Today as we learn more about him and his strengths, about his character, about his ability to lead, and about his love of country. He has a true commitment to keep American Community safe and strong. Thank you. One former mayor follows another one. He is a senator. A mayor. You bring that is effective as well. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I appreciate this opportunity. I am pleased to join senator booker and introducing a gentleman from montclair, new jersey to be our next Homeland Security secretary. He is a constituent, a friend, and i highly will fight lawyer, who in my view would be as effective in his new role as in every role he has taken on in the past. I sat on the select committee that created the department of Homeland Security. I was the author on the house floor of implementing the 9 11 commissions recommendations in its totality. Factmory is seared by the that the 700 new jersey ends New Jerseyans who lost their lives on that fateful day. I know what this department i would our country and not come before you to support a candidate, even if he was from my state if i did not think he had the intellect, the management capacity to run a department so critical to the nations security. That is why i support jeh johnson for the position. He has been in a claims attorney at the Defense Department where he oversaw 10,000 lawyers and all of the Case Management that flows from that, when we talk about organizational ability. He clearly has that in a department as large and diverse as the department of Homeland Security. He was the chief counsel as well for the air force. Beyond his extensive and ressive aper credentials paper credentials, he has taken on difficult issues at critical times. He has earned the trust of everyone who has worked with him, seen him in action. His intellect and his deep analytical thinking skills i think will be a credit to the department is large, complex, this. Portant as that is why secretary panetta has been so supportive of his nomination. They came to rely upon him. He is a leader who was not afraid i know the Ranking Member cares about this is not afraid to make his unvarnished opinions known and to make tough, but intelligent decisions, and he has always exercised his best judgment. I have no doubt whatsoever it will do the same as the secretary of Homeland Security. Had a long and illustrious career in and out of government. I think he will bring a profound sensibility about National Security issues to the table. I think the Associated Press some doubt his qualifications saying simply and clearly, some up his qualifications think simply and clearly he has spent most of his career dealing with National Security issues for most of his career as a top lawyer. What better qualifications for potential secretary of Homeland Security . I strongly support jeh as someone who would oversee the 240 thousand employees who help secure this nation from threats we face and i am very thankful to the committee for the opportunity to introduce jeh johnson and i urge a unanimous vote for his confirmation. Joining us. For senator booker, you are welcome to stay as long as your schedule permits. I know that you have other obligations. Feel free to leave when you need to. We are here to consider the fornation of jeh johnson the secretary of the department of Homeland Security. Take on aat he will difficult and amending job. The department is comprised of 22 distinct agencies spread across various locations throughout the greater washington, d. C. Area and indeed throughout the country. Though progress has clearly been made in bringing these 22 agencies together, 10 years after its creation, the department of Homeland Security still lacks leadership and a strong sense of team. Among remains the lowest major federal agencies. Moreover, the nations fiscal challenges and the effect of sequestration means that dhs will face even more obstacles to get better results with fewer federal dollars. Day,n all even on a good serving as the secretary for the department of Homeland Security is a really, really hard job. Mr. Johnson,or there are few better places to learn how to manage a complex National Security bureaucracy than at the department of defense. He has been confirmed by the senate twice before, once as the air forces top lawyer and once as the top lawyer for the entire department of defense. Has experience another demanding jobs. Mr. Johnson is prepared to face the challenges that will await him if he is confirmed by the senate. Before this he was a major layer in running the Defense Department and provided key advice in not one, but two exceptional defense secretaries, bob gates, and leon panetta, both of whom we know and respect. He has valuable experience for the huge task for which he has been nominated. Mr. Johnson has received high praise from many. The Committee Received a joint letter from the three men who have actually held this position before tom ridge, judge chertoff, and former governor napolitano. Johnson as an eminently qualified nominee, and urged the committee to quickly approve his nomination. Former defense secretary gates, a strong rest and manager himself said take my word for it. Jeh johnson has successfully managed an array of initiatives across the biggest bureaucracy in government and in so doing, won the esteem of virtually everyone with whom he worked. Those are bob gatess words. His mullen also expressed he confidence in the nominee. Here is what he had to say jeh is as fine a person and professional as i have ever met. And i am confident in this choice that he will succeed in meeting this most complex organization in a critical time in our country. Letter, mike mckay will bringh johnson to department of Homeland Security not only experience, but a frame of mind which should be a source of assurance to anyone concerned with the security of this country. He understands the shoes and the stakes and will make an excellent secretary. Mr. Johnson has received encouraging words of praise from friends house and, leon panetta, george allen, a number of Law Enforcement groups. Mr. Johnson will not be alone in his task of leading dhs. Critically important that mr. Johnson be allowed to surround himself with capable Leadership Team. We can help. In deed we need to. Currently at dhs there are 13 president ially appointed positions without replacement. 