[Senate Hearing 118-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023
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U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES
[The following testimony was received by the Subcommittee
on Homeland Security for inclusion in the record. The submitted
material relates to the fiscal year 2023 budget request for
programs within the subcommittee's jurisdiction.]
Prepared Statement of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking
(ATEST)
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) thanks you for
your leadership in the fight to end child labor, forced labor and human
trafficking. We appreciate your efforts to pass legislation and provide
resources to Federal agencies engaged in combating these horrific
crimes. We seek your assistance in funding essential programs in the
fiscal year 2023 Homeland Security Appropriations bill and including
related Committee report language. The Department of Homeland Security
plays a vital role in fighting this despicable crime. ATEST recommends
the creation of new victims services programs and accountability for
programs in this key Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and
subsequent reauthorizations (TVPA) and related legislation. We urge you
to include appropriate and necessary resources for DHS to combat
trafficking and child sexual exploitation, protect trafficking victims,
and effectively implement its mandate under TFTEA and the Tariff Act of
1930.
ATEST FY23 Appropriations Requests Summary: Homeland
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Department Program FY23 Appropriation Request
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Customs and Border Protect$20,000,000
...................................
Homeland Immigration and Customs En$54,400,000--Requested from
Security Investigations allocated funding, of which
--not less than $15,700,000 for
forced labor investigations
--$20,000,000 for Victim Witness
Coordinators
...................................
Immigration and Customs En$33,500,000--Requested from
Investigations: Office of Victims Assistance allocated funding
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Customs and Border Protection (CBP): $20,000,000 We request
funding from the ICE allocated funds for CBP to strengthen
enforcement actions and processes to prevent the importation of
products made with forced labor in accordance with section 307
of the Tariff Act of 1930. Recent changes in law have made it
easier to enforce this prohibition on the importation into the
U.S. of goods made with forced labor. Funds would be used to
fulfill CBP's budget request for fiscal year 2018 of 20 new
auditors, to further enforce forced-labor restrictions in
imports as was addressed in section 910 of the TFTEA of 2015
(Public Law 114-125). Increased and improved enforcement of the
act would allow CBP to stop goods made with forced labor from
entering the U.S. markets and discourage foreign producers from
using forced labor in their supply chains.
We continue to see a steady uptick in enforcement actions
over recent years. Since the consumptive demand loophole was
closed in 2015, CBP has issued 36 Withhold Release Orders
(WRO), including 7 WROs and 2 Findings in fiscal year 2021. CBP
estimated its fiscal year 2021 enforcement actions prevented
nearly $500 million of goods made by forced labor from entering
the United States. While we appreciate this increased attention
by CBP, we also recognize CBP needs additional resources in
order to continue fulfilling their mandate to prevent the
importation of goods made by forced labor. In the past couple
of years, the Government Accountability Office has written
several reports highlighting CBP's need for more resources
dedicated to addressing forced labor. Additionally, Congress
has recently given additional mandates to CBP on this issue,
including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. In order to
ensure CBP is able to continue increasing its Section 307
enforcement actions and tackle additional mandates related to
forced labor, it is critical Congress provide additional
resources specifically directed to support CBP's enforcement of
Section 307.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI): $54,400,000 HSI plays a critical role in
combating severe forms of trafficking originating from foreign
countries, including investigating violations of Section 307 of
the Tariff Act of 1930, and is, therefore, the first line of
defense against key aspects of this crime. In fiscal year 2021,
ICE HSI made 2,360 human trafficking arrests, up 35 percent
from fiscal year 2020. We request funding from the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement allocated funds for investigations,
training, victim services, and victim witness coordinators
within HSI to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons as
authorized by Sec. 113(i) of the TVPRA of 2013 (Public Law 113-
4) and updated in the TVPRA of 2018 (Public Law 115-392).
Of these funds, $15,770,000 should be for forced labor
investigations under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, and
$20,000,000 should be designated specifically for Victim
Witness Coordinators. Additional resources should be used to
train field officers on identifying victims of human
trafficking and distinguishing between trafficking and
smuggling, expand trafficking investigations, and help reduce
the incidents of trafficking and forced labor in the United
States. The Victim Witness Coordinator funding would allow HSI
to hire 5 additional Victim Witness Coordinators specialized in
human trafficking to support human trafficking victims
interacting with law enforcement and ensure that the HSI
response to this crime is victim-centered. The funds would also
allow HSI to train all victim witness personnel on the
provision of victim services and rights for this specialized
victim population.
Proposed Report Language: Forced Labor--Within the total
amount provided to HSI, not less than $15,770,000 shall be for
investigations and other activities related to forced labor law
violations, including but not limited to forced child labor,
and of which not to exceed $6,000,000 shall remain available
until expended. ICE shall submit to the Committees an annual
report on the expenditures and performance metrics associated
with such activities.
DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT): Report
Language Request--We are aware of legislation S. 2991 that
would appropriate $14 million for staffing support and
personnel at the DHS CCHT, while we do not take a position on a
specific appropriations request for the CCHT at this time, we
have recommendations on how any money that is appropriated
should be disbursed. We request that all CCHT-related funding
be utilized in accordance with the prevention, protection and
prosecution principles enshrined in the TVPA of 2000.
Proposed Report Language: The Center to Counter Human
Trafficking shall ensure that all appropriated funds to support
the center's operation and functioning, including personnel and
resources, place the victim at the center of all policies and
procedures. The CCHT shall use these funds to support pending
requests for Continued Presence, including expedited resolution
of requests, and to enhance the utilization of Continued
Presence in more forced labor cases, whose victims are under-
represented among the individuals who are granted Continued
Presence. Any appropriated funds shall not be used to support
any activities related to enforcement and removal operations of
any potential or identified victims of human trafficking.
As a champion for the victims of child labor, forced labor
and sex trafficking, you understand the complexities of these
issues and the resources needed to respond. We have carefully
vetted our requests to focus on the most important and
effective programs. We thank you for your consideration of
these requests and your continued leadership. If you have any
questions, please contact ATEST Coalition Director Terry
FitzPatrick (terry.fitzpatrick@ATEST-US.org).
Sincerely,
Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST)
Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)
Covenant House
Free the Slaves
HEAL Trafficking
Human Trafficking Institute
Human Trafficking Legal Center
Humanity United Action
McCain Institute for International Leadership
National Network for Youth (NN4Y)
Polaris
Safe Horizon
Solidarity Center
T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
United Way Worldwide
Verite
Vital Voices Global Partnership
ATEST is a U.S.-based coalition that advocates for
solutions to prevent and end all forms of human trafficking and
modern slavery around the world.
[This statement was submitted by Terry FitzPatrick, ATEST
Coalition Director.]
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Prepared Statement of Congress of the United States
[This statement was submitted by Rashida Tlaib, Member of
Congress.]
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Prepared Statement of Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships
(CP3)
Dear Chair Murphy, Ranking Member Capito, and members of
the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony
concerning transparency requirements for the Center for
Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3).
In May 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
established the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships
(CP3), which supports its targeted violence and terrorism
prevention efforts. CP3 evolves from Countering Violent
Extremism (CVE) initiatives that aimed to identify Muslims who
might commit a terrorist attack. Department officials have
acknowledged that CVE was a biased program, premised on the
assumption that ``individuals who are high risk were coming
from specific religious and ethnic communities,'' and have
asserted that CP3 represents a rejection of the CVE framework.
The stated commitment to reject failed approaches is
welcome. In practice, however, CP3 expands the core CVE
prevention model rather than jettisons it: CP3 efforts now
apparently focus on a broader range of violence than only
terrorism associated with Muslims, exposing even more
communities to the risks it generates. Like CVE, the CP3 model
employs ill-defined and commonplace phenomena among
individuals--for example, social alienation, mood swings,
having a ``grievance'' or ``extremist'' view--as predictors of
future violence, raising the specter of reporting based on
constitutionally-protected activism or racial and religious
stereotypes that inform who is perceived as threatening. Like
CVE, CP3 tasks State and local stakeholders (police, public
safety agencies, community groups, universities, and others)
with working together to identify and intervene with people
experiencing such conditions, putting law enforcement between
people and the help they may need. As recently as 2020, after
the Department had formally abandoned the label ``CVE,'' it
noted that such targeted violence and terrorism prevention
efforts were ``filling a gap where law enforcement or
intelligence cannot operate because of constitutionally based
civil rights and liberties.''
In 2021, Congress provided more than $80 million to fund
activities under the broader umbrella of targeted violence and
terrorism prevention, but more information is needed to justify
continued funding for such initiatives, especially since they
generate serious civil rights and liberties risks and have
never been shown to prevent violence.
