state and federal positions who have the fundamental and sacred responsibility to safeguard the nation have chosen to drag their feet or even ignore the law passed by congress. I will not. Real i. D. Will make americans safer. It already is. Real i. D. Will soon be enforced at our airports, land ports of entry and all federal facili facilities. It is a critically important 9 11 Commission Recommendation that others have been willing to ignore but which i will ensure is implemented on schedule with no extension for states that are not taking the effort seriously. For those states and territories that cannot or will not make the january 2018 deadline, they should encourage now their citizens to acquire other forms of i. D. Compliant with the real i. D. Law. Like passports available of course from the state department. We need to prevent bad actors regardless of religion, race or nationality from entering our country. In recent years, we have witnessed an unprecedented spike in terrorist travel. There are more terrorist hot spots and foot soldiers now than almost any time in modern history. In syria and iraq for instance, we have thousands of jihadist fighters that have converged from more than 120 countries. As our superb military machine acting with many likeminded partners as they succeed on the battlefield in the caliphate in iraq. Returning home to asia, southeast asia, australia and even the western hemisphere. Who knows what theyre up but we can get. Theyre heading to what they think are safe havens to continue their plotting and otherwise advance their toxic ideology of hate, death and intolerance wherever theyre allowed to hide. We expect that some will look to travel to the United States to carry out attacks. With this context in mind, the president has issued clear direction in the form of an executive order to the entire executive branch to prevent the entry of aliens who seek to do us harm. But the current quota injunction prevents us from taking steps right now to improve the security of the homeland until we see how that court action plays out. While some discuss, debate and argue the name, title or label that best describes the president s eo, men and women like me are in the business of implementing the president s intent to secure the nation and we are doing that. Well let the chattering class and selfappointed critics talk about the name. I just hope the Congress Sees the wisdom in what the president is trying to do to pretext america and its people and that the congress are willing to work with those of us in the business of securing a nation. And its been my experience in less than four months on the job that the congress is, in fact, committed to that. The congress the courts injunction has prevented us from implementing a temporary ban on travel by aliens from six countries that are in states of civil war, are state sponsors of terrorism and are basically failed states. They are the same countries identified by the congress in Previous Administrations in 2015 as nations of great concern. At the time the expectation was those in the business of securing the nation lawfully would focus additional attention on these nations and others in similar circumstances for supplementary and accurate vetting. It has nothing to do with religion or skin color or the way they live their lives but all about security for the United States, nothing else. These are countries that are either unable or unwilling to help us validate the identities and backgrounds of persons within their borders. I can tell you right now because of the injunctions i am not fully confident that were doing the best we all that we can to weed out potential wrongdoers from these locations. Prevents me from looking into the information that we need from each country to conduct proper screening. But from every country across the globe, it also prevents me from conducting a review under the executive order with the goal of improving the security of our refugee program. Bottom line, ive been enjoined from doing these things i know makes america safe and i anxiously await the court to complete its action one way or the other so i can get to work. Will do everything we can and als always, always, always within the law to keep the American People safe. But the delay has prevented us from doing that. What i and those most fam