death. so vote yes on h.r. 1620, the violence against women act -- re-authorization act of 2021, and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: madam speaker, i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentlelady from texas, ms. escobar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. escobar: since being signed into law, the violence against women act has become a crucial part of legislation to aid victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. vawa provides lifesaving programs to help survivors navigate domestic violence and abuse situations. madam speaker, in my district, i heard from enumerable counselors, activists, advocates, attorneys about the toll the covid-19 pandemic has taken on families, but especially families who have to experience domestic violence. being locked in a situation with your abuser, with your attacker

was incredibly dangerous and there's been terrible trauma inflicted. we need to pass this now. there is no reason not to support people who are victims of domestic violence. this is an enormous step forward. i'm grateful to the leaders who brought this forward, and i rise in support. thank you. i yield back. mr. nadler: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: madam speaker, i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentlelady from california, ms. speier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. ms. speier: thank you, madam speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in support of the violence against women act. 20 persons a minute are injured by an intimate partner. that's 10 million american men and women every year. it is time to do something to continue this act and to extend

it. i have a number of amendments that have been accepted. i especially want to point out the shield act, which combats the nonconsensual sharing of private sexually explicit and nude images, commonly known as revenge porn, which will now be a crime. my other amendments is creating a task force on sexual violence and having the secretary of education create surveys. 20% of our college co-eds are sexually assaults or attempts on sexual assault on them each year. finally, the last amendment incentivizes states to pass a survivors bill of rights. the states act, which will particularly be important for rape kits. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: madam speaker, i yield one minute to the distinguished gentlelady from florida, ms. frankel.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for one minute. . ms. frankel: thank you, madam speaker. thank you, mr. chair. madam speaker, consider this. partner calls you names, insults you, puts you down, discourages you from going to work, school, or seeing family members or friends, he tries to control how you spend your money, where you go, or who you can see, what medicines you take. he gets angry when drinking alcohol. he tries to control when you can see a doctor. threatens you with violence. and may hit, kick, shove, slap, choke, our otherwise hurt you. your children, your pets. he forces you to have sex against your will. he blames you for his violent behavior and tells you you deserve it, and this comes from someone you love. you are in pain and embarrassed to ask for help. you are one in four women. the violence against women act is critical for your safety and

economic independence. i urge its passage. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentlelady from texas, mrs. fletcher. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. mrs. fletcher: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today in support of the violence against women re-authorization act. i want to thank my colleague from houston, congresswoman sheila jackson lee, for her leadership and her tireless efforts to get this critical legislation to this house floor. the violence against women act provides essential support for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. and its re-authorization now is vitally important as many of my colleagues have shared. it's critical for organizations in my community that support survivors like the houston area women center, which has reported a dramatic rise in

requests for their services through the coronavirus pandemic. more than 6,000 more calls responded to in 2020 alone. in 2020, the number of people sent to the shelter tripled. sadly, we have been reminded again today of the dangers that women face in our society. the violence against women act provides resources and services that are lifesaving. that's why i'm proud to co-sponsor this legislation and vote in support of it today. i urge my colleagues to do the same. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. bowman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. bowman: thank you, madam speaker. i rise as the son of a single mom and as the brother of four sisters. and unfortunately i have heard

stories of abuse and assault and negligent throughout my a -- neglect throughout my life. i also heard these stories from my students and the many families i served throughout my time in education. and the consistency throughout these stories illustrate how there's no recourse, and there is no safe spaces for women to go to when they are under assault and feeling abused. this past year before joining congress i sat with a student and her mom in my office to call a domestic violence help hotline. we stayed on hold for hours before anyone came to the phone. there was no housing for them to go to in support of their safety. so i rise to support this legislation and i rise to denounce the sexism and pay tree arcy and misogyny that

continues to exist within our political arena. and within our laws. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: madam speaker, i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentlelady from michigan, mrs. lawrence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized for one minute. mrs. lawrence: madam speaker, i rise today in solidarity with the survivors of domestic and sexual violence. it is completely unacceptable that we have allowed the violence against women act to expire. i'm proud to have introduced two amendments that will strengthen protection for our most vulnerable communities. the first amendment will stop punishing children who have been sex trafficked and have been in contact with the criminal justice system. the pandemic has also illustrated the urgency of on

what we need to do to make sure we re-authorize it. as americans, we have had to stay at home and it has increased the amount of abuse among those who could leave home. vawa saves life. this isn't a democrat or republican issue. it's justice and safety. it's time we get this done and re-authorize. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from texas, mr. green. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. green: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, and still i rise. i rise today in strong support of this legislation because it includes transwomen. some of the most brutal,

horrific crimes created in the minds of people have been perpetrated upon transwomen. this legislation protects them as it protects all women. i support it and i encourage my colleagues to do so as well. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: madam speaker, i yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. espaillat. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. he patea: -- mr. -- mr. espaillat: it should never have been allowed to lapse to begin with. i stand here in support of this bill in honor of gladys, a dear constituent of mine who 22 years ago was murdered by her jealous ex-boyfriend on her wad weding day on her wedding gown.

i urge my colleagues to pass this legislation in her memory. now you have the bride's march, an international movement across this continent and across the world who honors the memory of gladys. they were right here in this capitol. and they will continue to come back until further legislation is enacted to protect women all across our country, all across the world. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: madam speaker, i yield one minute to the distinguished gentlelady from washington, ms. strickland. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from washington is recognized for one minute. ms. strickland: thank you, madam speaker. i tragic shootings in atlanta yesterday killed eight people. six of whom were asian women. to the families of the victims you have my deepest

condolences. this crime has elements that we are trying to address here in congress, gun violence, violence against women, and the meteoric rise of violence we are witnessing against the a.a.p.i. community. racially motivated violence must be called out for what it is. we must stop making excuses or rebranding it as economic anxiety or sexual addiction. as a woman who is black and korean, i'm acutely aware how it feels to be erased or ignored. and how the default position when violence is committed against women of color or women is to defer from confronting the hate that is often the motivation. words matter. leadership matters. we must all loudly condemn actions and language rooted in fear and bigotry that harms all of us. i yield my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i now wield one minute to the distinguished

gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: a movement led by the texas council on family violence and so many more advocates first won passage of the violence against women act and brought the national domestic violence hotline to austin which has now served five million lifesaving responses. this act brought much needed funding and hope to women across america who led coalitions. yet the scourge of violence has continued. in san antonio, a collaborative led by monique and peter has supplemented incredible family services led by marta and patreesha -- patricia, i have joned them for two town halls to listen, learn, and respond. in austin, kelly and julia continue the safe alliance as

maria johnson expands the caldwell center. too many of these beatings have turned into killings because the re-authorization would close the boyfriend loophole, denying a gun to an abusive partner. the n.r.a. and its congressional republican allies have been blocking renewal. today we call on them to choose life. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. doggett: foster a society where every person is treated with dignity. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: madam speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i now yield one minute to the distinguished speak every of the house, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker of the house is recognized. the speaker: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. again for his extraordinary leadership. this is quite a day for you, mr. chairman, with the violence against women act and the e.r.a., among other pieces of legislation that you are bringing to the floor. thank you for the very prolive

and excellent work of the judiciary committee -- prolific and excellent work of the judiciary committee and yielding the time. here we are, madam speaker, dressed in white because it's women's history month and we are wearing the color of suffragists as we come to the floor on these two important matters. pieces of legislation. earlier today the equal rights amendment, and now the violence against women act. it's an historic day as the house passes two landmark potentially lifesaving pieces of legislation on behalf of america's women. we do so again during women's history month. i want to sing the praises of congresswoman jackson lee, who has been a relentless persistent advocate for this legislation over time. karen bass, gwen moore and distinguished chair of the committee. particularly proud to be passing this legislation under the leadership of one of the