In a letter to the House Appropriations Committee,
Representatives Tlaib, Cherfilus-McCormick, Garcia, Jayapal,
Johnson, Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, Slotkin, Stansbury, and
Veasey wrote:
``It's essential that the kinds of violence prevention
strategies we fund are effective. By allowing CP3 to continue
without robust transparency requirements and public civil
rights and liberties safeguards, we risk sowing distrust and
causing further harm to some of the communities most in need of
support in our country--including children, people with
disabilities, immigrants, and families facing poverty.''\1\
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\1\ Letter to Chairwoman Roybal-Allard and Ranking Member
Fleischmann, dated April 26, 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/
CP3Letter
Therefore, we urge the subcommittee to support the transparency
language found on pages 6-7 of the House Homeland Security
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Appropriations subcommittee report. Specifically:
Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3).- Not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this act,
and annually thereafter, CP3 shall submit to the Committee and
make publicly available online a report containing the
following:
(1) For each risk factor or behavioral indicator used in CP3
trainings and programs, the evidence base supporting its
inclusion, including peer-reviewed research validating its
inclusion and whether the Federal Government has funded or
supported the cited evidence;
(2) A description of all privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties
protections applicable to CP3 programs, whether administered
directly by the Department, through grant recipients, or by
other third parties, and a detailed description of how CP3
monitors grant recipient compliance with Federal civil rights
laws pursuant to 44 C.F.R. Part 7 and any other applicable
statutory or regulatory provisions; and
(3) Beginning with the fiscal year 2020 grant cycle, detailed
descriptions of:
(A) the operative policies for award decisions for each cycle,
including the specific criteria for awarding grants and how
they were applied;
(B) the performance metrics and evaluation criteria for grant
recipients for each cycle; and
(C) a summary of all ongoing evaluations of grantees, including
evaluation criteria and performance metrics, as well as a
list of all completed or published evaluations.
These transparency requirements are an important first step in
allowing Congress and the public to assess the efficacy and impact of
the CP3, and to examine whether civil rights and civil liberties are
being protected.
Thank you again for this opportunity to submit this testimony.
[This statement was submitted by Sue Udry, Executive Director,
Defending Rights & Dissent and Fatema Ahmad, Executive Director, Muslim
Justice League.]
______
Prepared Statement of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito, and distinguished members
of the subcommittee, thank you for allowing me to submit this testimony
on behalf of America's public media service--1,500 public television
and radio stations reaching 99 percent of the American people. The
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) requests $40 million in
fiscal year 2023 for the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) within
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA). CPB is grateful for the strong funding support of this
grant program in fiscal year 2022. Sustained support will reinforce and
extend public media's contributions to public safety and enhance
alerting and warning capabilities that benefit all Americans.
While media and content delivery have changed, public broadcasting
remains a trusted source for fact-based information. Local stations'
broadcast infrastructure provides not only the educational and
informational content Americans expect from public media, but emergency
alerting and communications services at the National, State, and local
levels. Often unnoticed until times of emergency, these services direct
people to safety and transmit messages from these emergency management
and public safety officials. The grant support will enable national
public media organizations and local stations to continue to meet the
infrastructure resilience requirements that ensures reliable, always-
ready public safety communication systems.
Nationally, the public television interconnection system serves as
a distribution point for PBS WARN, an essential part of FEMA's
nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. The WEA system relies
upon public broadcasters to ensure the delivery of messages that
include imminent threats to life and safety, AMBER alerts, and
Presidential alerts during a national emergency. Between March 12, 2020
and January 18, 2022, more than 13,091 WEAs were issued by State and
local authorities and transmitted over the PBS WARN system.
Approximately 644 of those alerts were for COVID-19, harnessing the
reach and ubiquity of mobile device communications to address a
pandemic for the first time.
Additionally, PBS leverages its contributions to the WEA system and
offers the Eyes on IPAWS tool to provide public safety officials with
increased transparency of issued alerts. The utility of Eyes on IPAWS
was recognized by the FCC's Communications, Security, Reliability, and
Interoperability Council's (CSRIC) VII in 2020. The CSRIC report
States, ``Alert Originators, emergency managers, and any other
stakeholders can use Eyes on IPAWS to determine active WEAs nationwide;
confirm transmission of issued WEAs; gain awareness of WEAs issued by
other agencies; view alerts based on location, alert type, or date; and
analyze the impact of WEAs using the data from Eyes on IPAWS in after-
action analysis.''
The public radio interconnection system, Public Radio Satellite
System(r) (PRSS), managed by NPR, receives a national EAS feed directly
from FEMA and distributes Presidential emergency alerts to 1,247 public
radio stations nationwide, including NPR member and non-member
stations. PRSS is also named as a resource in at least 20 States'
emergency plans and many of the public radio stations in these 20
States serve as Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations. The PRSS national
network of nearly 400 interconnected public radio stations supports
secure, reliable communications during emergencies without relying on
the Internet, which may be off-line during emergencies.
Stations' infrastructure also provides for public safety services
tailored to the needs of their local communities. In times of disaster,
enabled public radio stations use MetaPub technology to deliver graphic
alerts and messages such as weather forecasts and shelter information.
For example, California stations successfully tested MetaPub alerting
during the Great California Shakeout earthquake drill in 2016 and
demonstrated how stations could bring emergency communications to
affected audiences. In the Quad Cities region, WVIK-FM is the primary
relay station for emergency information concerning the Exelon Quad
Cities nuclear power generating station. In the event of an emergency
at the nuclear plant, the Rock Island County, Illinois, Emergency
Management Agency, contacts WVIK station personnel, and the station
will broadcast the EMA message. MetaPub was also used during the
pandemic to direct viewers and listeners to local resources and the
latest public health guidelines.
In rural and remote areas, public media is often the only source of
local news and public safety information, and native-owned public media
stations serve some of the most remote and least connected areas in the
Nation. These stations partner with the Tribal governments, local
public safety officials, local health agencies, and Regional Bureau of
Indian Affairs offices to distribute essential health and safety
information. Without stations' broadcast infrastructure, many
Americans, especially those in rural areas, would lack access to
lifesaving information and public safety alerts.
Public media's public safety capabilities are valued and utilized
by local, State, and Federal public safety officials. Over the past 2
years, NC PBS partnered with the NC Department of Public Safety to
provide live English and Spanish broadcasts and livestreams of
emergency news conferences from the State Emergency Operations Center.
Last year, the livestreamed briefings received 2.3 million views across
NC PBS' online distribution platforms. In California, public television
stations partner with the California Governor's Office of Emergency
Services (OES) on ``Listos California,'' a Statewide emergency
preparedness campaign. The partnership produced ``What a Disaster,'' an
engaging emergency preparedness program, which challenges three
Southern California families to test their emergency readiness plans in
the event of the next wildfire, earthquake, flood, or another disaster.
While public media stations are dedicated to serving the needs of
their communities, their ability to provide many life-saving public
safety services relies on aging infrastructure, which has often
surpassed its expected end-of-life. In 2017, CPB commissioned a
comprehensive System Technology Assessment to better understand public
media stations' technology needs. This Assessment projected that the
system's financial capacity to address equipment repair and replacement
would see a cumulative shortfall of more than $300 million by 2020.
While CPB does not have an updated system assessment, there is every
reason to believe that the financial challenges that stations face in
meeting their equipment needs have only grown. Without resources to
maintain and replace broadcast transmission infrastructure on schedule,
stations have started to experience equipment failures that restrict or
suspend their broadcasting capabilities, including the essential public
safety services these stations provide.
Funding of the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) will address
the need for resilient public safety infrastructure. The NGWS grant
program would allow public broadcasting entities to procure, construct
and improve transmission and other public safety-related equipment and
services that secure and strengthen public media's role in helping
protect American communities. Mr. Chairman and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for allowing me, on behalf of America's public
media system, to submit this testimony. I appreciate your consideration
of this important funding request.
[This statement was submitted by Patricia de Stacy Harrison,
President and CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting.]
______
Prepared Statement of Congressional Fire Services Institute
Dear Chairman Murphy and Ranking Member Capito:
On behalf of the Nation's fire and emergency services, we write to
urge your continued support for programs that enhance our Nation's
readiness, emergency response, and fire prevention capabilities: the
Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and
Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs, the U.S. Fire Administration
(USFA), and the Urban Search and Rescue Response System (US&R).
