    [Senate Hearing 119-101]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 119-101

                     THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY'S
                      BUDGET REQUEST FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026

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

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                                  COMMITTEE ON
                              HOMELAND SECURITY AND
                              GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION
                                   __________

                                  MAY 20, 2025
                                   __________

            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

    60-722 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2025

            COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                         RAND PAUL, Kentucky, Chairman
    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
    JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             MARGARET WOOD HASSAN, New
    RICK SCOTT, Florida                    Hampshire
    JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
    BERNIE MORENO, Ohio                  JOHN FETTERMAN, Pennsylvania
    JONI ERNST, Iowa                     ANDY KIM, New Jersey
    ASHLEY MOODY, Florida                RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona
                                         ELISSA SLOTKIN, Michigan

                    William E. Henderson III, Staff Director
         Christina N. Salazar, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
                           Andrew J. Hopkins, Counsel
                   Megan M. Krynen, Professional Staff Member
                   David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
         Christopher J. Mulkins, Minority Director of Homeland Security
            Benjamin J. Schubert, Minority Professional Staff Member
                 Julian C. Trevino, Minority Research Assistant
                         Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                       Ashley A. Gonzalez, Hearing Clerk

                                C O N T E N T S

                                    ------
    Opening statements:
                                                                       Page
        Senator Paul.................................................     1
        Senator Peters...............................................     3
        Senator Johnson..............................................    12
        Senator Hassan...............................................    14
        Senator Lankford.............................................    16
        Senator Blumenthal...........................................    18
        Senator Moody................................................    20
        Senator Kim..................................................    22
        Senator Scott................................................    24
        Senator Slotkin..............................................    26
        Senator Hawley...............................................    28
        Senator Fetterman............................................    31
        Senator Moreno...............................................    32
        Senator Gallego..............................................    34
        Senator Ernst................................................    36
    Prepared statements:
        Senator Paul.................................................    49
        Senator Peters...............................................    52

                                   WITNESSES
                             TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2025

    Hon. Kristi Noem, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
        Testimony....................................................     5
        Prepared statement...........................................    55

                                    APPENDIX

    Senator Hawley's picture.........................................    63
    Wall Street Journal Article......................................    64
    Responses to post-hearing questions for the Record:
        Ms. Noem.....................................................    67

                           THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
                         SECURITY'S BUDGET REQUEST FOR
                                FISCAL YEAR 2026

                                   ----------

                             TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2025

                                         U.S. Senate,
                               Committee on Homeland Security
                                      and Governmental Affairs,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in
    room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Rand Paul,
    Chair of the Committee, presiding.
        Present: Senators Paul [presiding], Johnson, Lankford, Rick
    Scott, Hawley, Moreno, Ernst, Moody, Peters, Hassan,
    Blumenthal, Fetterman, Kim, Gallego, and Slotkin.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PAUL\1\