strongest champions, president joe biden. in the senate he was the guardian of this law. and he was the author of it. as a newish member of congress at the time i was proud to follow his lead and the lead in the house then of leader schumer and now the distinguished majority leader in the senate. this opportunity that we have for legislation whose provenance goes way back into the 90's. at that time i was an appropriator and after we passed the bill that had the violence against women act, it was our responsibility to make sure that it was funded properly. that's been part of the continuing advocacy. in 2013, the legislation was left re-authorized under the presidency of president obama and the vice-presidency of joe

biden who was taking the lead for the re-authorization of the legislation. it was a tough time. the bill passed first in the united states senate. bipartisan in the united states senate. the bill was passed. they sent it to the house. the house refused to take it up. republican-controlled house, refused to take it up. and then they had their own bill. and their own bill bill said we are against violence against women unless you happen to be native american or lgbtq woman or an immigrant woman. well, we these are most vulnerable in terms of using violence against women. it would happen we persuaded the then speaker, mr. boehner, to bring both bills to the floor. of course the senate passed bipartisan bill prevailed. we had a big ceremony, participated in by native american community, law

enforcement community, vice president joe biden, and signed by the president. here we are unable to get it re-authorized. in 2018, under the current the then majority and president, here we are today. finally able to bring bipartisan legislation to the floor. as mingsed, for nearly three decades violence against women act has been a transformative force for safety and security of american women. . domestic violence rates have declined by nearly 2/3 in america. millions of women have gained access to protections from violence and abuse and millions of survivors to essential services and justice. but we cannot be complacent. one in three women today face

domestic abuse. isn't that a stunning figure? and partner violence is on the rise during the pandemic as many women are forced to quarantine in homes that are not safe. every time the congress has re-authorized vawa we have strengthened protections for women based on consultation with survivors and indian country, law enforcement and other experts. the re-authorization on the floor today continues that progress. and as has been said by mr. doggett, we have to recognize the danger of, shall we say, provisions in the bill that protect women from gun violence specifically. among the lifesaving provisions, it makes improved services to victims of domestic violence,

improvements in the criminal justice response to gender-based violence and health care systems and prevents partner homicides, whether they are men or women. this isn't just about women. but violence against women act, but it does protect anyone. democrats are particularly proud that this authorization improves the essential protections that are referenced that were objected to in the republican bill in 2013 including women immigrants, lgbtq and native american women and supports community of color in a culturally sensitive way. this is bill is supported by 200 organizations, representing women groups, law enforcement, public health and medical communities, civil rights groups, the list goes on.

while it is unfortunate we don't know what will happen in the senate. we are optimistic that the re-authorization can be successful on the other side of the capitol and on the other side of the aisle. i urge a strong bipartisan vote for this re-authorization so we can advance justice, safety and dignity in america. the term vawa has become sin none mouse with justice, violence against women act. i urge an aye vote and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. mrs. fischbach: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. nadler: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from florida, ms. wasserman schultz. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for

one minute. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, madam speaker, i rise to right in support of vawa. this responds to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking. this collected dust in the senate grave yard. with the democratic senate majority we have partners to secure justice for american women particularly those who are most vulnerable. one in four of american women are victims of domestic violence and one in six will be a victim of sexual assault. we need to respond to these egregious crimes. now is no time to retreat. let's reaffirm our commitment to survivors and make the world safer fpearance on capitol hill

since being confirmed. live coverage on cspan3. >> the gentle lady from new jersey shall assume the duties of the chair in the event that i run into technical difficulties. i now recognize myself on opening statement. the committee on homeland security is meeting today to examine the way forward on homeland security. we're joined by the secretary of

homeland security, alejandro mayorkas, who's testifying before congress for the first time since being sworn in last month. we look forward to speaking to him about the administration's vision for the future of the department of homeland security. to be sure secretary mayorkas has inherited a department damaged by the previous administration and his failed homeland security policies. for years trump left dhs without a lawfully confirmed secretary and kept positions vacant so he could exploit the department for political gain. i'm pleased that president biden has made the nominations and looking forward to the leadership now that secretary mayorkas has been sworn in and the administration is moving forward with filling leadership positions across the department. just as president trump made dhs

less able to carry out its mission, his failed policies also made the homeland less secure. he downplayed the threat of covid-19 despite the warnings of doctors and scientists, left states to fend for themselves, to obtain testing supplies and ppe. and failed to implement a national vaccine distribution plan. he sided with putin and russia, over our own intelligence community, even though our adversary meddled in our elections and hacked into our computer systems. and he helped fuel the rise of domestic terrorism in america and incited right wing violent extremists to attack the capitol. americans continue to pay the price for these failures with over half a million dead from covid-19, experts struggling to

understand the scope of the solar winds hack and an unprecedented surge in domestic terrorism. secretary mayorkas and the 240,000 dedicated, hardworking men and women of dhs are left to deal with the mess the last administration left behind. this will be no easy task and congress should be focused on ensuring the department has the resources and authorities to do so. unfortunately some are so desperate to make americans forget trump's failures they have resorted to fear mongering about the challenges we face at the border. that rhetoric is shameful and does nothing to improve the situation on the ground. others are engaging in revisionist history, saying that all was well at the border under the last administration. nothing can be further from the truth. during the 2019 surge at the

border, president trump ripped thousands of children from their parents, hundreds of whom have still not been reunited and only stopped when the american people rejected his immoral policy. he implemented policies to discourage family members from coming forward to sponsor unaccompanied children and left kids to languish in government shelters for months. we squandered billions in taxpayer money on a border wall that is useless to responding to an influx of children and families. he cut off lawful means of immigration, dismantled immigration infrastructure and refused to address the underlying cause of migration. let me be clear, the trump administration's crude, short-sighted policies directly contributed to the situation at the border now. the biden administration is

taking action. administration officials have announced repeatedly that people should not come to the border now. the administration is increasing capacity to shelter unaccompanied kids humanely while testing them for covid-19. it is restarting the central american minors program to allow vulnerable children to apply to come to the united states in a safe and orderly way. meanwhile, dhs is reluctantly continuing to use its authority to expel adults and family units from the u.s. in order to manage increased flows in the near term. in fact, the biden administration is expelling more people than the previous one. our boarders are not open. clearly more will have to be done to respond to this situation while upholding our values. what we must not do is return to

the morally bankrupt policies of the last administration toward children. rest assured this committee will continue to conduct careful oversight of the department's actions at the border. i want to hear from secretary mayorkas about how the department is responding. meanwhile, we must not take our eyes off homeland security threats, like terrorism, cyber attacks and disaster preparedness and response. for its part, the biden administration is working to rebuild dhs, reform our nation's homeland security policy and address the situation at the border while upholding our values. however, it cannot be expected to repair, in a matter of weeks, everything president trump destroyed over four years. i look forward to today's hearing -- i look forward today to hearing from secretary

mayorkas about his vision for the way forward on homeland security. with that i recognize the ranking member for opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i thank you for holding this important hearing today. and thank you to our witness, secretary mayorkas for appearing as well. we had a nice discussion yesterday. glad to see we're getting off on the right foot. and happy st. patrick's day. >> i can't think of a more important time to work together on the issues we face on the homeland. the issues are more complex and severe than i've ever seen and we'll only be skk successful working together and engaging in divisive rhetoric is not the answer and never will be. we faced a deadly pandemic, a

winter storm in the south, attack on the u.s. capitol, fallout from cyber attacks that have had impacts on individuals and corporations, and a crisis on our southern border and threats from states like china and russia that are only getting more emboldened. just over a week ago, a cyber attack on microsoft's server is believed to have infected thousands of entities. we probably will not know the extent or the damage caused by this attack for a while. mr. chairman, i know you and i are lock step on this issue as is the secretary. i believe cyber security is a threat to your national and homeland security. if we don't act swiftly and decisively we'll regret it. we're now facing a crisis on the southern border that should have and could have been avoided. through rhetoric and actions by