I. AFG and SAFER Grant Programs
A. Funding
The AFG and SAFER grant programs are imperative to addressing the
needs of more than one million fire and emergency services personnel
while providing an economic stimulus to American businesses. AFG and
SAFER have been eminently successful in providing fire departments and
EMS agencies with the tools, training, and staffing needed to protect
their communities safely and effectively. As you begin work on the
Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations process, we encourage you to fund these
programs at the authorized level of $750 million each.
Demand for these programs has consistently been significantly
higher than the supply of available funding, and equipment costs have
continued to rise while funding has remained relatively low. The most
recent analysis from industry experts estimates that since 2019, the
average cost for turnout gear has increased by around 35-40 percent.
The cost of fire apparatus has increased by around 32 percent.
Even while costs continue to increase, demand for fire and
emergency services response has also continued to grow. According to
NFPA data, in 2011, fire departments responded to just over 30 million
calls in that year. By 2020, the annual number of calls had risen 22
percent to approximately 36.7 million calls. Not only did the overall
number of calls increase, but the number of calls across most response
categories also increased. In 2020, fire departments continued to
respond to more calls for medical aid, mutual aid, hazardous materials
response, and other conditions than before.
The latest NFPA Needs Assessment, released in December 2021, found
that staffing remains a constant need for all fire departments,
regardless of their career, combination, or volunteer status. The study
found that, since the previous Needs Assessment in 2015, most fire
departments have seen flat firefighter staffing levels despite
significant increases in calls.
The AFG and SAFER grant programs improve response capabilities
across all emergency response areas. They also provide funding for
crucial fire prevention and safety programs targeted toward high-risk
populations. As demand for fire and emergency response continues to
rise, we must ensure that our fire and EMS personnel have what they
need to keep themselves and their communities safe, while also
strengthening prevention efforts to improve the safety of civilians and
personnel alike. This requirement is squarely in the Federal interest
and necessitates Federal investments at the authorized level.
B. Waiver Language
The COVID-19 pandemic, ever-increasing demand for emergency
response, and significant economic pain due to inflation have continued
to squeeze fire department and EMS agency budgets. To ensure that the
AFG and SAFER programs can distribute funding to these departments and
agencies as quickly and effectively as possible, we ask that you
include the following waiver language in the fiscal year 2023 DHS
appropriations bill.
These waivers will help ensure that vital grant funding gets where
it is most needed: into the hands of local fire departments and EMS
agencies. The SAFER waivers will also allow departments to retain and
rehire personnel-critical to attaining and maintaining the appropriate
staffing levels to keep communities safe.
SAFER:
In making grants to carry out Section 34 of the Federal Fire
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229a), the
Administrator shall grant waivers from the requirements in
subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), (a)(1)(E), (c)(1), (c)(2),
and (c)(4) of such act.
AFG:
In making grants to carry out Section 33 of the Federal Fire
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229), the
Administrator shall grant waivers from the requirements in
subsection (k) of such act.
II. U.S. Fire Administration
Another issue we bring to your attention is funding for USFA. USFA
plays an important role at the National level, ensuring that the fire
service is prepared to respond to all hazards.
Each year, USFA provides training to approximately 100,000 fire and
emergency service personnel through the National Fire Academy (NFA).
Through the vital funding of the State Fire Training Grants, USFA is
also able to support much-needed training in the States, and thus reach
a larger audience. Additionally, USFA collects important data and
conducts research to reduce the threat of fire and other dangers in
local communities. Furthermore, USFA's outreach and educational
materials help to ensure the safety of both first responders and
community members. Unfortunately, over the past decade, USFA's budget
has remained below the authorized level of $76.5 million.
At a time when fire and EMS personnel are facing climate change
threats, including increasing numbers of natural disasters like
hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires; more medical calls than ever
before; the evolving challenge of responding on the front lines of a
global pandemic; the continued scourge of structural fires, including
home fires; increasing numbers of calls for hazardous materials
response; and much more, it is essential that the agency tasked with
supporting America's fire and emergency services is properly resourced.
Therefore, our organizations request full funding of $76.5 million
for USFA in fiscal year 2023 to ensure that it can continue its mission
to support our Nation's fire and EMS personnel and work for a fire-safe
America.
III. Urban Search and Rescue Response System
In addition, we request $55 million for the National Urban Search
and Rescue (US&R) system. The 28-team US&R system is nationally
recognized for its ability to provide lifesaving assistance during
major hurricanes, tornadoes, wildland fires, and other disasters.
The US&R system is facing important funding challenges in fiscal
year 2023. In 2004 and 2005, FEMA provided one-time funding for Federal
US&R teams to buy vehicles, such as tractors, 53' dry trailers, 28' box
trucks, command vehicles, and flatbed trailers. These vehicles are now
reaching their end of useful life and must be replaced to ensure the
Federal teams can move their personnel and equipment in times of
disasters. We expect the replacement of these vehicles to cost
approximately $500,000 per Federal task force. In addition, the US&R
teams are facing inflation costs for renting warehouses to store their
equipment and an approximately $10 million cost to recapitalize
equipment. Furthermore, as the COVID-19 pandemic abates, the US&R
system will require additional funding to conduct joint field
exercises.
We remain grateful for your continued leadership in ensuring that
America's fire and emergency services are prepared to protect the
public from all hazards--both natural and manmade. As you continue
developing legislation to fund these programs for fiscal year 2023, we
urge you to consider our recommendations to ensure that our Nation's
first responders can continue to protect and serve their communities
safely and effectively.
Sincerely,
Congressional Fire Services Institute
Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association
Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association
International Association of Arson Investigators
International Association of Fire Chiefs
International Association of Fire Fighters
International Fire Service Training Association
International Society of Fire Service Instructors
National Association of State Fire Marshals
National Fire Protection Association
National Volunteer Fire Council
North American Fire Training Directors
Congressional Fire Services Institute
Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association
Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association
International Association of Arson Investigators
International Association of Fire Chiefs
International Association of Fire Fighters
International Fire Service Training Association
International Society of Fire Service Instructors
National Association of State Fire Marshals
National Fire Protection Association
National Volunteer Fire Council
North American Fire Training Directors
[This statement was submitted by Michaela Campbell, Director of
Government Affairs for the Congressional Fire Services Institute.]
______
Prepared Statement of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito, and distinguished members
of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide this
testimony. As President of the National Treasury Employees Union
(NTEU), I have the honor of leading a union that represents employees
at 34 Federal agencies, including over 700 instructors and support
personnel at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) at
their headquarter facility located in Glynco, Georgia and facilities in
Artesia, NM, Charleston, SC, and Cheltenham, MD. FLETC is the Nation's
largest provider of law enforcement training to Federal law enforcement
personnel. FLETC's mission is to train all those who protect the
homeland, and therefore, its training audience also includes State,
local, and Tribal departments throughout the United States.
Additionally, FLETC's impact extends outside our Nation's borders
through international training and capacity-building activities.
Under a collaborative training model, FLETC's Federal partner
organizations deliver training unique to their missions, while FLETC
provides training in areas common to all law enforcement officers, such
as firearms, driving, tactics, investigations, and legal training.
FLETC also provides career-long training to Federal law enforcement
professionals to help them fulfill their responsibilities safely and
proficiently.
FLETC's curriculum development and review process engages experts
from across all levels of law enforcement, and FLETC partners
extensively with other agencies and stakeholders in training research
and the exchange of best practices to ensure it offers the most
effective training subject matter, technologies, and methodologies.
Since NTEU was elected as the exclusive bargaining representative
for FLETC employees, NTEU has tried to work with FLETC leadership on
several issues of concern. These issues include increasing instructor
staffing to address ongoing staffing shortages, mitigation strategies
to limit COVID outbreaks, establishing reliable COVID safety protocols
on their campuses, misusing instructors to complete various
construction projects around FLETC resulting in a further shortage of
instructors and working collaboratively with FLETC leadership to
address these employee concerns.
FLETC Staffing: Full-time FLETC instructors and support staff
provide career-long training to federal, State, local, Tribal, and
international law enforcement agency professionals. Under a
collaborative training model, FLETC provides training to more than 100
Federal partner organizations, 12 of which are within DHS, including
law enforcement personnel that NTEU represents at Customs and Border
Protection ports of entry. On average, FLETC trains over 18,000
students annually.
Fifty percent of the instructor requirements for basic and advanced
training, as well as the tuition for basic training are provided
through appropriations. FLETC receives reimbursable resources to fund
the remaining 50 percent of instructor requirements and other training
costs incurred by FLETC. The President's fiscal year 2023 request seeks
funding for only 7 new hires, consisting of personnel that directly
support the training mission such as Training Specialists, Training
Technicians, Information Technology Specialists and Technicians,
Facility Maintenance Engineers, and Utility Operators. The increase in
fiscal year 2023 is attributed to the addition of one FTE for
Accreditation and three associated with the Zero Trust program.
