Transcripts For CSPAN3 Sec. 20240703

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to todays hearing concerning fiscal year 2025 in the budget request from the department of Homeland Security. Im calling this hearing to order. We will come secretary of Homeland Security, alejandro mayorkas, to just lie about the fy25 request. Thank you for being here on a busy day. Im looking forward to a lively discussion about the Budget Priorities for the coming year. Nothing is more important in our federal budget and supporting the 260,000 federal employees who spend every day defending our nation. I have reviewed the president s proposed budget. I support lots of it. Have questions about other parts, and i look forward to our subcommittees bipartisan work. I want to use the rest of my time here today to address two elements that linger in the room. First, this budget, even with this proposed increase is not enough to secure our border and manage the unusually high levels of immigration to the United States that started not in 2021 or 2022, but 2019. When President Trump was president. This budget doesnt provide enough money and this budget by definition cannot update the Immigration Laws of this country, which are outdated and broken, but do you know what did provide enough money . Do you know what did fix our broken laws . The bipartisan border bill negotiated by myself, senator langford, with help from senator mcconnell and senator grant. It wouldve provided 20 million in extra emergency funding to buy 50,000 detention beds to hire 400,000 new asylum officers, 100 new immigration judges, 1500 Border Patrol agents, 1000 new deportation officers, and the list goes on and on. In addition, our bill would make a down payment on our fixing our border authorities. It would give the power to the president to close the border during periods of high crossings. It wouldve elevated the screening standards to make sure that only truly meritorious claimants enter the country. It would have reduced the time to process an asylum application from 10 years in some cases to just weeks or at worst, months. It wouldve eliminated the use of parole at the border and narrowed or refined the uses of humanitarian parole. That is just the tip of the iceberg. If passed, this wouldve been the most significant, most serious reform of Immigration Law in 40 years. It wouldve been effective at slowing the pace of arrivals of the southern border and making sure that our system of Legal Immigration, a key to a mac and greatness, is not abused. That is why it is not the law. It is not the law because it would have made a big down payment on fixing the problem. Republicans rejected this bill because they didnt want to fix the problem. Donald trump and republicans decided they would be better off with the border a mess because it would help them politically. That is not me saying that. Here is what one honest republican senator said. The board border is an important issue for donald trump. The fact that he would communicate to republican senators that he doesnt want us to solve the problem because he wants to blame biden for it is appalling. Im eager to hear the budget requests, but we could have done something together in a bipartisan way to give the real levels of adequate funding, real changes in law to protect our nation. Impeachment articles are going to be sent to the senate. The process was an embarrassment. These articles are laughable on their face. One article accuses the secretary of a high crime and misdemeanor for failing to stop liens of noncitizens from being released into the United States. Despite congresss inability to respond to this crisis, the Biden Administration have expelled more migrants in three years than the Trump Administration did in four years. The annual operation right is the exact same between the Trump Administration and the Biden Administration. There is a backlog that existed in republican and democratic administrations. It is a result of congresses not funding a solution. What makes me most angry about this impeachment is its attempt to personally impugn secretary mayorkas. His life is one of Public Service. The youngest u. S. Attorney confirmed by the senate. The former director of the u. S. Cia. The former director of the dhs. He has sought out the toughest jobs in government. He was in the room personally for nearly all of our four months of torturous negotiations. Why . Because republicans and democrats trusted him. Because republicans asked for him to be in that room because he knew that he would be an honest broker. We are very lucky in my mind to have secretary mayorkas protecting our nation. He shouldnt have to endure this process, but we are glad that he is here today. We have a number of opening remarks. We turn it over now to senator collins to be followed by sunder murray, to be followed by senator britt. Then we will turn it over to you, secretary mayorkas, for comments. Thank you very much for your courtesy. Thank you for holding this important hearing and allowing me to make a few brief remarks. I also want to welcome secretary mayorkas. I apologize that i have to leave the very shortly, as im scheduled to speak at a very exciting and momentous congressional Gold Medal Ceremony for rosie the riveters. The budget request does not do nearly enough to address the flood of Illegal Migrants and sentinel entering the United States. The u. S. Border patrol reported a record 2. 5 million encounters of foreign nationals entering our country along the southwest border without authorization in fiscal year 2023, and the numbers only continue to rise. Migrants encounters have also grown dramatically, albeit, from a much lower base, at the northern border, increasing 73 in fiscal year 2023. In november and i have discussed this with the secretary a group of 20 romanians were arrested crossing the border into maine illegally, two of whom were flagged as transnational organized crime matches. Similarly, in february, three chinese nationals were intercepted attempting to cross into maine, illegally. We have also seen staffing shortages as Border Patrol and other officers have been transferred to the southwest border, and that brings me to the question i want to ask the secretary today. Mr. Secretary, last year, i raised to you a problem whereby cbp refused to provide services to an International Ferry service between bar harbor, maine, and nova scotia, canada. There were four cpb officials the ferry only utilizes them for a few months of each year. Now, it appears that cbp officials have informed the city of eastport, maine, a town a couple of hours away from bar harbor, that the agency cannot accommodate four just four Plant International cruise ship arrivals in eastport this fall, even though cbp staffed a larger number of International Cruise ship arrivals at eastport last year, and bar harbor is seeing a reduction in International Cruise ship arrivals. The cruise ship industry is a vital to many maine communities and delivers millions in economic benefits to our state annually. This is the flipside of the problems that we are now seeing on the southwest border, creating also, problems on the northeast border and northern border in general. Mr. Secretary, what im asking from you today is to look into this staffing issue and follow up with me to resolve this problem. Thank you, senator collins. Senator murray. Thank you, secretary mayorkas for joining us today. Im glad we have this opportunity to talk about how we can get dhs the resources it needs to fulfill its mission to keep our communities safe, and our nation secure. I hope that we can all agree the department of Homeland Security does essential work that should not be undermined or shortchanged by partisan infighting. The fy 24 bill that we just passed provided Critical Resources for the department. But we know the needs for this department and other agencies far exceed what we were able to provide under very tight spending caps. For the better part of last year, democrats have been labor later laser focused on addressing the challenges we have at the border. Chair murphy spent months relentlessly negotiating a set of bipartisan changes and resources to meet the existing needs and fund new authorities were added to those policy changes. That package never made it out of the senate. Everyone here knows why. We must continue working together to actually address the problems that we are facing and make sure that dhs has the resources it needs to manage our border, in a humane, orderly, and fair manner, and carry out its truly wide ranging responsibilities. Secretary emeritus, im interested in hearing from you today about the pressing needs of your department. I hope that all of our colleagues will work with us to meet those needs, because you know, our economy really depends on our ability to ensure countless goods, as well as people, can move through our borders through and eight safe and timely way. Our security depends on our ability to do that while effectively stopping threats like drug smugglers, fentanyl, not to mention Cyber Attacks and the growing threat of white supremacy. We have to make sure that we do the utmost to make sure that people are being treated humanely and continue our long tradition of welcoming people from across the world who are seeking safety from persecution or conflict, and opportunities for a better life. This is vital to us as our reputation as leader of the free world and land of opportunity. As we have seen throughout history, immigrants to make our nation stronger. We look forward to testimony today and the opportunity to ask you questions. Thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you, chair murray. Senator britt. Chair mary, just a point of personal privilege. I need to give you a public congratulations to teams faced off in the final four. I am incredibly proud of the print crimson tide. All of the players in the positive impact they made on the treatment and for the state. He doesnt let me forget that. Nick pringle. Mark sears. His mom, who may be the true mvp. They do an incredible job. At the end of the day, yall came out victorious. Not only in the final four, but in the tournament for the second year in a row. Pretty incredible. While i will never miss an opportunity to say roll tide, have to tip my cap and say congratulations. And alabama, to their credit, gave us our closest game in two years. We only be by 14 points. We will be back next year. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. Thank you, mr. Secretary for testifying today. I am pleased that we were able to avoid a yearlong continuing resolution when it came to the fy 20 for Homeland Security a probation spill. The fy 24 bill took incremental steps to start moving away from merely managing the border crisis created under this administration and included significant steps to strengthen our Border Security and Immigration Enforcement on our nations interior and right there at the border. In particular, it was great to see the fy 20 for funding for over 2000 new Border Patrol agents, as well as additional port of entry officers and an 12 officers. There was a major increase in funding for removal operations was also something i was pleased to see. Disappointingly, President Bidens fy 25 budget request for the department of Homeland Security does not follow this model. Instead, it repeats the same mistakes of it his previous budget requests. Once again, this administration has proposed cutting the dhs base budget. The fy25 president ial budget request would cut base dhs funding by more than 1. 25 billion. A reduction of 2 from the fy 24 levels. At a time when our country undoubtedly faces a National Security and a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions under southern border, this is completely nonsensical. Considering that President Biden has proposed increasing the epa budget by roughly 20 , and clearly shows where this admissions priorities are. It is clear that this admission rations budget request in recent years are designed to merely manage the border crisis it created and will not actually solve the problem. Nor will border policy legislation that doesnt take away President Bidens ability to continue to abuse tools and loopholes that fuel and facilitate the entry of inadmissible aliens into the United States, including the unprecedented abuse of the president ial authority. The truth is that we have a president who could take executive action and if he wanted to come he would. If reports that we are seeing today are accurate, the president has finally, after over 1100 days into his administration, admitted that he does have the Authority Point unfortunately, rather than reversing course, this inadequate budget request from the department of Homeland Security only doubles down on the failed policies of the last few years. They failed to put its money where it matters. This includes the ongoing fentanyl crisis. Fentanyl is responsible for more than 200 deaths every single day. It is the number one cause of death for americans aged 18 to 45. I want to commend the brave and and women of cbp, i. C. E. , and the coast guard, who are on the front lines to face fentanyl and deadly drugs. The numbers are increasingly shocking. In fy 23, i. C. E. Seized nearly 42,000 pounds of fentanyl, while cbp seized 27 pounds of fentanyl, almost all of it at the southern border. These numbers are roughly double the amount seized in the previous year. While President Bidens request includes requests for commitment to countering fentanyl, the funding requested is lacking. The request includes no new funding for inspection equipment at ports of entry and only marginally new investments increases marginally new investments and staffing. The cartels evolve their activities to stay ahead of our best efforts. The budget only makes minimal new investments to combat fentanyl will fail to make the progress we need in order to protect American Families and communities from this poison. Mr. Secretary, for the fourth year in a row, this admission has submitted a Homeland Security budget that fails to provide sufficient resources to allow the men and women of the department to protect our nation and the threats it faces at a time when migrant encounters continue to set record after record, when the number of migrants released into the interior of the United States is overwhelming, the ability of local communities to absorb them and when fentanyl and dangerous criminals fled our nation and killer citizens, it is unacceptable that this administrations response is to cut base funding for the department of Homeland Security. I look forward to working with the department and my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to enact a budget for fy 25 that builds on the steps taken in fy 24 to strengthen our Border Security, increase Immigration Enforcement, and crackdown on cartels that are trafficking these substances into our country. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back my time. Thank you very much, senator britt. I will turn it over to secretary mayorkas for your opening comments. Distinguish members of this committee, every day, the 268,000 men and women of the department of Homeland Security carry out our mission to protect the safety and security of the American People. They protect our shores, harbors, skies, cyberspace, borders, and leaders. They stop fentanyl and other deadly drugs from entering our country. They lead the response to maritime emergencies. As we speak, they are engaged in the response to the tragic Francis Scott key bridge collapse in Baltimore Point they help communities recover and rebuild after a natural disaster. They combat the scourges of human trafficking, forced labor, and online child explication, and so much more. All of this, despite a perennially insufficient budget. The dedicated Public Servants of dhs deserve the full support, and the American People deserve the results that a fully resourced dhs can deliver. It is critical to meeting both goals. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this budget and highlight some of its key proposals with you today. When our department was founded in the wake of 9 11, the threat of foreign terrorism against high visibility targets was of primary concern. That threat persists and the u. S. Continues to be in a heightened threat environment. We can rent the terrorist related threat of radicalized home offenders and small groups resident here in the United States. This budget provides for an 80 million increase to our dependence nonprofit security program, in additional funds, for targeted violence and terrorist prevention grants so dhs can better help prevent tragedies from occurring. As loan actors and nationstates target our Critical Infrastructure and our data, the president s budget provides needed funding to improve our cybersecurity and resiliency. Fentanyl is wreaking tragedy in communities across the country. They arrested more individuals for fentanyl related crimes in the last two fiscal years than in the previous five combined. We must do more. The president s budget includes critical funding to advance our strategy, including funds for noninclusive Inspection Technology and targeted operations. During the time when the world, including our hemisphere is experiencing the greatest displacement of people since world war ii, dhs has toughened border enforcement and is maximizing available resources and authorities. In the last 11 months, we have removed or returned more than 630,000 individuals who did not have a legal basis to stay. More than and every full fiscal year since 2013. The president s budget would further expand these efforts. It provides 25. 9 billion for cbp and i. C. E. , including funds for hiring more personnel. A separate 265 million would be used by u. S. Cis to expand lawful pathways and ensure that protection remains accessible for those who qualify under our laws. Our immigration system, however, is fundamentally broken, including our asylum system that so significantly impacts the security of our borders and the processes we administer. Only congress can fix our broken and outdated system. Only congress can address our need for more Border Patrol agents, asylum officers, and immigration judges, facilities, and technology. Our administration works closely with a Bipartisan Group of senators to Reach Agreement on National Security supplemental package one that would make the system of changes that are needed and give dhs the tools and resources it needs to meet todays challenges. We remain ready to work with you to pass this tough, fair, bipartisan agreement. Finally, extreme weather continues to devastate communities. Let me turn, if i may, for a moment, chairs, and Ranking Member britt, two senators kennedy and hydesmith, i am tracking the extreme weather that has struck louisiana and mississippi the flooding in mississippi a tornado touching down in slidell, louisiana, and our fema personnel are ready to deploy as the needs of your constituents so require. Last year, fema responded to more than 100 disasters. Our budget provides 22. 7 billion to assist Community Leaders and help survivors in the aftermath of major disasters and additional funds to invest in resilience strategies that will save lives and taxpayer money in the decades to come. Essential to our success across all mission sets is our departments ability to recruit and retain class workforce. In addition to the front line workforce i mentioned, the president s budget includes 1. 5 billion to maintain our commitment to fairly compensate the tsa workforce continuing the longoverdue fiscal year 2023 initiative we worked together to implement. I look forward to further discussing these Critical Missions and our departments needs for the coming and current fiscal years. The recently passed 2024 budget, the welcome and helpful to many of our operations, was enacted too late to help our hiring surge. It reduced support for cities dealing with marketing related challenges. It cut funding with compounding effects that our department will field for years. Im eager to work with you to address these and other shortfalls in the weeks ahead, as im eager to deliver the sustained funding, resources, and support that the extra merrily talented and dedicated Public Servants of dhs need and deserve. Thank you. Thank you very much , mr. Secretary. Thank you for your comments. We will begin rounds of five minute questions. I will begin. I have a personnel question for you. Jeff rezmovic was nominated. His nomination is important to the committee. It doesnt make sense to have an agency this large without a cfo for this long. I assume you would agree with me that his confirmation, the ability to get a cfo working with you in the department is of the utmost part and spread it most certainly is. Mr. Chair, have worked very closely with Jeff Rezmovic for about seven years now. Previously, when i was a deputy secretary, and let me say, unequivocally, that he is pure gold as a public servant. I should also note that the woman over my left shoulder, ann tipton, is also pure gold. You heard me testify to the amount of resources that wouldve been allocated in the emergency supplemental that included 20 billion. Officers. 