this administration we're seeing an unprecedented crisis unfold during a pandemic. the situation at the border continues to get worse every day, with inadequate action or proper acknowledgement of the severity of the situation. i just returned from the border where i started my career as a federal organized crime prosecutor in the mid '90s. i can tell you it is indeed a crisis that continues to deepen each and every day. one thing that disturbed me was a number of children encountered along the border, exposed to the elements and having experienced a dangerous, traumatic journeys. i'm very concerned that the administration's rhetoric and policies are encouraging more to attempt this dangerous journey. no question about that based on my conversations with the customs and border patrol agents. as i said during our phone call a few weeks ago and again yesterday, i want to find ways

to work together with you and keep the homeland safe. it's not about who gets credit or blame, it's about doing the right thing for america. i told you i would be frank and transparent with you when i believe that the department and administration is not living up to its end of the bargain. that's where we find ourselves today. i'm deeply concerned this administration has created a border crisis through misguided policies and executive orders, denied the reality of the situation and dodged accountability. at the same time american schools remain closed across the country, the united states border is open to foreign nationals. after taking office president biden wasted no time, one of his first act was to unravel our border security by, among other things, halting construction of the border wall system which the customs and border patrol agents says work. implementing select enforcement of laws, and allowing the entry

of thousands of migrants waiting in mexico into the country, reimplementing catch and release and canceling the agreements with central american partners. no wonder we have the issue we have at the border. while the president's yesterday do not make the journey is better late than never, words alone cannot undo the impact of his policies. the statistics do not lie about the impact of these policies. february 2021, customs and border patrol encountered the highest number of migrants in the month of february in seven years. 173% increase compared to february 2020. a 163% increase in family units from january 2021. a 61% increase in unaccompanied children from january 2021. customs and border patrol

officials are expecting a peek of 13,000 unaccompanied children crossing the border by may. which would exceed the height of the 2019 crisis. and just as an aside, at the border patrol facility that houses children in el paso they're already over capacity and we have more coming. hundreds of border patrol agents are diverted from interior drug checkpoints and northern and coastal borders to respond to the surge. dhs has asked for volunteers to help with the number of migrants at the border. and some members of fema have been taken away from dealing with the pandemic and vaccinating americans to deal with the crisis. we are in the midst of a humanitarian, security and public health crisis that the administration refuses to acknowledge and is not being transparent about. this is a crisis that also has to be costing millions of dollars a day.

i expect more from the department in the weeks ahead in the exact magnitude of this preventable financial burden. i know that customs and border patrol agents have told me that they're taking money from future payments for agents later this year and that if there's not a supplemental they won't have money to pay their agents. that's how bad it is. going back to the beginning of my statement, i do not want to throw stones i don't. i would like to work with the administration with you on this issue and come to the table with solutions. today i would say like to propose several measures the administration can take. we can restart wall funding, there's nothing more bipartisan than keeping our country safe and the agents are screaming for this. and strong border security is part of that. reimpose the remain in mexico policy, end catch and release. listen to our front line workers

and continue to invest in more barriers, technology, access roads and resources for personnel. and work with our foreign partners once again to prevent more migrants from reaching the border in the first place and prioritize a need to test and vaccinate the front line border force. help me finalize legislation to follow a homeland security advisory council recommendation to create a trust fund for border surges so we can deal with them in a more timely manner. i hope despite the rhetoric, the administration is taking this crisis seriously and we can work together to find solutions good for the country. i really mean that mr. chairman and mr. secretary. mr. chairman i want to thank you you began for holding this hearing. i look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. i yield back. . >> other members of the committee are reminded under the committee rules, opening statements may be submitted for the record. members are also reminded that the committee will operate

according to the guidelines laid out by the chairman and ranking member in our february 3rd colloquy regarding remote procedures. the witness' full statement will be inserted in the record. i recognize secretary mayorkas for his opening statement. >> thank you, and good morning. thank you for the invitation to join you today. at the very outset, i should recognize the tragic event that took place in the surrounding areas of atlanta yesterday. our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of that tragic event, those who lost their lives as well as those who were injured. we are tracking that event very carefully, i have already been briefed on it and i know the federal bureau of investigation is working under way to understand all of the facts and

that the individual who is a suspect of that event is in custody. 6 more than 240,000 individuals dedicate each day to protecting us. it is an honor to appear before you to represent them in the critical work they perform on behalf of the american people. dhs protects from foreign and domestic terrorism while also protecting our privacy, civil rights and liberliberties. they support a whole of government effort to defeat a pandemic that has impacted every part of american life while also facilitying the legitimate trade and travel needed for a strong economy. the challenges we face are great but we do not face them alone. the department of homeland security is a department of partnerships. congress, all of you, is one of

our essential partners. i commit to working with this committee on a bipartisan basis to ensure the success of our homeland security mission. 43 days into my tenure as secretary i look forward to sharing what we have done and where we're headed. i'll stop top of mind for every american, our effort to defeat covid-19 pandemic. on the first day of this administration president biden challenged fema to stand up 100 federally supported vaccination centers in only 30 days. in fact, fema did not stand up 100 federally supported community vaccination sneers, it stood up 441. president biden also challenged us to deliver 100 million vaccinations across the country in 100 days, last week we passed

90 million doses and are on track to reach the president's ambitious goal. another priority is increasing the cyber security resilience and protecting our critical infrastructure, especially in light of the recent campaigns, exploiting solar winds and microsoft exchange and the growing threat of ransomware. i have directed grant funding that will provide an additional $25 million for state and local entities across the country to improve their cyber security, raising the total minimum amount they must devote together to this critical mission to $77 million. the department's cyber security and infrastructure security agency remains laser focused on protecting and providing assistance to federal and civilian agencies and working with the private sector to improve our defenses. thank you all for your leadership and in recognizing the importance of this issue and the $650 million you recently

appropriated for cisa to enhance and protect our nation against cyber attacks. as the united states approaches the 20th anniversary of 9/11 we face a threat landscape that has evolved. violent extremism now poses the most related threat to the homeland today. the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol and american democracy is a sering example of this threat. with our federal partners and our own offices of intelligence and analysis, civil rights and civil liberties and privacy, we are working to assess the linkage between extremists, exploitation of social media and their acts of violence. we are expanding intelligence and information sharing cape nlts, again consistent with privacy, civil rights and civil

liberties as part of a government effort to combat domestic violence extremism. we're also equipping local communities to better address this threat. this year i directed our grant programs to make domestic violence extremism a national priority area requiring recipients to spend at least 7.5% of their grant awards on combatting domestic violence extremism. across the nation this year states in urban areas will spend at least $77 million to prevent, prepare for, protect against, and respond to acts of domestic violence extremism. there is, of course, a great deal of attention focused on the southwest border where we are experiencing a surge of individuals attempting to cross the border. most are single adults who are expelled within hours to mexico

pursuant to the cdc's public health authority. families at the border are also immediately expelled under the same public health authority, unless we confront at times a limitation on mexico's capacity to receive them. we are also encountering many unaccompanied children. children who arrive without a parent or legal guardian with them. their families made the heart wrenching decision to send them on a journey across mexico to provide them with a better, safer, future. the previous administration was expelling these children, some who are girls under the age of 12, for example, back to mexico. we ended that practice. unaccompanied children can make their claims for humanitarian relief in immigration proceeding as the law provides. if it is determined that they do not have a valid claim, they will be returned in a safe manner. we have taken a series of

actions to address the increase in the number of unaccompanied children at the border. we increased our capacity to hold the children until hhs can shelter them while it identifies and vets the children's sponsors. we're increasing hhs's company and i director comeyed fema to support the effort -- i directed fema to support the pathway. that pathway is central american miner's program was torn down by the previous administration. these actions and more are part of our plan to manage the arrival of individuals at our southwest border. the situation is undoubtedly difficult. we are working around the clock to manage it and it will take time but we will not waiver in our commitment to succeed. that is our job. we will also not waiver in our