According to our FLETC bargaining unit members, this funding does not
meet current needs. For example, in the Driver and Management Division
alone, FLETC is 15 instructors short of the 45 instructors needed.
Appropriated funding levels for FLETC has not changed in years and
it shows. FLETC's lack of funding is negatively impacting the mission
and the quality of training for Federal law enforcement officers. FLETC
has too few instructors to teach students and instructors' skills are
not being regularly updated by FLETC. The student-to-teacher ratio has
diminished, and students are being shortchanged.
NTEU has been told by FLETC that the mission is first, the Federal
partner organizations are second, the students third, and the
instructors last. If the permanent instructor cadre is not being fully
and appropriately staffed, the mission suffers. The instructors are the
product that FLETC delivers. NTEU is seeking to work collaboratively
with FLETC management and with Congress to provide additional funding
to address the instructor staffing shortage.
NTEU is also concerned about the diversion of instructors from
their teaching duties. For example, FLETC has utilized instructors to
complete various construction projects on the FLETC campus. Instructors
are not trained in construction, nor is it part of their regular job
duties. Instructors are employed as substantive specialists in training
subjects and delivery of that subject matter to students, not as
construction workers. In addition, the removal of even one or two
instructors for construction projects contributes to the shortage of
instructors and FLETC is paying instructors significant overtime to
complete these construction projects. NTEU is also concerned that FLETC
may not be adhering to OSHA guidelines or safety protocols when
assigning instructors to do this work.
COVID Outbreaks: NTEU has continuing concerns about COVID outbreaks
at FLETC and whether FLETC has reliable COVID protocols to address
these outbreaks. Over the past 2 years, there have been several mass
COVID outbreaks at various FLETC locations. NTEU has expressed
continuing concerns that FLETC's lack of sufficient COVID prevention
protocols puts law enforcement personnel assigned there at risk. NTEU
is working with FLETC to continue to improve its COVID prevention and
protection protocols to keep students and personnel assigned to FLETC
safe and healthy, but outbreaks continue to occur.
Just last month, FLETC once again reported 168 positive cases of
COVID-19. When training was halted, there were 2,853 students
representing 68 agencies on the grounds. FLETC granted an exception to
continue training any class that had 75 percent or more of its trainees
vaccinated, up-to-date, and boosted.
As the elected exclusive bargaining representative for FLETC
employees, NTEU urges you to provide direct appropriated fiscal year
2023 funding to hire at least 25 additional FLETC instructors and
associated operational support personnel and funding to ensure
necessary health and safety protocols are implemented at FLETC to limit
future COVID outbreaks at their facilities.
Thank you for this opportunity to submit NTEU's statement for the
record.
[This statement was submitted by Anthony M. Reardon, National
President, National Treasury Employees Union.]
______
Prepared Statement of the National Association of State Energy
Officials (NASEO)
Chairman Murphy and Ranking Member Capito, and members of the
subcommittee, I am David Terry, the Executive Director of the National
Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO). NASEO represents the
Governor-designated energy directors and their offices in the 56
States, District of Columbia and U.S. territories. One of the key
functions of the State energy offices is Emergency Support Function
(``ESF-12'') related planning, mitigation, and response actions at the
state level, as well as coordination with local governments and the
energy industry--petroleum, natural gas, electricity.
We are in the midst of a severe national crisis of constrained
energy resources in many areas, as well as rapid price increases. DHS
as a whole, FEMA specifically, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the
States must all work together in a coordinated manner with attention to
each organization's expertise and authority to get the job done for the
Nation. As was evidenced by the cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline
and the ongoing cyber attacks associated with the Russian invasion of
Ukraine, we must put in place far more robust cyber defenses into our
energy systems--petroleum, natural gas, electricity--as well as the
rest of the economy.
We recommend that the subcommittee approve specific funding in the
following areas in the appropriations bill:
1) Full funding of the FEMA BRIC program at 6 percent of the funds
disbursed. The Administration's decision to increase the FY 22 amount
and the FY 23 request is a very positive step, but more is needed as is
greater attention to critical energy actions within this program.
2) New state emergency planning and response grants to support
coordination between the energy offices, state emergency management
agencies, FEMA and the DOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and
Emergency Response.
3) New direct funding to States for public facility resilience,
energy, and water system retrofits to update mission critical
facilities, especially including hospitals, schools, community
shelters, non-profit nursing homes, and first responder facilities,
utilizing private capital for energy efficiency improvements with
Federal funds directed to emergency response upgrades (this program
could be operated by State energy offices, who already manage the
existing $5--$6 billion per year in energy service performance
contracting programs). In addition, special provision could be made to
target underserved rural healthcare facilities.
The program recommended in #3, above, would have the double benefit
of assisting States in responding to hurricanes, floods, wildfires,
earthquakes, and other hazards. More energy system resilient facilities
with access to longer term back-up power, efficient HVAC, lighting, and
hot water systems offer far greater reliability and durability of
service for communities.
We are encouraged by the FY 23 request to provide increased funding
for the FEMA BRIC program. Practical, cost-effective building codes,
voluntarily adopted by State and local governments, require robust
training of code staff and the building trade community to be
effective. The evidence that modern building energy codes result in
more resilient and energy efficient construction and that such codes
save lives and offer greater comfort to residents during a disaster is
abundant.
Where a community has not adopted disaster resistant codes pre-
disaster, post-disaster is the ideal time for that adoption or update.
Post-disaster is also when permitting loads and training needs are at
their greatest. Addressing these challenges through Section 1206 would
allow FEMA to provide support to jurisdictions seeking to ensure that
rebuilding is done to modern standards, which in turn can help impacted
communities be better positioned to weather the next storm. Providing
Federal reimbursement for administering and enforcing older and less
resilient codes risks perpetuating an unending cycle of damage and
repair if those older codes are never updated.
DRRA Section 1206(a) permits FEMA to assist communities in adopting
or updating building codes post disaster, in training code officials
and builders on updated or existing building codes, and in boosting
efforts to ensure rebuilding work community-wide is done to code. We
believe FEMA should act now to implement that Section, which is
consistent with the Agency's current Strategic Plan, ongoing
programmatic work, the National Mitigation Investment Strategy,
mitigation research, the DRRA, and congressional intent.
If the subcommittee has any questions regarding this testimony,
please contact David Terry, (NASEO Executive Director)
(dterry@naseo.org) or Jeff Genzer (NASEO Counsel) (jcg@dwgp.com).
[This statement was submitted by David Terry, Executive Director,
National Association of State Energy Officials.]
______
Prepared Statement of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
On behalf of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the
oldest, largest, and most representative national American Indian and
Alaska Native organization dedicated to protecting the rights of Tribal
Nations to practice self-determination and achieve self-sufficiency,
thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony regarding
Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations for Tribal homeland security and
emergency management grants and programs. Natural disasters and
foreign/domestic threats to homeland security are on the rise, which
require Tribal communities to develop and enhance homeland security
response planning, training, and exercise efforts. However, funding to
Tribal Nations for critical homeland security needs through the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has remained insufficient to meet
their minimum needs.
Federal efforts to create a cohesive and coordinated homeland
security strategy without the necessary resources for Indian Country
will leave a significant, and potentially dangerous, gap in security
for the entire nation. Tribal Nations' abilities to meet a basic level
of homeland security and preparedness is further diminished by
burdensome DHS requirements and unfunded mandates inserted into its
competitive grant process without any Tribal consultation. In 2018, the
U.S. Government Accountability Office highlighted that Tribal Nations'
problems are compounded by the lack of Tribal preparedness grant
funding, which limits their ability to access Federal funding when a
disaster strikes.\1\ NCAI urges the subcommittee to include strong
funding levels for Tribal homeland security and emergency management
programs in its fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO 18-18-443, Emergency
Management: Implementation of the Major Disaster Declaration Process
for Federally Recognized Tribes, Available at: https://www.gao.gov/
assets/gao-18-443.pdf, Accessed on: May 25, 2022.
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Increase Funding to $40 Million for the Tribal Homeland Security
Grant Program: The Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP) is
one of the only resources for Tribal Nations to develop core
capabilities to meet national preparedness goals. While DHS has
acknowledged the need for this program, it has yet to provide the
minimum funding for Tribal Nations to develop the necessary homeland
security capacity to ensure protection of the Nation. Since 2003,
Congress has allocated over $55 billion in homeland security grant
funds to State and local governments, however only just over $100
million has been provided to Indian Country during the same period.\2\
Each year, Tribal needs are at least four times more than the funding
amount provided for the program, and of the Tribes that apply, several
could use the entire amount budgeted for THSGP on their own.\3\ NCAI
greatly appreciates that Congress has increased funding for this
program over the last few fiscal years, and we strongly urge Congress
to fund THSGP at $40 million as an important step forward as Tribal
Nations strive to protect all citizens.
