On Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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00:00Britt is trying to cover two different subcommittees.
00:04She will be returning, but in the meantime, has asked that I take the gavel.
00:11And fortunately, that means that I get to welcome you, but also ask the first questions.
00:18But first, we want to hear your statement.
00:22So please proceed.
00:24Yes.
00:24Well, thank you, Senator Collins.
00:26And I do want to thank Senator Britt as well for bringing this group of individuals together
00:31for this committee hearing so that we could talk about the priorities of the United States
00:35of America and what we can do to work together to secure our homeland.
00:38I do want to thank Senator Murphy as well and look forward to our conversations that we
00:42can have today and far into the future.
00:45In the first 100 days, the Trump administration has already delivered for the American people
00:50a drastic turnaround in homeland security.
00:53From the southern border to investing in our Coast Guard to cybersecurity, and we are just
00:59getting started.
01:01I'm very proud of the accomplishments that we have made so far and working with President
01:05Trump and his leadership since he took office.
01:07At the southern border, we have obtained near total control with a 95 percent decrease in
01:13daily encounters since President Trump took office.
01:15March saw the lowest number of encounters in this nation's history at less than 7,200.
01:22There were days in there where we had less than 200 encounters a day, which is absolutely
01:27remarkable.
01:28And again, that is the lowest number of encounters at the border in this nation's history.
01:33Under the previous administration, when Joe Biden was the President of the United States,
01:37U.S. Border Customs and Border Protection was at times encountering over 15,000 people per
01:44day.
01:45This astonishing turnaround is a testament to the resolve and to the leadership of President
01:49Trump to make America safe, and to the incredible work of the men and women of the Department
01:54of Homeland Security.
01:55The secure border has allowed Border Patrol to zero in on the cartels and on illicit activities
02:00that are going on.
02:01President Trump has designated six different cartels and violent criminal gangs as foreign
02:06terrorist organizations.
02:08This has allowed us to use a whole-of-government approach in how we go after drug traffickers
02:13and human traffickers.
02:14And in March, fentanyl traffic at the border fell by 54 percent compared to the previous year.
02:20We're enforcing immigration laws to identify, arrest, detain, and remove dangerous illegals
02:27from our country.
02:28We're prioritizing those who have committed crimes, aliens who are a threat to our public safety
02:33and to our national security, especially those who are affiliated with terrorist organizations
02:38such as Trende, Aragua, and MS-13.
02:41This includes those who also have final orders of removal.
02:45We've worked to enforce President Trump's America First Trade agenda through the U.S. Custom
02:50and Border Protection's enforcement.
02:52The Biden administration's policies hollowed out our economy and America's industrial base,
02:58and it shipped our jobs overseas.
03:00President Trump is changing that.
03:02His historic actions are proving that tariffs are an effective negotiating tool to address
03:06trade imbalances.
03:08And in fact, companies are reshoring jobs here every single day.
03:12The Department of Homeland Security is reforming, and we're rethinking federal involvement in
03:16emergency management.
03:18President Trump recently announced that there will be a FEMA review council, which I will co-chair
03:22with the Department of Defense secretary.
03:25This council is charged with fixing a broken system that's returning power to state and
03:30emergency management directors and making America safe.
03:34We're also taking steps to defend the nation's transportation systems, which are vulnerable to
03:39targets and to attacks.
03:41The Transportation Security Administration is responsible for ensuring the security of all
03:45those who travel.
03:46In a single day, there are over 45,000 flights in this country, with nearly 2.9 million passengers
03:53in the United States.
03:54We're fulfilling our obligation to launch Real ID, which happened yesterday, and we follow
03:59federal law, as it was passed 20 years ago.
04:03Validated IDs will secure travel, safeguard our elections, and make sure that we never open
04:09a door to an opportunity for another tragedy like 9-11 again.
04:13As technology advances, so do the threats to our nation.
04:16And that's why cybersecurity is a crucial component of our security measures we're taking seriously
04:23and investing in going forward.
04:26Countries like Communist China have built the capability and the intent to infiltrate
04:30and potentially disrupt our critical infrastructure.
04:33But despite these threats, the Biden administration instead used CISA to play politics and to police
04:39speech.
04:40Under President Trump, we've been working to get CISA back on mission and make sure that they
04:44are securing our infrastructure.
04:46The Coast Guard is the only branch of the U.S. Armed Services that are under the Department
04:51of Homeland Security.
04:53It has many missions with specialized needs.
04:56And as we secure the southern border, the cartels have shifted their activities out to
05:00the maritime borders.
05:01The Coast Guard has already surpassed fiscal year 2024 drug interdiction numbers and search
05:06and rescue and illegal interdiction.
05:09Still, the Coast Guard is facing our greatest readiness challenge since World War II.
05:15With Force Design 2028, we will transform the Coast Guard to make it a more agile, capable,
05:20and responsive force.
05:22And since I took office, one of the responsibilities that I have is reforming the Secret Service.
05:27In the wake of the July 13th assassination attempt, we have needs there that I'm hoping you
05:32will consider.
05:33We've reassessed the Secret Service's needs, we've refocused recruitment away from DEI objectives,
05:39and instead focused people in on investing in the agency's zero-fail mission.
05:44These accomplishments are just a portion of what the Department of Homeland Security has
05:47achieved with President Trump's leadership in the last 100 days.
05:51And with the support of this committee, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make this
05:54department more efficient and more effective in securing our nation.
05:58I'm so grateful to the men and women of the department, and they are examples of bravery,
06:03patriotism, and dedication.
06:05It's our responsibility to continue providing them with resources, training, and equipment
06:09that they need to do their jobs.
06:11Thank you so much for your support, for the opportunity to be here, and I look forward to
06:14the discussion.