values and principles as a nation. in the department of homeland security we can, and we will, tackle the many challenges we face while complying with our legal obligations and honoring our nation's values and principles. thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today and for your support of our department. i look forward to working with you and to taking your questions. thank you. >> i thank the secretary for his testimony. i remind each member that he or she will have five minutes to question the witness. i now recognize myself for questions. mr. secretary, the majority of this committee was here on january 6th when the insurrection occurred. you were not secretary, but you have had a chance to, i'm sure,

review some of the reports that have been generated. can you tell us, in your review of what occurred and what led up to the january 6th insurrection? are you reviewing that process right now? >> mr. chairman, thank you very much for your question. i just want to start on a personal note. i was brought to this country by my parents because of everything that the capitol represents to the american people and because of everything that all of you on this committee do, which is serve and represent the american people. we came because of the democracy that we learned so quickly to cherish. and what occurred on january 6th was heartbreaking and i know some of you experienced

personally in great fear. i certainly am reviewing the events that led up to that horrible day. i'm also mindful of the fact that there are criminal investigations under way to address individuals who broke the law and perpetrated the crimes of january 6th. so i conduct my review and receive my briefings mindful of the sensitiviies of pending criminal investigations and prosecution, it is very much a focus of the department of homeland, mine personally and as i mentioned in my opening remarks, domestic violence extremism is a threat that we face as the country and we are fully engaged in addressing it. >> thank you very much. since we will probably hear a lot of discussion about the border, what's the status of children who were separated from

their parents on the border? >> mr. chairman, the children who were separated from their parents under the trump administration are the subject of an intense effort in an all-of-government effort, directed by president biden, to find the parents and reunite the families and restore our nation to its core principles and values. we appointed an incredibly talented and dedicated executive director to lead the task force. i am the chair, along with the secretaries of state, health and human services, and the attorney general of the united states. this is a full-time effort by talented and dedicated individuals, not only in the department of homeland but in the other departments that i

mentioned. we look forward to working with this committee, other members of congress and harnessing the talents of the private sector in these efforts. we have an obligation to find the parents and to reunite those families. >> thank you very much. earlier this month, while visiting a fema vaccination center in philadelphia, you expressed a view that a person's socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, access to transportation or immigration status should not impact their ability to receive a vaccine. i could not agree with you any more. can you share with the committee how you are making that a reality? >> mr. chairman, the issue of

equity is a core foundation of the all-of-government effort to address and tackle the challenge of the covid-19 pandemic. fema uses a social vulnerability index in ensuing the placement of the community vaccination centers address the issue of equity and equality of access to the vaccines. i will share with you that i participate, along with other cabinet members, in a weekly meeting led by jeffrey zinz who leads the government effort on behalf of president biden and the issue of equity and the emphasis on equity begins our discussions every week. it is upper most in our minds and that, too, is a core obligation of ours. >> thank you very much.

i now recognize the ranking member of the floor committee, the gentleman from new york for questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you for secretary for the way you've been accessible and reached out to me several times. i appreciate us getting off on the right foot. i want to commend all the men and women at the department of homeland security and the subsidiary agencies for the great work they do every day. i encountered many of them this week in el paso, and i know from then and now that they're the front line people, the front line workers. and the discussions you have with them really ring true. after discussing things with them, i became thatch more learned about what's going on at the border. as we discussed yesterday in a phone call i have a series of questions that require a yes or no answer, and i would appreciate it if you can go

through it quickly. do you agree that president biden signed multiple executive orders on his first day in office to halt border wall construction, end the remain in mexico policy, and cancel asylum agreements with central american partners. >> i do, and if i may, mr. ranking member, i appreciated our two conversations thus far and the spirit of partnership to which we are both committed. i share your background as a federal prosecutor and i know we'll accomplish a great deal together. may i say one quick thing? >> you can, but if you can be brief because i have several questions. >> i will because i share your tremendous pride in the men and women of the border patrol and across the department of homeland security. when i took office on february 2nd, 2% of the front line border patrol personnel had been vaccinated. what i heard first and foremost

was the fact that their health and well being had not been taken vary of. we launched operation vaccinate our workforce and over 26% of the front line personnel are now vaccinated. >> thank you, mr. secretary, i don't mean to cut you off but i have questions. do you agree that customs and border patrol protection encountered more than 100,000 individuals in february, which was a 173% increase from february 2020? just yes or no? >> the numbers with respect to february of this year are accurate, mr. ranking member. >> thank you. >> and 2020 is not the -- >> can you confirm that customs and border protections facility was recently at over 700% capacity. >> i don't have the figure, it was over capacity, we are addressing that. >> can you confirm that homeland security asked for volunteers to

help manage the, quote, overwhelming number of migrants at the border. >> can you repeat that? >> can you confirm that homeland has asked for volunteers to help with the, quote, overwhelming number of migrants at the border. >> we have called for the workforce to assist on managing the border as we have done before and we have done in many circumstances to address the varied mission of the department of homeland security. i'm proud of our volunteers. >> can you confirm that over the weekend you directed fema to help receive shelter and transfer unaccompanied children from the southwest border. >> yes. >> and fema is the same agency charged with the first nationwide disaster order in the pandemic and distributing vaccines. >> it is. and it's capable of addressing the challenges that we through

the department of homeland security and throughout the nation confront. this is not the first time we have deployed the fantastic people of fema to address differing challenges throughout the country. >> i understand, sir. thank you. can you confirm that in order to pay for the response at the border it's highly likely you'll need a supplemental of appropriations from congress? >> that's not certain by any means. i'll stay in if touch with you with regard to the financial impacts of the work we're performancing, not only in this mission set but across the department. >> a couple quick questions, if you agree with the facts we set out, i appreciate you said earlier the situation at the border is difficult, given the tremendous rise and surge of individuals coming to the border, wouldn't it be fair to call it a crisis? that's what your agents are calling it. >> i didn't necessarily agree with all the statistics that you

cited, first of all. mr. ranking member, i'm not spending any time on the language we use. i'm spending time on operational response to the situation at the border. >> okay. just two quick questions. i know one was done here. >> that's what i'm focused on. >> despite our disagreements and the language characterizations i want to talk about solving problems. i want to get a commitment from you on two things one is you're open to working with members of congress, regardless whether they're democrats or republicans to reverse the disorder at the border? >> i will be a partner of members of congress regardless of party. >> and lastly, mr. chairman thank you for your indulgence. will you commit to encouraging the president to accept leader mccarthy's invitation to discuss the border crisis, and i'd like to be there too if i could, on

how to handle it? >> i'll defer to the president to how he believes he should conduct the meetings that he hosts. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i yield back mr. chairman. >> the chair now recognizes other members for questioning they may wish to ask the witness. i'll recognize in order of seniority alternating parties. they're reminded to unmute themselves and mute themselves when they have finished speaking and leave their cameras on so they're visible. the chair now recognizes the gentle lady from texas. >> thank you. it's good to see you, mr. secretary, my time is short my questions will try to be as short as possible if your answers could be likewise.