1500 Border Patrol agents and officers. Can you talk for a moment about what those kind of resources would have allowed you to do had both republicans and democrats come together and supported that bipartisan supplemental package . Chair murphy, my First Encounter with the immigration system, the broken immigration system, was in the 1990s when i served as a federal prosecutor in california. I learned then that the system was fundamentally broken, and it remains so. This piece of bipartisan wouldve been the most transformative change. Not only for the resources it provided, but for the changes in the law that it delivered. It would have brought such extraordinary fairness and speed to a system that has suffered backlogs and interminable timelines in the processing of claims. It would have blessed up personnel in an unprecedented fashion, as you have commented. It would have allowed us to adjudicate asylum claims that now take more than seven years to run through the courts, and sometimes it would be in less than 90 days. Absolutely transformative, not only from the efficiency perspective, but also fundamentally from a security perspective. Let me ask you specifically about how you achieve and increase deterrence. I think there is a perception just loading up on detention beds you can have an appreciable impact on deterrence. What the bipartisan bill tried to do at your urging was to provide more immediate certainty on asylum claims, to adjudicate those claims in a handful of days or weeks instead of what happens today, five or 10 years. That is the right thing to do for the country. It is just fair to have that out from outcome at the border rather than 10 years later, but tell us more about the elements of this bill that would have had an impact on deterrence and would have stopped people from ever contemplating the journey to the border and how that can only be achieved in law, not just changes with funding levels. Absolutely. So meant to mentally. The risk calculus of intending migrants would have changed dramatically. Right now, what they see is a broken asylum system, and they understand that when they are encountered at the border and make a claim for asylum the claim is ultimately adjudicated, sometimes in more than seven years. The backlog is immense and has been growing year over year for well more than a decade. What happens is, in those seven years, they work. Sometimes they have the United States citizen children and gain a sense of footing in the United States before their claim to stay here has even been adjudicated. Under the Bipartisan Legislation, the multiyear process would have been transformed to as little as 90 days, and sometimes even quicker. Given the denial rate for most asylum claims, an intending migrants would have the calculus of deciding, should i take a dangerous journey, should i place my life savings in the hands of smugglers only to be turned around upon arrival to the United States within 90 days . It is an absolute game changer. Finally, let me ask you about the topic we spent a lot of time talking about relative to the fentanyl trade. The fentanyl trade between the United States and mexico is a circle. Fentanyl comes into the United States, money and guns leave the United States. That is why, on a bipartisan basis, we have provided additional money for outbound inspections so we are catching, not all, but an appreciable amount of guns and money as they leave the United States. This can only work if the guns and money leave and the fentanyl comes back. What percentage of traffic today is subject to outbound inspection . And what is a realistic projection for how we will expand outbound inspections in the fiscal year . Chair murphy, i have to get the precise numbers to you subsequent to the hearing. Let me say that u. S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security investigations, the investigative arm of immigration and Customs Enforcement, are working in tandem to address the outbound flow of both money and guns. In fact, operation without a trace , i will provide the data, has been an extraordinarily effective operation to curtail the movement of guns and money. We also have deployed transnational criminal investigative units to mexico to work with our Law Enforcement partners in mexico to address this issue. We are, of course, very well and closely aligned with the United States department of justice. Look forward to that update. Thank you, chair murphy. One of the criticisms we have heard from you repeatedly when it comes to title 42 expulsions is that expulsion doesnt result in the delivery of a consequence in the way that deportations or removals to. A removal is, of course, the ultimate consequence for violating our Immigration Laws. That being the case, do you agree with me that the approximately one. 3 million 1. 3 million Illegal Immigrants in the United States who have been given their final orders of removal by a judge should be expeditiously removed from the United States . I am not familiar with the numeric figure that you cite with an individual provided to process with a final order of removal, they should be removed from the United States. Will be adjudicate, the fact that they dont have a lawful basis to remain in the United States, they should be removed. Absolutely. Im so glad we agree on that. Over a threeyear period, the Biden Administration has actually removed fewer people in total. The first three years, not the last 11 months. They removed fewer people in total the both president s obama and trump removed in each individual year of their administrations. I am hopeful we can have the appropriate resources and are able to remove the 1. 3 Million People who have been given due process. On that note, if you had more i. C. E. Officers and funding for officers there, would that be a helpful tool in being able to remove these individuals that have been given their due process . Two points, if i may. In response to your discrete question, the answer is yes, more personnel will assist us, not just the officers and agents themselves, but of course, the support personnel upon which they rely. With respect to the data you cite, i should note that we have removed on a monthly basis more aggravated felons in the United States unlawfully than the Prior Administration. On a monthly basis. Okay. Obviously, were not talking about felons, we are talking about people who have been given due process, we need to go ahead and remove them to serve as a deterrent and talking about what we were discussing before. As you probably are aware with respect to due process, the Syracuse University found in 2021 approximately 200,000 Immigration Court cases were dismissed because dhs failed to file a notice to appear with the court. Are you aware that number is 12 times higher than the number of cases dismissed for the same reason during all the years before fy 24 until fy 2020 combined . Ranking member, my understanding is that that number may or may not be accurate. Were looking into that, number one. Number two, it is not necessarily that the notice to appear was not filed, but the notice to appear mightve had a deficiency. That has been an issue for years in the department of Homeland Security, and in fact, we have used technology to improve the accuracy and correctness of notices to appear. I think we have data with respect to the success of those notices to appear that is more current. Do you intend, does dhs intend to reissue the notice to appear in those cases . Yes, most certainly. It is our responsibility. Excellent. There are more than 7 million migrants on that nondetained docket when we were talking about, the double the number at the start of this administration. When you look at that and look at the record shattering numbers of people who have entered this country illegally and released into the interior, do you believe that represents an increased risk to Public Safety in this country . I think it is a powerful reflection of an absolutely broken immigration system. Let me share with you data to evidence of fact this has been years long in the making. In 2010 that i only have a minute left. I will have to continue moving on. I do want to say that i. C. E. Has detained more than 32,000 migrants here with criminal convictions, another 11,000 with pending criminal charges. Some of these criminal records, those with criminal records, have actually been released by i. C. E. Into the United States. A couple of examples i want to make sure we get out there. There have been 4700 with convictions for assault, 450 of whom have been released. There have been 5200 with convictions for drug crimes, 261 of which have been released. There have been 1100 with convictions for weapons crimes, 92 of which have been released. There have been 1200 with convictions for sexual assault, 46 of whom have been released. There have been 490 with convictions for homicide, 50 of whom have been released. So i am hopeful that we can agree that when we have this type of chaos at our border that it does increase the risk for Public Safety here in the country. With my last 42 seconds, i do want to ask you a quick question. When it looks at the ch program and what we are seeing, we have some data that says dhs approved approximately 90 7. 6 of applications received under the program. That approval rate to me is indicative of applicants not receiving that individualize casebycase consideration required by the law. Your response to that, do you feel like there is just a blanket, kind of a blanket gift of the chnv program into the interior, or do you feel like those are being mindfully looked at individually . Ranking member britt, those cases are reviewed on an individualized basis. In response to your earlier point, i look forward to providing you with the data that reflects an increased focus on individuals in the interior of the United States who do not have a lawful basis to stay and who have suffered a criminal conviction, because our success rate is far greater than in the Prior Administration. Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank you for coming to the committee today, secretary mayorkas. All you have to see is what has gone on on the southern border, and you know that we are in a situation that needs immediate repair. Immediate fixing, immediate overhaul, whatever you want to call it. When i visit with the folks in montana, it is kind of like a rake of philosophy for them. Legal immigration, they are okay with, ilLegal Immigration needs to end yesterday. I have made clear that both the president , you and Congress Needs to step up to address this problem in a very proactive way, should have done it a long time ago. We are seeing a high number of encounters at the southern border. We all talk about fentanyl coming into this country. Quite honestly, all the way up to the northern border, by the way, it has affected montana in a big way. This poison is killing a lot of people. As chairman of this committee pointed out, a couple months ago congress had its opportunity to do something about the southern border and the northern border, i might add, with montana being a northern border state, that a support. I think they know to go to the weakest link in the fence. Congress decided to play politics with the. In the last 60 days i can tell you the week after we fail to pass that bill, there were, at times, 6500 people coming across that border, and they could have been stopped if you would pass this bill, we chose not to play politics. If you want to see how it is being played with, come to montana and turn on the tv. The fact is the border needs to be fixed and we need to step up as congress. The Administration Needs to step up. You need to step up. I think if we are able to do that, we can fix it. But it is going to take continual Due Diligence on the border to make it happen. After congress missed the opportunity to help fix this problem by changing the asylum rule and bringing technology to the southern border and bringing manpower to the southern border, i called on you and President Biden to use her executive powers to do whatever you can do to secure the border as many of my colleagues have talked about here. My question for you is, does this administration have any plans to use additional executive powers to address the situation at the southern border . Senator, we continue to consider what additional executive actions we can take that would survive legal scrutiny and have an impact on Border Security. I should note that the effort to close the border through executive action is something the Prior Administration tried, and they were enjoined from doing so. So the real enduring solution is the bipartisan piece of legislation that was negotiated intensely over several months, but we are, and continue to look at, what executive actions we can take. It is apparent the status quo has not worked and is not working currently. I would also say that this proposal for funding for Homeland Security is inadequate, and we need to work on this. I will say the same thing, by the way about the defense subcommittee budget. It is in adequate. I dont know about the others, but we have got to figure out a way to fix this, because the threats that the southern border and the threats we see in the world through the defense committee, are entirely connected. If we see folks coming across the border, you know, they arent necessarily from the countries we assume they are from. We have had folks that potentially could be terrorist threats. If they get in the country, it is a problem. I would call on all my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to Work Together in a bipartisan way to try to get these budgets up to a point where they really will do the job the American People expect at the southern and northern borders. And the department of Homeland Security, whether it is a hurricane in louisiana people coming across the border, needs the resources to get this done. You know, the National Border council, which represents thousands of Border Patrol agents that keeps the border save, they endorsed that bill that the congress decided to play politics with two months ago. It would drop illegal border crossings nationwide. It will allow agents to get back to detecting and apprehending those who want to cross the border illegally and evade apprehension. You talked about the border bill and how important it was to get across. Lets just assume for a second in an ideal world that we, as congresspeople, quit taking instructions for people who want to play politics with policy and actually pass good policy. Is there anything else that needs to be done if we were to pass that border bill that the chairman of this committee negotiated out . The bipartisan border bill would have been transformative in advancing the security of our border. Anything else need to be done other than that . In the immigration system writ large, the Legal Immigration system, there are many other fixes that need to be made, but from a Border Security perspective, this was an extraordinary legislative measure. Extraordinary. Thank you. I have a few more questions for the record. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here. I too am concerned about the border, as we all are, but i will talk to you about that other border that is a little harder to identify, and that is what happens on the waters. I want to talk about the coast guard, because i am concerned about our coast guard. We are asking coast guard men and women to do more, to take on more whether it is trying to intercept across the southern, in the southern waters, not on land, but in the border areas on the waters. I note in your testimony before the committee today you dont reference the coast guard and all in your oral comments. You do mention in your written testimony the expansion that the coast guard presence will take in the indopacific region. I recognize that, but i will tell you, mr. Secretary, i worry about what we are putting on our United States coast guard in terms of enhanced mission in addition to what you want to do in the indo pacific. You have the architect that is wide open and getting wider and more open all the time, and you know that the resources we have up there to cover that huge expanse are not sufficient. And yet, i look at this budget, and i am not sure who is not advocating for coast guard. Sometimes i think the coast guard does not advocate for their budget sufficiently enough. I am very worried about whether or not the coast guard actually even belongs in the department of Homeland Security. I look at your oig chart here, a lot of boxes. And here is the coast guard hanging out at the very bottom on its knowns own. I look at the budget, and i feel like it is almost orphaned within the department. The reality is that the priorities just continue. Let me ask about this. We are in a place where, again, the demands are even greater. We did not see the coast guard included in the president s border our National Security supplemental funding request. That disappoints me a great deal. We have seen the coast guard resources basically being cannibalized, for lack of a better word, for funding other agencies within the ihs budget. And then, again, the budget anticipates an expanded area of emphasis in the indopacific. Well, i think the efforts in the arctic are left languishing. You know as well as i do that the issue with the icebreakers, we were able to prevent another unforced error just a couple weeks ago when it comes to meeting the arctic commitment by securing funding to procure the commercially available icebreaker. That funding had been taken from us in the prior fiscal year. We had to fight to keep it in. We were successful with that. But we are looking at the polar security cutter line. The admiral states that the pse is the top acquisition priority, and yet the fy 25 budget reflects zero funding for the program. In fact, the program received 150 million. We worked hard to limit that. I appreciate working hard with the chairman on this. Again, we have fy 24 recession, fy 25 wouldve been the second year in a row for funding on that program that would have been paused. I would like you to share with the committee whether or not you feel that our coast guard is receiving the necessary budget support given the increased operations that they face. And second, if you can speak to the issue of the icebreakers and whether or not the pcs is viewed as a top acquisition priority, and really give it to me a little more broadly. Are the coast guard budgets being reduced at the hs level . That is how those of us following coast guard are feeling. I will let you talk now. Ive taken four minutes to shape it up for you. Please help me out. I am worried about the coast guard. Senator murkowski, i share your concern. In fact, more and more is being asked of the United States coast guard. Remarkably, they perform more and more every single day. As his hearing is proceeding, they are in baltimore responding to the tragic collapse of the bridge. And louisiana too. They will be there as well. They were in hawaii following the tragic fires there. Let me assure you with respect to your institutional. , i believe very strongly the United States coast guard belongs in the department of Homeland Security from a mission perspective. Number two, i fight vigorously for the budget for the United States coast guard, and i have encouraged the leadership of the coast guard across the country, not just in headquarters, for them to fight for the budget as well. I can only echo the concerns you have expressed that the coast guard is underfunded, and it is specifically underfunded when it comes to execution of the arctic strategy. Russia has between 30 and 50 vessels capable of navigating through the arctic region. They vary in capability, but there are 30 strongly capable vessels, and we fight with two antiquated vessels, and yet the coast guard personnel work magic with them. I would be eager to work with you 2 plus up the coast guard budget. We work under statutory caps. There are tradeoffs. But i would welcome the opportunity to work with you to increase the coast guard budget quite significantly. We are incredibly grateful for the 140 million to obtain the commercially available icebreaker. That is the tip of the spear of what we need. It is a gap filler. I would like to talk to you about the one polar class vessel in the water, apparently polar star. It suffered some damage. I just learned about this. I dont know what the status will be. It is a reminder to me that as an