The committee on Homeland Security will come to order. The committee is meeting today to receive testimony on a department of Homeland Securitys use of facial recognition and other Biometric Technologies. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare the committee in recess at any point. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Good morning. The committee on Homeland Security is meeting to examine the department of Homeland Securitys use of facial recognition and other Biometric Technologies. The governments use of biometrics is not entirely new. For example, fingerprints have been used as an identification tool for many decades. Other biometrics include dna, voice pattern, and palm prints. In recent years, facial recognition has become the new chosen form of Biometric Technology. As facial Recognition Technology has advanced, its used by the government and the private sector has also increased. Currently dhs is collecting and storing several different kinds of biometri
Thank you for hosting us and for welcoming generations, literally generations of new americans to a wider and bigger and more optimistic future. Youve done so much for so many people for so long, and it was a pleasure to meet you all including you proprovost. I want to acknowledge who does a lot of the work here, but thank you for allowing us to use that fora. Political wisdom holds that americans, the American Public doesnt vote on Foreign Policy. But i think thats an old way of thinking. In 2019 Foreign Policy is domestic policy in my view. And domestic policy is Foreign Policy. Theyre deeply connected. A deeply connected set of choices we make about how to advance the american way of life and our vision for the future. Like everything about this election, the threat that i believe President Trump poses to our National Security and where we are as a country is extreme. And i dont think we can afford to ignore it. His erratic policies and failures to uphold basic democratic principles