i'm outraged about the shootings in atlanta, thank you for starting out. six of those individuals seem to be asian out of eight, what is the department going to be doing about -- even though the investigation is now proceeding, what may be domestic terrorism or hateful acts, violent acts against communities like asian-americans that have seen a surge in hateful acts? >> congresswoman, nice to see you as well. i won't comment on the tragedy of yesterday because it is under investigation, but we are intensely focused on the greatest threat that we face in the homeland from a terrorism perspective as i mentioned z at the outset. that's domestic violence extremist, violence by different ideologies, including ideologies

of hate. >> i hope we focus on asian-americans. we know that african-americans have been the target of white supremacy and racism. let me move to the border and indicate to you, mr. secretary, that this administration has a border policy, i congratulate you for it. it is not a policy of putting children in cages, which we had to suffer for year after year on the trump administration. there are no children in cages. so i would simply ask this, i applaud the utilization of fema and the utilization of a policy. can you say what that policy is as it relates to the border and your policy for moving children who are now moving to temporary sites like midland and dallas to a process where they can seek asylum and/or go to their custodial representative in this country? mr. secretary? >> congresswoman, the border is security and the border is not open. we are expelling, under the

cdc's public health authority in light of the pandemic, single individuals who arrive at the border. we are expelling families, under that same public health authority, limited only by the capacity of mexico to receive them. and we are not expelling children who arrive unaccompanied without a parent or legal guardian and we are caring for their custody and their sheltering in hhs' responsibility to place them with sponsors so they can proceed with their immigration proceedings and their claims for humanitarian relief under the laws of this country in a safe and orderly way. >> thank you, mr. secretary. and as it relates to covid-19 our state has been a hot spot, texas, let me quickly cite legislation that i have, covid delivery act of 2020 and 2021. just want to emphasize the value of fema, acknowledge tony robyns

and the texas department of emergency management they've been working beautifully. i think fema can stand up and do more as relates to monitoring shipments, i think they can establish an app that would help working with hhs to sort of monitor the vaccines as they're coming forward. so i just want to be able to work with you on ideas of how fema can be more effective in the covid-19 fight. would you work with me on that? >> i will and i appreciate the recommendation and the request. >> finally we are all aware of the horrible breech that came about through solar winds and you mentioned it in your presentation. so i would like you to answer the question regarding the importance of having shared vulnerabilities, meaning we have a system and i have legislation but i want to focus on the concept of making sure we know

the private vulnerabilities and the public vulnerabilities and they're shared under the umbrella of cisa we need to address the vulnerabilities we can't have that major breech. >> thank you for that question. because it returns to a statement i made at the outset and that is the department is a department of partnerships and the public/private partnership is important in enhancing our nation ap cyber security, cyber security and infrastructure security agency, cisa is on point for enhancing that partnership and critically important to that partnership is the sharing of information both by the private sector and the federal government, by understanding the vulnerabilities by the attacks that individual organizations suffer, by learning from them collectively we will enhance our nation's cyber security and that

is one of our critical mission sets. >> thank you so very much and thank you for the work of the men and women of the department of homeland security. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas for five minutes, mr. mccal. >> you know, you and i i think have seen this movie before. in 2014, when i was chairman of this committee and you were deputy secretary of dhs, obama called the surge of migrants at the southern border a humanitarian crisis and he was right. today we're seeing another surge at our southern border. we've both seen this movie before and we know the plot and we know the outcome. as chief of counterterrorism and national security for the u.s. attorney in texas, i learned that deterrence does work firsthand. in fact, mr. secretary, you were

a federal prosecutor in a border state yourself. and i believe that words do matter. i know you mentioned maybe the language doesn't matter, i think words do matter. i think you sent exactly the wrong message when you stated, quote, we are not saying don't come. we're just saying don't come now. that is not a message of deterrence. the trump administration, in my judgment, did a masterful job in negotiating the remain in mexico policy and the asylum cooperative agreements with central america. it was a foreign policy achievement, actually. and it worked, migrants had to wait in mexico for their asylum trial and the border was under control. however with the stroke of a pen by president biden these policies have been reversed and cancelled. cartels and traffickers see the green light is on at our southern border and the united states is open for business again.

again, the message is come on in. just like that, catch and release has returned as a policy of this nation. and so, mr. secretary, has the threat. migrants are given a date to appear in court and suddenly disappear. the children are the victims and the cartels are celebrating this victory. sir, with all due respect, this administration has created this crisis by rescinding these agreements. and just yesterday you said, quote, we are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years. that is staggering. i appreciate your honesty. i agree with you, it is going to be the most we've seen in 20 years. you may call that only a challenge, but i call that a crisis. so i must ask this question. why in the world did this

administration, president biden, basically shred the trump administration's asylum agreements with mexico and central america. this has had a direct cause and effect on the humanitarian and border crisis. what was this administration and the president thinking? >> congressman, it's nice to see you again. and i'm proud of the work we did together when i was the deputy secretary and you were the chairman of this committee. >> thank you. >> sometimes the tools of deterrence defy values and principles for which we all stand. and one of those tools of deterrence that the trump administration employed was deplorable and unacceptable. if we want to speak of language,

then let me speak of language. i will share with you how i define a crisis. a crisis is when a nation is willing to rip a 9-year-old child out of the hands of his or her parent and separate that family to deter future migration. that, to me, is a humanitarian crisis. and what the president has committed to and what i am committed to and execute is to ensure that we have an immigration system that works and that migration to our country is safe, orderly, and humane. and i -- >> i was against separation of families as well. but let me say this. by rescinding these, i think -- i'm now the republican leader of the foreign affairs committee. so i look at this also from a foreign policy standpoint, i think it was a blunder to

rescind the agreements which have created this exact problem and put these children in jeopardy and you're seeing the separation again. again, i think what is happening down there -- you and i have been down there so many times, the kids, children, the babies down there, what a humanitarian crisis it is. i don't think it's a coincidence that on inaugural day the president rescinded this foreign policy and then all of a sudden in february we have hundreds of thousands of people coming in and a projected million by the end of the year. >> congressman, if i may, let me make two points. one, in fact, we have seen migration surges before, 2019 was extraordinary, 2014, and before then. and the bottom line is, and this is something about which we all agree, the immigration system is

broken and it's in need of legislative reform. and the president presented a bill and there are bills pending before the house and hopefully this year, and i am confident and optimistic that we will actually begin, once and for all, to fix a system that everyone agrees is broken. >> my time is going to expire. >> gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from rhode island. >> thank you. mr. secretary, happy st. patrick's day, i want to congratulate you on taking over as the secretary of homeland security, i sure look forward to working with you going forward. secretary mayorkas, i appreciate my colleague's concern about border security, though i have to say i wish they raised it

with the prior administration instead of focussing on a wall. but i'm concerned that we're losing real sight of the real threat that we face. physical borders aren't the only thing we have to be concerned with. we've seen in the last several months some of the most pervasive cyber incidents in our nation's history. what's more, this is at the behest of our greatest adversaries, particularly china. so mr. secretary i want to start by asking you, how you view cyber threats that we face as a nation? >> congressman, i want to thank you for your focus and your leadership on this important mission set. as i mentioned before, i want to thank the committee for itself support of our department and the infusion of much needed resources to cyber security and infrastructure security agency. this is one of my foremost urgent priorities for the reason you articulate.

the cyber threats that our country faces from nation state actors as well as individual actors cannot be overstated. the threat to critical infrastructure cannot be overstated and we've seen that in a number of exploitation in recent months and over the past several years. we have incredibly dedicated and talented individuals who are focused on it. the president has identified this as well as a critical mission set and ann newberg is an extraordinary appointment as the deputy national security adviser focused on national security. this too is an all-of-government effort. >> i'm glad you touched on critical infrastructure. i'm a proponent of the infrastructure security agency's work on risk analysis. i authored a provision last year with the responsibilities of

sector rich agencies to support that work. recent events, whether the cyber incidents tied to solar winds or microsoft exchange server or the frigid temperatures in texas have demonstrated how the failure of a few important assets supporting national critical infrastructure -- national critical functions can have cascading and often devastating effects. so the cyber space commission, which i serve as a commissioner, has suggested the concept of important critical infrastructure or sic, so secretary, do you believe that sic, based as it is on work, the obama administration did as part of executive order, 13636 is a useful framework for managing risk, particularly cyber risk?