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\2\ National Congress of American Indians, Fiscal Year 2022 Indian
Country Budget Request: Restoring Promises, Dec. 2021, at 48, https://
www.ncai.org/resources/ncai-publications/NCAI_IndianCountry_Fiscal year
2022_BudgetRequest.pdf (including data from fiscal year 2022).
\3\ National Congress of American Indians, Tribal Infrastructure:
Investing in Indian Country for a Strong America, Feb. 2017, 20,
https://www.ncai.org/NCAI-InfrastructureReport-FINAL.pdf.
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Provide $206,640,000 to enable Tribal Develop of Vital Homeland
Security and Emergency Management Programs: Tribal homeland security
and emergency management programs play a key role in Tribal Nations'
ability to respond and recover from emergencies such as COVID-19.
However, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tribal Nations
could not access a vast majority the of billions in life saving funds
through FEMA due to years of little or no funding for Tribal emergency
management programs, which limited the number of Tribal emergency
management staff leaving Tribes even further behind in meeting the core
capabilities. For Tribal Nations to meet the minimum standards required
by the Homeland Security Act and the Robert T. Stafford Act-along with
the standards developed by FEMA, the National Fire Protection
Association, and the Emergency Management Accreditation Program-each
Tribe would need at least 1.5 full time employees.\4\ To meet this
need, a total of $206,640,000, or $360,000 per tribe \5\ must be
invested, and could provide a return of six dollars for every dollar
invested.\6\
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\4\ NCAI, Fiscal Year 2022 Indian Country Budget Request: Restoring
Promises, at 49.
\5\ Id.
\6\ National Institute of Building Sciences, Natural Hazard
Mitigation Saves Study: 2018 Interim report, at 1, https://
www.preventionweb.net/files/63003_nibsmsv22018interimrepor.pdf.
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Provide $2 Million for the Operation of a DHS Tribal National
Advisory Council: Federal advisory committees, often composed of non-
federal individuals, play an important role in developing public policy
and government regulations. In November 2021, DHS announced it was
creating the first ever DHS National Tribal Advisory Committee (DHS
Tribal NAC) to advise the Secretary on all homeland security matters.
Congress must support the establishment of the DHS Tribal NAC to
support homeland security initiatives in Indian Country by providing $2
million annually for its staffing, creation, and operation. Further,
Congress should require an annual report from the DHS Tribal NAC on
projects, recommendations, accomplishments, meetings, membership, and
other items to ensure that, as threats evolve, DHS makes significant
steps toward addressing shortfalls in its support for Tribal homeland
security efforts.
Provide $10 Million to Enable Tribal Nations to Work Cooperatively
with DHS in Developing Tribal Identification Cards: While Tribal
Nations have shown they are willing to comply with the Western
Hemisphere Travel Initiative for enhanced Tribal identification (ID)
cards, compliance is often cost-prohibitive. Funding Tribal ID cards
has multiple benefits, such as enabling Tribal Nations to provide
secure Tribal cards, allowing Tribal officials and citizens to continue
border crossings consistent with longstanding treaty rights and
agreements, and allowing entrance to Federal offices to conduct
business. Some Tribal Nations have the human resources and logistical
capacity to produce Tribal IDs if materials and technical assistance
are available. NCAI asks Congress to provide $10 million to Tribal
Nations for enhanced ID efforts.
Provide $4 Million for Tribal Emergency Management Assistance
Compact Development: Congress funded the development and continuation
of state-to-state program the Emergency Management Assistance Compact
(EMAC)--a mutual aid agreement between States and territories of the
United States. The EMAC enables States to share resources during
natural and man-made disasters, including terrorism. Tribal Nations are
not part of this agreement. This is an issue, as Tribal Nations are
often the first, and in some cases only, responders to natural
disasters in their jurisdictions. Eighty percent of Tribal disasters
are never designated Federal disaster declaration status.\7\ For this
reason, providing funding to establish and operate Tribal EMACs will
help strengthen national homeland security by providing Tribal Nations
a first resource between and among themselves. NCAI urges Congress to
provide $4 million for inter-Tribal emergency management compact
development.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ NCAI, Tribal Infrastructure, at 21.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Indian Country funding priorities for fiscal year 2023:
Provide $10 million for Tribal Nations to train DHS personnel in
cultural sensitivity; $2 million for Tribal Homeland Security Centers
of Excellence; $15 million for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency Tribal Cyber Security Resilience Grant Program; $2
million for COVID-19 after action evaluations and reports that focus on
the Federal response in Indian Country; $2 million for National
Response and Coordinating Center, Tribal Desk; and $3 million for the
development and delivery of homeland security and emergency management
curriculum at Tribal Colleges and Universities and Tribal non-profits.
Conclusion: Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony and
for your consideration of Tribal homeland security and emergency
management funding priorities for fiscal year 2023. Tribal Nations have
paid for every penny obligated to Indian Country hundreds of times over
by providing this Nation with our land. In order to uphold this
Nation's promises to its people, it must first uphold its promises to
this land's First Peoples. For more information, please contact Kelbie
Kennedy, Policy Manager and Policy Lead--National Security and
Community Safety, at kkennedy@ncai.org or Tyler Scribner, Policy Lead--
Federal Revenue & Appropriations, tscribner@ncai.org.
[This statement was submitted by Larry Wright, Jr., Director of
Leadership Engagement of the National Congress of American Indians.]
______
Prepared Statement of Next Generation Warning System
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito and Members of the
subcommittee,
Thank you for this opportunity to urge the subcommittee to support
a continued $40 million appropriation in fiscal year 2023 for the
(NGWS) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Federal Assistance Grants account.
As part of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), this
competitive grant program will enable public broadcasting entities to
expand alert, warning, and interoperable communications and incorporate
emergency technology in those activities. We are grateful for Congress'
support in fiscal year 2022 to establish the NGWS program, in
coordination with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
Continued support in fiscal year 2023 will provide critical funding to
help public media stations repair, replace, and harden their
communications infrastructure to support enhanced alerting and warning
capabilities that serve all Americans.
As the President and CEO of National Public Radio (NPR), I offer
this statement on behalf of the public radio system, a nonprofit public
service media enterprise that includes NPR, public radio stations
across every State and territory, and other producers and distributors
of public radio programming. Public radio stations are not-for-profit,
locally owned, licensed, and managed, and thereby accountable to the
community and listeners they serve. While public radio is an essential
daily local news provider, it also plays a key role in civil defense,
emergency alerting, and providing coverage before, during, and after
disasters and local emergencies. About 98.5 percent of the U.S.
population is within the broadcast listening area of one or more public
radio stations.
NPR operates the Public Radio Satellite System(r) (PRSS(r))-the
satellite and terrestrial content-distribution system on which the
public radio system, including almost all stations, networks, and
producers-depends. The PRSS transmits almost 300,000 hours of news and
information, mostly live, from 100 producers through 1,247
interconnected stations and almost 400,000 downlinks. This enables
near-universal reach of public radio to the U.S. population. The PRSS
is open to all public telecommunications entities, including
independent producers; program syndicators and distributors; national,
State, and local organizations; and public radio stations. Stations
that receive programming distributed by the PRSS range from those
located in remote villages in northern Alaska and on Native American
reservations in the Southwest, to major market stations, such as WNYC
in New York City and KUSC in Los Angeles.
The PRSS is also the backbone for public radio's national emergency
alert system, which receives Presidential alerts--also called Emergency
Action Notification (EAN) alerts- fed directly from FEMA that transmit
to public radio stations in the event of a nationwide crisis. Public
radio stations can broadcast even when power grids and internet
services are down. In addition to transmitting national emergency
alerts, many public radio stations are connected to their state or
county emergency agencies in order to transmit critical emergency
messaging targeted to local communities. NPR/PRSS is named as a
resource in at least 20 States' emergency plans, according to the
Federal Communications Commission. On the local level, stations work
with local officials as the source of record for local emergencies. For
example, in cooperation with the Rock Island County, Illinois,
Emergency Management Agency (EMA), WVIK is the primary relay station
for emergency information concerning the Exelon Quad Cities nuclear
power generating station. In the event of an emergency at the nuclear
plant located on the Mississippi River, the county agency will contact
station personnel, and the station will broadcast the EMA message.