        Chairman Paul. The Committee will come to order. I would
    like to welcome back Secretary Noem to the Committee.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Paul appears in the Appendix
    on page 49.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a $100 billion
    agency encompassing 16 different components, from the
    Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to the Federal
    Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It has grown into an
    unwieldy bureaucracy rife with unaccountable power and wasteful
    spending, characteristics all too common in large Federal
    institutions.
        Before your tenure, DHS had quietly expanded its scope,
    using taxpayer dollars to surveil American citizens, censor
    speech, and even fund high-risk virus research, all with little
    to no oversight.
        I commend you and the Trump administration for ending all
    government-sponsored censorship using DHS personnel.
        Just last night, I received the first set of records from
    the Department regarding Tulsi Gabbard's placement on the TSA
    Quiet Skies watch list. These documents confirm our suspicions.
    Federal air marshals surveilled the now Director of National
    Intelligence (DNI) during domestic flights in 2024, reporting
    back information related to her appearance and even how many
    electronics she was observed using.
        Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. TSA is not the
    only DHS component running secretive programs behind closed
    doors. Most Americans would be shocked to learn that DHS funds
    both classified and unclassified biological research right here
    on U.S. soil.
        Under your leadership, the Department has begun producing
    subpoenaed records revealing deeply concerning experiments with
    biological threat agents. In one case, researchers proposed
    combining elements of two weakened anthrax strains to re-
    engineer a version capable of causing disease again. These are
    experiments that we cannot countenance. You heard that right.
    DHS was using taxpayer dollars to try to recreate a fully
    virulent anthrax strain by engineering it from less dangerous
    components. That sure sounds like gain of function (GoF) to me.
        At the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures
    Center (NBACC), scientists have conducted repeated experiments,
    aerosolizing some of the world's deadliest pathogens the
    plague, Ebola, and more, exploring how to increase their
    lethality and transmissibility. We have documents indicating
    these experiments have continued during the Biden
    administration.
        NBACC's lab sits adjacent to National Institute of Health
    (NIH's) Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick, the very
    same facility where just recently Secretary Kennedy and
    Director Bhattacharya halted research following a disturbing
    biosafety instance in which a researcher intentionally slashed
    another's biosafety suit while handling Ebola. Inexcusable.
        Afterwards, DHS personnel were reportedly seen padlocking
    freezers inside the NIH lab. So naturally, I want to know what
    exactly is the relationship between DHS and NIH at Fort
    Detrick. What overlap exists between their work?
        It should not take a personal altercation and a compromised
    biosafety suit to initiate oversight. But here we are.
        Why is the Department of Homeland Security, an agency meant
    to defend the homeland, conducting experiments with pathogens
    capable of killing millions in the first place? These are
    questions, and the taxpayers deserve answers.
        Some might say it is about preparedness, but when does
    preparedness cross in the line into recklessness? At what point
    does an attempt to prevent catastrophe actually increase the
    likelihood of one?
        This is only the tip of the iceberg of the reckless
    research quietly being funded out of the Department of Homeland
    Security, some of it conducted on behalf of other Federal
    agencies under the agency's ``Work for Others'' program,
    obscuring the ability of Congress and the public to follow the
    money.
        This is not just a domestic safety concern. It is a
    diplomatic one. DHS conducts internal Arms Control Compliance
    Assessments to evaluate whether its projects could violate--or
    appear to violate--the Biological Weapons Convention. If DHS is
    engaging in high-risk virus research that could lead to a
    catastrophic leak or could be perceived as U.S. violating the
    Biological Weapons Convention, then the Department is not
    securing the homeland. It is endangering it.
        That is why Congress must pass my bipartisan Risky Research
    Review Act, to establish independent oversight of federally
    funded gain-of-function research and other potentially
    dangerous studies.
        We do not even have a universally accepted definition of
    gain-of-function, allowing researchers to pick and choose the
    standards that suit them. That is not real oversight.
        Secretary Noem, I appreciate your demonstrated commitment
    to reversing the obstruction of your predecessor and pushing
    back on efforts by entrenched bureaucrats within the Department
    to delay, redact, and resist oversight. You have inherited a
    difficult task, restoring accountability to a department that
    has strayed from its founding mission.
        This is a pivotal moment. I look forward to continuing to
    work with you to bring about long overdue transparency to the
    American people.
        Thank you, and I recognize the Ranking Member.

