Wolf. Today we are meeting to consider the nomination of acting secretary of Homeland Security chad wolf to be the confirmed secretary of department of Homeland Security, which is an enormous task. I truly appreciate anybody who is willing to undertake such enormous responsibility. I would ask my written opening remarks be enter into the record without objection well do that. Ill just keep this short because i know we have time constraints here. But a quick description of what enormous challenge this is. The secretary of Homeland Security manages 240,000 people in the department, the responsibilities for Homeland Security are vast. Start with the federal Emergency Management agency deals with hurricanes and wild fires and now covid amongst many other responsibilities. Border security a huge issue. Weve not fixed that problem, not by a long stretch, but thiS Administration done a good job of stopping the out of control illegal entry that we are experiencing over a year ago. This agency
Northwest. Sweeping in cooler, cleaner marine air. I should point out, its not going to last very long. That counterclockwise circulation will start bringing some northerly flow. Which means smoke from the fires to our north. Well start sweeping to the bay area over the weekend. Lets enjoy the clean air over the next few days. Ill have more a little later. Thank you. The governor gave an update on wildfires and covid19. Those fires have been the source of all the smoke have been clouding our skies. Stephanie sierra has the latest. On the wildfire front, there are some staggering totals that were released today. Yes. We report on these wildfires every day. It is pretty sobering to comprehend these as the big picture. There are more than two dozen anprarg ito getng across ere ar wiliresave scorched the state so far, forcing more than 38,000 people to be evacuated from their homes. Staggering statistics that the governor says underscores a sense of urgency to address climate change. We ne
That. Ill keep it short because i know wevegot time constraints here but a quick description of what an enormous challenge this is. The secretary of Homeland Security managers 240,000 people in the department. The responsibilities for Homeland Security are vast. Ill start with itthe federal Emergency Management agency that has to deal with do hurricanes and wildfires now covid amongst many other responsibilities , Border Security, a huge issue. Weve not fixed that problem by a long stretch but this administration has done a good job of stopping the outofcontrol illegal entry that we are experiencing over a year ago. Pe this department is concerned about cyber security, Election Security, security of our Critical Infrastructure and as we just witnessed with some of the protests that have sprung to right, also protecting our federal buildings and of course we have to thank David Underwood in open oakland california, a member of the federal Protection Services so the responsibilities are
Let me also make a few reminders for these members appearing in person. You will only say members and witnesses appearing remotely on the monitor in front of you when they are speaking and active speaker view. A timer is visible in the room directly in front of you. For members appearing remotely i know you are all familiar with the webex by now but let me remind you of a few points. First you will be able to see each person speaking during the hearing. Whether they are in person or remote. As long as you have your webex set the active speaker view. If you have any questions about this please Contact Committee staff. Second, we have timer that should be visible on your screen when youre in the active thumbnail view. The house rules require we see you so please have your cameras turned on at all times. Fourth, members appearing remotely who are not recognized should remain muted to minimize background noise and feedback. Since i will recognize members verbally and let members retain the
Committee held a confirmation hearing for chad wolf to formula become head of the Homeland Security department. Mr. Wolf has been serving as acting dhs secretary since november of last year. Answered questions on election interference, domestic terrorism, and Human Trafficking, among other topics. This is just under two hours. Meeting toe are consider the nomination of acting secretary of Homeland Security, chad wolf, to be the confirmed secretary of the department of Homeland Security, which is an enormous task. This in the past, i truly appreciate anybody who was willing to undertake such enormous responsibility. I would ask my written opening remarks be entered into the record, without objection. I will keep it short. I know which got time restraints we have got time restraints. The secretary of Homeland Security manages 240,000 people in the department. The responsibilities for Homeland Security are vast. Starting with the Emergency Management agency, which has to do with deal with