[Senate Hearing 117-302]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                        S. Hrg. 117-302

  RESOURCES AND AUTHORITIES NEEDED TO PROTECT AND SECURE THE HOMELAND

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               before the

                              COMMITTEE ON
               HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS


                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                             JULY 27, 2021

                               __________

        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                       Printed for the use of the
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
        
        	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
        	
		     U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

47-977 			   WASHINGTON : 2022
        	
        
        

        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California             MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
         Christopher J. Mulkins, Director of Homeland Security
                    Sarah C. Pierce, Senior Counsel
                Benjamin J. Schubert, Research Assistant
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
    Andrew Dockham, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director
       Kirsten D. Madison, Minority Director of Homeland Security
       Jeremy H. Hayes, Minority Senior Professional Staff Member
          Cara G. Mumford, Minority Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     Thomas J. Spino, Hearing Clerk

                            C O N T E N T S

                                 ------                                
Opening statements:
                                                                   Page
    Senator Peters...............................................     1
    Senator Portman..............................................     3
    Senator Padilla..............................................    12
    Senator Johnson..............................................    14
    Senator Hassan...............................................    17
    Senator Scott................................................    20
    Senator Rosen................................................    23
    Senator Carper...............................................    25
    Senator Romney...............................................    28
    Senator Lankford.............................................    30
    Senator Hawley...............................................    33
    Senator Ossoff...............................................    36
Prepared statements:
    Senator Peters...............................................    41
    Senator Portman..............................................    43

                               WITNESSES
                         Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Honorable Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S. Department of 
  Homeland Security
    Testimony....................................................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................    47

                                APPENDIX

Senator Scott charts.............................................    55
Responses to post-hearing questions for the Record:
    Mr. Mayorkas.................................................    58

 
     RESOURCES AND AUTHORITIES NEEDED TO PROTECT AND SECURE THE HOMELAND

                              ----------                              


                         TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2021

                                     U.S. Senate,  
                           Committee on Homeland Security  
                                  and Governmental Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., via 
Webex and in room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. 
Gary Peters, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, 
Padilla, Ossoff, Portman, Johnson, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and 
Hawley.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PETERS\1\

    Chairman Peters. The Committee will come to order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Peters appear in the Appendix 
on page 41.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to recognize 
the passing of one our colleagues, Senator Mike Enzi. He was a 
long-serving Member of this Committee, and someone who really 
embodied the nonpartisan tradition of this Committee as well. 
He was always a willing partner when it came to common-sense 
legislative ideas and our thoughts and prayers are with his 
family. I would like to take a brief moment of silence for us 
to honor his memory.
    [Pause.]
    Thank you. Thank you, Secretary Mayorkas for being here 
today, and for your service to our Nation. In accepting the 
nomination to be Secretary of the Department Homeland Security 
(DHS), you inherited a number of serious challenges. You have a 
difficult job and I appreciate your unwavering commitment, and 
I have been pleased to see the Department and the 
administration take concrete steps to combat threats against 
American communities, including the ongoing Coronavirus 
Diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
    Today, this Committee will discuss how we can help you and 
the dedicated workforce at DHS better protect the American 
people from these threats by examining the administration's 
budget request for 2022.
    Every year, the Homeland Security Secretary testifies 
before this committee to discuss the ``tough challenges'' that 
were made to arrive at these final budgetary numbers, but we 
often do not hear how those decisions were actually made. The 
numbers in this budget proposed represent decisions that will 
have a real effect on the safety of the American people, and it 
is our duty to carefully consider your proposal and thoroughly 
evaluate the process that led you to these conclusions.
    This year, I am pleased to see that your proposed budget 
focuses on tackling some of the most serious challenges and 
threats facing our Nation, challenges that have only been 
compounded by a pandemic COVID-19 that has taken the lives of 
more than 600,000 Americans and left serious economic 
destruction in its wake. It is clear these threats to the 
American people will only grow and continue to evolve. This is 
especially true as we continue seeing a scourge of ransomware 
attacks against everything from K-12 schools, Federal networks, 
small businesses, a major pipeline, even meat processing 
plants. These attacks, which continue to disrupt countless 
American lives, show that we must ensure the Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other Federal 
entities responsible for our Federal defenses have the 
necessary resources to formulate an all-of-government response 
to foreign adversaries and criminal organizations who are 
relentlessly targeting network vulnerabilities and disrupting 
American lives and livelihoods.
    At the same time, the Department must also be able to fight 
against physical threats that put thousands of American 
communities at risk. In recent years, violence driven white 
supremacists and anti-government ideologies has continued to 
rise and lead to real world harm, as we saw from a deadly 
breach of the U.S. Capitol. I am pleased to see that this 
year's budget request supports addressing the root causes of 
this horrific violence by supporting innovative, community-
based methods for countering and collecting more information 
and data on domestic terrorism, while respecting the privacy of 
American citizens.
    In addition to addressing these significant challenges, I 
look forward to hearing how the Department plans on investing 
in effective and modern border security that not only protects 
our Nation, but also provides for efficient and fair processing 
of asylum seekers at our Southern Border. I hope to also 
continue working together to ensure secure and efficient lawful 
trade and travel at our nation's Ports of Entry (POE), so that 
border States like Michigan can continue to remain hubs for 
international commerce.
    As the Department continues to address these significant 
challenges, it is also essential they work to counter the 
threats posed by climate change through disaster resilience and 
hazard mitigation. Early investments in adaptation, mitigation, 
and resiliency efforts will save taxpayer dollars in the long 
run. I appreciate that this budget request highlights the need 
to allocate more funding to reduce the risk for communities 
when disaster strikes. It is my hope that this budget, and our 
discussion here today, will reflect that broad scope of 
challenging responsibilities, but also the Department's 
opportunities.
    Secretary Mayorkas, I look forward to hearing from you 
today.
    Ranking Member Portman, you are recognized for your opening 
remarks.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PORTMAN\1\

    Senator Portman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to 
thank you for taking a moment of silence this morning to 
recognize and pay tribute to our former colleague, Mike Enzi. 
Mike was the best: the best Senator, the best person, and our 
prayers go to his family, to Diana and his kids, and the people 
of Wyoming during this difficult time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Portman appear in the 
Appendix on page 43.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Mr. Secretary, welcome to the Committee. Your appearance 
before this Committee comes at a critical time because the 
capabilities of your Department have never been needed more. We 
are facing simultaneous threats as you know, and as we have 
discussed. Of course, our border is facing the worst migrant 
crisis that we have had in over two decades. It is obviously 
true that we need a new approach. What we are doing now is not 
working. It is the worst crisis in terms of migration, it is 
the worst crisis in terms of illicit drugs and other contraband 
coming across the border, and we need to hear from you about 
that today.
    Second, our nation is under attack in a cyberwar. We have 
seen this repeatedly and the Chairman just talked about it, the 
SolarWinds hack, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, and 
so many others demonstrate the vulnerability of both our public 
and private systems and our critical infrastructure. We have to 
be better at anticipating the next threat and better at 
defending ourselves and pushing back.
    That is why I hope today we can discuss how to ensure that 
CISA, the organization within DHS, is more effective at leading 
this effort in defending against cyber threats across the 
government and within the private sector. And not just 
defending, but also, going on offense.
    Third, whether it is foreign terrorists or domestic violent 
extremists (DVE), there are significant threats to our 
communities in my State of Ohio and across the country. Our 
communities of faith are facing more threats. The Department's 
work at a national level is critical, as are initiatives like 
the Nonprofit Security Grant program (NSGP) that puts Federal 
expertise and some resources to work in helping communities of 
faith and other nonprofits be able to address and prepare for a 
variety of threats.
    I would like to focus on the situation at the border where 
two surges are still underway. As we just talked about, the 
surge of unlawful migrants is at the highest level it has been 
in over two decades, and the surge of illicit narcotics, 
particularly the deadly synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, 
which, unfortunately, over the most recent year for which we 
have data which would be 2020, have resulted in more overdose 
deaths in our country than ever in our history. Both of these 
surges are at record levels.
    In the first case, the administration's own policies have 
caused unlawful migration to increase every single month since 
Inauguration Day. This threatens the safety and security of our 
country and that of the migrants themselves who are exposed to 
these dangerous and volatile journeys north. President Biden 
told us all in March that the elevated border numbers were 
seasonal and we should expect those to go down as the summer 
approached. But now that we are in the hot and dangerous summer 
months, border encounters have not gone down. In fact, they 
continue to rise, and again, so does the risk involved in 
making that journey north, especially through the deserts of 
Northern Mexico.
    With COVID-19 cases now on the rise again, unfortunately, 
we see the administration actually considering repealing the 
COVID-related Title 42 for all adults without adequate 
preparation, potentially deepening this crisis further. We have 
done this before. We did this with regard to children, 
unaccompanied children. We did this with regard to families. 
Most families in fact, I am told, are not subject to Title 42 
anymore. We did it starting on Inauguration Day, thinking that, 
this was something that would open up the border more.
    But we did not prepare at all. The administration was 
overwhelmed with unaccompanied children, overwhelmed with 
families. My hope is that that decision, which occurred at a 
time when COVID-19 was raging all throughout our country, will 
teach us some lessons about what to do now. DHS was not 
prepared and we have to be sure that DHS understands that is 
not appropriate going forward. It is very clear to us what is 
likely to happen if Title 42 is lifted for adults because it 
has already happened, or unaccompanied kids and families.
    It certainly is very clear to the U.S. Border Patrol 
(USBP). When I was down there earlier this year with you, Mr. 
Secretary, I had the chance to visit with a lot of Border 
Patrol agents and talked to them about this. They are very 
concerned, as you know. They said they would be overwhelmed the 
moment Title 42 public health authority was revoked for adults.
    I just got back from a bipartisan delegation trip, meeting 
with the presidents of Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, and 
Guatemala. All four of these countries have sent more and more 
migrants to the United States over the past several months. All 
four of those presidents have said they want their young people 
to stay in their country. They do not want them coming north to 
the United States. They want them to stay and be part of the 
future of their own country. However, because of our broken 
asylum system, they are coming north, in large measure because 
traffickers can rightly say to these prospective migrants and 
their families, because of the way our asylum system works, in 
particular, if you come north and come to the border, you can 
come in. You can come in and you can stay. And those coyotes, 
those human smugglers, those traffickers, who do not care about 
the humane treatment of those migrants, who do not care about 
their well-being, they have the ability to say that because our 
system effectively provides for that.
    The presidents of those countries do not understand why 
America would want to create this pull factor. We talk a lot 
about the push factor, and I think a lot of us want to do more 
with regard to dealing with the circumstances in Central 
America and elsewhere with regard to the push factor, but we 
are also providing the pull factor. And that is not fair.
    Turning to the second part of the surge, recent sobering 
news from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
says that overdose deaths have risen to record levels, and the 
main driver of that is fentanyl. It is a harsh reminder of the 
work left yet to be done. On this Committee, we have worked 
hard to put in place the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose 
Prevention (STOP) Act. We passed the legislation and now it is 
being implemented by the Department, by U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) in particular. The CBP has done a better and 
better job, in my view. They still have not been able to work 
with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to meet all of the 
requirements of the legislation, but frankly, it has helped. 
The problem is, instead of coming by the U.S. mail system into 
our communities, this poison is now being sent through Mexico. 
Often, the precursors are sold to Mexico, then it is made into 
fentanyl, then it comes over our Southern Border. That is what 
all the data shows.
    The June CBP operational statistics show that seizures of 
fentanyl so far this fiscal year (FY) are 78 percent higher 
than all of fiscal year 2020. If we are seizing that much, how 
much are we missing? A lot, according to the Border Patrol. We 
need to hear how this budget request ensures that your 
Department has the tools and resources needed to stop this 
surge of deadly drugs at all parts of the border.
    Of course, these two issues are related because the 
traffickers are not just smuggling people. Many are 
narcotraffickers also, smuggling these poisons into our 
communities.
    I was pleased to see that your budget request includes 
increased funding for technology modernization at our Ports of 
Entry, including modern scanning equipment to help efficiently 
detect and stop illegal drugs and other prohibited items from 
entering our country. I have seen some of that technology 
working in person during my trips to the border. I think this 
is an important part of ensuring that our borders are both 
enabling commerce and trade for the economic vitality of U.S. 
communities and that we are stopping the contraband.
    At the same time, I was very disappointed to see the budget 
request de-emphasize funding in key areas for Customs and 
Border Protection when we need their capabilities more than 
ever to combat criminal activity like trafficking in humans and 
illicit drugs. I am very concerned about technology investments 
that are not in this budget. Investments in barriers, towers, 
and cutting-edge autonomous technology, as an example, between 
those Ports of Entry, is cut in this budget.
    I was particularly surprised to see that technology that 
was married with barriers was cut in this budget because that 
traditionally has been a pretty bipartisan effort to ensure 
that, yes, we have barriers in place where appropriate, but 
that it is accompanied by technology. Without the technology, 
the barriers are far less effective. Yet that is cut in this 
budget, I do not understand that. Maybe I can be corrected in 
this hearing, because I cannot believe that that technology 
would be reduced at this time.
    I hope to talk today about your vision for improving the 
tools and technology that is available to our law enforcement 
personnel at a time when they deserve our support, given the 
crisis at the border.
    Mr. Secretary, again, thank you very much for being here, 
we look forward to your testimony.
    Chairman Peters. Secretary Mayorkas, it is the practice of 
the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) 
to swear in witnesses. I you will stand and raise your right 
hand please.
    Do you swear the testimony that you will give before this 
Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 
the truth, so help you, God?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I do.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Secretary Mayorkas. You may be 
seated.
    Secretary Mayorkas is the seventh Secretary of the 
Department of Homeland Security. Previously he served the 
Department as Deputy Secretary and as Director of U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and began his 
public service at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
    Thank you for appearing before the Committee today. I 
understand that you have limited time with us and that you have 
a very important counternarcotics engagement immediately 
following this hearing, so we appreciate that you will be 
available for only one round of questions. We also look forward 
to you appearing before the Committee in two months for our 
annual Threats Hearing.
    I will now recognize you for seven minutes for your opening 
statement.