                 OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PETERS\1\

        Senator Peters. Thank you, Chair Paul. Secretary Noem,
    thank you for joining us today.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Peters appears in the
    Appendix on page 52.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for a
    number of critical missions that safeguard our Nation, from
    preventing terrorism and cyberattacks, to securing our northern
    as well as southern borders, and, of course, responding to
    natural disasters.
        In a disappointing departure from prior administrations,
    including President Trump's first administration, we are
    holding today's hearing to discuss the Department's budget
    needs without having received a detailed budget request from
    the President, or briefings from the Department's components
    about their budget needs.
        However, we have seen in just a few short months under the
    Trump administration, how the Department has undergone
    tremendous changes. I have serious concerns that some of those
    changes are harming, rather than helping, the Department in its
    mission to protect the safety and the security of all
    Americans.
        For example, as we head into hurricane season and the
    wildfire season, the Administration has halted critical FEMA
    programs that support flood mitigation and slashed staff who
    focus on disaster relief. These are critical resources for
    States in the aftermath of a natural disaster, and the
    Administration has provided little or no justification for
    these changes. FEMA has even internally acknowledged that it is
    not ready for hurricane season, which starts in just 11 days.
        Despite that, the Administration is still planning on
    shifting the burden for disaster response to State and local
    governments, which will put Americans at grave risk the next
    time disaster strikes, which is inevitable.
        Similarly, at a time when we are facing increasing threats
    from cyberattacks, the Administration plans to drastically cut
    our nation's primary cybersecurity agency, Cybersecurity and
    Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). CISA is supposed to be
    finalizing a rule required by law that this Committee passed to
    improve cyber incident reporting to better protect our critical
    infrastructure from cyberattacks, yet reporting indicates that
    700 CISA employees have taken deferred resignation under
    pressure from this Administration.
        CISA's work on election security has stopped and the
    agency's advisory committees have been shuttered. These actions
    make us less prepared to address cybersecurity attacks.
        The Administration also proposes cutting $247 million from
    the Transportation Security Administration's budget to reduce
    the number of frontline TSA agents. At a time when air travel
    is at an all-time high and we are entering the busy summer
    travel season, these cuts only threaten to make our skies and
    flying travelers less secure.
        At the same time, the Administration has also cut
    congressionally mandated oversight offices that protect the
    civil rights and civil liberties of individuals who interact
    with DHS components. These offices were put in place to ensure
    DHS personnel can conduct their important national security
    missions effectively, while safeguarding the rights of the
    people in this country. Shutting these offices down not only
    puts Americans at risk, it also is a violation of the Homeland
    Security Act itself.
        Despite several inquiries to your office for more
    information, I have yet to receive a sufficient explanation for
    these actions.
        I also have serious concerns about this Administration's
    inappropriate use of the U.S. military for domestic immigration
    enforcement and the outrageous use of taxpayer dollars, which I
    will be asking questions about, for detention at Guantanamo
    Bay. Certainly anyone concerned about prudent use of taxpayer
    money should be outraged by what is happening down there.
        Our nation faces a multitude of homeland security
    challenges, and this Committee has always been willing to work
    to address them on a bipartisan basis.
        Secretary Noem, when we first met prior to your
    confirmation, you gave me a commitment that you would work with
    me to address the many threats facing our Nation. I hope
    today's hearing will be an honest discussion about the
    resources the Department needs to do just that, and I welcome
    having that kind of discussion.
        I would hope that we would be able to have that discussion
    in a way that we have done in this Committee, in a bipartisan
    way, for as long as I can remember, where our first round would
    be seven minutes and then a second round would be five minutes.
    Certainly, Chair Paul, I would hope you would continue the
    precedent that I have always known. When Senator Johnson was
    Chair of the Committee. He always made sure that everybody had
    seven minutes. Certainly homeland security is a primary concern
    for you, Madam Secretary, and for all of us, and I am sure why
    the Chair is insisting on five minutes. I know you are fully
    capable of answering for seven minutes, and should not be
    concerned about it, but apparently the Chair is concerned about
    that extra time.
        Mr. Chair, I hope we would get seven minutes on the first
    round and then five, as we always have, as long as this
    Committee has been in existence.
        Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I look forward to seven-minute
    rounds.
        Chairman Paul. It is the practice of the Homeland Security
    and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) to swear in
    witnesses. Secretary Noem, please stand and raise your right
    hand.
        Do you swear the testimony you will give before this
    Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
    the truth, so help you, God?
        Secretary Noem. I do.
        Chairman Paul. Secretary Noem, thank you for appearing
    today. As you know, I have been concerned for a long time about
    gain-of-function research. I commend the President and the
    Administration for having an Executive Order (EO) to stop it.
    Some of the problems are in the definitions of it. Anthony
    Fauci said if it is an animal virus it cannot be gain-of-
    function, and yet animal viruses can be trained to infect
    humans. We think that is what happened, ultimately, with
    Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
        We think some of the dangerous research is going on at the
    lab controlled by DHS. Have you begun to look into this? I know
    Secretary Kennedy said that you and he will be going out, and I
    have requested permission to attend that, as you go out to look
    at these labs. Have you looked at these labs yet to get a
    feeling for what gain-of-function?
        Senator Peters. Mr. Chair, are we going to have opening
    comments from the Secretary, or are we skipping that, as well?
        Chairman Paul. Oh, I neglected that. I went right into
    questions without doing that.
        Secretary Noem. It is all right. It is your Committee, Mr.
    Chair.
        Chairman Paul. Let's start again. Secretary Noem, you are
    recognized for your remarks.