Additionally, the PRSS MetaPub program enables local public radio
stations to issue emergency text and graphic alerts using metadata-such
as tornado and hurricane warnings, evacuation routes, and COVID-19
information-that are visible on screens and synched with over-the-air
broadcasts to mobile phones, HD Radio, ``connected car'' smart
dashboards, Radio Data System displays, and via online audio streaming.
To date, about 10 percent of interconnected public radio stations have
the capability to issue live text alerts using the MetaPub system in
the event of a natural or humanmade disasters, such as a chemical
spill. Some stations, like WWNO in New Orleans, have linked the NOAA/
NWS forecast stream to MetaPub so that weather forecasts and updates
for their local areas can be broadcast as well as displayed through
MetaPub. Other stations have utilized MetaPub to issue COVID-19 alerts
at the beginning of the pandemic, expanding access to information
critical to their communities' public health and safety.
While stations may have local disaster preparedness plans in place,
each disaster brings a unique set of circumstances. As a fundamental
preparedness measure for the system, the PRSS maintains portable
broadcast kits, including 300-watt transmitters, portable studios and
temporary antennas that can be deployed immediately to stations that
have lost broadcast capability, as long as air transportation is
operating and delivery to the last mile can be arranged. For example,
the PRSS deployed these kits in September 2020 to two Fresno, CA-area
public radio stations facing wildfires in their areas.
From a programming perspective, when natural disasters fall short
of triggering an emergency alert, public radio stations play a critical
role in offering live coverage across broadcast and digital platforms
of emergency situations, local weather alerts, the State and local
government response, and critical community-based information about
where audiences can locate public resources. When the power goes out,
communities lose connections to TV and internet news, but radio can
still be accessed, particularly through car radios. Of note, FEMA
recommends including a battery-powered or hand crank radio in a basic
emergency supplies kit. Access to radio becomes even more important
during an evacuation. Audiences repeatedly share how public radio was
their primary source of information during a disaster, particularly
when the power went out, and other sources of information from TV,
mobile phone, or the internet became unavailable.
When Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana in September 2021,
public radio stations in Baton Rouge and New Orleans confronted
significant technical challenges to stay on the air. Amid power outages
and fuel shortages, WWNO and WRKF also suffered damage from the
hurricane. In addition to roof and water damage at the stations, one
transmitter for WWNO in Houma/Thibodeaux was lost when the antenna blew
off the tower and had to be completely replaced. At the WWNO main
studios, a lack of air-conditioning with oppressive temperatures and
humidity outside threatened critical studio and IT equipment. With
widespread power outages, the stations operated on generator power for
nearly 10 days, amidst gasoline shortages. WWNO and WRKF shared
simulcasts and studios multiple times in response to damage and
technical problems to do whatever it took to stay on the air and
provide access to State and local press conferences and emergency
updates. Journalists filed reports and recorded interviews from their
phones, working with a regional public radio journalism collaborative,
the Gulf States Newsroom, to edit and produce content for broadcast and
digital platforms that served local audiences and the surrounding
region.
The October 2020 ice storm that hit Oklahoma and Texas represents a
disaster that, instead of triggering automated alerts, was covered by
real-time news reporting. The storm moved swiftly and knocked out power
to many communities. KOSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma City
provided nearly constant live information about power restoration,
debris clean up, and alternate voting sites because the storm occurred
less than one week before the 2020 election. In the February 2021
winter storms in Oklahoma that lasted for several weeks and stressed
the Midwest power grid, power companies conducted controlled rolling
power outages to conserve energy. These rolling blackouts caused KOSU
to go off the air two times because there was no communication from the
power companies as to when blackouts would occur. The station had no
ability to keep generator engines warm at multiple rural locations with
deep snow on the ground in anticipation of when a blackout could occur.
With a lack of reliable Internet service, staff had to rely upon cell
networks to conduct their work. High cellular-data usage, exacerbated
by land-based outages, resulted in intermittent and sluggish
connectivity, impeding the ability of news teams to report on emerging
events while maintaining remote operations.
These problems experienced by the journalistic teams at public
radio stations reflect the commitment of public radio to staying on the
air in a crisis. However, their ability to do so could be strengthened
by more resilient infrastructure. In 2017, a CPB assessment catalogued
more than 60,000 pieces of equipment throughout the system that need to
be updated or replaced, totaling more than $300 million by 2020. The
effects of this backlog are visible in the challenges that public radio
stations face during disasters when power and internet service is
unreliable. The NGWS program can play a vital role in supporting
investments in backup power, backup internet systems, and remote
mobile/audio and digital/transmission equipment to enhance redundancy
and resiliency at local stations-particularly in rural areas.
As media and communications evolve, public radio is also committed
to reaching audiences across a variety of platforms, including
streaming and web content, which can provide innovative ways to keep
the public informed. For example, in the wake of Hurricane Ida, WWNO
tracked power outages over its social media accounts through animated
graphics that visualized the data for users. Following the Almeda and
Obenchain fires in September 2020 that swept through southern Oregon,
Jefferson Public Radio (JPR) in Ashland, OR, conducted an evaluation of
its response and public service during the emergency. As a result, JPR
created an online tool, called the ``JPR Wildfire Tracker,'' to track
the status of every active wildfire during the summer 2021 wildfire
season. According to the station, users reported positive feedback
about this new JPR website resource, which allows users to keep abreast
of wildfire developments before alerts for specific areas may need to
be issued.
The Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN), a collaboration
of 13 stations led by joint radio and television licensee WUFT in
Gainesville, Florida, serves as a model for what a well-resourced
public radio network approach toward public safety and emergency
response can offer in terms of public service. FPREN provides white-
label emergency information content to individual market stations so
that public radio, in even the smallest of markets, can become their
community's standard-bearer for critically important public safety
information. FPREN provides live and produced on-air content,
customized online content for websites, and automatic social media
updates for stations. The FPREN app provides geotargeted information
such as live hurricane forecasts, evacuation routes and shelter
details, and the app live streams the closest Florida public radio
station that can serve listeners in the midst of an evacuation when
they are moving from one part of the state to another. Due to the
success of this program, South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV)
entered into a partnership with FPREN and launched a new emergency
preparedness/weather tracking initiative called the SC Emergency
Information Network (SCEIN) that further supplements this initiative.
In closing, public radio provides an essential public service for
local communities across the Nation-providing critical emergency alerts
to even the most remote locations, as well as utilizing local news
resources to keep communities informed before, during, and after
disasters. Your support for the NGWS appropriation will ensure that
public media can continue to provide these essential services by
addressing critical infrastructure needs-enhancing resiliency in
emergency communications and the accessibility of emergency alerts and
public safety information. Thank you for your support of the public
broadcasting system and its public safety mission.
[This statement was submitted by John F. Lansing, President and
CEO, National Public Radio.]
______
Prepared Statement of Refugee Council USA (RCUSA)
prepared for the senate subcommittee on homeland security regarding
funding for u.s. citizenship and immigration services
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito, and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to submit these funding
and oversight recommendations for Fiscal Year 2023 on behalf of the 29-
member organizations of Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) dedicated to
refugee protection, welcome, and integration and representing the
interests of refugees, refugee families, and volunteers and community
members across the country who support refugees and resettlement. RCUSA
recommends a fiscal year 2023 funding level of $765,000,000 in funding
for the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS), in line with the President's budget
request for refugee, asylum, and other application processing.\1\
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\1\ The FY23 President's budget requests $903,622,000 for USCIS
Operations and Support, $765 million of which would go toward
application processing, such as reduction of backlogs within USCIS
asylum, field, and service center offices, additional support for
asylum adjudication workloads, and support of the refugee program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This funding is critical to address refugee and asylum backlogs and
to help process parole renewals and adjustment applications for the
tens of thousands of Afghans, Ukrainians, and other individuals who
have secured only temporary protection in the U.S. USCIS estimates
there are nearly 100,000 refugees \2\ awaiting an interview for
continued processing and the immigration backlog is over 1.6 million
with more than 660,000 pending asylum seekers awaiting hearings to
resolve their cases.\3\ These backlogs leave refugees waiting in limbo
and separate families awaiting reunification, which can be extremely
damaging for the mental health and overall integration of individuals
who have already suffered immense trauma. There is no need for refugees
to wait years-and sometimes decades-in refugee camps or dangerous
situations for resettlement in the United States. It is particularly
difficult for 74,000+ Afghan evacuees who were relocated from
Afghanistan by the U.S. government and are seeking permanent
immigration relief through asylum or U.S.-based special immigrant visa
process. For Afghans who remain overseas, there are reportedly more
than 43,000 Afghans \4\ awaiting adjudication on their humanitarian
parole applications, and as of May 2022, more than 1,000 Afghans have
been paroled into the U.S. as part of phase two of the relocation. As a
result, USCIS is experiencing unprecedented backlogs in humanitarian
and immigration processing for refugees, Afghans, Ukrainians, and
others who remain overseas, as well as the record volume of asylum,
employment authorization, and other applications, This funding is
urgently needed so that USCIS can quickly hire, onboard, and deploy
additional officers to address these significant refugee and asylum
backlogs-and to help process parole applications and renewals, other
humanitarian benefits, and adjustment applications.