>> congressman, thank you. i do. and that is very much a subject of our discussion. i appreciate your focus on critical infrastructure. it is a subject that i discussed with the leadership in the department of homeland security on cyber security just a few days ago, because that is indeed a critical, critical area upon which we all must focus and i really appreciate your work on the commission. >> thank you, secretary. also, the commission believes that dhs is really the lynch pin in helping to mitigate risk before cascaing failures occur. do you agree with this assessment? and how are you engaging with your fellow cabinet secretaries and the white house to better manage risk to important entities? >> thank you, congressman. certainly the department of

homeland security has a key role to play in the federal government architecture and as i mentioned earlier in response to the congresswoman's question, the public/private partnership is key. and we are, of course, on point for that. i had a very important meeting with ms. newberger just this past monday morning and we spoke about everything that we are doing across the federal government in executing the president's direction that indeed we bring all resources to bear, because each one of us has different assets, different capabilities and different responsibilities. this is really -- it's not just an all-of-government effort, i think has you have correctly noted in the past, it's an all-of-nation effort because here in cyber security we say that we are only as strong as our weakest link. and so, i share your view that we must work all of us together.

>> thank you. >> in partnership to address the challenge. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i know my time has expired. but i believe that congress, particularly this committee are key partners with the department to better protect sic and i hope this chairman would hold a hearing on this topic and you would work with us to address this systemic challenge. >> i will. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you for your service. this hearing for many americans watching has been nauseating thus far. the carefully red scripted statements, i'm not sure you're here to answer questions, sir. i suspect you're here to present a prepared narrative to the inquiries of congress.

you have stated that we're not saying don't come, we're saying don't come now. i can tell you, my sources tell me they're coming now and they're coming through the year. you look at, the cartels have 2 million in the pipeline. we're looking at a 20 year high for illegal crossings at our southern border. our colleagues across the aisle not mentioning the cartels, america is watching this. for god's sake we're going to blame president trump? you mentioned the 2019 surge. we had a surge in 2019 because the cartels were paying attention to the election cycle in 2018 when the democrats took the majority. we had to use every available legal power to re-establish control in 2019. we did. we had this thing down to a manageable threat. what happened? 2021 surge, why? let me just put it out there.

what happened between -- between -- between the control that we had and what we have now? we had the election in november of 2020, and president biden was inaugurated on january the 20th. americans know, they get it. the cartels are paying attention. they've loaded up their pipeline. we got 2 million illegal immigrants headed our way, and i don't believe you have a plan to deal with it. let me say regarding fema, if there's not a crisis or humanitarian disaster at the southern border then may i suggest we take our fema disaster response teams deployed there and send them somewhere they're needed like my district in southwest louisiana where there's still hurricane victims waiting on temporary housing. let me ask a question you perhaps can answer, mr. secretary. do you agree the world is currently suffering a pandemic and does the world include

mexico, guatemala, cuba, china, iran -- is the world experiencing a pandemic? >> congressman let me assure you one thing before i answer the question. which is despite our strong differences of opinion, i look forward to working with you towards shared goals. >> that's very kind of you. are we experiencing a pandemic? >> of course, the world is experiencing a pandemic, congressman. >> we experience a pandemic and we're experiencing massive surges of illegals crossing the southern border. you're the head of department of homeland, are we testing individuals in in the facilities prior to their release into the united states? >> i have a very direct answer. it is our policy to test individuals before releasing them. >> are we testing them before or after they're processed? >> we have a process set up to

do so. and if you like i can explain that process. it has four parts. >> no. what i'd like you to do is just tell us, i have several questions, are we testing these illegal immigrants that are being released into our nation, are we testing them before or after they're processed? you said they're being tested, you have a plan in place. >> we most certainly do. there are four ways in which we accomplish the testing. >> okay. you're welcome to exhibit mitt -- submit that in writing. i think the american people are witnessing a question dodge. they're being processed at the border and released into the nation that have not been tested or tested positive for covid. i don't think i'm going to get a straight answer from you. i have another simple question.

do you believe that that the pos initiated by president biden since his inauguration have impacted the issues on the southern border and increased illegal crossings. do you believe the cartels were paying attention all last year when then-candidate biden was messaging that he was going to weaken the law enforcement mission, provide some kind of a path towards amnesty or citizenship, process the illegal crossings in a manner that wasd reception in the united states. he messaged that again and again and again. do you think the cartels heard that? do you think that may have something to do with what we're dealing with right now? >> congressman, i share a background with ranking member katko and -- >> my goodness. i'm not going to get a yes or no out of you.

do you know what i'm going to do? i'm going to submit my questions in writing because you're not here to answer hard questions. you're here to answer a narrative prepared by staff and attorneys. mr. chairman, i'm going to yield my time and submit my questions officially in writing to the secretary, and i'm going to expect them to be answered. and if they're not, we're going to make some noise. i yield. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i believe that when a witness is before us, he should be given the opportunity to answer the question and not shouted over. so in that vein, i will try to do that. mr. secretary, we've seen a lot

of criminality charged to insurrectionists from the attack on january 6 site. donald trump's words have reason he participated in the attack. for example, his role in attacking the u.s. capitol said, i believe i was following the instructions of president trump. robert sanford, who has been indicted for attacking a capitol police officer, our law enforcement, people that defend us, have just stated by a previous member, our law enforcement, that he told federal agents that he followed the president's instructions and had gone to the capitol for that day. mr. secretary, is it fair to say that extremist groups see

president trump as their leader of their movement? >> congressman, the events of january 6th are the subject of criminal investigations and prosecutions, so i would prefer, out of respect for the integrity of that work, not to answer specifically with respect to the january 6th event. what we are seeing, as i've mentioned before, is a growing and persistent threat, and that is domestic violent extremism that is borne of different idealogies, idealoies of hate, idealogies of anti-government sentiment, idealogies of racially motivated individuals. and that is what we are very much focused on here in the department of homeland security, and their words do matter.

>> but you can't say whether the impetus for january 6th was the insurrectioners following president trump? >> it is not, congressman, something i will comment on right now in light of the investigations that are underway and the evidentiary impact of anything i say. >> ever since november 20th election, we've seen political leaders echo former president trump's baseless lies that the election was stolen. can you please share with the committee how repeating and amplifying these lies conspires and encourages the same extremists who attacked the capitol on january 6th? >> those pronouncements, congressman, are not fact based. they are actually in defiance of the facts.

i think chris krebs, who led the cyber structure and security agency, who did a superb job, and i've seen the results of his great work each day, indicated that based on evidence, based on data that the election was conducted with integrity and that the votes were not manipulated. >> so, basically, the loser of the election was just -- really just plain sour grapes and trying to sway the american people to believe that there was something inherently wrong with the election, is that correct? >> congressman, i focus on election security with our state, local, tribal territorial partners. that is what i am focused on.

>> okay, so the president's echoes are baseless. thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you very much. the chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi, mr. guest, for five minutes. unmute yourself. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, the american people are deeply disturbed with the ongoing crisis along our southwest border. cvp numbers just in february encountered over 100,000 individuals, an increase of over 170% from the 36,687 encounters in february of 2020. this issue is of growing concern to the american public, and this

is not a political issue. we are seeing calls by many members of the democratic party highlighting what we are seeing along the southwest border. representative quar said, action is simply not an option. our country is unprepared to handle a surge of immigrants in the middle of a pandemic. we see democratic representative vincente gonzalez say, i can assure you it won't be long before we have tens of thousands of people showing up on the board, and it will be catastrophic for our country, for our region and for our district. we heard just this week senator joe manchin. senator manchin said whatever message was sent, it was interpreted the wrong way. it is a crisis, oh, it is a

crisis. i know in statements that you've recently made, you talk about how we're on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years. in february, there was a letter signed by over 50 members of congress. that letter was sent to the president, a copy of that letter was sent to you. in that letter, the letter says, we write today to bring attention to the rising immigration crisis that is already beginning in our southern border a mere weeks into your administration. that letter goes on to say, on your first day as president, you signed multiple executive orders aimed at dismantling the security of our border, rescinding policies of the trump administration that were working as intended to help the flow of illegal immigration. the biden administration is not stopping the border