TESTIMONY OF THE HONORABLE ALEJANDRO N. MAYORKAS,\1\ SECRETARY, 
              U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

    Secretary Mayorkas. Chairman Peters, Ranking Member 
Portman, and distinguished Members of the Committee, good 
morning. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you again 
today. Allow me to join you in expressing my sorrow upon the 
passing of Senator Enzi, with whom I had the privilege of 
working in my prior tenure in the Department of Homeland 
Security, and allow me to join you, please, in expressing my 
prayers and thoughts for his family at this difficult time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Mayorkas appear in the Appendix 
on page 47.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Every day the 240,000 public servants of the Department of 
Homeland Security confront an increasingly complex and dynamic 
threat landscape. They do so with unflinching dedication to our 
mission and a deep sense of purpose. I am here today to ask for 
your continued support of their work. As you know, it is the 
resources afforded by this Congress that enable my outstanding 
colleagues to keep the American people and that enable us to 
recruit and retain our nation's most talented professionals.
    The President's fiscal year 2022 budget helps us meet these 
essential goals. First, the President's budget invests in a 
secure border. It directs $1.2 billion toward more effective 
and modern port and border security, including a $655 million 
investment toward modernizing our land ports of entry (LPOE), 
another $47 million to integrate Customs and Border Protection 
detection capabilities, and robust investments in border 
surveillance technology.
    There is no request for additional border wall 
construction.
    Our teams at Customs and Border Protection employs a wide 
array of proven tactics and cutting-edge technology to defend 
the American people against dangerous threats to our borders. 
To support this challenging task, the President's budget 
includes $37 million to integrate aerial border security 
technologies that will provide a common operating picture for 
law enforcement. This will enable our Border Patrol agents, 
regardless of their location, to act based on consistent, 
shared information.
    This is absolutely essential to protecting our homeland in 
the 21st century, and it is just a snapshot of the incredible 
work being done on the front lines, as part of our layered 
approach to border security. I urge you respectfully to support 
the President's budget for these requested investments for 
smart and strategic border security measures.
    Second, consistent with the President's recently released 
immigration blueprint calling for safe, orderly, and humane 
policies and practices to govern immigration, this budget 
reflects our administration's commitment to rebuilding our 
system into one that is fair, efficient, and upholds our 
nation's values and our laws. It includes a new discretionary 
request for $345 million for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services to reduce the backlog of applications and petitions, 
ramp up interview capacity, and meet our goal of welcoming up 
to 125,000 refugees per year. To ensure the safe and human 
treatment of migrants at the Southwest Border, the request 
includes $163 million for medical needs for those in Customs 
and Border Protection custody.
    Third, the budget tackles a rising threat to our national 
security, cyberattacks. The President is requesting new 
resources for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 
Agency, which leads the effort to defend against cyber threats 
and promote resilience across the Federal Government. We are 
seeking $2.1 billion for cyber activities which builds on the 
$650 million already provided to CISA in the American Rescue 
Plan (ARP). This funding will help CISA respond to 
governmentwide breaches, increase cyber defenses, hire 
qualified experts, and obtain support services to protect and 
defend critical infrastructure and Federal information 
technology (IT) system.
    Fourth, the President's budget invests in what we need to 
prepare for: increasingly costly, devastating, and frequent 
natural disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) has stepped up to meet this challenge, but the challenge 
is one that requires new resources. This budget invests $532 
million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level to help FEMA 
and its workforce combat the realities of climate change in an 
equitable way, including significant commitments to pre-
disaster planning and climate resilience grant programs that 
benefit communities across the country.
    Finally, this budget invests necessary resources in one of 
our top priorities at the Department of Homeland Security: 
combating the growing threat of domestic violent extremism. 
Domestic terrorism is the most lethal and persistent terrorism-
related threat to the United States today. That is why we are 
requesting $131 million to support innovative methods to 
prevent domestic terrorism while respecting privacy, civil 
rights, and civil liberties (CRCL). The funding also lifts up 
vital research on the root causes of radicalization, enhanced 
community outreach, and locally driven prevention efforts.
    It is one of the great honors of my life to serve alongside 
the dedicate public servants of the Department of Homeland 
Security. Their commitment to a complex and dynamic homeland 
security mission is unwavering, and I am committed to ensuring 
they are resourced, compensated, and recognized appropriately. 
I ask for your continued support and partnership in this 
effort.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to be here today. I 
look forward to discussing the President's budget priorities 
for the Department, and I welcome your questions. Thank you.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Secretary Mayorkas. As you 
know, this past year we have seen hackers target our water 
supply, the Chinese government has exploited vulnerabilities in 
Microsoft services, the Russian government conducts cyber 
espionage against dozens of Federal agencies, and cyber 
criminals are attacking our critical infrastructure.
    This budget does contain a request for $2.1 billion for 
CISA, but could you please tell the Committee why this figure 
is sufficient for us to deal with these attacks?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you very much, Chairman. The 
budget recognize the fact that cybersecurity is not only a 
matter of homeland security but national security as well, and 
it invests in every dimension of our defense to this increasing 
threat to the homeland and to our country. It resources CISA to 
develop response teams that can assist not only Federal 
Government agencies across the enterprise but State, local, 
Tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners, as well as, and 
critically, the private sector in understanding the threat, 
building their prevention capabilities, as well as resilience 
should they be victimized by a cyber threat.
    It invests in our greatest resource of all, our human 
capital. We are underway in executing the largest cybersecurity 
hiring initiative in the Department's history. We invest in 
technology and the capabilities that we have as a Department to 
address this increasing threat--technology, human resources 
(HR), the human capital, the talent--and also increasing our 
footprint throughout the country so that we are present and 
more able and nimble to respond to events wherever they might 
occur and support our partners, from border to border, and sea 
to sea.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Mr. Secretary, 
as you know, Canada will soon begin to reopen its border with 
the United States, allowing those who are fully vaccinated to 
cross the border. U.S. restrictions, however, remain 
essentially unchanged since the beginning of the pandemic, and 
those restrictions are hurting the cross-country communities in 
Michigan, as well as all along the Northern Border.
    So my question for you, Mr. Secretary, is what criteria are 
you using to inform the decisions on restricting cross-border 
travel with Canada?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, we are mindful of and 
monitoring, every single day, the economic impact of the travel 
restrictions. Our greatest priority is the health and safety of 
the American people.
    Just last week, I spoke with my counterpart in Canada, 
Minister Blair. I was aware of the measure that Canada would 
take, and we are watching the trajectory of the pandemic, a 
pandemic of the unvaccinated. We are watching the Delta variant 
very carefully, and we will lift those restrictions in 
collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control when the arc 
of the pandemic so warrants.
    This is a public health decision. We are mindful of the 
economic impacts and we urge the American people who have yet 
been vaccinated to get their vaccines. This is a pandemic of 
the unvaccinated at this point.
    Chairman Peters. As you monitor this situation, Mr. 
Secretary, is it possible that the Department will consider 
easing restrictions based on type of travel across the border 
from Canada? For example, will immediate relatives of U.S. 
citizens and Green Card holders soon be permitted to enter from 
Canada?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, we are looking at not 
only the economic impacts but the other impacts on people's 
lives, the fact that families have not seen one another across 
the border. We are looking at all the different ways that we 
can compartmentalize the issue and see whether we can allow 
certain flows, or ease certain restrictions in a limited way, 
without imperiling the public health and safety of the American 
people, as well as the people of Canada.
    This is something that we are looking at very carefully and 
in many different ways. I commit to you to continue that close 
study on a daily basis.
    Chairman Peters. We appreciate that, and it does require 
that kind of daily look, I believe. We look forward to 
continuing to work with you on this, Mr. Secretary. I can tell 
you the impact is significant in my State and other States on 
the Northern Border.
    Mr. Secretary, in 2020, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigations (FBI's) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 
found that cybercrime victims in Michigan saw a loss of nearly 
$84 million, and we know that malicious actors are increasingly 
relying on ransomware attacks to extort ransoms from these 
victims.
    I understand that early in your tenure at DHS you launched 
a Ransomware Sprint to begin tackling this issue. If you could 
please let this Committee know how you are organizing the 
Department to assist public and private entities to prevent and 
to respond to ransomware attacks.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman, ransomware is one of the 
greatest cybersecurity threats that we face. We have seen a 300 
percent increase in ransomware attacks over the last year. We 
have seen more than $300 million in losses this year alone to 
ransomware. We are working in close coordination with our 
Federal partners and the private sector to educate the private 
sector about the steps that they can take to best guard against 
a ransomware attack.
    In fact, not only did we start a Ransomware Sprint, well 
before the Colonial Pipeline attack that galvanized the public 
attention, for all the right reasons, but just last week we 
launched the StopRansomware.gov website, the first of its kind, 
which is a one-stop clearinghouse for information related to 
ransomware, how businesses--small, medium, and large--how 
American residents, the American public, can protect 
themselves, by backing up their systems, by changing their 
passwords--the blocking and tackling that is easy, accessible, 
and can really make a difference.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Ranking Member 
Portman, you are recognized for your questions.
    Senator Portman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, we 
have talked about this in our conversations, but as you know I 
am very concerned about the lack of investment in technology 
between our ports of entry, which is where, obviously, the vast 
majority of encounters are occurring. The DHS budget request 
for border security assets and infrastructure is $54 million, 
which is a deep reduction from the more than $1.5 billion 
funded for this last year. You are also asking us to rescind 
$1.9 billion in funds for border security.
    Over time, a lot of Democrats have said walls are not 
effective, that the technology is what really is effective. 
Certainly if you have barriers you have to have technology so 
that they can be more useful, because people are not doing the 
surveillance then folks will go under, over, and around the 
walls. Yet here we see a big cut in investments, tools like 
autonomous towers with cameras and sensors, the ground 
installation of sensors, which you and I saw when we were out 
there. Badly needed. With regard to the El Paso Sector, as I 
recall, the actual fence is about 80 or 90 percent complete, 
and the final completion makes all the sense in the world. We 
have already paid for it. Otherwise you have a huge problem for 
the Border Patrol protecting those openings.
    But what even was more shocking to me is that I was told 
only about 20 percent of the technology was completed, and on 
Inauguration Day, when the wall was halted, the so-called 
construction of the fence, that the technology was ended too. I 
do not get that, and I would wonder if you could give us an 
answer as to why you would want to reduce the amount of funding 
for technology between the ports of entry, and specifically as 
it relates to technology that could be contained with and makes 
these fencing and other barriers more effective.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Portman, you and I have 
discussed this issue before. We appreciate this Committee's 
support of its investments in our technology, which is, in 
fact, needed. We have proposed a budget that includes $655 
million to modernize our ports of entry, as well as $54.3 
million of investments in technology between the ports.
    I am looking at the projects, project-by-project. In fact, 
I just approved the implementation of technology with respect 
to 33 gates that were not previously operationalized. I also 
approved, in the San Diego Sector of our border, the 
implementation of technology to complete that sector of the 
border.
    As I have mentioned before, and as I am committed, I am 
looking at it project-by-project, to understand the 
technological needs, the mission needs, and all aspects of the 
analysis. And I commit to continuing this.
    Senator Portman. Mr. Secretary, with all due respect you 
are not going to have any money to do that if you followed your 
own budget. I know these budgets have to go through an OMB 
White House process, having been OMB director, but my gosh, I 
hope you will fight for more money for technology between the 
ports of entry. That is where the encounters are taking place. 
It is at record levels in terms of the illicit narcotics we 
have talked about, like fentanyl, the worst in over two 
decades, as you have acknowledge, with regard to migrants, and 
potentially about to get a lot worse with regard to your Title 
42 decision.
    With $54 million you are not going to be able to do this. 
You had $1.5 billion funded last year, and you want to see us 
rescind an additional $1.9 billion. So, policy follows money, 
and in this case you are not providing yourself with the tools 
you need to be able to allow the Border Patrol to do their job, 
and I know you know that.
    With regard to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
Office (ICE), ICE numbers of arrests have dropped considerably 
as the borders have faced this surge, about a 58 percent 
decrease between the last administration and this 
administration. I cannot imagine what these ICE agents must be 
thinking. They were told, on Inauguration Day, stop the 
deportations altogether, and now they are apparently being told 
not to arrest people. Otherwise, arrests would not be down 
almost 60 percent at a time when we have record numbers of 
people coming into our country.
    What signal do you think that sends to the traffickers, the 
human smugglers, and the potential unlawful migrants when there 
is such a dramatic decrease in internal enforcement by ICE?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Ranking Member Portman, I look forward 
to discussing with you the comment you made after I answered 
your first question. I have much to say in that regard. But let 
me answer the question with respect to the ICE agents that you 
have now posed, because it is absolutely not true that they 
have been told not to arrest people. What they are doing is 
smart and effective law enforcement. They are focusing on the 
threats to public safety, the threats to national security, the 
threats to border security, just like any responsible and 
intelligent law enforcement agency and office would do, just as 
we did in the United States Attorney's Office, of which I was a 
part for 12 years.
    In fact, just yesterday, we announced the results of 
Operation SOAR and arrested, over time, 300 individuals who had 
committed sex offenses that we felt were a public safety 
threat. We are focused on the people that pose the greatest 
risk to the safety of the American people. We are engaging in 
smart and effective enforcement. I have traveled around the 
country to meet with ICE personnel, to speak with them, to get 
their ideas about what those threats are, how they think their 
resources should be best dedicated. Later today I am speaking 
with leaders of that agency on that very same subject. We are 
dedicated to the protection of the American public in a smart 
and effective way, not at random.
    Senator Portman. Mr. Secretary, thank you. I have limited 
time, as you know, and I want to respect my colleagues' time. A 
58 percent decrease in arrests at a time of unprecedented, at 
least the worst in over two decades, numbers of people coming 
into the country.
    Let me just ask you this question. How many unlawful 
migrants have been removed from the United States so far this 
year by ICE enforcement and removal operations?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I would be very pleased to share that 
data with you and your staff. I do not have that figure in 
front of me. But let me just say this. When individuals are 
encountered at the border, single adults, the majority of them 
are expelled under the Centers for Disease Control's Title 42 
authority. It is a public health authority held by the CDC. The 
majority are expelled. They are turned around. The others are 
placed into immigration enforcement proceedings.
    If they successfully make a claim for humanitarian relief 
under United States law, then as the law recognizes they can 
stay. The others who are in immigration enforcement 
proceedings, if their claims for humanitarian relief fail, they 
are removed. In fact, we are making reforms to increase the 
efficiency and expedition of that process, that have never been 
made before and that are long overdue.
    Senator Portman. Mr. Secretary, my time has expired. As you 
know, I respect the fact that you spent time with the ICE 
officers. I respect the fact that you, I think, personally, 
would like to see some changes. But I most respectfully say it 
is not true that they are removed. I do not think any children 
have yet been removed who came back in the last surge, in 2019. 
I think a 58 percent decrease in arrests indicates a change in 
policy. I think that the question I asked about how many 
unlawful migrants have been removed so far this year is one 
that the response will be quite shocking to people, because it 
will be incredibly low, very close to very few, maybe very few.
    We have been asking for this information for weeks. I 
appreciate the fact that today you have committed to getting us 
that information, because I think the entire Committee needs to 
see it.
    So again, thank you for your testimony today and for your 
service, and the unprecedented surge deserves a new approach 
and I look forward to working with you on that.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Ranking Member Portman. Senator 
Padilla, I understand you need to preside over the Senate 
shortly. Senator Carper has agreed to defer to you for your 
questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PADILLA

    Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Senator 
Carper, as well, so I can do exactly that, participating in 
this hearing and fulfill my duty to preside over the Senate 
session. I also want to thank Secretary Mayorkas for his 
service and his leadership at this very challenging time for 
the Department of Homeland Security, and better balancing the 
multiple objectives. Yes, maintaining safety and security at 
the border, or along the border, I should say, but also 
respecting our nation's asylum and humanitarian laws in the 
midst of a global health pandemic, which, the Delta variant is 
causing us, or reminding us that we are not out of the woods of 
the COVID-19 pandemic quite yet.
    But I wanted to raise questions and issues on a different 
topic. Mr. Secretary, last month, as Chair of the Senate 
Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border 
Safety, I held a hearing on the subject of military 
naturalizations and deported veterans. We heard from veterans 
and advocates on how difficult it became under the Trump 
administration for military naturalizations to occur. We are 
talking about eligible immigrants. It became more difficult to 
go through the naturalization process, and we heard a number of 
heartbreaking stories of families torn apart because of harsh 
immigration laws and a more difficult process than necessary. I 
had a chance to meet some of the new citizens personally on 
July 1st, when I spoke at a naturalization ceremony aboard the 
USS Iowa in Los Angeles.
    I was pleased that shortly after the hearing you made an 
announcement that the Department was working with the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense 
(DOD) to ensure that veterans received the benefits they 
deserve, and those who have been deported might be able to come 
home again.
    My question is this. In the coming weeks I understand that 
a number of reviews will be conducted on cases of deported 
veterans, and DHS will solicit feedback from stakeholders. Can 
you provide any more details on what resources, such as 
staffing or any interagency agreements have been established to 
further this specific goal and what the timeline is for 
reviewing the cases of deported veterans and their family 
members?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator Padilla, thank you for your 
kind words at the outset and also for your dedication to this 
issue, which is so important, not only to the Department of 
Homeland Security but to our country, that our veterans are 
appropriately respect for their extraordinary service to us.
    Since we spoke about this first, we have indeed embarked 
upon a number of initiatives, one, to remove barriers to 
naturalization for those veterans who are eligible for that 
benefit, and two, to embark upon a concerted effort across the 
Department to see that veterans who have been unjustly removed, 
unjustly deported from our country, can be returned. Over the 
last few days I selected a leader of this initiative within the 
Department of Homeland Security who has dedicated her career to 
this effort, and we are drawing upon the different agencies 
within DHS and across the government, and we are partnering 
with Secretary McDonough and the Veterans Administration to 
achieve this noble and imperative goal.
    Senator Padilla. Thank you. I want to ask you a question on 
the subject of wildfires. California's 2020 wildfire season was 
the worst on record. We experienced 10,000 fire incidents, more 
than 4.2 million acres burned, and more than 10,000 structures 
damaged or destroyed.
    In 2021, there are already seven large fires burning in 
California, and it is only July. The largest of these fires, 
the Dixie Fire, has already burned nearly 200,000 acres, and as 
of yesterday was only 22 percent contained.
    FEMA, specifically Region 9, has been an excellent partner 
for California as we continue to weather these unprecedented 
disasters year after year. But now is the time for increased 
funding support and understanding for the unprecedented times 
that we are living in, particularly as we see the drought 
conditions in California.
    Mr. Secretary, what resources does the Department of 
Homeland Security need to ensure that FEMA is adequately 
supported so they are not just responsive to wildfires when 
they happen but can also work with State and local partners in 
the off season to support mitigation efforts to reduce the 
chance of devastating fires?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I had the opportunity to speak 
not only with Governor Newsom but Governors across the country, 
in a bipartisan way, at a summit hosted by President Biden on 
this very serious concern. We no longer have fire season. In 
light of climate change, we are seeing fires year-round. And 
out budget requests more grant funds for FEMA in support of its 
firefighting efforts, and that is critical.
    In addition, our Office of Science and Technology (S&T) is 
working on innovative technology to best detect the probability 
that a fire will start within an approximate period of time and 
be able to assess the potential magnitude of that anticipated 
fire. We are using technology and we are seeking resources to 
fund our State, local, Tribal, and territorial partners, and 
our budget requests additional funding for this purpose.
    Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. In closing, I 
mentioned your leadership and approach at the outside of my 
comments. Just three of the many concerns, as I am sure you 
have--safety and security, of course, public health during a 
global health pandemic, respecting our nation's and 
international humanitarian and asylum laws, and more. Clearly 
these are policies that are not mutually exclusive but have to 
work well together.
    Any comments on your philosophy and your approach to this 
job?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, our commitment is to be a 
nation of laws--laws of accountability, laws of humanitarian 
relief, to respect the dignity of the individual, and I think 
you put it so powerfully and aptly, that these are not mutually 
exclusive of one another, and I appreciate that.
    Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Padilla. Senator 
Johnson, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHNSON

    Senator Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me start out 
by saying that under my chairmanship it was rare where I did 
not allow a second round of questions. This is the second time 
that the Secretary has appeared before this Committee. We have 
serious issues to discuss. This will be the second time that we 
will not be able to ask a second round of questions. I would 
hope the next time he appears, and other administration 
officials appear before this Committee, they will afford the 
Committee the respect we deserve in terms of our oversight 
responsibilities.
    Mr. Secretary, I have a short period of time here and I 
have a lot of questions. I hope you keep your answers short and 
succinct.
    I appreciate the fact that we had a phone conversation 
yesterday and we went over some information, some numbers. But 
I want you to confirm that based on that conversation that the 
numbers I am dealing with, in terms of the extent of the crisis 
on the border, are largely accurate.
    Through six months, January through June, total 
apprehensions are a little over 900,000. Is that correct?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I believe that is. As I mentioned 
yesterday, I will provide you with accurate data when our 
respective teams meet.
    Senator Johnson. Good. That compares to last year, about 
180,000. It is about a 720,000 individual increase. That is 
about a 400 percent increase on that.
    Secretary Mayorkas. That is----
    Senator Johnson. For the first six months, about 138,000 
people have been released in the interior with a notice to 
appear (NTA). Is that about the right number?
    Secretary Mayorkas. As I mentioned yesterday, Senator 
Johnson--I will provide you with the data----
    Senator Johnson. So again, I will tell you what numbers I 
have and you can respond. Again, I do not have much time.
    According to Senator Lankford's excellent report on the 
fact that we have not completed this wall and it is costing us 
billions of dollars, in that report he also stated there are 
about 35,000 individuals that have been released in the 
interior with just a notice to report. He also states that only 
about 16 percent, a little over 5,000, have reported. In total, 
in the first six months of this year, about 173,000 people have 
been released in the interior, and that compares to about 5,000 
during the first six months of 2020. An enormous increase--
168,000 people more.
    So my question is, do you have any idea where those 173,000 
people went? Do we keep track of that?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you are citing data with which 
I disagree. I will share the reasons why I disagree with you.
    Senator Johnson. OK, good. So no matter what the number is, 
do we know where the people that have been released, with 
either notice to appear or notice to report, do we know where 
they are going? Are we keeping track of it, so that we can 
round them up if they do not appear?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I would use different language. 
Senator, yes, we do. If, in fact, people flout our laws we will 
exercise our enforcement authorities as the law provides.
    Senator Johnson. OK. Do we notify States and cities that we 
are releasing individuals into their jurisdictions?
    Secretary Mayorkas. There are times when we work very 
closely with State and local jurisdictions to coordinate----
    Senator Johnson. Are there times when you do not?
    Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Of individuals.
    Senator Johnson. Does every State, does every city know 
when you are sending a truckload or a busload or a few people 
into their city or into their jurisdiction, with a notice to 
appear or a notice to report?
    Secretary Mayorkas. We do not, and there are reasons for 
that, under the law. Let me say that----
    Senator Johnson. That is all I need to know. Let us look at 
some more numbers. If we are 173,000 people released in the 
interior for the first six months, if you multiply that times 
two, that is 346,000 people. A recent report--and this is 
anecdotally, as well--we are hearing that on average there are 
750 to 1,000 known gotaways per day. That is on top of the 
6,300 apprehensions per day. So 750 to 1,000 known gotaways. We 
do not know how many known gotaways we have, but 750 to 1,000 
known gotaways per day. That translates to basically 269,000 
people getting away, getting in to the United States, and we 
have no idea who they are or where they are going. Is that 
roughly your understanding of that number as well?
    Secretary Mayorkas. No, it is not, and----
    Senator Johnson. Again, that is something else you need to 
report back to me on. So again, this is information I have. If 
you add up those two numbers, doubling the six months, people 
with notices to appear, notices to report, 346,000, plus 
269,000, that is over 600,000 people coming into this country, 
either being apprehended and dispersed or, because we are so 
overwhelming CBP that they are able to get into this country, 
get away, and nobody knows who they are, over 600,000 people. 
To put that in perspective, that is larger than the population 
of Wyoming. It is approaching the population of Vermont. That 
is the extent of the problem that--I am sorry, Mr. Secretary, 
you and this administration are denying, that you are in a 
state of denial in terms of the crisis.
    You said that you are going to defend against dangerous 
threats. You have 269,000 people and you do not know who they 
are. My guess is many of them might be drug traffickers, 
members of transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), gang 
members, but let us talk about the murders and the deaths 
occurring in our inner cities.
    Mr. Secretary, let me ask you, are you aware that human 
traffickers sell children so they can create a family unit that 
could exploit our asylum laws? Are you aware that that happens?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
    Senator Johnson. No, are you aware that that happens?
    Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Will you give me an 
opportunity----
    Senator Johnson. No. I want my questions answered. Are you 
aware that human traffickers sell children to create a family 
unit?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Your articulation of what occurs at the 
border is inaccurate. Your assertion----
    Senator Johnson. Then give us better information because we 
are not getting it.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Your assertion----
    Senator Johnson. Are you aware of how many of these young 
girls are raped on their way--being abused by these human 
traffickers? Are you aware of that happening? Are you aware of 
how many people are--are you investigating the people that are 
being engaged and being forced into the sex trade----
    Secretary Mayorkas. Of course we are.
    Senator Johnson [continuing]. Human servitude----
    Secretary Mayorkas. Of course we are, Senator.
    Senator Johnson [continuing]. Involuntary servitude.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Of course we are, and when an 
individual who suffers that victimization at the hands of 
criminals comes to our border and makes a claim for 
humanitarian relief, under United States law, we consider those 
claims for relief, under United States law. That is what we do, 
with respect to those tragic cases.
    Senator Johnson. Mr. Secretary, again, I have so many 
questions. I have run out of time. I hope next time you come, 
and you actually will stay for seconds and thirds and maybe 
fourth rounds of questions, because the American people deserve 
transparency. They deserve accountability. They need to 
understand this enormous, tragic crisis on our border. And 
right now, because the mainstream media is not reporting it, 
and your administration is not even admitting we have a crisis 
on the border, the American people are basically in the dark of 
what is happening here. It is a tragedy. It is a travesty.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the next time I testify before 
this Committee I do hope that I will have the opportunity to 
provide answers, to explain the laws of the United States, to 
explain how we are executing those laws, to explain the plan 
that we have----
    Senator Johnson. I would be satisfied with basic facts and 
numbers that we are not getting, because the facts and the 
numbers will describe what is happening, and that is probably 
one of the reasons why we are not being provided that 
information. So please give us the information, and not 
necessarily at a hearing, on an annual or on an ongoing basis, 
daily, weekly. Give us that information.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I will, Senator.
    Senator Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Johnson. Senator 
Hassan, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HASSAN

    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank 
you and the Ranking Member not only for this hearing but for 
sharing your own thoughts and sympathies to the Enzi family 
today. Mike Enzi was a valued colleague and friend, and he will 
be deeply and sorely missed.
    I also want to thank the Secretary for being here today, 
and Mr. Secretary, I do have a number of questions for you, but 
I wonder if you would like a minute or so to respond to 
anything that Senator Johnson did not give you an opportunity 
to respond to just now.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you for that 
opportunity. Let me be brief. Individuals whom we encounter at 
the border, some of them are expelled under Title 42, with is a 
Centers for Disease Control public health authority. It is not 
an authority of the Department of Homeland Security.
    Those who are not expelled under that public health law are 
actually placed into immigration enforcement proceedings, under 
United States law, where they can make a claim for humanitarian 
relief under our laws. If their claim is found to be valid they 
are entitled to stay, under the law. If their claim is not 
found to be valid, they are removed from the United States, 
again, consistent with United States law.
    We have a plan underway to address the surge of migrants at 
the border, a surge that began in April of last year. It is a 
periodic surge that we have encountered for many years, in the 
absence of immigration reform and the opportunity to fix our 
immigration system once and for all.
    But we are using the authorities that we have wisely and 
also in unprecedented ways, to rebuild our immigration system 
after its dismantling in the prior administration, and we are 
making and taking measures that have not been taken before, 
that are long overdue, and we are doing whatever we can within 
our authorities, and we hope that Congress will act as well. 
That is the fundamental change that is needed.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Now on 
to my questions.
    I was encouraged to see that U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection's budget included a $14 million increase for the 
National Vetting Center's (NVCs) budget, which will allow the 
center to expand vetting capabilities. I was disappointed, 
though, that the Department's budget does not include any 
additional funding to continue expanding the Visa Security 
Program (VSP). I strongly support the Visa Security Program 
because it allows DHS to interview and vet individuals long 
before they arrive in the United States.
    Mr. Secretary, the Department's budget request is an 
opportunity for it to expand and integrate its critically 
important screening and vetting programs in a thoughtful way. 
How will the Department continue to do that, using programs 
like the National Vetting Center and the Visa Security Program?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I appreciate your concerns 
with respect to the Visa Security Program and I welcome the 
opportunity to speak with you further about it and discuss our 
budget request in that regard.
    We are looking very carefully not only at the vetting 
process and eyes on data, but also how we can use data 
analytics and new technology to create greater efficiencies and 
actually save money while advancing our security obligations. I 
do look forward to speaking with you further about the concerns 
that you have, that we share, and how we are addressing them 
most effectively.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. I would look forward to that as 
well.
    Now I want to turn to a topic that Senator Peters also 
raised, because I was pleased that last week the Canadian 
government announced that it would permit vaccinated Americans 
to travel to and from Canada beginning on August 9th. But I am 
disappointed, as Senator Peters is, that the Department of 
Homeland Security announced that U.S. borders would remain 
closed, even to vaccinated Canadians, for another month.
    This border closure continues to impact families and local 
economies in New Hampshire and all around the country, and I 
appreciate too that in your testimony just now you recognized 
that. But given that the Canadian vaccination rate recently 
surpassed the rate we have here in the United States, what is 
the Department's rationale for extending the restrictions?
    Secretary Mayorkas. If I may, Senator, as I mentioned in 
response to Chairman Peters' question, I spoke with Minister 
Blair of Canada about this. He was aware, because we 
communicate very closely and coordinate, he was aware that I 
would be issuing the renewal of our Title 19 authority to 
restrict travel between our countries.
    But one thing that that renewal articulates is very 
important, and that is that though the renewal of the travel 
restrictions is in effect for another 30 days, should the 
public health enable us to lift travel restrictions in any way 
before the expiration of that 30-day period, we do have the 
authority to do so. What we are doing is looking at it on a 
day-to-day basis, understanding the concerns that the Chairman 
expressed and that you have echoed now.
    Senator Hassan. I appreciate that, and I am going to 
interrupt you here just in the interest of time. I am going to 
urge you, though, to not extend the border closure any longer 
than it already has been. You talked about some of the steps 
that the Department is taking to ensure that you are making the 
analysis correctly. I do not understand the public health 
analysis, given the Canadian vaccination rates and give they 
are just allowing vaccinated Americans in. We could do the 
same, reciprocally.
    I would urge you to take the steps you need to be prepared 
to open the border to vaccinated Canadians as quickly as you 
can.
    Let me move on to one more topic, though, before my time 
expires. The opioid epidemic continues to ravage communities in 
New Hampshire and all across the United States. DHS has focused 
on disrupting and dismantling international drug trafficking 
organizations. Unfortunately, those organizations have also 
shown themselves able to adapt and exploit the predictable 
procedures at U.S. borders.
    For example, drug trafficking organizations use pedestrian 
border crossings, concealing drugs on many people, knowing that 
CBP does not have the ability to intercept more than a fraction 
of those drugs. These organizations also smuggle money and guns 
out of the United States to exploit CBP's minimal outbound 
screen.
    Mr. Secretary, what is the Department doing to deploy new 
technologies and procedures to increase detection capabilities, 
and are there additional resources or technologies that DHS 
needs at the border that can stop drug trafficking 
organizations from smuggling drugs into the United States?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, this is a very important 
question that I respectfully request an opportunity to answer 
it. The scourge of drugs in the United States has been a 
problem for many years. In fact, in 2020, that year, last year 
saw a 30 percent increase in fentanyl overdoses in the United 
States over the year prior, over 2019. We are very focused on 
this.
    Not only are we continuing to invest in technology at our 
borders and border modernization, because interestingly and 
importantly, the narco-traffickers seek to move the greatest 
amount of drugs through the ports of entry, and that is where 
our apprehension efforts are also focused, as well as in 
between the ports of entry, and by air and by sea.
    But we are investing in technology, and we are developing 
strategies, investigative and prosecution strategies, to attack 
the narco-traffickers. Operational Sentinel, which is a 
concerted effort across our Department, a new effort, is 
focused on following the money and tearing down the 
infrastructure of these criminal organizations.
    We are doing a lot across the board, and I would be very 
pleased to provide further details to you and your staff at the 
earliest possibly opportunity for you.
    Senator Hassan. I appreciate that, and I appreciate the 
Chair's indulgence in letting me go over time. Thank you, Mr. 
Secretary, and thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Hassan. Senator Scott, 
you are recognized for your questions.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SCOTT