13. Of these, nine require confirmation. I described this as executive branch sweet cheese. We must remember that protecting the homeland is a team sport and those of us in the legislative branch are critical members of this important team. With mr. Johnson confirmed, we need to do our part to expeditiously vet and hopefully confirm his Leadership Team as well. Before i turned to dr. Coburn for his remarks, let me again publiclymr. Johnson the esteem i shared with them and my office recently. He has achieved the testimony of former secretaries. He has spent a lot of time with the controller of the government of accountability office. I spent a lot of time with the comptroller of the Government Accountability office. They want you. Do not be shy for asking for their advice again and again. The same should hold true for reaching out to the former bob gates and leon panetta. They hold you in very high esteem obviously. They know what youre up against. Lean on them. There are guys will prove invaluable to you as you take on the role and the tasks that lie had. Let me reiterate my strong support of mr. Johnsons nomination and my appreciation for his willingness to serve the people of this country in this new role. I want to call my colleagues, democrat and republican, to join me in confirming him as soon as possible. Mr. Johnson, if you are fortunate enough to be confirmed, i will look forward to working with you in the coming months and years to protect the homeland and its people. Today,se that are here your wife and two children, your sister or two, others in your family, that i suspect you will announce when you make your comments i want to say to your immediate family and your parents, thank you for raising this man. Thank you for instilling the values that we need in this leadership role in our country. To his immediate family, his wife, his children, thank you for sharing him with our country, once again, a very good man. Dr. Coburn . Thank you, mr. Chairman. I have a rather lengthy Opening Statement and i apologize for that. I think it is necessary in this case. Mr. Johnson, welcome. We have had great visits. Here today. R being i personally want to thank you for stepping forward to fill this position. I think it is the most difficult position of all the cabinet secretaries. Difficulties, but also because of the responsibilities. It is clear to me that you are an honorable man. All the people i have heard from, also from my encounter in terms of your intelligence it is far above mine and most members of congress, which is iactly what we want. Appreciate your commitment to being transparent with us in working with our committee to address the fiscal and structural issues that are facing the department of Homeland Security. I am are confirmed not going to say if i think you are going to be confirmed, i to fix can Work Together the department of Homeland Security where it is broken and make our nation more secure. May consider the nomination process a series of formalities, but its important to understand ones experience and qualifications. I am extremely disturbed by the responses to the questionnaire, because the staff, either the legislative staff or the white house has cut and pasted identical answers to 23 questions in your response to thatl responses other nominees before this committee. So, they are not your answers. They are their answers. The shoddy Work Associated with the does not Serve Committee well. I would like to enter these into the record now. These are exact words that have been before this committee before. The whole purpose of the questionnaire is to get your thoughts, not legislative ts thoughts or butone at ombs thoughts, your thoughts. Until those are corrected and we have mr. Johnsons response, i will not consider his western air has been completed. Without objection. That does not serve mr. Johnson well and that is one of the problems with Homeland Security. Sometimes the secretary is not served well by their staff. So, i look forward to the hearing today, but i also look forward to hearing those responses. And by hearing your own responses and views about the department and there is nothing wrong with and i dont know. Because we cannot expect you to know everything now. There is nothing wrong with that. That is the kind of footing i want to start out with. We certainly do not know a lot of answers and we would not expect you to know all the answers until you get into it. You stand to be the fourth secretary of Homeland Security. The three previous were highly intelligent and dedicated Public Servants with significant experience. If we were here today, i would if they were here today, i would expect the they would be the first to admit they have not fixed all the challenges with