arctic nation when we have one operational polar class vessel, it doesnt even get to the arctic, we are woefully behind. Mr. Chairman, i want to work with you on this and what we can do to better help the coast guard. I know it is important to you as well. Absolutely. Thank you, senator murkowski, for your vigilance on this issue. Look forward to working with you. Thank you, mr. Secretary. I have been very frustrated by recent reports on the overuse of isolation from the general population at i. C. E. Facilities, including in the Processing Center in tacoma. Researchers found over the last five years half of the 10 longest placements in administrative segregation across the i. C. E. National population were at that facility. I want to stress how concerning it is that i. C. E. Continues to use this practice so frequently for so many individuals and reportedly does so without consistent accurate documentation. What steps has i. C. E. Taken to ensure its contractors are following i. C. E. Policy on the use of administrative segregation . Chair marie, this is an issue i am underway in reviewing with immigration and Customs Enforcement with i. C. E. The use of segregation sometimes is at the request of the individual detainee themselves by reason of circumstances in a facility. Sometimes it is for the safety and security of our personnel are other detainees. It is a very case specific issue, but i am meeting with members of the community, as well as the workforce, and i just need about three weeks to circle back with you and give you a full report on the path ahead. I know it is an issue of concern to you and others as well. Absolutely. I would really like you to commit to an independent investigation conducted by an entity outside of the department to inspect the conditions and practices at that i. C. E. Facility in tacoma. Would you be willing to do that . I would be very pleased to consider that. If i may, we have a new leader of the office of the detention ombudsman. I think she would be extraordinarily capable in conducting this with you if that would be satisfactory to you. I would be pleased to discuss it with you. Okay, i will talk with you about that. I strongly caution that i. C. E. Needs to take these unsaved, inhumane conditions. We have seen these documented over the last two decades. They need to be taken very seriously when considering renewing the contract at that facility that expires in 2025. I will continue to talk with you about that. Thank you. Secondly, over the last six months, the president has repeatedly sought support from congress to fund critical needs on the border. Funding that provides a humane environment for some of the most Vulnerable People in the hemisphere. It is funding that supports the critical work of the agents and officers who safeguard our border, and Critical Resources to improve the detection and seizure of narcotics, including fentanyl, preventing these threats from entering our communities. Most recently, that included our bipartisan effort in the senate that combined both policy changes and you resources. Given the recent fy 24 appropriations provided to the department, along with the ever evolving threats on our border, are there Additional Resources the Department Needs in fiscal year 24 . There are. We continue to believe that the resources and legislative changes that were contained in the Bipartisan Legislation are greatly needed by our department and would really advance our mission. Okay. Thank you. Our committee will work with you on that as we move through the process. On a different topic, Habitat Restoration projects in mind home state and throughout the country are really key to recovering our endangered species like salmon and upholding tribal treaty rights. However, the current standards for the Fema National Flood Insurance Program do not differentiate between requirements for important Habitat Restoration projects and Development Projects like a parking lot or strip mall. As a result of that, Habitat Restoration projects that pose minimal risk to people or structures often experience very lazy permitting delays and millions of dollars in cost increases. In some cases, our local partners have given up on pursuing any kind of habitat projects entirely because of these fema rules. How can we work with your office to ensure these important projects can move forward in a timely and Cost Effective manner . Chair murray, i am not tracking this discrete issue. I will pay close attention to it, and then return to you we can get back together on that, it has become a real challenge for us. Finally, i know the senator from alaska asked you about the coast guard. Also critical to my state. They are continuing to try to modernize their fleet and replace older vessels. They are now working far beyond their expected service lives. Many of those programs like the offshore patrol cutter require investments and shoreside infrastructure to adequately accommodate needs. With so many Capital Investments needs across the service, how does your fy 25 budget prioritize those investments to make sure the coast guard continues to have the assets and capabilities it needs to execute its mission . Chair murray i remember very well when you and i visited a coast guard facility in your just trash jurisdiction. The fy 25 budget does provide for two additional cutters to begin that process, but i do believe that senator murkowski is correct that we need to find the coast guard at a greater level than historically has been the case. Very good. I will mention quickly, i am out of time, but i childcare. It is an issue near and dear to me. We just provided new authority in the appropriations bill to use operations and support funding across your department to find an employee emergency backup childcare program. If you can get back to me on how that will be implemented and used, i would appreciate it. Most certainly. Thank you. Thank you. Senator kennedy. Mr. Secretary, i dont hate anybody. I look for grace wherever i can find it. I certainly dont hate you. My chairman talked about the woolly mammoths in the room. I am glad he brought that up. The chairmans immigration bill was negotiated by two members of my party, senator lankford and senator mcconnell. I dont speak for either one. Theyre both good men. The chairman said the republicans who negotiated his bill trusted you and wanted you there. I am not doubting his word. It gives me no joy to say this. Most republicans dont trust you. A vast majority of the American People dont trust you. That is why you have been impeached. Now, my democratic colleagues are going to try to sweep your impeachment under the rug. Violate 200 years of Senate Precedents in doing it. I dont think they will be able to sweep the issue, it may be your impeachment, but not the issue, under a rug as big as the United States of america. Again, it gives me no joy saying this. I think well more than a majority of the American People think that, as a result of your behavior and President Bidens behavior, the southern border is an open, bleeding wound. I think they believe that our southern border is chaotic. I think the vast majority of the American People believe that a lot of it is political. I think a vast majority of the American People believe that it is chaotic by design. And that all of this is intentional. And i think a vast majority of the American People who dont trust you believe in Legal Immigration. They dont believe in ilLegal Immigration. They think you do. They think President Biden does. And they think that is why the border is open, and they think that your attitude and President Bidens attitude is that , while they may be poor under President Biden, that they are stupid enough to believe you and the president when you say it is not your problem. I think that needed to be said. Isnt it a fact, mr. Secretary, that the number of Illegal Immigrants that you and the president allow into our country counts for Congressional District reapportionment . Senator, i am not sure i understand your question, but i can surely share with you that i disagree with its phrasing. Isnt it true, mr. Secretary, that the number of Illegal Immigrants that you and President Biden have allowed into our country counts for allocating electoral votes . Same answer. I dont understand your question. Never crossed her mind. The notion, senator, that we intend to allow ilLegal Immigration is nothing short of preposterous. So you do understand the question. If i may, it is disrespectful to the extraordinarily hard work that we perform, and far more importantly, that the personnel in the department of Homeland Security and across this administration perform to stem ilLegal Immigration, build lawful, safe and orderly pathways, and invest in a working system. We only wish that that Bipartisan Legislation, about which i have not heard a critical term, what have past. You are using up my time. You do this every single time. It is a fact, and you know it, and i know what. The more people you allow into our country illegally, the more people are counted for reapportionment. The more people that you allow into our country illegally, the more people are counted for allocating electoral votes. Maybe that is a coincidence, but that is a fact. You know that. You have done nothing. Nothing for four years. Not. Zero. Absolutely false. Zilch. In fact, the only people i know in this country who are better off today than they were four years ago are Illegal Immigrants. That is a result of your policy. I dont hate you for it. I dont hate anyone. But that is why you have been impeached. My colleagues may try to covered up. Theyre going to try to cover it up, but they cant cover up the facts. I have gone over my time. I am sorry, mr. Chairman. Senator peters. Vega, mr. Chairman. Secretory secretary mayorkas, wonderful to see you today. I will see you next week when you become to the Governmental Affairs committee. Good to have an opportunity to ask you questions. I have always appreciated your candor, your professionalism, and your dedication to the mission. Thank you for the work you do each and every day. In the appropriations bill this year i was able to secure initial funding with the help of my colleagues here, including great help from chair murphy, for the northern border Coordination Center. This center will play a Critical Role in coordinating efforts to better secure our nations northern border. My question for you is, how does the