    Senator Scott. First, thank you, Chairman Peters. First, my 
heart goes out to the Enzi family, to Diana and the children 
and grandchildren. It is tragic what happened to Mike. What a 
wonderful person, and what a great Senator, and he was mentor 
to a lot of people.
    Secretary Mayorkas, thank you for being here today. Thank 
you for your service. The first thing I would like to say is I 
am really surprised, and actually disappointed, that you have 
not been more vocal about what is going on in Cuba. You 
probably know this, but these are pictures of protesters being 
mistreated by the Castro regime. We know that over 500 
dissidents have been detained and they are being tortured. I 
met with one of the families yesterday, and I think you have a 
role, as Secretary of DHS, to be more vocal on this, and at 
this point you have not.
    The Biden administration has blamed root causes like 
poverty, violence, and climate change in Central America for 
the border crisis. You said, in a statement released by DHS 
March 16th, regarding the situation the Southwest Border, that 
the United States needs an ``all-of-government effort to not 
only address the current situation at our Southwest Border but 
to institute longer-term solutions to irregular migration from 
countries in our hemisphere that are suffering worsening 
conditions.''
    On May 7th, you went to Donna, Texas, where you said, ``We 
must secure the Southwest Border by addressing the root causes 
of migration.'' Then you were here on May 13th, and you said, 
``The most sustainable solutions to our challenge at the border 
including addressing the root causes that drive people to 
migrate in the first place.''
    Root causes, I think we all agree, refer to instability in 
Latin America and the dangerous and ruthless dictatorships that 
perpetuation oppression and force their citizens to flee in 
search of a better life. If we think about root causes we have 
to also talk about Cuba. Cuba is the root of instability in 
Latin America. According to SOUTHCOM, the three nations most 
receptive to malign influence that open the door to bad actors 
in the Western Hemisphere are Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
    On May 21st, Secretary Blinken renewed a Trump 
administration decision classifying Cuba as a country that is 
failing to cooperate with U.S. antiterrorism efforts, 
certifying it a State-sponsored terrorism. The Biden 
administration could not tackle the root causes of instability 
and violence in our hemisphere by neglecting the real threats 
of regimes like in Communist Cuba. Cuba props up other anti-
democratic regimes like Ortega's Nicaragua and Maduros narco-
State of Venezuela that incite disorder, instability, 
corruption, and unrest across the region.
    Cuba supports drug and weapons trafficking and 
transnational criminal organizations. Totalitarian 
dictatorships like these in our backyard only multiply our 
regional security challenges and hinder any change toward 
democracy. Communist Cuba is a threat to our national security 
and a horrible human rights violator. The Cuban people are 
suffering. I have talked to families all across Florida. They 
are talking about the atrocities that are happening to peaceful 
protestors. Their children are being taken to serve in the 
military, and I know dissidents and their families, and these 
dissidents have been arrested and detailed, and they know they 
are being tortured but they have no idea where they are. I met 
with Jose Daniel Ferrer's brother, sister, and daughter 
yesterday, and they have no idea what is happening to him right 
now.
    First, Secretary Mayorkas, do you agree that the 
illegitimate communist regime in Cuba is a major cause of the 
instability in Latin America, helps drive the violence and 
illegal activity that causes these families to flee their 
countries, and is a threat to our U.S. national security?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, as you will be able to hear 
there is a fire alarm in the Department of Homeland Security's 
building, in which I am currently resident. I did hear your 
question. I hope you can hear what I am saying, and then I will 
need to step out for a minute, and I am very sorry for that.
    I will take to heart your comment that I need to be more 
vocal about what is going on in Cuba. I did speak publicly 
about that, and, of course, our President, our Secretary of 
State, the President's National Security Advisor, has spoken 
very powerfully on this subject as well. It is something of 
tremendous personal importance to me. My family lost everything 
as a result of the communist takeover of Cuba.
    The authoritarian regime in Cuba is responsible for the 
repression of the Cuban people, and we stand with the Cuban 
people.
    I am afraid I am going to have to step out, and I will 
return as quickly as I possibly can. I am so very sorry.
    Chairman Peters. That is all right, Secretary Mayorkas. I 
will take a brief recess until we assess the situation at the 
Secretary's location. Senator Scott, you still have two minutes 
left for your questions when we come back.
    Senator Scott. Thanks.
    [Recess.]
    Chairman Peters. The Committee will come back to order. It 
is good to see you back, Mr. Secretary, and safe and sound. We 
will continue with the hearing.
    Senator Scott, you are recognized for the remainder of your 
time for your questions.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Mr. Chairman and Senator Scott, if I 
may say one thing very briefly, without imposing upon the 
Senator's time, because I am not sure what I articulated came 
through during the fire alarm, and I apologize for the 
interruption to this hearing.
    Senator Scott, first I appreciate your defense of the Cuban 
people and your articulation of that, so powerfully and 
consistently. Second, I will take stock of what you said, 
urging me to be even more vocal about the situation in Cuba. As 
you know, this is something profoundly personal to me. I was 
born in Cuba, and my parents brought me here, as refugees 
fleeing the communist takeover of Cuba, and my father lost his 
business, the place of his birth, where he thought he would 
raise his family, even the opportunity to lay his mother to 
rest.
    I join you condemning the authoritarian regime in Cuba and 
its repression of the people of Cuba, and I echo your and the 
President's and our Secretary of State's and the President's 
National Security Advisor's condemnation of the actions of the 
authoritarian regime in Cuba, and we stand very strongly with 
the people of Cuba, and the measures this administration has 
taken powerfully evidence that.
    Senator Scott. Thank you, Secretary. Do you believe the 
administration is doing enough to focus on--I mean, Cuba is the 
root cause of all the problems. You can look at this. Look at 
the problem. Maduro is completely supported by the Castro 
regime. Ortega is completely supported by the Castro regime. A 
lot of the problems we are seeing down there is caused by Cuba, 
and I just do not see that the administration is doing enough 
to say, ``This is the root cause of the problem. Let us figure 
out how to stop this.''
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I think the sanctions that 
were recently imposed are a strong measure, and we are, of 
course, across the administration, monitoring the situation in 
Cuba, and we will take the measures that our foreign policy and 
led by our President think most prudent in the interest of the 
American people, and in defense of the Cuban people.
    Senator Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Senator. So as you 
know, in the past what Cuba has done is to release the pressure 
and a lot of people leave. How will the Biden administration 
deal with a mass deportation by the Castro regime?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, the laws that address a mass 
migration from Cuba, not only from Cuba but from Haiti as well, 
speak to the fact that that perilous journey should not be 
taken, that individuals will be interdicted. If they make the 
claims for relief they will be taken elsewhere, not to the 
United States but elsewhere, for a referral, for resettlement 
in safe third countries.
    Senator Scott. Is that consistent with what is going on at 
the Southern Border? Is that what is happening there? My 
understanding is that if you leave Cuba you are probably going 
to seek asylum, and you probably rightfully should be able to 
seek asylum. So is that the same thing that is happening on the 
Southern Border? Is that the same process?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it is slightly different, for 
reasons of history and law, and actually in the interest of the 
security of the people who attempt. We cannot say this strongly 
enough, that people should not take to the seas. Tragically, we 
have recovered more than 20 individuals who died taking that 
dangerous journey. That is an incredibly important message of 
humanity, to not take to the seas.
    Senator Scott. I think this is a historic time, and I hope 
the Biden administration will be more aggressive. I hope in 
your role as Secretary of Homeland Security you will be more 
aggressive. This is our opportunity to stop the Cuban regime 
and do so much to create stability in Latin America. I hope you 
and the Biden administration will do everything you can to stop 
the Castro regime right now. The Cuban people have risen up. We 
have to do everything we can to help them. We have to get the 
Internet back on. We have to speak about it. We have to talk 
about the atrocities. If we do, I believe we are going to see 
democracy and freedom in Cuba. Thank you.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Scott. Senator Rosen, 
you are recognized for your questions.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROSEN

    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chairman Peters, Ranking Member 
Portman, and Secretary Mayorkas, thank you for being here 
today. I hope everything is OK in your building. But I have 
many questions about the DHS budget. I am only going to have 
time for a few of them so I will submit most of them for the 
record.
    First I want to talk about the DACA program. As you know, 
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary 
Protective Status (TPS) have provided critical protections for 
thousands of Nevadans. Unfortunately, as you are also aware, a 
Texas Federal judge ruled, just two weeks ago, that the DACA 
program is unconstitutional. It is halting approval of new DACA 
applications. It is leaving aspiring dreamers vulnerable and 
uncertain about their futures. This situation is an example of 
why it is just crucial that we immediately pass immigration 
reform, through any means, including the budget reconciliation 
process.
    Secretary Mayorkas, how is this court ruling impacting DACA 
applications that were submitted prior to the court's misguided 
ruling, and what can the administration do to help individuals 
who have already submitted their applications and were not 
processed before July 16th today?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, thank you very much for your 
question. As I think you know, I was the Director of U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services, and it was that 
incredible agency that I led in the implementation of DACA.
    I cannot overstate the importance of passing legislation to 
bring stability to individuals, the youth who qualify for DACA. 
That is a permanent solution and one that would resonate across 
the country. The DACA program is so very popular with the 
American people, for all the right reasons.
    We are not able to process new applications for DACA or 
continue with applications filed, in light of the judge's 
ruling. We are continuing to litigate that case, and within the 
bounds of the law, and within the bounds of the judge's ruling 
we are seeking to fortify the DACA program. But there is no 
substitute for the permanent solution that Congress can 
deliver.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you, and if you could provide these 
sometime later, can you provide in writing the updated number 
of the DACA applications that were pending on or before the day 
of that ruling, please, so we just have an idea of how many are 
there? I know there are a lot of biometric appointments that 
have been canceled, and so we are going to submit some 
questions. We have specific questions about that, and we will 
submit that off the record as well.
    I would like to move on to talk about our Nonprofit 
Security Grant Program, because over the past few years we have 
seen dangerous increase in threats and attacks on at-risk 
communities, including the deadliest attack against a Jewish 
community in modern American history, at the Tree of Life 
Synagogue in Pittsburgh. To protect the houses of worship and 
other nonprofits against terrorist attacks, the Nonprofit 
Security Grant Program makes FEMA grants available to eligible 
nonprofit organizations for all kinds of security enhancements.
    Reflecting the growing threat to nonprofit institutions, 
demand for grants, of course, has far outpaced their 
availability. But in fiscal year 2022, in your DHS budget, you 
failed to request specific funding for the Nonprofit Security 
Grant. Do you believe that the funding should be increased to 
meet the growing needs, and what can we do about this? Because 
I think we know that empowering communities at the local level 
really makes a difference in keeping everyone safe.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I look forward to speaking 
with you further and working with you in connection with the 
2022 budget, because the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is, 
in fact, so important, and especially now, tragically, when we 
have seen a tremendous rise in hate crimes affecting the Jewish 
community, the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) 
community, the Muslim American community, and other minority 
communities, all of whom I have engaged with extensively during 
my short tenure thus far, in light of the growing threat.
    I very much look forward to working with you.
    Senator Rosen. Yes, I agree with you. That was my follow-
up. We have a lot of other communities that are also 
experiencing hate crimes, violence against them, whether they 
are in suburban, urban, or rural areas. I think this grant 
program, fortifying it is particularly important.
    I would like to move on, in just the few minutes I have 
left, to talk about ICE detention and your resource management. 
ICE's long-term fiscal mismanagement, of course it is a major 
concern for all of us. The President's DHS budget requests $8.4 
billion for ICE. It is a slight increase, but an increase, 
nonetheless.
    And so during the last administration, ICE received 
enormous budget increases solely for detention and deportation, 
with little accountability. For years, ICE has blown through 
its budget, come back to Congress for more funding, it has 
received the funding, and there were a lot of budget overruns.
    On top of that, DHS has even transferred funds into ICE 
from other agencies, including FEMA, which has a critical 
mission of protecting Americans before and after the wake of 
disasters. We have wildfires all throughout my State in the 
West, and, of course, natural disasters all around the country.
    Can you tell us please how you will address such financial 
mismanagement, bring ICE on a more stable funding track, and 
cleanup the mismanagement of funds?
    Secretary Mayorkas. If I may, Senator, I recognize the 
issue and I am well aware of the issue that you have focused 
upon in this last question. I am meeting regularly with ICE 
with respect to fiscal responsibility, as is the Deputy 
Secretary, as is our Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
    Importantly, when it comes to detention, we are reviewing 
the detention architecture within ICE across the board, in 
collaboration with our Office for Civil Rights and Civil 
Liberties, and our relatively newly created Office of the 
Detention Ombudsman in the Department of Homeland Security.
    I think it is very noteworthy that we closed two facilities 
because of the substandard conditions maintained in those 
facilities, and that is a first of its kind, and a very 
important message, not only with respect to our fiscal 
responsibility but our responsibility to our values and the 
dignity of each individual.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I appreciate that, because we do 
have to remember the dignity of each individual is so 
important. Thank you for your time.
    My time is up, Chairman Peters.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Rosen. Senator Carper, 
you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CARPER

