there is no question that ali mayorkas is equal fade for this position. he previously served as a director of u.s. customs and immigration service and as deputy secretary at d.h.s. ms. rosen: today i want to tell you about ali mayorkas's story and why he's the right pick for this position and why we can achieve what we need to with mre department of homeland security. during his committee meeting, my fellow committee members and i had a chance to hear from mr. mayorkas and his family history. he told us the harrowing story of his family fleeing persecution, traveling to a new country in search of freedom, acceptance and a safe place to call home. during the holocaust, mr. mayorkas's mother lost her paternal grandparents and seven of her uncles simply for being jewish, simply because of the faith they practiced. his mother and his maternal grandparents fled, but they fled in order to survive. but the story of mr. mayorkas's family was far from over. his parents fled cuba during castro's revolution, bringing mr. mayorkas and his sister here to the united st

ali mayorkas is that man. i worked with all the when used deputy secretary under the obama administration. i was able to bring to montana and were able to tour the border into public meetings. and ali mayorkas is somebody who people respect her key demands respect and he can bring people together but most importantly he understands the challenges that this country faces, both from our foreign adversaries and now more than ever from our domestic ones. this job is important. we've seen this department in turmoil over the last four years with six different secretaries. ali mayorkas will bring the kind of steady hand at this department needs. i want to tell you when all he asked me to introduce them, i thought to myself, words can't do this man justice. this is somebody that was made for public service. he spent most of his career in the department of homeland security. he understands the challenges. he understands it's going to take a lot of work. he understands that we're going to have to bring people together.

secretary prior to the trump administration say that ali mayorkas is the man for the job. they said he is, quote, a man of integrity, experience, and compassion, a proven leader to right the ship. in their endorsement of mr. mayorkas, they went on to say the leadership vacuum and turmoil at the department of homeland security may have contributed to the failure to anticipate and adequately prepare for the attack on the capitol. that's the reality. after four years of disorder and disarray at the department of homeland security, the security of america, including the security of this very building, suffered because of lack of leadership under the trump administration. over the last four years, we have watched the politicization of the department of justice and homeland security. we have seen some horrible things occur. operation zero tolerance, 2,700 infants, babies, children separated from their parents at the border of the united states. cast into a bureaucratic system and forgotten until a federal judge in southern california said enough. i want to know who those kids are

confirmation hearings, spent the most time on dhs, a few fireworks on immigration between ron johnson and ali mayorkas largely none of these folks have created major headlines and largely not creating headaches. that's what the biden team would like to see. chuck schumer was on the floor a while ago and he's going to try to get some of these nominees passed, confirmed tomorrow when he takes over asthma juvenile court -- as majority leader. the idea is to get the national security related nominees who they hope will be noncontroversial enough that nobody throws sand in the gear. confirmed on his first day in that role. the first time in decades there had not been any cabinet secretaries confirmed. as long as no one has caused the raucous on twitter, it's probably a pretty good day as far as the biden transition team is concerned. >> we all thought these first four would go pretty smoothly in that sense. i want to turn to what we've also previewed at the top, another powerful statement from mitch mcconnell. about january 6. let me play it for you, and i want to let people know, ted cruz was presiding ov

ali mayorkas will bring the steady hand this department needs. i'm going to tell you when he asked me to introduce them, i thought to myself words cannot do this man justice. this is summary that was made for public service. he spent most of his career in the department of homeland security. he understands challenges. he understands it's going to take a lot of work. he understands we are going to have to bring people together. and he understands that this is a 24/7 job. i would hope this committee would pass him out and get him to the senate floor so he can get confirmed because honestly, after the events on january 6, we have no time to waste. thank you for your time. sen. portman: thank you u.s. senator tester. our witness is alejandro mayorkas. president biden intends to nominate him as the secretary of homeland security. he has served as deputy secretary of homeland security as well as immigration homeland's services. it is our custom to swear and the witnesses, so at this time i would ask you to please stand and raise your right hand. do you