infrastructure, halting deportations for 100 days and for suspending the mild policy protections in mpp have all indicated that our borders are open. we know that the february numbers of 100,000 individuals over 28 days works out to an average encounter of over 3,500 a day. and 2019 at the surge of the crisis along our southwest border, former secretary johnson in the obama administration was questioned about this. just two years ago he said, i know that a thousand, being a thousand cases a day, overwhelms the system. i cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like. so we are truly in a crisis. mr. secretary, we are approaching that 4,000 number that secretary johnson described

as a crisis in the summer of 2019. in the summer of 2019, both republicans and democrats came together. they recognized that what we were seeing, the surge across our border, was an immigration crisis and it was a humanitarian crisis. and it was a crisis that must be addressed. we saw president trump put forth policies that almost immediately began to address the overcrowding that we saw across our southwest border. and i will tell you it is time that this administration do the same thing. in less than 60 days, they have completely destroyed what was a successful policy or rolled back those successful policies by the trump administration. mr. secretary, i will close my statement to you with a statement made by former secretary of state colin powell. secretary of state colin powell

had what he referred to as the pottery barn rule. the pottery barn rule said, you break it, you own it. mr. chairman, at this time i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes for five minutes mr. paraya. unmute yourself. mr. correa. >> are you testing all the refugees, and for those refugees that are not turned away, for those refugees that may come into the united states for further evaluation of their

case, if they test positive, do you isolate them for the recquisite time to make sure our communities are safe? i know you wanted to elaborate on the solutions that you have, so i wanted to ask you to please elaborate, please be succinct, specific and factual. thank you, sir. >> thank you, congressman. we have four different ways in which we test individuals who come into the country who we do not expel. we work with community-based organizations and local officials. we release them into those community-based organizations so that they are tested and quarantined there, and we provide 100% reimbursement through fema to the local entities in the community-based organizations, provided the state authority does not stand in the way. we work with states when those

states have the capacity to test and quarantine. we are working now with funds appropriated by congress to fund directly community-based organizations in local facilities to conduct the testing and quarantine. and when those three options are not available, we are now retaining a vendor to test individuals who are in cbp custody, and if in fact they test positive, we transport them to i.c.e. facilities for quarantine before release. that is our four-point architecture and i appreciate the opportunity to share it with this committee. >> thank you, sir. mr. secretary, let me follow up on the refugee issue on deterrence following our federal laws, values, principles, the ending of children in cages, the ending of children separation. i was watching spanish news a few days ago. i watched the interview of a

young lady no more than 14 years old that had gone to the border. she was stating that she had gotten raped by seven men before she got to the u.s. border. and we talk about deterrence, and i can only imagine the drivers that push immigration north, the dangers at home, the hunger. so my question to you is, when are we going to start? what are the long-term solutions to this problem? all of us agree this thing didn't happen one year, two years, it's been going on for a long time, more than a decade, two decades. what are the long-term solutions? when are we going to implement them? thank you, sir. >> congressman, thank you very much, and i think that jorge ramos put it very powerfully, because i, too, listen to spanish language television and radio when you said that

sometimes hunger is stronger than fear. there are two long-term solutions, both of which the president has acted upon, one which is immediately before us. and that is to finally fix the immigration system in this country. the second is to address the root causes in the countries from which these individuals are fleeing. and specifically the northern triangle countries of guatemala, honduras and el salvador. we began funding to address the root causes and that funding was discontinued during the trump administration, and the president is committed to restarting that critical element of an overarching approach to our border and the issues of migration that have challenged our nation for so many years. >> thank you very much. mr. chair, i yield.

>> the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina for five minutes, mr. bishop. >> thank you, mr. chairman, thank you, mr. secretary, for your appearance. others have made reference to your remarks or statement, we are not saying don't come, we are saying don't come now. in the news interview that day you refused the suggestion to say, do not come, period. president biden has said, don't come, we're in the process of getting set up. answering mr. mcccall, you spok with the price of deterrence. mr. secretary, are you saying right now that it is wrong for people to enter the united states illegally? >> of course i am. >> so it's wrong to break the law, right? >> of course it is. but if i may, congressman -- i'm

sorry -- >> so we're inciting migrants to do that. am i right, sir? >> congressman, of course it is wrong to break the law, and i dedicated 12 years of my career to prosecute lawbreakers. >> without elaboration, here's the question i last asked you, because you answered the question. my question is, so there can never be a right time to enter the country illegally or to incite migrants to do that, isn't that correct? >> congressman, if i may speak of the law to which you refer, because our country has -- >> i didn't ask you to explain the law, sir. i just -- >> mr. bishop, will you allow the secretary to answer your question? >> he's not answering my question, mr. chairman. >> i don't want you to debate him. >> i'm not trying to debate him, i just want him to answer my question. >> if i may -- >> let me put the question again, and then we'll see if i can get an answer to my

question. what i asked, mr. secretary, is there cannot ever be a right time to enter the country illegally or to incite migrants to do that, would you agree? >> a claim of asylum, an individual fleeing persecution by reason of his or her membership in a particular social group, a claim of asylum is a claim that is recognized by law in the united states of america. and an individual who makes a claim of asylum is not breaking the law by doing so. and as a law enforcement officer, i enforce the laws of accountability as well as the humanitarian laws that congress passed. >> all right, sir. it is, in fact -- in fact, entering the u.s. between ports of entry is illegal, isn't that right? >> yes, it is.

>> okay. so it is -- so there would never be a right time for someone to do that or to incite migrants to do that. agreed? >> congressman, i believe that the trafficking victim protection reauthorization act was passed unanimously by congress. and it speaks of the right of an individual, a young person, to make a claim of asylum, and it provides for the process that we must accord that individual in making a claim. that is a law that was passed and that i am in duty to enforce. >> are you saying it's okay to enter that person illegally? >> of course i'm not, congressman, but i just want to recognize our responsibility when a child under the age of 18, who is not accompanied by a

parent or legal guardian, we encounter at the border, and what our legal responsibilities are. and those are -- >> mr. secretary, after the signals that the administration has sent, your statement yesterday acknowledged that the surge of migrants encountered at the border is a crisis and may soon make a 20-year repeat, correct? >> i think i acknowledged that the numbers we're seeing could be the greatest, in fact, they materialize as they're trending, could be the largest numbers we've seen in 20 years. >> has this extraordinary surge taken you by surprise, or did you expect it? >> congressman, i'm focused on galvanizing the talented dedication of the men and women of the department of homeland security to meet that challenge, and that's what we do. >> i just want a yes or no to the question of whether you expected the surge that we've seen or you are surprised by it.

>> i don't know that i had any particular expectation one way or the other. i just knew what we needed to do when we confront a situation, and, in fact, we are doing it. >> so if it took you -- if you didn't have -- >> the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from michigan for five minutes, ms. slotkin. >> thank you, mr. secretary, for being here. i have two questions, one on immigration and one on domestic terrorism. i would say as someone who is still relatively new to congress and who sat and questioned secretary nielsen when she came in front of us two years ago, i have rarely seen an issue that is more politicized and used as a political weapon than immigration. and i will say as a former cia officer and pentagon official, there is no contradiction between providing significant security for our borders and treating people humanely.