    Senator Carper. Mr. Chairman, could I take a moment before 
I ask my questions to say a quick word about our colleague, 
Mike Enzi? Could I do that?
    Chairman Peters. Absolutely.
    Senator Carper. I remember when I was new in the Senate, 
presiding over the Senate, and Mike Enzi got recognition and 
started speaking. He started talking about how he and Ted 
Kennedy worked so well together on the health education, they 
did a remarkable job of working together. He said during his 
comments on the floor that day, he talked about the 80/20 rule. 
I did not know what he was talking about. I had heard the 80/20 
rule discussed in other contexts but I was not sure what he was 
talking about.
    Before he finished I gave a note to one of the pages that 
said, ``Ask Senator Enzi to come and talk to me before he 
leaves the floor,'' and he did. I said, ``What is the 80/20 
rule?'' and he said, ``Ted and I agree on 80 percent of the 
stuff before our committee.'' He said, ``We disagree on maybe 
20 percent. What we have decided to do is to focus on the 80 
percent where we agree and come back and focus on the other 20 
percent some other day.'' And he said, ``It works.''
    As we mourn his loss and his passing and try to work our 
way through this discussion, debate on infrastructure and other 
related issues, I think just a nod to Mike Enzi, a reflection 
on the 80/20, and say maybe that is something we could pull off 
the shelf and put to good use in the days to come.
    I just wanted to say that. Thank you very much.
    If I could now, colleagues and Mr. Secretary, welcome, Mr. 
Secretary. Thank you so much for your leadership and for 
joining us today. I do not normally ask yes-or-no questions, 
but I am going to ask a couple of you today. Given the nearly 
$14.6 billion budget request for CBP alone, do you believe the 
Senate needs to move quickly on confirming President Biden's 
nominee to lead this vital agency? Just yes or no.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes.
    Senator Carper. In order to curb the influx of migration we 
see every year at our southwestern border, do you believe that 
we need to address the root cause of migration from countries 
like Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, I do.
    Senator Carper. Thank you. My last yes-or-no question, your 
budget request for $1.2 billion for investments in modernizing 
ports of entry, more security and technology, will this amount 
of money improve our ability to counter fentanyl and other 
illicit drugs coming through our ports?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, it will, Senator.
    Senator Carper. Thanks very much.
    Changing gears now and talking about St. Elizabeth's, if we 
could, something we have talked about before. I understand that 
the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) recently 
approved final plans for the new Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency Headquarters at St. Elizabeth's 
campus. The General Services Administration (GSA) estimates 
that the consolidation of DHS component agencies at St. 
Elizabeth's will save more than $474 billion over the next 30 
years compared to leasing spaces for these agencies over that 
same time--$474 billion over 30 years.
    Mr. Secretary, could you please take a moment to provide an 
expected timeline for completion of the new CISA headquarters 
there, and talk about how the larger consolidation project 
improves the Department's mission effectiveness and saves 
taxpayer dollars, please.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I will need to get back to you 
on the precise timeline for the development of the CISA 
residence at the St. Elizabeth's headquarters. I cannot 
overstate the importance of geographic proximity in 
facilitation greater cohesion within our Department.
    As a matter of fact, not only am I so supportive of the St. 
Elizabeth's project that began a number of years ago, but we 
are looking at our footprint across the country and exploring 
how we can actually co-locate agencies in various cities, as 
leases expire, not only to save money but really to provoke 
greater collaboration between and among the different agencies 
and offices of our Department. That is one of our areas of 
focus.
    Senator Carper. All right. Thank you for that response.
    Let me turn now to raise a question or two regarding the 
improvement of key management functions at the Department of 
Homeland Security. In its most recent 2021 high-risk list 
report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), identified 
several key management functions at the Department of Homeland 
Security's high risk areas, including information technology, 
including budget and financial management, including 
procurement and acquisition, and including human capital 
management.
    My question, Mr. Secretary, is could you take a moment to 
discuss with us today how the budget you submitted reflects the 
progress made, as well as other challenges faced in 
implementing the Department's integrated strategy for high-risk 
management, which includes the goals, includes the corrective 
activities, actions planned that address GAO's outcomes in 
these key management functions please.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, as I think you know, tackling 
the issues on the high-risk list was one of my greatest 
priorities when I served as the Deputy Secretary.
    Senator Carper. I do. I remember that clearly.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I had the privilege of working with 
Gene Dodaro and his terrific team at GAO. In fact, I met with 
Mr. Dodaro and his terrific team. That was one of the first 
things I did when I became the Secretary of the Department of 
Homeland Security.
    Senator Carper. That is great. Great news.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Our efforts continue to be led by the 
incredible Jim Crumpacker, who coordinates all our efforts, and 
I would look forward to speaking with you further about how 
this budget addresses the remaining issues on the high-risk 
list, some of which can be tackled in short order, and some of 
which are, frankly, enduring challenges that we continue to 
work on.
    Senator Carper. All right. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, thank 
you for your testimony today. I would ask, you know how I have 
a great affection for the people at the Department that you 
lead. Just convey our thanks to all of your people, for what 
they do day in and day out to secure our homeland.
    To wrap it up--have about a minute and 45 seconds left--let 
me just ask, before my times runs out here, are there any 
issues that you might want to take this minute and a half to 
address issues raised by some of my colleagues today that you 
would like to elaborate on or maybe provide some clarification?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I appreciate that question. I 
look forward to the opportunity to explaining. The fact that 
we, as an administration, and specifically the Department of 
Homeland Security, has a comprehensive plan to address 
migration that we encounter at the border, and it is a 
comprehensive plan that addresses the root causes, which is the 
bottom line, and it is unfortunate that over the past four 
years investments in addressing those root causes were so 
significantly slashed.
    We are developing safe and legal pathways for individuals 
to avail themselves of our humanitarian laws that Congress has 
passed, so that they do not need to take the dangerous journey, 
imperil their lives, and reach our border. We are bringing 
greater efficiency and program improvements to border 
processing and to our immigration enforcement architecture.
    Just yesterday, we announced the commencement of expedited 
removal, to bring greater speed without compromising due 
process, to processes that take far too long, and we continue 
to work in that effort.
    We have a plan, in collaboration with other countries south 
of our border. We are investing in root causes, we are 
developing legal pathways, and we are improving our immigration 
system, but we do need, at the same time, Senator, Congress to 
act. There is unanimity that our immigration system is broken, 
and we need it fixed through legislation. I appreciate that 
very much.
    Senator Carper. Well said. Thank you so much. Thanks for 
your service. Thanks for your leadership. Our best to you and 
your family.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Carper. Senator Romney, 
you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROMNEY

    Senator Romney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to join 
you and Senator Carper and others who have expressed 
condolences and great sadness at the loss of our former 
colleague, Senator Enzi, a wonderful man and a wonderful 
friend.
    Let me express appreciation to the Chairman for joining us 
today. I was a little troubled by the lack of information that 
Senator Johnson described. Mr. Secretary, are you willing to 
commit that you will provide the data that Senator Johnson 
asked for? Is that something that you can and will provide, and 
can you tell us when that would be available to the Committee?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes. I commit to providing that 
information, that data, Senator. We will provide it as quickly 
as possible.
    Senator Romney. I would presume that would be within the 
next 30 days then?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Oh, there should be no problem in doing 
so, Senator.
    Senator Romney. Thank you. Thank you. Obviously, one of the 
key responsibilities of Homeland Security is to secure our 
border, securing our homeland, if you will, and the numbers and 
the human stories that are coming from our border are both 
alarming and, obviously, threatening to our domestic 
tranquility and safety and economic vitality. I do not know 
exactly why the administration does not want to acknowledge the 
crisis that we are seeing at the border.
    I guess the real question in my mind is why we politicize 
everything. I mean, I am one of those who is critical of people 
who politicize vaccination, but I am also incredulous that 
there seems to be politicization about whether we should 
complete the border barrier that has already been contracted to 
be completed. There are gaps in it. The steel is there. The 
contracts have been let. Contractors, as Senator Lankford has 
pointed out, are standing by, guarding the steel.
    Why in the world do we not complete the barrier that has 
already been contracted for? Surely it would help our security 
of the border. I simply do not understand. Is there a reason 
that we are not completing it? The idea was, we are going to 
study that. It has been 6 months. Businesses are able to make 
major decisions and acquisitions, and so forth, in a lot faster 
timeframe than that. We came up with a vaccine, heavens. I 
mean, why can we not make this decision and proceed?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I know that we will not agree 
on this issue, but the decision with respect to the border wall 
was not a political decision but a substantive one, that the 
$15 billion that was dedicated to construction of the border 
wall was ill-advised, and we could use the government's funds 
and taxpayers' funds more wisely through investment in 
innovation, through investment in technology. That is the 
greatest force multiplier.
    Senator Romney. Mr. Secretary, the great majority of that 
money has already been spent, the overwhelming majority, and 
now there are some gaps in what has already been spent. The 
prior administration--excuse me, that one before, President 
Obama's administration--expanded the border barrier. I am all 
in favor of technology. But as long as we have already paid for 
it and have contracts to complete the wall, I simply cannot 
understand any logical reason not to complete it. Look, I am 
not a severe partisan that is going to attack Democrats in 
every corner, but this just strikes me as being nonsense. I 
simply cannot understand it.
    With regards to the comment that we are going to invest in 
root causes, I do not understand what you are referring to 
there. Are you suggesting that somehow we should be able to 
invest to make sure that all of Latin America gets rid of their 
dictators, gets rid of their corruption, ends violence, and if 
we do that maybe there will be less people trying to get to the 
border? That is unrealistic. That is, of course, absurd. We 
cannot do all those things, even domestically, let alone around 
the world.
    People want to come to this country. They always will. You 
are responsible for securing our border. I just do not get why 
you do not address this in a way--well, frankly, President 
Obama did. Complete the barrier, use technology, have ICE carry 
out the responsibility of removing people that are here 
illegally.
    I notice that the House Democrats recently approved plans 
to slash the budget for enforcement and removal operations. 
They cut it by hundreds of millions of dollars. Is that a 
mistake, and do you believe that those funds should be 
restored?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, you have mentioned three 
different subjects. I will move very quickly through the three 
of them.
    Senator Romney. I did not ask for a response to some of 
them. Those were my comment. The response I wanted was do you 
believe in restoring and not cutting the funding for 
enforcement and removal operations, contrary to what the House 
has passed?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I believe in smart and effective 
immigration enforcement, and that is what we are executing. I 
do not believe in spending taxpayer money unwisely and not 
consistent with enforcement priorities that are designed to 
achieve the greatest public safety objective.
    Senator Romney. Of course. I agree with motherhood and 
apple pie as well, but House has voted to reduce spending on 
enforcement. Is that something with which you concur, or do you 
believe that would be a mistake and therefore you want to make 
sure that we do not reduce spending on enforcement?
    Secretary Mayorkas. What I am focused on is the wise 
expenditure of funds, and I have a responsibility----
    Senator Romney. Given that focus on the wise expenditure of 
funds, do you believe we should cut the funding for 
enforcement, or do you believe we should maintain it or 
increase it?
    Secretary Mayorkas. In certain respects I think we should 
increase it. In other respects I think we should reduce it, 
because some of it is not spent wisely to achieve the most 
important outcomes. I have seen that--Senator, if I may, 
because I know you disagree with me by your physical reaction, 
but if I may, I know that from being in the trenches, actually 
doing the work.
    Senator Romney. Look. Of course. I asked a simple question. 
Do you think that the budget should be reduced or not, and you 
responded like a politician. What can I say? I am a politician 
too.
    Let me take a different topic altogether in my remaining 
moments. The Federal Government is spending as much on interest 
right now as we spent on the combined budgets of Commerce, 
Education, Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Housing and 
Urban Development (HUD), Interior, the Justice Department, and 
the State Department. Let that sink in. That overspending is 
contributing to the highest level of inflation we have seen in 
some 12 years.
    Would you say that trillion-dollar deficits like these, 
before the pandemic as well as after the pandemic, does that 
pose a threat to our national security?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, that is a question that I am 
ill-equipped to answer. That is not my area of expertise.
    Senator Romney. You have an opinion, I am sure. I mean, you 
are head of the Department of Homeland Security. The question I 
am asking is, are we reaching a point where the level of our 
debt and deficits in the interest we are paying represent a 
threat to our homeland security?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Not to my knowledge, Senator.
    Senator Romney. So at no level trillion-dollar deficits as 
far as the eye can see, that does not pose a threat to our 
national security?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I believe that this administration's 
efforts to rebuild this country contribute to the security of 
this country, its national security, and its homeland security, 
its economic security, and its possibilities and promise.
    Senator Romney. That is an answer to a question I did not 
ask.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Romney. The Chair 
recognizes Senator Lankford for your questions.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LANKFORD

