At a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) spoke about the work of Sec. Kristi Noem.
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00:00Thank you Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing to conduct oversight of the
00:03Department of Homeland Security and welcome Secretary Noem to your first
00:07hearing here. On this subcommittee our job is to keep our country safe and to
00:11safeguard our values as Americans. Last year working together we secured
00:16consistent increases for border operations funding and help bring
00:21encounters at the southern border down and seizures of narcotics including
00:25fentanyl up through critical investments at our ports of entry CBP
00:30officers and increases to homeland security investigations. Normally I would
00:36focus my questions for the secretary on the details of the president's budget but
00:41I would be remiss if I did not mention that we are holding today's hearing
00:45without an actual budget for fiscal year 2026 to review and the skinny budget
00:51released last Friday is filled with more it's filled more with politics than
00:55facts so let me begin with some facts that I think are important for the
01:00American people to hear about what you're doing with their money because three
01:05months into this administration America is more vulnerable than it's ever been
01:09our homeland is not secure in the first 100 days of the Trump administration you
01:18have slashed our nation's cyber defenses letting Russia China and Iran steal our top secrets and
01:26Americans personal data you've wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on illegal
01:31detention and deportation including some people who are trying to come into this
01:35country quote the legal way within our broken immigration system despite by the
01:41department's own admission southern border encounters already at record lows sent emails to
01:47US citizens that read please leave the United States immediately removed US citizen
01:54children including those with terminal illnesses raise the price tag of future
02:01disasters by cutting billions from projects across the country to make our
02:06infrastructure more resilient including a bipartisan program that was enacted into law by
02:12president Trump himself and taken millions of dollars away from the DHS workforce and operations for what appears to be taxpayer funded political advertisements
02:24during our member day hearing last month I also raised the unacceptable and unconstitutional decisions this administration has been making with the funds provided to the department by this committee including the sudden and unexplained termination of DHS grants to states, universities, universities, and nonprofits, and nonprofits.
02:30organizations the cancellation of the
02:44cancellation of the disaster relief funds brick program violations of the Fifth Amendment right to do process
02:49of the Fifth Amendment right to do process enshrined in the Constitution and reductions in force of parts of the department's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman as well as the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman I also have serious concerns with the administration's decision to revoke the bargaining rights for DHS personnel with an exception made for unions that have vocally
03:19continue with regard to that of the
03:40law. It is no secret the administration has ramped up immigration detention
03:45beyond what Congress funded. Increases to ICE at the expense of other national
03:51security programs and initiatives that members on both sides of the aisle voted
03:55for undermines our core work and congressional intent. DHS is cashing
04:01checks it simply doesn't have in hopes that reconciliation passes and will cover
04:06their shortfall. That is an incredibly risky strategy and only sets up essential
04:13national security agencies for failure or violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act.
04:18How does that secure the homeland? There have been bipartisan discussions
04:24surrounding the organizational structure of the Department of Homeland Security
04:28whether it's making FEMA an independent agency or transferring components like
04:33the US Coast Guard or the US Secret Service to other departments. We will
04:38never shy away from discussions about how we can improve the Department but absent
04:44an enacted law from Congress making changes to the Department's
04:47organizational structure this subcommittee will continue to conduct
04:51oversight over all existing DHS components and provide for their
04:57continued funding in the Homeland Security bill. I know that there are many
05:02areas in this bill that share bipartisan support and I am so proud of the
05:07relationship that Chairman Amadei and I have built. I know that even in this
05:11highly partisan environment he and I are committed to welcoming ideas for how to
05:16improve the Department and better manage the Department. But the Trump
05:22administration's actions have pushed us to unprecedented and to a sobering
05:26moment. America is a democracy not a dictatorship. In a democracy we are
05:34organized around the rule of law and those laws are based on a core set of
05:40constitutional rights. You may be familiar with the Bill of Rights. It includes the
05:46Fourth Amendment which forbids unreasonable searches and seizures, the Fifth
05:50Amendment which guarantees the right to due process, and the Sixth Amendment with which
05:56protects the right to a fair trial and legal counsel. As we endeavor to secure
06:00the homeland, we must continue to protect and defend the Constitution of the
06:06United States. That is not a secondary mission. Let me conclude and take a moment
06:12to recognize the dedication and commitment of the women and men of the
06:16Department of Homeland Security who carry out the Department's vital missions
06:19that help protect the American people from a wide range of threats. Again I want to
06:25thank the chairman for holding this hearing. Mr. Chairman, I look forward to
06:29working with you on a bill that reflects those shared priorities, keeps our
06:32country safe, and upholds our shared values as Americans. I yield back.