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\2\ https://www.state.gov/report-to-congress-on-proposed-refugee-
admissions-for-fiscal-year-2022/
\3\ https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/672/
\4\ https://www.axios.com/us-turns-away-afghans-66bf3aac-4c93-46b1-
828b-e08d503c007c.html
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The President's budget requests the same level of funding to
support additional staff, equipment, and support services for backlog
reduction for humanitarian processing and help reduce the longest
processing times. The Congressional Budget Justification for USCIS
indicates that this funding would convert the Refugee, Asylum, and
International Operations Directorate (RAIO)'s International and Refugee
Affairs Division (IRAD) operations to be fully-funded by
appropriations. Additional staff, contract support, and international
travel are vital for USCIS to meet the refugee admissions goal and
support in-person and remote-to-office refugee interviews on circuit
rides worldwide. Funding will maximize remote technologies as
appropriate; provide timely and in-depth training to adjudicators; and
continue COVID-19 mitigation guidance. USCIS's initiatives include
improving refugee vetting processes in both efficiency and
effectiveness; providing refugee applicants with more transparent
access to their own records, reasons for decisions, and the procedures
that govern refugee processing; decreasing average processing times for
refugee adjudications; and re-institution and expansion of programs
impacting Central American Minors. RCUSA supports USCIS deploying these
innovative methods to overcome these inhumane delays. Robust
appropriations will ensure USCIS can proactively address the backlogs
and stabilize refugee, asylum, and humanitarian processing for the
years to come.
The administration's responses to the crises in Afghanistan and
Ukraine demonstrate the crucial nature of responding to humanitarian
emergencies with 'the urgency of now' by modernizing overseas
processing capacity, including security vetting processes. In the past
year the U.S. government has pursued innovative solutions to urgent
crises and should continue to do so throughout the U.S. Refugee
Admissions Program (USRAP). In response to the increasingly urgent need
for Afghans to be granted protection in the U.S., the U.S. government
is now operating an expedited, 30-day processing program for Afghans in
Qatar where refugee referrals and processing is housed on-site.
Similarly, the Uniting for Ukraine effort includes expanded operations
overseas, such as referral mechanisms, and an expedited visa
appointment program for the particularly vulnerable Ukrainians fleeing
Russia's violence-in addition to plans to expand U.S. resettlement
operations across Europe. Over 3,000 Ukrainian parolee applications
have been approved since the launch of the Uniting for Ukraine program
on April 25th. These humanitarian responses are supplemental to the
ongoing work resettling refugees who have been languishing in the U.S.
Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) pipeline, in part because of USCIS
processing delays and the need to scale up capacity. These innovations
and collective investment demonstrate that when there's an American
will, there's an American way and the U.S. should continue to expand
these expedited responses to humanitarian needs.
RCUSA member organizations are eager to do their part and work
hand-in-hand with Congress and DHS to build a humane, equitable, and
efficient USRAP.
[This statement was submitted by Refugee Council USA.]
______
Prepared Statement of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito, and distinguished members
of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide this
testimony. As President of the National Treasury Employees Union
(NTEU), I have the honor of leading a union that represents over 29,000
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO)
CBP Officers, Agriculture Specialists and trade enforcement specialists
stationed at 328 air, sea, and land ports of entry across the United
States and 16 Preclearance stations throughout the world.
CBP OFO personnel are responsible for border security at the ports
of entry--including anti-terrorism, immigration, anti-smuggling, trade
compliance, and agriculture protection. CBP OFO employees also
facilitate lawful trade and travel at U.S. ports of entry that is
critical to our Nation's economy.
CBP Staffing at the Ports of Entry: For years, NTEU has advocated
for the hiring of thousands of new CBP Officers and hundreds of new
Agriculture Specialists and non-uniformed trade operations personnel
that are needed based on the agency's own Workload Staffing Model
(WSM), Agriculture Resource Allocation Model (AgRAM) and Resource
Optimization Model for Trade Revenue (Trade ROM). These staffing models
are dynamic and reflect the impact of the pandemic on CBP OFO staffing
needs. Based on CBP's most recent staffing models, CBP needs to hire at
least 900 CBP Officers, 240 Agriculture Specialists and 100 non-
uniformed Trade Specialists. NTEU expects these numbers to increase as
the economy recovers.
The Fiscal Year 2022 funding agreement did not include funding to
increase CBP staffing at the ports of entry. However, Congress included
$650 million to compensate for pandemic related reduction in customs
and immigration user fee revenue that funds up to 8,000 CBP Officer
positions. This fiscal year 2022 funding was necessary to maintain the
current level of CBP OFO staffing and avoid furloughs. Unfortunately,
in his fiscal year 2023 budget request, the President included funding
for only 50 CBP Officer new hires--specifically to combat forced
labor--far short of what is needed to address the ongoing CBP Officer
staffing gap according to CBP's own WSM.
This month, The House Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland
Security approved by voice vote its fiscal year 2023 bill. The bill
provides $120.2 million for an additional 250 Customs Officers, 500
technicians, and 500 mission support staff.
NTEU commends the House subcommittee for funding these CBP OFO new
hires, but it does not fully meet the need and NTEU requests that the
Committee provide funding for CBP OFO new hires to the levels required
by the CBP's dynamic workplace staffing models for CBP Officers,
Agriculture Specialists and Trade Specialists in the Senate fiscal year
2023 DHS appropriations bill. To achieve funding to the model, NTEU
strongly supports S. 3850, the Securing America's Ports of Entry Act, a
bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and John
Cornyn (R-TX), that would increase the authorized number of CBP
Officers by 600 annually to help the agency meet its current and future
staffing needs and an identical staffing authorization is likely to be
introduced in the House soon.
Acknowledging the economic impact of the ongoing CBP Officer
staffing shortage at the ports, NTEU works with a coalition of 24 port
stakeholders, including Airports Council International-North America,
American Association of Port Authorities, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and
the U.S. Travel Association in support on increased funding for CBP OFO
new hires to address the increases in trade and travel volume at the
ports-of-entry as the current international travel restrictions and
public health orders are lifted. In a letter in support of this effort,
the coalition wrote that ``[w]hile the volume of commerce crossing our
borders has more than tripled in the past 25 years, CBP staffing has
not kept pace with demand. Long wait times at our ports-of-entry lead
to travel delays and uncertainty, which can increase supply-chain costs
and cause passengers to miss their connections. According to the U.S.
Department of Commerce, border delays result in losses to output,
wages, jobs, and tax revenue due to decreases in spending by companies,
suppliers, and consumers.''
Furthermore, due to the ongoing CBP Officer staffing shortage at
the ports, CBP again has found it necessary to solicit CBP Officers for
temporary duty assignment (TDY) to Southwest Border (SWB) land ports of
entry beginning in April 2022. A second wave of 245 CBP Officers were
sent to the SWB on June 18, 2022. These TDYs will be filled by CBP
Officers currently assigned to air and seaport locations.
Staffing shortages that result in excessive overtime requirements
and an increasing need for TDYs are additional stressors in the
workplace effecting the mental health of CBP law enforcement officers.
NTEU greatly appreciate $23 million added in fiscal year 2022 for CBP
onsite mental health clinicians, employee resiliency and suicide
prevention programs and strongly supports keeping this level of funding
in fiscal year 2023. According to the agency, 145 CBP employees died by
suicide between 2007 and 2021. Last year, CBP saw the highest number of
suicides since 2010 at 11; and, as of May, CBP has lost 9 employees to
suicide so far in 2022.
NTEU seeks the Committee's support for the union to work
collaboratively with CBP in effectively utilizing the $23 million
appropriations to address the unique and prevalent behavioral health
challenges within the Agency with a goal toward helping, and retaining
employees with behavioral health challenges, that removes obstacles
that prevent employees from seeking treatment; and provides meaningful
support to employees struggling with suicidal thoughts, anxiety,
depression, family/marriage relationship problems, PTSD, substance
abuse and sleep deprivation.