    Senator Lankford. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. 
Secretary, it is good to see you again. Thanks for our phone 
calls in the previous week and for the letters. You know I have 
sent a letter of request to you, some specific details and 
facts and figures. Can you give us an update on when we might 
get some of the answer to some of those questions and some of 
the facts and figure I have continued to ask for?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I know that--and thank you. I 
appreciated our discussion a great deal. I need to follow up 
since our conversation to provide you with a definite 
timetable. I know it is pressing and we need to deliver that to 
you forthwith. I will follow up later today.
    Senator Lankford. Thank you. I appreciate that. Obviously, 
you know that I have been pretty outspoken in trying to get 
some of these facts and figures that are not unrealistic for 
the Oversight Committee to be able to get access to these 
numbers. Regardless of party, we have a responsibility to be 
able to go through these facts and figures.
    You and I also had a conversation briefly about 
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and about some of 
the pipeline decisions they have made on interim regulatory 
decisions. My request to you was, obviously, to get 
communication back and forth through some of the pipeline 
companies and to be able to get notice and comment. They have 
some interim guidance out there. I have some assurances from 
you that there will be some notice and comment and some time 
for the companies to be able to actually contribute some 
insights, based on the simple fact that some of the statements 
that were required of them will take a very long time to be 
able to actually accomplish. A simple instance, some of the 
things that they are being asked to do and approve, they have 
already done, but it looks like they are being asked to do it 
again, just because of a new guidance.
    Is there notice and comment time coming for that, for TSA?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, that is indeed the plan. That 
remains the plan. I appreciated your feedback in our prior 
conversation with respect to the private sector companies that 
are subject to TSA's action, and I have begun to follow up 
already on that.
    Senator Lankford. Terrific. Thank you for that. Let us talk 
about the border wall, this fencing, which is really a system 
that is in place. The fence is the most prominent, noticeable 
portion of that, but it includes the fence, it includes a road 
for patrol, it includes fiber to do ground detection for 
movement, it includes cameras, it includes lighting. When that 
stopped in construction for all of those phases on January 
20th, there was ordered a 60-day study. Can you tell us the 
status of that study, because it has been about 200 days since 
that was done. Is that a study that we could get access to, and 
is it complete?
    Secretary Mayorkas. That study is ongoing, but we are going 
project by project, Senator. In fact, in the San Diego Sector, 
for example, of the border, I just approved the application of 
technology to make 33 gates operational, and approved other 
things in the San Diego Sector. We are going project by 
project, and I would be very pleased to provide you with an 
update on that.
    Senator Lankford. That would be very helpful. In the Rio 
Grande Valley (RGV) Sector, which last week alone had 20,000 
encounters with people illegally crossing the border, just last 
week, in that sector, it is another sector where the gates are 
installed, but just the power has been cutoff to them, and as 
of January 20th, they cannot open and close gates. Literally 
farmers, that the fence, in some areas, cross across their 
fields, cannot access both parts of it. They have to go the 
long way around.
    The challenge is while you are identifying that in one 
sector in California, and in Texas they have the exact same 
issue yet they are not able to access their fields because the 
power has not been turned on.
    You have other areas where all of the fence is done except 
for the gates have not been hung, and those are areas where 
apparently contractors have been hired to be able to watch the 
steel on the ground rather than actually install it.
    I think there is some common sense to this as well that 
does not require 200 days of study to say we are going to be 
able to put the gates up, we are going to put power to the 
gates so we can actually open and close them, we are going to 
do roads around so that the Border Patrol can actually do 
patrols. I would encourage the completion of that, not to 
mention the fact that $2 billion has already been spent of the 
$10 billion that was allocated to it, not to build the fencing 
itself. We are now down 20 percent of the funding for whatever 
decision is going to be made on that. That is obviously a 
serious fiscal issue in the days ahead.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if I may, I am not familiar 
with that figure but let me say that the study involves a 
number of different aspects. For example, adverse environmental 
impacts that people in those communities have complained of 
deeply, as well as private landowners' complaints about the 
taking of their property by eminent domain to construct a 
border wall.
    The review that we are undertaking is comprehensive, taking 
into consideration landowners' concerns as well, and we are 
very mindful, of course, of the challenge in the RGB and very 
focused on it.
    Senator Lankford. Is it your assumption that at some point 
that your study may come back and say you want to take parts of 
the wall down, based on landowner comments?
    Secretary Mayorkas. I have not crossed that issue just yet. 
If, in fact, there is that consideration I certainly would be 
willing and eager to engage with you on it.
    Senator Lankford. I think that would be a dreadful mistake 
in the process, to be able to have $1 billion spent, and we can 
have a conversation about that.
    But let me talk about the interim ICE----
    Secretary Mayorkas. I have not encountered that. I have not 
encountered that yet, Senator.
    Senator Lankford. Terrific. Hopefully it is not 
encountered.
    We have ICE agents that have interim guidance that has been 
given to them, my understanding is as far as their detention or 
deportation or arrest of an individual that is currently inside 
the United States. You set priorities for them of if they have 
crossed illegally across the border during the last, now it is 
eight months, if they are a person that has said that they had 
a notice to appear somewhere--a notice to report, I should say, 
of this 35,000, but yet they actually did not report in, they 
exceeded their time period that they were allotted to be able 
to turn in, or if they are criminal aliens, that seemed to be 
the guidance that you gave out for individuals.
    So when is the final guidance for ICE and actually how they 
are going to operate? When is that coming?
    Secretary Mayorkas. The three priority areas are national 
security, public safety, and border security. Border security 
includes recent border crossers that are not honoring their 
legal obligations to appear in court in immigration 
proceedings. We file immigration enforcement proceedings with 
respect to individuals who claim relief at the border, those 
who are not expelled under Title 42.
    I have been traveling around the country and engaging with 
the ICE workforce as I develop the enforcement guidelines. My 
hope is to issue those guidelines in mid-August.
    Senator Lankford. Mid-August. OK.
    Mr. Chairman, could I have another one minute for a follow-
up question?
    Chairman Peters. Yes. Without objection.
    Senator Lankford. Thank you. We have tried to interact and 
to be able to determine the criminal alien portion. I know 
there has been a significant change in that. One of the cases 
that came out--and we have multiples of them and I can share 
any of these with you--but one of the case that is a recent one 
was there is an individual, previously deported alien. He had a 
conviction for sexual assault of a minor under 14 years of age. 
The alien was at large. ICE officers requested permission to 
target that subject and the request was denied by ICE 
management under the new guidelines that are there.
    Second case, previously deported alien. Conviction for 
indecency with a child under five years of age. That was a 
registered sex offender for life. The subject's case was 
evaluated. ICE officers were directed not to pursue arrest 
under the new guideline.
    Third case, deported alien twice. Conviction for alien 
smuggling in the past, theft, illegal reentry. Asked for 
permission to be able to interdict. Was turned down by regional 
officers.
    It is going to be helpful to be able to get new guidance, 
because the guidance that is currently existing is allowing 
individuals that are sex offenders, that are criminal aliens, 
multiple deportations--I can tell you stories of folks who had 
multiple DUI convictions that are being instructed by regional 
leaders not to detain, deport, or arrest. That is a problem for 
us right now.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I cannot speak to the 
particular cases that you cite and the facts involved, but let 
me say this. Yesterday we announced the results to date of 
Operation Sex Offender Arrest and Removal (SOAR), which is a 
law enforcement operation, conducted by Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement. They reported the arrest of 300 individuals who 
have committed sex offenses. So that is, in fact, a public 
safety threat that we do address aggressively.
    I cannot speak to the three cases that you cite, but I can 
champion the results of Operation SOAR and our focus on the 
public safety threat, and that includes individuals who have 
committed sex offenses.
    Senator Lankford. The last number I had was 6,000 ICE 
agents in the field and 3,000 detainments or deportations in a 
month. That is one of the numbers that we are trying to request 
from your office, to be able to get exact numbers and be able 
to track what is happening, and that would be very helpful to 
us.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I will look forward to it.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Lankford. Senator 
Hawley.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HAWLEY