Homeland Security. We have identified a series of problems in Homeland Security programs i would like to bring to your attention, and ask that you focus on if you are confirmed. We may not be right in our isessments, but as you and have spoken privately, it is important for you to get and put them all sources. So, i have prepared a binder for you, which i will give to you today. I do not expect you to read it in the next week or two, but it is a different viewpoint and what you will hear inside the organization, and i can tell you , for us to be successful in getting Homeland Security what it needs and the resources it needs, there has to be confidence in congress along a lot of these problems. Highlight a few of them. Establish be rapper balance between freedom and security. That is a real issue in Homeland Security. The American People understand we cant achieve 100 security without sacrificing some of the freedoms and constitutional and ourbut our goal responsibility is to strike the right balance. Committed to working in this private security and Civil Liberties office. We have found it is often unable to do so. Customs and border protection. Cutting edge drums and surveillance equipment. Before as required by law before putting those in the air they were supposed to have individual syllable but rudys Civil Liberties protection and it has not been done. It still has not been done. And if it has been done, it has not been communicated back to the committee. That is a balance between law and responsibility the department has failed on. Spending onther dhs counterterrorism and intelligence programs is making us safer. Another program. Another problem. We had a terrorist attack in 2001. Everybody knows that led to the creation of the dhs, but after 10 years it is not clear that dhs intelligence and counterterrorism initiatives are making us measurably safer. The preparedness grants, the Fusion Centers are all areas that have highly questionable effectiveness in terms of preventing further terrorism. The third areas have proved to the American People the department of Homeland Security can secure borders and enforce our nation from immigration laws. I understand that one of your priorities if confirmed is to handle its to responsibilities with comprehensive Immigration Reform , were it to pass. Frankly the best way we can do to that would be to prove to the American People that dhs is capable of securing the border now and handling the responsibilities they have now, which they are not. Over the past 10 years, we have spent 90 billion on Border Security, and yet we know our southern border is not secure. An independent analysis estimated the apprehension rate at the southern border is warty s cent to 55 , versus dhs all numbers of 75 to 80 . We know people are living here in violation of our current criminal laws. To yet dhs has done little address the problem. And frankly, we have heard from frontline personnel that dhs is not actively enforcing our immigration laws or deporting people who are known to be a risk to Public Safety right now. The fourth area the Department Needs to prove it can work with private sector and provide value in addressing key threats like cybersecurity before expecting new responsibilities. And i will not going to the details of that and i will try to hurry, mr. Chairman. The fifth area dhs has not managed acquisition programs effectively and there are many areas were we have made inquiries on that and have yet to get a response. One of the things that encourages me in our conversations is the commitment that you will be responsive and transparent to us come and yet we have waited months and to get answers to our questions. Fema disaster declaration process needs to be fixed. One of the areas we have seen mark improvement marked improvement is an fema. I congratulate. One of the areas we have seen marked improvement is the coast guard, which i congratulate the department on. Being the secretary of the department of Homeland Security is one of the most challenging positions in our government. I believe you will be confirmed. My hope is you will renew your commitment to the committee and me personally that you will run a transparent shop, being responsive to us and our concerns, not only giving us an opportunity to have education from you on what the facts really are, but also receive information in turn on what we are seeing in the respective areas across the country. Theres too much at stake for us not to Work Together to fix the department of Homeland Security. Level by at the lowest surveys of opm of any department in the federal government. That is a function of leadership. I think you have the qualities to instill that, to rebuild this organization and put this place where it needs to be. The American People are counting on us, but they are going to be counting on you and there simply too much at stake for us to fail. I hope you are in this committees trust. You ever earned mine, thus far. I look forward to looking with you in this very important job. I look forward to working with you in this very important job. Bird work under the early rule. After the chairman and Ranking Member have given statements, the witnesses testify and then we recognize the members in order as they come in to ask westons. Questions. Ms. Mccaskill was the next one here. Senator cap, senator mccain, others will, as well. I just want to say we take seriously the opportunity to engage with you and really understand you better as a human being and your priorities and really your values. Andhow they were devel