In addition to supporting suicide prevention programs, the $23
million increase will free up funding for other important resiliency
programs, such as one that helps CBP employees with childcare expenses.
In addition to the increase in CBP OFO personnel and mental health
staffing and support, NTEU also supports the increases in funding in
the fiscal year 2023 House appropriations bill for the following CBP
personnel assistance programs:
--$15 million for an increase in the uniform allowance;
--$3 million for personnel childcare services; and
--$5 million personnel tuition assistance.
CBP Agriculture Specialist Staffing: Currently, there is a
continuing shortage Agriculture Specialists nationwide according to
CBP's own data-driven and vetted Workload Staffing Model. Last year,
Congress approved Public Law 116-122, the Protecting America's Food and
Agriculture Act of 2019. The new law authorizes CBP to hire 240 CBP
Agriculture Specialists, 200 CBP Agriculture Technicians and 20
Agriculture Canine Teams per year until the staffing shortage that
threatens the U.S. agriculture sector is met. NTEU's appropriations
request includes funding for CBP agriculture quality inspection new
hires authorized by Public Law 116-122.
CBP Trade Operations Staffing: In addition to safeguarding our
Nation's borders and ports, CBP is tasked with regulating and
facilitating international trade. CBP employees at the ports of entry
are critical for protecting our Nation's economic growth and security
and are the second largest source of revenue collection for the U.S.
government. For every dollar invested in CBP trade personnel, $87 is
returned to the U.S. economy, either through lowering the costs of
trade, ensuring a level playing field for domestic industry or
protecting innovative intellectual property. Since CBP was established
in March 2003, however, CBP trade operations staffing has fallen below
the statutory floor set forth in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and
stipulated in the fiscal year 2021 CBP Trade ROM. NTEU strongly
supports appropriated funding in fiscal year 2023 for at least 100
additional CBP non-uniformed, OFO and Office of Trade personnel.
Therefore, NTEU is asking the Committee to provide in direct
appropriated funding for CBP ``Operations and Support'' in fiscal year
2023 to fund the hiring of at least 600 CBP Officers, 240 CBP
Agriculture Specialists, 200 CBP Agriculture Technicians, 20
Agriculture Canine Teams as authorized by Public Law 116-122 and 100
non-uniformed trade enforcement specialists and associated operational
support personnel.
User Fee Shortfalls: As you know, due to the pandemic's continued
disruption of fee generating international travel and commerce, user
fee collections have fallen precipitously which has necessitated the
need for emergency funding to prevent furloughing CBP OFO personnel at
a time when international trade and travel volume is beginning to
return to pre-pandemic levels. To address the user fee shortfall, we
were pleased that Congress provided millions in fiscal year 2021 and
fiscal year 2022 to maintain current staffing of CBP Officers.
NTEU requests that the Committee include in its fiscal year 2023
DHS funding bill any additional appropriated funding needed to replace
user fee shortfalls for CBP OFO salaries and expenses and to mitigate
dependence on user fees to fund salaries and expenses of CBP OFO
personnel.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this fiscal year 2023
appropriations request for CBP Officer, Agriculture Specialist,
Technicians, Canine teams, Trade Operations, and mission support new
hires at the ports of entry. NTEU greatly appreciates your efforts to
continue building on CBP OFO staffing advances made in recent years,
and we urge you to provide fiscal year 2023 funding to replace any user
fee shortfall to maintain the current number of CBP employees and to
hire needed additional CBP OFO employees to adequately staff the
Nation's ports of entry as our economy rebounds from the pandemic. NTEU
also greatly appreciates and supports the Committee's CBP suicide
prevention and other resiliency program funding in fiscal year 2022 and
urge that this $23 million funding level again be provided in the
fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill.
[This statement was submitted by Anthony M. Reardon, National
President, National Treasury Employees Union.]
______
Prepared Statement of Western Governors' Association
Chair Murphy, Ranking Member Capito, and Members of the
subcommittee, the Western Governors' Association (WGA) appreciates the
opportunity to provide written testimony on the appropriations and
activities of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). WGA is an
independent organization representing the Governors of the 22
westernmost States and territories. The Association is an instrument of
the Governors for bipartisan policy development, information sharing
and collective action on issues of critical importance to the western
United States.
The western United States has seen a significant increase in major
disasters and extreme weather events. In 2020 there were 230 major
disaster or emergency declarations, which easily surpassed the previous
record of 128 dating back to 2011. Further burdening the Nation, in
2020 the number of federally declared disasters which resulted in costs
exceeding $1 billion was 22, also a new record. Certain types of
disasters are more frequent in the West than other parts of the Nation,
and result in a devastating amount of damage. According to the U.S.
Drought Monitor, almost 96 percent of the West is in a declared drought
(compared to 12 percent in the northeast, 34 percent in the southeast,
and 37 percent in the Midwest), with over 20 percent of the West in an
extreme or exceptional drought. On their own, these drought conditions
devastate local communities and the agricultural and livestock
industries in the West. These conditions also pave the way for another
disaster just as destructive, but far more deadly--wildfires. In 2020
alone, wildfires affected 10.1 million acres across the United States.
Of that, 90 percent, or 9.1 million acres, of wildfire-affected land
was in the West. This is more than the total acreage of the States of
Maryland and Rhode Island combined.
For these reasons, DHS programs, particularly those related to pre-
and post-disaster, play an enormous role in the viability of the West,
not only in terms of its economic vitality, but also in its flora and
fauna, its infrastructure, and its general livability. In terms of
hazard mitigation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA)
Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs, including the
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), Flood
Mitigation Assistance (FMA), Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP),
and Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), all play a significant role in
western States' ability to help withstand disasters and lessen the
damage thereof.
Hazard mitigation and risk reduction are cost-effective methods of
reducing the effect of natural disasters and lowering costs associated
with post-disaster restoration. In a 2019 study, the National Institute
of Building Sciences found that every Federal dollar spent in
mitigation grants saved the American taxpayer six dollars in future
spending. That level of return on investment cannot be overlooked or
ignored, and Western Governors encourage the subcommittee to fully fund
FEMA's HMA grant program.
Unfortunately, not all disasters can be avoided, and post-disaster
response and recovery programs are just as important as hazard
mitigation, especially to the communities affected by natural
disasters. FEMA programs like the Community Disaster Loan Program,
Disaster Assistance, and the Fire Management Assistance Grants, should
be adequately funded to give States the ability to quickly respond to
and recover from disasters.
Federal agencies should provide state, territorial, local, and
Tribal government officials with accessible and clear information on
available Federal resources and programs and the most effective
utilization of those resources in disaster recovery. WGA has worked
with Federal partners to improve interagency coordination on post-
wildfire restoration work, including a roadmap of assistance available
to communities affected by wildfire and identification of
``navigators'' to help communities prioritize post-wildfire restoration
needs. Western Governors urge the Federal Government to prioritize the
funding of these important efforts, as they should have a positive
effect on maximizing the value of restoration work and, more
importantly, addressing the needs of communities affected by wildfire.
The cybersecurity of States and the Nation, which is an all-of-
government and industry-wide endeavor, is an utmost priority for
Western Governors as well. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed
society and accelerated the shift to a virtual environment, further
increasing vulnerabilities across systems as threat actors become more
complex and widespread. In recent years, the Governors have witnessed
an alarming acceleration of attacks targeting every level of government
and spanning across critical infrastructure sectors. Western Governors
support sufficient funding for the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure
Security Agency (CISA) and its functions, including the Office of
Cybersecurity and Communications, CISA Central, and State, local,
Tribal, and territorial engagement. WGA was pleased to see some funding
allocated to CISA in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub.
L. 117-58) and would appreciate continued funding to the Agency for
these purposes.
Western Governors encourage the subcommittee to provide funding for
cybersecurity research and development, including the use of blockchain
and encryption by perpetrators and its utility for defense against
cyber threats, addressing vulnerabilities of other emerging
technologies like connected vehicles and Internet of Things devices,
and providing strong support to States to meet election security needs.
Western Governors recognize the importance these disaster and
cybersecurity programs have on the Nation, but especially in the West,
and urge the subcommittee to carefully consider the funding needs of
these programs, especially as the number, severity, and overall cost of
disasters and cyber incidents continue to rise. Western Governors
recognize the enormous challenge you have in balancing competing
funding priorities, and appreciate the difficulty of the decisions the
subcommittee must make. These recommendations are offered in a spirit
of cooperation and respect, and WGA is prepared to assist you as the
subcommittee discharges its critical and challenging responsibilities.
[This statement was submitted by James D. Ogsbury, Executive
Director, Western Governors' Association.]