there is no contradiction between keen immigration to our economic needs and giving people a lawful way to come and work here so they don't have to cross the border illegally. they don't contradict each other. you know, i just have a hard time with this idea that it is literally used as a political football. that being said, i think we need to be clear-eyed about the numbers that are coming over the border just as we were two years ago when the massive surge led the trump administration to put children in cages as a way to deter them from coming, families from coming. we have large numbers coming over the border. we know larger numbers are coming over the border. we know that you are trying to deal with it, the men and women are working on it. but let me ask you about going forward. comprehensive immigration reform. we all talk about it, we all use it as a talking point. the last -- the other side of the aisle had four years to

propose something and never did. but can i ask you, do you believe that any immigration reform must address fundamental changes to our immigration system, not just sort of turn people into citizens or give them a pathway without changing the system going forward? and if so, what are the reforms to that system that you're going to push in your meetings with the white house to ensure we're not just going to be in the same situation five years, ten years from now? >> thank you very much, congresswoman. i do believe in immigration reform and always have, and i think everyone agrees with a need for it. i believe that the president put forward on day one a bill that set forth a vision to achieve exactly that which you speak of, which is fundamental reform to a system that we all know is broken. i know that there are critical elements of that bill that are

before the house and upon which the house will soon vote. and i think they strike at some of the core needs, the core fixes that the immigration system requires to move us forward in a better way. >> okay. i appreciate that. i would say just an honest reading of the bill, it is hard for me to understand how in a comprehensive way we actually make it easier for these folks who are risking their lives to come across the border to instead apply to legally work here, and it is hard for me to understand how some of our businesses, our farm workers, our tourism industries are going to actually have an easier time getting legal immigrants to come work here. that's what we all want, and i would just ask you to make sure that any bill that comes across, any final bill, actually shows us how the system is going to reform, not just temporarily change. on the issue of domestic terrorism, your entire department was created because

of the attack on our homeland on 9/11. the department wouldn't exist without that. can you tell me today, on the issue of domestic terrorism, you noted in your testimony that lone wolf domestic terrorism -- or domestic violent extremism was your biggest worry. are you currently more worried about domestic violent extremist lone wolves than you are about foreign terrorist lone wolves? >> congresswoman, the threat picture involves, as you know given your past, the threat picture is a very evolving one, a very clear threat. when i started with the department of homeland security back in 2000 -- >> i have very little time, i'm sorry, mr. secretary. i think people deserve to understand the order of magnitude of this threat. >> right now, forgive me, congresswoman, right now at this

point in time, domestic violent extremism, the lone wolf, the loose affiliation of individuals following idealogies of hate and other idealogies of extremism that are willing and able to take those idealogies and execute on them in unlawful, illegal, violent ways is our greatest threat in the homeland right now. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, the gentlelady's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. van rude. >> this isn't rocket science. frankly, two months ago we didn't have problems. we had some problems but they were certainly greatly diminished over time, and we had agreements with mexico, we had agreements with other countries

and we were able to make a very terrible situation much, much better and much safer. the increase and the flow of undocumented has been huge, the numbers are staggering. so for anybody to say we're not dealing with the crisis -- and by the way, it's just a matter of two months. i guess it's amazing how much, when you change leadership, how much change can really occur and sometimes, quite frankly, it's not good change. single adult and family unit apprehensions have been increasing since january 20 20. the customs and border protection saw fewer than one family per week try to enter our country illegally. now under president biden's leadership, they're overwhelmed. cbp is overwhelmed. they're dealing with 1600 families every week.

mr. secretary, don't tell me this is not a crisis, it is. folks may not want to admit it. they may not want to say we've had a radical change in eight weeks, but we have. when you put a different message out, you get a different result. currently the department of homeland security does not have a comprehensive strategy to contain the spread of covid-19 that we're so worried about, and it's occurring through the release of migrants at the border. additionally, many are not even being tested for covid-19 while being released, which is mind-boggling with all the time and work we spent on this. the situation is not acceptable, the situation is not sustainable. we are a nation of the rule of law which demands strong borders. and the previous speaker was right, with strong borders, then you can actually attempt to straighten out, to fix this immigration problem. when you just have people pouring in, you can't. so my question is, your

department is releasing thousands of migrants from cbp custody on their own recognizance with a notice to appear. you say there is a plan to test everyone, but senior officials from the department told us in a briefing last week that you were not testing everyone in cbp kuls -- custody and have no ability to quarantine people who test positive. this is mind-boggling when we've been so worried about this issue of covid, and now what are redoing? we're literally going to create possibly another spike. we've heard from government officials along the border that people are not being tested for covid-19 prior to their release. and people who are positive for covid-19 are entering our public transportation systems. this is serious stuff. besides the fact that we're not obeying the rule of law, besides the fact that people are just pouring into our borders, we're going to make people sick. i would like to know specifically how many people have been released on their own

recognizance from cbp since january 20th, '21. will you commit to sharing those numbers on a weekly basis with this committee, yes or no? >> congressman, i will share the data with you, and i very much look forward to speaking with you when we're not so limited in time, because i disagree with so many of the statements that preceded your question. >> i understand that, and maybe we'll have that opportunity. i disagree with you disagreeing, how is that? all i know is i'm a simple guy. i look at two months ago and we had a certain situation, we were under control. i look now with people crossing the border illegally in much larger numbers with shirts with our president's name on it. that means something under anybody's standard. of those released, how many have been covid-19 tested and how many have not? that's a specific number. >> interestingly, congressman, if we look at the 2019 numbers in february, we take a look at

the unaccompanied children and the numbers in 2021 are slightly greater than they were in february of 2019. if we look at individuals and family units, the numbers were far greater in number in 2019 than they are in 2021. so it's a complex issue, and those of us who have studied migration for many years understand the episodic surges that can occur, and we used to think that it was seasonal, and now our thinking is a bit different, and i very much look forward to speaking with you about it. >> thank you, as i do you. how many -- >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> thank you, chairman. >> the chair recognizes mr. cleveland, who has had technical difficulties, but i think we can hear you. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

hopefully i'll come through and i apologize for whatever this issue is, but thank you very much for holding this hearing and thank you, mr. secretary, for being here. if i had my choice, you know, when i wake up in the middle of the morning, the committee i would like to serve on because of the issues that it deals with is this committee, and i'm -- that's due in part to the chair but also to the men and women such as yourself who work on these issues of which there is very little praise. congratulations on your confirmation. i have a couple questions. is there intelligence to suggest that cartels have 2 million human beings or youth in the

pipeline? that information was given earlier by one of our members, and i'm just trying to figure out where it came from and where i can do a little bit more research on it. can you help me on that pipeline issue, please? >> congressman, i have not seen data to suggest that number. >> i haven't, either, and from the time i heard it today, i started going through everything i have and i cannot find that number. my issue -- you can't solve this, and i don't think the chairman can solve it, either, it's a national issue we have and i don't know how it surfaced. but that number will continue to encircle the americas as a fact. and i can't find the fact, the source of the fact. so i'm sitting here writing a

note to you asking if you could help, and you're saying you don't know the source of that information. >> i said i've never seen a figure like that. i don't know of its basis, and i don't know of any reason to believe that data that apparently was just expressed this morning is anywhere close to being true. i will say also, congressman, if i may, because there have been statements made that we don't have a plan, and i haven't had an opportunity to respond to that. that's unequivocally false. of course we have a plan. we have a short-term plan, we have a medium-term plan, and we have a long-term plan, and we're executing on all fronts. to address the situation at the border that is upon us right now takes time. and we are working around the clock to do it. and this is what we do, and we will succeed.

i believe in the men and women of the department of homeland security, and i believe in our commitment, our capabilities, and we will get the challenge tackled. >> thank you, mr. secretary. my time is running out, but i wanted to ask you, so i guess the cartels are not sending out a press release saying how many people they have in the pipeline. you don't have to answer that. that gave me my headache for today. the other one is, do you have any idea about the youngest individual who came into our custody from south of the border? >> there are children, congressman, who are infants to the age of five that come into the border. i confronted a situation of three young siblings under the

ages of 10, the youngest one being two years of age, whose mother didn't make it along the dangerous journey. and that's why we communicate as we do not to take that dangerous journey as we build legal pathways that the law provides for people to seek humanitarian relief in our nation. >> thank you. did my time run out yet? if not, my question was, this word antifa, i've been looking it up. it goes all the way back to spain and it was actually -- began to be used during the rein of hitler of fascism in germany, the opposite of fascism. until january, i didn't know antifa from my aunt edna.

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