Department Plan to use this funding to address the threats that exist on the northern border . Chairman peters, were very grateful for the funding and for the concept of the Coordination Center. What it does is, it allows us to take a step back and look at the northern border writ large and decide where we need to allocate our resources, how we need to allocate, and make sure we are being as strategic, as well as tactical, as possible. I have asked to meet with our cbp team to get the Coordination Center moving, and i have already spoken with the team about how we can use it to recalibrate staffing, as i know you and other senators on this committee have expressed concerns with respect to staffing of the northern border. Thank you. We definitely have to make sure that we have the people there in the coordination. I appreciate your efforts in setting up that center as quickly as possible. Mr. Secretary, i was pleased to see the notice of proposed rulemaking published by cisa, as was required by my cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure act. This legislation will ensure Cyber Incidents affecting Critical Infrastructure are reported to cisa to help companies prevent similar attacks. However, fy 24 appropriations for this program are set at 24 million below the requested level. My question for you is how this funding shortfall will affect the ability to implement this critical program, and are there other resources necessary in order to execute this rule, as was intended by congress . Chairman peters, this is a transformative piece of legislation that is really going to, when implemented, enhance the Cyber Security of our country. I just met with cybersecurity professionals from companies all over the country yesterday to talk about the notice of proposed rules making we issued an to solicit their feedback on the implementation. One of the responsibilities we will have is a department is to actually receive the cyber incident reports to be able to really analyze them and assess them and communicate to the community, the public and private community, our findings and best practices to fund as a insufficiently is really going to handicap our ability to realize the full benefits of this transformative legislation. We do need to be properly resourced year. It is a very significant undertaking. We have to work to make sure that happens. I totally concur with you. I know that senator murkowski, as well as chair murray, shared concerns about coast guard funding, particularly with infrastructure, icebreakers, et cetera. As you will know, coast guard plays a vital role in the great lakes, and unfortunately, the coast guard is facing Personnel Shortages impacting their activities in the lakes. For example, Personnel Shortages recently hindered essential operations at seven small boat stations along the coast in michigan. My question for you, mr. Secretary, does the president s budget include necessary resources to do ensure personnel are absolutely needed to effectively serve michigan, as well as the entire Great Lakes Region . Chairman peters, i have to take a look at the budget and confer with coast guard about the implications of the budget for michigan specifically and the facilities that the coast guard staffs there. Forgive me for not knowing today the geographic specificity, but i will circle back with you. I appreciate that. We can follow up with you. Finally, i was pleased that congress provided tsa with sustained funding to ensure that tsa frontline staff receive the pay and benefits equivalent to counterparts throughout the federal government. The department fy 25 budget would ensure that tsa personnel continue to receive equivalent pay and benefits. I look forward to working with my colleagues to deliver to tsa the pay and benefits they deserve as they keep us safe every single day that airports across our country. The question for you, as tsa continues to Screen Record numbers of passengers, how does this pay increase improve the tsa operations, workforce morale and retention, as well as recruitment efforts . I have spoken with the administrator on a number of occasions. The pay increase has had a monumental impact, positively, of course, on both recruiting and retention, as well as, of course, morale. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Senator hydesmith. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator mayorkas, it is my understanding that the delivery of the pert first polar security cutter originally planned for 2024 may now occur no earlier than 2028 due to delays. The Committee Also has concerns regarding the accuracy of the polar security cutters estimated procurement cost. Given its size and complexity, it is a lot of moving parts. However, i am hearing great progress is being made now between the shipbuilder in my state and the coast guard and getting the security cutter program on track. This is very good news since the russian icebreaking fleet is the largest in the world, and the u. S. Only has one. Nearly 50yearold operational heavy icebreaker. The success of this program is very vital to National Security and economic interest in the arctic region. I hope the department and the coast guard are working to support the shipbuilder however possible so we may get these assets into the fleet as soon as possible. With that being said, i would like to receive assurance that progress will continue to be made. Please give me your position on the status of this program. Senator hydesmith, i am familiar with the challenges we have had with the development and execution of the contract for the polar security cutter. We are fully invested in that polar security cutter. It is for the reasons you identify, very important to the United States coast guard, to the arctic strategy, to the National Security. We are working very closely with the contractor to make this relationship work and deliver that polar security cutter as quickly as possible. We are fully invested in it. Thank you for that. The u. S. Coast guard in september 2023 informed me of what he calls temporary operational workforce adjustments across the nation in response to its workforce shortfall reported at nearly 10 at that time. This included the temporary reduction of capabilities and workforce at coast guard station pascagoula in mississippi. I have been assured that search and rescue capabilities remain sufficient, and that it is only temporary, but i question whether that is realistic. As recently as last wednesday the commandant stated the coast guard should inspect to see additional adjustments due to Personnel Shortages that will limit its ability to conduct its congressionally directed missions. The coast guard has missed its recruiting goals for the last four years. While i recognize this issue has spread to nearly all of the armed services, the coast guard failures are what i want to hear about from you today. There are significant requests for funding to support recruiting and retention initiatives in the president s budget request, but i would like your thoughts on the root causes of this workforce retention crisis. What steps are you taking to address the concerns of the Young Americans when they see how some of our Service Members were treated when they were ordered to receive a vaccine that violated their religious beliefs . What about when they hear from their veterans and families and friends of the unnecessary woke agenda of many Senior Leaders . This is a messaging and cultural problem at the very least, but i want to know if you have even begun to address these issues rather than just throw money at them. Senator hydesmith, i am working with leadership across the department on strategies for recruiting and retention of our personnel. You correctly identify the recruiting challenges that the different branches of the military are experiencing, and it is not exclusive to the military. I speak with Law Enforcement leaders on a regular basis in different parts of the country, and it is a difficult recruiting and retention environment for Law Enforcement as well. We do need funding so that we can engage in the recruiting efforts that are needed. We are looking at creative ways to recruit young people to both the coast guard and our Law Enforcement agencies within the department of Homeland Security. Can you give me some examples of what you are actively doing now . Can you describe what you are doing . If i may, i will give you one precise example. We are taking a look at what our presence is and is not on college and university campuses. The Education Programs in high schools around the country to sensitize people about the valor and nobility of Public Service in the United States coast guard. In Law Enforcement agencies, and really, you know, have a physical presence there to recruit them. That is one of the elements of the effort. I think i am out of time. Thank you. Thank you, senator. Senator baldwin. Thank you mr. Chairman, and good afternoon mr. Secretary. The work that our customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security due at our southern border is essential to keeping families across the country and in wisconsin save. I am eager to discuss how appropriators can continue to support this critical mission. Between 2019 and 2021 opioid Overdose Deaths in wisconsin grew by a staggering 97 . In no small part due to synthetic fentanyl. In february the Senate Passed the fend off fentanyl act, a bipartisan bill i cosponsored to help protect our communities from the damaging effects of fentanyl and illicit substances crossing our borders. I was also proud to advance the bipartisan Border Security bill that would have, among other things, invested in hightech Border Security, disrupted the deadly flow of fentanyl into our country, and ensure that wisconsin communities receiving migrants have the resources they need. I was sorely disappointed to see partisan politics take hold and the senate ultimately did not pass the bipartisan compromise we so urgently need. Secretary mayorkas, i know you have gotten another question on this topic before i was able to return from presiding on the floor, but i would like to give you another opportunity to speak specifically to how this bill that we did not pass, but that was negotiated over months, would have bolstered your efforts and the resources that you need to secure the border and stem the flow specifically of fentanyl coming into this country. Can you please speak to that . Thank you, senator. We have interdicted more fentanyl in the past two years than in the last five prior years combined. We have arrested more individuals. That requires not only a dedication of personnel and effective strategies, but also the ability to harness technological advancements. Most notably, the nonintrusive Inspection Technology. The importance of finding personnel is not only to secure our ports of entry were 90 or more of the fentanyl is smuggled in commercial trucks and passenger vehicles, but also to be able to deploy people in the International Arena 2 plus to go plus up latin america, to deploy individuals in different parts of the world to work with our allies. But the bipartisan, i should say, the Bipartisan Legislation would have given us funds for that technology, would have given us funds for our personnel, would have been transformative in blessing plussing up capability. Thank you, mr. Secretary. I want to switch to a different topic that verizon the fentanyl issue. The current trade policy allows nearly 3 million packages into the United States daily and almost none are inspected. So long as the shipper claims that the value of the product is less than 800. Our trade policy is being abused. It is being abused by companies from china that make products with forced labor or sell counterfeit goods. Wreaking havoc on american manufacturers and retailers. Worse, the loophole is used to ship fentanyl and its precursor chemicals directly into american communities, killing children and tearing families apart. I have authored legislation to lower the 800 threshold and to bar china from using the so called the minimus channel. However, if chinese exporters simply lie about the origin of their shipment or its contents, it doesnt matter what threshold congress ultimately sets, the shipments will keep coming in and the destruction will continue. We need cbp to dramatically improve its inspection of shipments to protect our communities. Our fiscal year 2024 Appropriations Bills call i need to do just that. What steps are you taking to use your existing authorities to address this issue, and how can this Committee Help . Senator, i share your concerns with respect to the exception. There are three lines of effort that i have undertaken specifically. One is, for the first time, engage with my counterpart from the peoples republic of china about the scourge of fentanyl and the fact that china is a source country for the precursor chemicals and the pill presses and other equipment used to manufacture it. Number two, i think it was yesterday, it mightve been the day before, i spoke with the textile industry and spoke to them about our new enforcement plan that i outlined and announced with respect to the exception and the Law Enforcement strategies that we are employing to increase our impact on the reality that drugs and other contraband are making their way through packages valued either accurately or inaccurately at lower than 800 in value. And third, were taking a look at how we can harness Artificial Intelligence to be a force multiplier of our personnel. Thank you my chairman. It is nice to be back in the Homeland Security subcommittee. Great to see senator britt with you. You will be great partners. Thank you, mr. Chairman, foreboding being a good partner when i was a Ranking Member. Appreciate that. I welcome mr. Secretary. I will cut to the chase here. This is always something that i had to lead on our side, the number of Border Agents. Were always putting more money in. We put more money in this last time for 152 Border Agents, in 2025 ask for due to 50 more, 150 officers at port of entry, 135 processing coordinator is. I would like to say just as a statement that i dont think the solution to the border issue and to bringing these astronomical numbers down is to just keep adding more people to process more people, because that obviously is not going to have the desired result. But i would like to know with the significant amount of funding that you were granted, what is the number of Border Agents right now . Is it going up, is it at the max . You are allowed 21,370, i believe. Where are you one that . We are hiring actively, senator. I will have to get to you the specific number. I concur with you that it is not just personnel that is going to solve the challenge at our southern border, which is why the Bipartisan Legislation not only included Additional Resources, but also fundamentally needed legislative changes that would have really changed the system and the number of people we encounter in the first instance. How was the morale and retention . Is that an issue. It has got to be. Morale has been an issue in our department of Homeland Security ever since i joined, and well before then. We are very focused on Workforce Wellbeing and are hoping that i would assume you would know if you are close to the peak of your allowable amount of agents. Are you losing more people than you are gaining . Give me a sense of that. We are close but i dont want to misspeak and fight and figure not accurate to you and i will provide that to you with swiftness. We will followup. I have a question about the drugs and the surveillance. Automated surveillance. But i want to get to this one. Seven airports lost your tsa Law Enforcement reimbursement program. Of our seven relied on for various Law Enforcement services, small airports arent able to provide the manpower here and obviously we were relying on this. What do you say to the airports across the country that now have 100, 150,000 holes in their budgets to do this . What was the reasoning behind that . It certainly doesnt sound like a safety issue. It doesnt sound like it is making our airports more safe. Senator, are you referring to the fact we rely on smaller airports to provide personnel instead of us . Yes. With respect to the airports in your jurisdiction, we would have to followup with you on that. From a fundamental policy, we would invoke apparently you have had resources in the past and it was cut this year. Our airport was notified maybe a month ago when we passed this last bill that their help with Law Enforcement that is like if someone were coming through tsa and there was a gun in a backpack found. For instance, that Law Enforcement agent would come in and help tsa do whatever local Law Enforcement would be doing and apparently we are missing that and that seems like a pretty critical aspect. Senator, i addressed this issue last year, i believe. I am disappointed to hear that it remains an issue. I will circle back with you after i address it internally. Thank you. On the i know senator baldwin asked about fentanyl and really concerned about what we are seeing going on there and i dont want to act like that is a de minimis question. It is not. The surveillance tower issue is something i think would be helpful if youve got manpower shortages, if people are coming between the ports, apparently your budget has not reflected any kind of plus up in that area that would fortify and help us interdict in those areas. What is your position on the economist surveillance towers and how helpful they have been and would be as multipliers . Senator, the automated surveillance towers have been forced multipliers. They have been effective. We are focusing our resources on the nonintrusive Inspection Technology given the fact the great majority of fentanyl smuggled into our country comes in through the ports of entry in commercial trucks and passenger vehicles. I think you told me last time i did ask about how many trucks were inspected and you noted 7 70 but you didnt give me an actual figure at that time. Do you have an update on that or does that sound like the same figure as last year . Has it gone up . I apologize, senator. I will give you that data. I am striking out here. Thank you, mr. Chairman and mr. Secretary, thank you for being here today and for your testimony. As you know and as you have may already addressed, since i missed much of the questioning, but as you know, the National Security supplemental introduced last fall included 1 billion that was to be used for sentinel interdiction. Most of this would have gone to nonintrusive Inspection Technology. Most coming in is coming in the ports of entry. Sadly because donald trump came out against the very excellent bipartisan package negotiated by chair murphy and others the senate failed to pass that and dropped the 1 billion that would have helped with fentanyl interdiction so can you talk about how the lack of those supplemental funds will affect our ability to find fentanyl and other drugs at the border . Senator, the Bipartisan Legislation would have resourced us so significantly to address not only the number of individuals encountered at our southern border to be able to process them more expeditiously for removal, but it would have also been transformative in terms of our ability to detect, interdict, and prosecute the attempted smuggling of fentanyl because 90 or more of it comes through the ports of entry and the ability to operationalize the latest technology at every single port of entry would have been extraordinarily significant. Yes, it is very disappointing that became a Political Campaign issue rather than something in the best interest of the country. Secretary mayorkas, the last time you were before this committee, we discussed my interest in getting data on the numbers of migrants who have come across the northern border in New Hampshire and you committed to working with me on this. This is an issue ive heard from Law Enforcement in my state as well as other organizations, like the aclu. And unfortunately, the agency didnt provide our office with this information for number of months. You and i have had several conversations about this, i think. Waiting to share it until weeks after it was released, the same information publicly to the New Hampshire aclu which would have been fine with me except the numbers released publicly are not the same numbers that the staff released to my office and , in fact, we heard from your staff or staff at the Homeland Security who indicated the numbers provided to our office work likely less accurate than those released by the agency and that, in fact, there is a Different Number than both of those listed on cbps public portal, so help me understand how this happens and how we can address it so we have the same information that is available to our office and to the local community so