    Senator Hawley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and 
thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here.
    I want to review the record, your record in office and the 
record of this administration to date. Since February, the 
first full month, of course, of the Biden administration, there 
have been 822,629 illegal crossing attempts encountered by CBP 
at the Southwest Border.
    Every single month of your tenure we have seen over 100,000 
illegal crossing attempts. Every single month in your tenure 
illegal crossing attempts have increased. We have hit a 20-year 
record for illegal entries. We hit that last month.
    We have had a surge of young children across the border, 
placing these children in incredible danger and in the line of 
harm. On a single day in March, we had 6,000 children sitting 
in CBP custody, and including HHS facilities we now have 15,000 
migrant children currently in Federal custody.
    In April, the number of deportations carried out by ICE 
fell to the lowest monthly level on record. Interior arrests by 
ICE have declined to about 2,500 arrests per month. That is 
down from 10,000 arrests per month under the previous 
administration. The Washington Post and other news outlets have 
reported that Border Patrol, totally overwhelmed now by the 
surge of migrants crossing the border, the cartels are having 
an easier and easier time smuggling drugs across our border, 
which are going to States like mine, which are awash in drugs 
from across the Southern Border.
    Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, this record is an 
unmitigated disaster. It is a disaster. I want to ask you to 
tell us, and tell the American people now, what you are going 
to do to change course.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you, Senator, for your question. 
Let me respond in a number of different ways.
    First of all, the number of migrants apprehended at the 
border began to increase in April of last year. Second, it is 
very important to remember that the number of apprehensions, 
the number of encounters does not equal the number of different 
individuals encountered. Because we are exercising the Centers 
for Disease Control Title 42 authority to expel individuals, 
that means they are quickly processed for identity and 
expelled. They are not placed in immigration removal 
proceedings before the expulsion. They often return and are 
expelled again.
    Senator Hawley. Mr. Secretary, my time is very limited 
here.
    Secretary Mayorkas. I would like to----
    Senator Hawley. I want to be clear about something you just 
said. Are you saying that there has not been a dramatic surge 
in border crossings and unaccompanied children during your 
tenure, a historic surge? Is that your position?
    Secretary Mayorkas. That is not my position----
    Senator Hawley. Good.
    Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. Please allow me to finish 
my answer. What I am saying is that the number of encounters, 
the number of apprehensions does not equal the number of 
different individuals apprehended, because we are seeing 
recidivism under Title 42, and individuals are being expelled 
more than once. No. 1.
    No. 2, you cited the fact that 6,000 unaccompanied children 
were in CBP custody back in March. We are seeing only a 
fraction of that now, because we had a plan then. As I said, it 
takes time to execute our plan. We have executed our plan, and 
the number is far different.
    Third, the smuggling of drugs, the greatest means of 
attempted transportation of drugs across the border are through 
the ports of entry--in trucks, in vehicles--that can try to 
move large amounts, and we are apprehending more than before. 
This began in October of last year, because of the investment 
in technology and the focus on the ports of entry. We continue 
the work of the prior administration in that regard.
    Senator Hawley. Mr. Secretary, do I take it from your 
answer then that your position is that we do not have a crisis 
at the Southern Border, that the surge is large illusory, and 
we have no reason to be concerned. I mean, is that basically 
what you are saying here, there is no need to do anything 
differently, because your policies are working? I mean, is that 
your answer--your policies are working at the border?
    Secretary Mayorkas. That is a complete mischaracterization 
of what I said.
    Senator Hawley. Are your policies working at the border?
    Secretary Mayorkas. What I have said before and I repeat 
now----
    Senator Hawley. No, answer my question. Are your policies 
working at the border, Mr. Secretary? Yes or no. Are they 
working?
    Secretary Mayorkas. We have a plan. We are executing the 
plan. The plan takes time to execute, and we are doing so. Let 
me say this. What makes the plan more challenging is, No. 1, 
COVID, but we are working through that and our plan addresses 
that challenge.
    Senator Hawley. Wait a minute. COVID was at its height a 
year ago, Mr. Secretary. With all due respect, we saw none of 
these numbers a year ago. This crisis has occurred under your 
tenure. COVID is not unique to your tenure. This is a crisis 
that you have engineered, with your policies.
    Let me ask you about something you said to Senator Portman 
with regard to ICE.
    Secretary Mayorkas. If I may say one last----
    Senator Hawley [continuing]. Absolutely not true, you said 
to Senator Portman. ``It is absolutely not true that ICE 
officers have been told not to arrest people.'' That is what 
you said earlier today. That astounds me, because ICE officers 
have asked me to ask you about the instructions your guidance 
has given them not to arrest individuals.
    For instance, the National ICE Council--that is the ICE 
union--has asked me to ask you, because they cannot get answers 
from you so they are asking me to do it--to ask you why 
officers who have been ICE officers who requested permission to 
go after an illegal alien who was convicted of sexual assault 
of a minor under 14 years of age, were denied the ability to go 
and arrest this person.
    Senator Lankford raised another case where ICE officers 
were directed not to pursue a previously deported alien who was 
convicted for indecency with a child by sexual contact and 
confined for five years. This is a registered sex offender and 
ICE officers were told not to remove this criminal alien. Why 
is this happening? Are you not concerned about these kinds of 
criminals being released onto the streets and hurting children 
again?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, those types of criminals are a 
priority for arrest and removal. That is what the guidelines 
say. I cannot speak to the specific----
    Senator Hawley. But----
    Secretary Mayorkas [continuing]. If I may finish, Senator, 
I cannot speak to the particular----
    Senator Hawley. I heard you give that answer to Senator 
Lankford, but why can't you? You are the Secretary. Why can't 
you speak to these specifics? Are you not in charge of your 
Department?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
    Senator Hawley. Why can't ICE officers not get answers from 
you. Why is it they have to come to me to get answers from you, 
because they do not know what to do. They are desperate for 
guidance.
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator----
    Senator Hawley. Why can't you speak to these issues, Mr. 
Secretary?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, if I may answer your question, 
if you would give me a moment to answer your question. I cannot 
speak to facts that are not in front of me. I cannot speak to 
cases without looking at the files and speaking to them with 
knowledge of the evidence and the facts. I would be very happy 
to look at the case files that you refer to, No. 1.
    No. 2, I have traveled around the country and met with ICE 
officers, and I have answered their questions. The first thing 
that is my responsibility to do, when I am engaging with the 
ICE workforce, is to give the union representative the 
opportunity to speak. I have visited Philadelphia, New York, 
Atlanta, New Orleans, San Antonio, and Los Angeles, and never 
once has the head of the union asked me a question. Never once 
have I received an inquiry in writing or orally from the head 
of the union, Chris Crane. If he should ask me a question, I 
shall answer it, because I have been answering the questions of 
the individuals whom he is responsible to represent.
    Senator Hawley. I would be happy to give you these cases 
issue for the record, and I look forward to your response, for 
there record. I would say, Mr. Mayorkas, however much an 
inconvenience that may be for you to answer questions from me 
or from other Senators on this Committee, or from the union, 
the people who you are in charge of and you are supposed to be 
supervising, it is your job. Frankly, I do not care if it is an 
inconvenience and I do not care if you do not like it. It is 
your job to do so. The fact that you are not able and not 
willing to respond to these specific queries is troublesome to 
me. But I will give them to you for the record, and I look 
forward to your response.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Secretary Mayorkas. That is, actually, if I may say, also 
false. Your questions are not an inconvenience for me. All I 
ask is the opportunity to answer them.
    Senator Hawley. I look forward to your answers.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Hawley. Senator Ossoff, 
you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR OSSOFF

    Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for 
joining us, Mr. Secretary.
    Preventing the importation of goods produced with forced 
labor is a core priority for the U.S. Congress and the U.S. 
Government, and the Department of Homeland Security has 
significant responsibility for that effort.
    An October 2020 GAO report reported, however, that Forced 
Labor Division expenditures account for less than one percent 
of the total budget of the Office of Trade at CBP. An October 
20, 2020, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) report from 
DHS IG found that HSI did not have a cohesive approach to 
carrying out its responsibilities and combating human 
trafficking and that, ``HSI may have missed opportunities to 
assist and save victims and support U.S. attorneys in their 
prosecution efforts.''
    How, Mr. Secretary, does your budget request this year 
fulfill DHS responsibilities to investigate and combat forced 
labor and supply chains for goods entering the United States 
and to prevent human trafficking?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, so we are very focused on this 
scourge of forced labor and human trafficking. I read every 
week of the tremendous work that Homeland Security 
Investigations perform. Almost every week they deliver a case 
that brings accountability to the perpetrators of this crime. I 
also participated in a press conference of a major forced labor 
action by Customs and Border Protection and its Office of 
Trade.
    The budget reflects the work. I know of no financial 
shortfall with respect to our ability to perform this mission 
set. If it is of concern to you I would be very pleased to meet 
with you and discuss that.
    Senator Ossoff. I look forward to that, Mr. Secretary. I 
would like to ask you about the focus in your budget request, 
as well as in your testimony today, around domestic terrorism 
and domestic violent extremism. Let me first of all state that 
there is much more to threat assessment than recent historical 
casualty numbers. Of course, I recognize that your Department's 
responsibility is not to enforce local law. But I want to, 
nevertheless, offer you these numbers and gain some perspective 
on how you have come to the threat assessment that has informed 
your budget request.
    According to DHS-FBI data, from 2015 to 2019, 65 Americans 
were tragically killed in domestic terrorist attacks. I want to 
put that in context by referring to CDC homicide data over the 
same period of 2015 to 2019--94,636 Americans killed by 
homicide over that same period. Again, there was more to threat 
assessment, I recognize, than the historical casualty data.
    But what leads you to the conclusion that the level of 
threat from domestic violent extremists and the level of threat 
posed by potential domestic terrorists has risen to the extent 
that it justifies this bureaucratic focus and this budgetary 
focus? You have requested, for example, resources to establish 
a new, dedicated domestic terrorism branch within DHS Office of 
Intelligence and Analysis (I&A).
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, it is a very important 
question. Our research, our analysis, which is not only drawn 
from the work that we ourselves perform but we harness the work 
in academia and private organizations, what we see is an 
increasing amount of social media traffic that is based on 
ideologies of hate and extremism, false narratives, and an 
increasing connectivity to violence, intention to commit 
violent acts.
    And so that is what causes us to conclude that this is the 
greatest terrorist-related threat that we face in our homeland 
today. What we are doing is through the Center for Prevention 
programs and partnership what we seek to do is more effectively 
disseminate what we learn about those trends, mindful of rights 
of privacy and civil rights and civil liberties, disseminate 
that information to our State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
partners, on the one hand, and, importantly, to equip local 
communities to empower them to address the threat in their own 
neighborhoods. We cannot do it as effectively as the people in 
the communities themselves, the trusted individuals--families, 
friends, teachers, faith leaders, and the like.
    We have learned a great deal from prior efforts to counter 
violent extremism in the 2014-2016 timeframe, and what we have 
learned is that it is best to empower and equip communities and 
first responders in those communities to act.
    Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I would like to 
shift to a discussion of cybersecurity with a particular focus 
on Georgia's needs. As you well know, Georgia hosts the Port of 
Savannah, which is one of the fastest-growing ports in the 
United States, and indeed in the hemisphere, vital not just to 
Georgia's economy but to the U.S. economy. We continue to see 
the impact of ransomware attacks and other cyberattacks on U.S. 
critical infrastructure, the Colonial Pipeline attack. Colonial 
Pipeline also headquartered in Georgia, and I want to thank 
your personnel who assisted in the response to that incident.
    My request for you, Mr. Secretary, is that you commit that 
the next time you have occasion to visit Georgia--and I hope we 
will welcome you soon--that you will sit down with me and 
Georgia Ports Authority personnel to discuss how DHS can better 
support cybersecurity to protect the Port of Savannah, and 
perhaps you could comment now, as well, on your overall 
assessment of efforts to protect ports from cyberattack.
    Secretary Mayorkas. This is a very important area for us. 
Our Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is very 
focused on port security and the cyber domain. And yes, 
Senator, I would be pleased to visit Georgia and visit the 
Ports Authority with you, and address their concerns with 
respect to cybersecurity. Of course, I would bring colleagues 
for CISA who are most expert in that work.
    Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Finally, on the 
same note, we face a significant shortage of qualified 
cybersecurity professionals. This is a field of growing 
importance to national security. It is a field that is rapidly 
expanding, and we need to ensure that the pipeline of well-
trained, highly qualified cybersecurity professionals is wide 
open and that there is diversity in the pipeline generating 
that cybersecurity workforce.
    Do you agree that a priority for the U.S. government and 
the U.S. Congress should be expanding our nation's capacity to 
train highly qualified cybersecurity workforce that can, for 
example, support the effort to protect the Port of Savannah and 
other critical infrastructure?
    Secretary Mayorkas. Senator, I most certainly do, and on 
that point our Department, the Department of Homeland Security, 
is underway in the largest, most intense cybersecurity 
recruiting effort in the Department's history.
    Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your 
testimony and your service, and I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Ossoff. Secretary 
Mayorkas, I want to thank you once again for your service to 
our country and your willingness to tackle these incredibly 
challenging challenges that you have before you, and also have 
an opportunity to thank the men and women who serve each and 
every day at the Department of Homeland Security to keep us 
safe. Certainly I think every Member of this Committee is 
thankful for the work that you do and everybody at the 
Department of Homeland Security. We look forward to working 
closely with you as we work to overcome these challenges.
    The record for this hearing will remain open for 15 days, 
until August 11 at 5 p.m., for the submission of statements and 
questions for the record. And with that this hearing is now 
adjourned. [Whereupon, at 12:18 p.m., the hearing was 
adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

                              ----------                              

		[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                 [all]