During a House Homeland Security Committee markup hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) clashed over H.R.275, the Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of 2024, that requires the Department of Homeland Security to report every month on non-U.S. nationals.
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00:00But yes. You're recognized. Thank you. I just want to emphasize what my colleague from Puerto Rico
00:08said. It would be one thing if it were just numbers. Then if it were just numbers, we'd be
00:17talking about transparency to the American people. And realistically, it would have no impact on
00:24whether or not our homeland is safe, because we're not asking the department to gather more
00:33information on people. We're not asking them to do anything differently than what they're already
00:39doing to keep our homeland safe. This, of course, is not numbers. And the problem when, not just
00:45numbers, the problem is when you're adding in public reporting, there is a benefit to transparency
00:52for the American people. I fully agree with that. But there's also a tremendous benefit
00:56to the organized gangs who are trying to infiltrate our country. And I appreciate the lesson that
01:04Ms. Green was trying to pass on to me. But as somebody who prosecuted organized criminal enterprises
01:12for 10 years, I can tell you that this kind of information only helps the enemy. It does not
01:20stop them. And it's bad enough that you're misrepresenting what your bill says. But it's even
01:28worse than the fact that the information that's being provided will help the enemy and will do
01:35nothing to help keep our homeland secure. So I wish that A, we had an accurate representation from the
01:44sponsor of this bill as to what it is. And B, that if it were actually that, we'd be having a very different
01:51discussion. And I yield back.
01:55Gentleman yields.
01:59Mr. Luttrell, you're recognized.
02:00I do. And I feel like this has come completely off the rails. Dan, I'm going to chat with you.
02:05I disagree. I think if countries are well aware and under the microscope and they know that we see
02:16them, that puts them in a different posture. Now, my colleague stated it was numbers. I don't,
02:24I don't understand. If she would have stated numbers in countries of origin and DHS is the one
02:32that's doing the processing, as they have done currently and in the past, this just codifies
02:39legislation that says it's, this is something that Congress wants. And it's not Congress, it's not
02:43Morgan that's down there pointing people out, saying, hey, look, you're obviously an SIA. It's
02:49us assisting DHS and amplifying our ability to defend ourselves. So is the, I guess my question is,
02:58is the problem with, should it be just numbers or, or why is it a problem with its numbers,
03:04countries of origin, where we're letting the American people like, hey, we are very well aware
03:08of the problem set. This is our, we are laser focused in on these areas. And I personally think
03:15that's a good thing. Are you, are you? Yeah, well, I think there's, first of all, I think we have to
03:22distinguish between foreign governments and foreign terrorist organizations. Okay. Who are often
03:30different. Will you yield? Okay. I'm just, your time. Yeah, I'm sorry. Okay. Forgive my, my, my, my speech.
03:40If I'm, if I don't say, I don't mean, I mean the terrorist organizations that we are focused on, not
03:44specific governments and so on. Or if that's included. Right. Well, the, and I know you're going to go
03:52granular on me here. I just, I'm not going to go granular because I think that you have to
03:56recognize a foreign terrorist organization is a professional criminal organization. They assume
04:01that they are under surveillance. They assume that they are being investigated, that they are being
04:07targeted. So the, by releasing the information that there are, there is actual targeting of them
04:17does not give them any information that they don't already know. It's not going to, you're not going
04:22to be able to say, Oh, uh, there's a, Oh, wow. They're looking at us now. We better be more careful.
04:28But what they are going to get is that's exactly what will happen, but they already know that. And
04:34what they will not then learn is not anything that they, they not any surprise that they're being
04:40investigated. They will actually learn how we are investigating and targeting them, which allows
04:46for them. I disagree. They will just know through the publication. I'm sorry. What we don't want to
04:51do is that you just reclaim your time. So to members, all the members committee, right and left. I mean,
04:57if it's your time, you can reclaim your time. Yeah. So if you're reclaiming your time, it's yours. Okay.
05:02No, um, no, I just lost my train of thought. Sorry. Go ahead. Well, well, we're not going to let's,
05:08this isn't, this isn't a debate. Well, I, I'm, my frustration is we're talking about a piece of
05:11legislation here and it's, again, it has come off the rails. So now our democratic colleagues are
05:16totally against the Republican colleagues. And now we're in a fist fight in the middle of the
05:19committee, which. No, we're not. We're, they're making their points and you're making your points.
05:24That's what it is. But you have to do it by the rules of the committee. Trust me. I would never want
05:28to fist fight. Yeah. All right. Um, just, and I, I, I, I reclaim, I just, I, I just. All right. The order, uh,
05:37you have a minute and 23 seconds. I hate to think that we've gotten lost in the actual legislation
05:42that I personally think promotes good information to the American public and Congress. And I understand
05:49your, your perspective, sir. But as a, as a, as a former member of the military that did this for
05:54a living, uh, it, it, putting them back on their heels and understanding that we're aggressively coming
06:00at them makes their tactics, techniques, and procedures fail. And then they have to start
06:05completely over. And then we continue to maneuver. Would the gentleman yield for one comment?
06:08Yes. Uh, we are in agreement on this, that figuring out effective measures to put these
06:16organizations on their heels is critical. And that is where the department's energy should
06:23be placed. Not on disclosing in various forms information that they already have, that they
06:31could publish if they thought that were effective, uh, counter surveillance and effective investigation.
06:37Um, but instead to essentially create busy work that, yes, I'm sure the American people have
06:45an interest in this, but I don't think that the American people's interest in this will have
06:50an impact on keeping our homeland safer. So I would love to work on other ways of targeting
06:56these foreign terrorist organizations so that we can actually put them on their heels. This
07:02bill doesn't do that. Yeah. I yield back, sir. Thank you.