they have reliable information that they need in order to address concerns at the northern border. Senator, i am very sorry to hear you have concerns with respect to the timeliness and accuracy of the data we have provided to you and disseminated more broadly. I will look into that very quickly. Very quickly. Thank you. I will hear from you by the end of the month . Before the end of the month. Thank you. I appreciate that. I was afraid you were going to say before the end of the week. I will give you some leeway. In january we had a severe winter storm that damaged the coast guard facility in newcastle, New Hampshire so now the coast guard no longer has for all of its vessels. I appreciate the funding issues that exist with trying to repair and replace and facilities like the coast guard birth, but it is a real challenge and a concern. I know they are looking at potential facilities to lease but that is not a longterm solution, so can you work with our office, with the coast guard and help us understand what we can do to ensure the coast guard has what they need to continue to operate in New Hampshire . I most certainly will. They are important not just to Maritime Safety and security but to Environmental Missions in the state. And in light of the tragic events in baltimore, do you know if the coast guard is doing anything to address the potential for those kinds of events to happen in other ports along the seacoast . Senator, it is not only the coast guard looking at this but we are as a department. One of the areas of focus, or two areas of focus on one hand is Port Security at large and the other is the resiliency of our supply chains which obviously are impacted by the tragedy in baltimore, so we are looking at that from a number of different perspectives. Physical disasters, such as the one baltimore bridge suffered but also Cyber Attacks and other threats, so we are, indeed, taking a view of the situation. Well, thank you. Fortunately we did not have the same kind of catastrophe in New Hampshire or boston, but we have had several accidents. In fact, both the Memorial Bridge and the tobin bridge have shut down traffic for significant periods of time, so unfortunately as we know, this is not an isolated incident, even though the drama of what happened in baltimore is certainly worse than we have seen in other places. And just finally, one of the provisions that was in the negotiated border bill that was important to us in New Hampshire with the northern border was the stone garden fence, which are reduced in the budget bills that just passed, but in addition to the funding being reduced, there were provisions in the border bill that would have committed to a certain percentage going to non southwest border states, again, an issue important to us even though we dont have the challenges at the northern border as we do at the southern border, there are issues around Law Enforcement and communications the stone garden funds have been critical to helping us with, so will you commit that you will take a look at the funding that has been passed and see if we can ensure the northern border states also receive a proportionate share of those funds . I will, senator. I was very disappointed to see a reduction in the stone garden funds. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator shaheen. Senator brett . Thank you, mr. Secretary. When we look at the number of individuals detained by i. C. E. , roughly there are 39,000 detained and my question goes to the appropriations bill passed a few weeks ago and the funding level that was submitted there and passed for detention. Is that something that we need to continue in your opinion for fy25 to allow you to be able to detain the number of individuals you need to . Yes, senator. Thank you so much. When you look at encounters coming across the border, we know there have been a lot of discussions about known cutaways and people we have seen but we dont know who they are, what their intentions are. The fbi director warned he is increasingly concerned terrorists may seek that opportunity to enter the u. S. And he is concerned about what that does for the interior of our homeland. I know that is something you probably pay close attention to as well. Is that something you agree with , just when we look at whats happening in the interior . It increases threats across the homeland . We are, indeed, very concerned about it. The safety and can 30 security is our highest priority. Additional staffing could strengthen the security at the southern border. I am a big believer weve got to do our job right now and as i look at fy25 it is my goal to make sure we have the dollars in the exact right place as possible. I would love to see congress do our job on time. The American People deserve it and every time we drag our feet, they are the ones who pay the price. The last time we passed all 12 bills on time was 1997. I think it is not only fiscally irresponsible, i think it is morally irresponsible. I think you need to know what your budget is and when you look at a supplemental, you need based funding first so my goal right now is to make sure that in fy25 we stretch every dollar and put it where it matters. We put it where it can help you and the courageous men and women in the department of Homeland Security to do their jobs. I am laser focused on that and i appreciate the work that i. C. E. Have done in their seizures. I think when it comes to fentanyl and other illicit drugs, they continue to seize more and more which obviously we know that means that is less that can get into our homeland, however we cant simply seize our way out of it. I would love to know from you, where would be best to direct dollars . What are you doing to disrupt and dismantle that Transnational Criminal Organization and the flow of that . Is there a place, maybe more agents and others that would help disrupt that even more . Member britt, more personnel is one element of the answer. More hs i agents, more support personnel for the agents, more customs and Border Protection officers and agents okay. More funding for technology. I am listing the Different Things the Bipartisan Legislation would have delivered. Okay. When we look at the coast guard, i strongly support the coast guard and i am proud that mobile is the home of the Aviation Training center. I am very proud of the offshore cutter being built in alabama, however that is one of the pieces of a very large coast guard shipbuilding strategy. I am concerned with many other coast guard acquisition programs which seem to be plagued with various issues. I am especially concerned about the status of the waterways commerce code cutter program and security cutter program which have been faced with significant delays in recent years. I know you have heard a number of colleagues speak about this on both sides of the aisle and just taking a look at it, when you look at the waterways commerce cutter intended by congress to be a Small Business shipbuilding program, it has faced legal challenges and other significant contracting challenges in recent weeks and months. As the daughter of two Small Business owners it is important to me our entire defense based as it pertains to shipbuilding, that they are giving consideration and given every fair opportunity to compete. And i think that is what we need when we look at the things that have just come down and the Naval Intelligence that was just declassified looking at the ship building, and a china can build a 232 times faster than we can. As many people as we have, encouraging from a Small Business perspective, i think that is better for america, so mr. Secretary, will you commit to engaging your coast guard leadership and looking into the current state of play when it comes to the Waterways Commerce Cutter Program , and what options should be considered even if it means recompeting the program to ensure the coast guard receives the shipbuilding assets they need in a timely manner and costeffective schedule . Thank you, member britt. I will certainly engage with the coast guard to look at this program and i will be in touch with you. I really appreciate that. And one last thing. When we look at the alleged killer of lake and riley who entered the United States illegally in 2022 and released under a grant of parole, im sure your department has taken a look at that and can you explain what specific either humanitarian reason or reason of significant Public Benefit . As you know one of those two things had to be used to authorize his release into the country. Can you explain that for this panel as well . Ranking member britt, there was no derogatory information of which we were aware in our holdings to compel the detention of this individual. It is a tragic circumstance. Our hearts break for the family of miss riley and we expect the individual be prosecuted correctly to the fullest extent of the law. Thank you so much, mr. Secretary. I appreciate that. Thank you, senator tran 11. Two parochial questions for you. One in regard to the Coast Guard Academy in new london. Last time i was there, i was talking with cadets about a really serious need to upgrade the academys living quarters specifically the old barracks, the oldest section, annex a built in the 1930s. It requires really significant investments. Also there are a lot of stories about heating, ventilation, air conditioning. You were having a conversation earlier with senator smith about the difficulty of recruitment and obviously one of the ways we convince men and women to join the coast guard is to make sure they have adequate Living Conditions, so i was a little worried to see that this was not in the request, the upgrade of annex a. It is an unfunded priority, mr. Secretary. I assume you care deeply about the Living Conditions of the u. S. Coast Guard Academy who just asked for your commitment to work with them on this to make sure this gets funded expeditiously . Most certainly. Thank you for that. And i will note senator collins did in her Opening Statement ask you a question regarding staffing of International Cruise ship arrivals. I will ask you to add that to the questions you take for the record and hopefully will have a response to senator collins sometime next week. With that, we are going to keep the record open for a week. That means we will ask additional questions from colleagues on the committee be in by the end of the day next wednesday and with that, this hearing stands adjourned