           TESTIMONY OF HON. KRISTI NOEM,\1\ SECRETARY, U.S.
                   DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

        Secretary Noem. OK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
    Ranking Member Peters for the honor of allowing me to be here
    today. Thank you to all the Senators for your participation and
    oversight into the Department of Homeland Security. I am
    looking forward to visiting with you about all of the
    accomplishments that we have been able to tackle these first
    several months of this Trump administration.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. Noem appears in the Appendix on
    page 55.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        I am also blessed to have my husband with me today, so I
    thank him for his support, and my family's support, as well, as
    I fill this role for our country.
        Having previously served eight years as a Member of
    Congress, it is my distinct honor to be on this side of the
    dais today as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland
    Security. Today I am proud to discuss all of our
    accomplishments since President Trump took office. High on the
    list is the mandate, and was the mandate on the very first day,
    to secure our Southern border and to start deporting illegal
    criminal aliens.
        The border crisis is the biggest problem that was facing
    our country, and it was one that was imperative to fixing for
    our nation's future. We are solving this crisis at a record
    pace, and we have delivered the most secure border in American
    history. We have obtained near-complete operational control of
    the border, with daily encounters down 93 percent since
    President Trump took office. Because we are fixing this biggest
    challenge so quickly, President Trump can focus on other
    priorities, as well, and problems that are facing the American
    people.
        Let's just look at the last 10 days. Last week, he signed a
    historic prescription drug reduction in pricing Executive Order
    that will slash prices for the American people. After that, he
    went on a trip to completely rewrite America's relationship
    with the Middle East. During this trip, he secured trillions of
    dollars of new investments in the United States with several
    Middle Eastern countries. He is also taking steps toward
    rebuilding our relationship with Syria.
        The last living American hostage held by Hamas, Edan
    Alexander, was finally released and returned home to his
    family. He announced major new trade deals with both China and
    the United Kingdom (UK). Just yesterday, President Trump jump-
    started cease-fire talks between Russia and Ukraine. With only
    the kind of leadership that President Trump could provide, we
    prevented the breakout of an all-out war between India and
    Pakistan.
        These historic accomplishments were possible because
    President Trump confronted right away the chaos at the Southern
    border. President Trump can continue to not only make America
    safe, but he can also continue to work to make the entire world
    safer.
        Now at the Department of Homeland Security under President
    Trump, we have already delivered a drastic turnaround in
    homeland security, from the Southern border to our U.S. Coast
    Guard (USCG) to cyberspace, and we are just getting started.
    The secure border has allowed our men and women of law
    enforcement at DHS to zero in on fighting cartels and their
    illicit activities.
        Under President Trump, we have designated six cartels and
    four dangerous criminal gangs as foreign terrorist
    organizations. This has allowed us to take a whole-of-
    government approach to going after these murderers and these
    drug traffickers. In March, fentanyl traffic at the border fell
    54 percent compared to the previous year. Once again, the
    United States is enforcing immigration laws to arrest,
    identify, detain, and remove dangerous illegal alien criminals.
    We are prioritizing those that are a public safety threat to
    people, especially those who are affiliated with the terrorist
    organizations MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
        Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has worked to enforce
    President Trump's America First trade agenda, and the Biden
    administration's trade policies that hollowed out America's
    industrial base have been changed. We are no longer shipping
    our jobs overseas. Instead, we are using tariffs as an
    effective negotiating tool.
        The Department of Homeland Security is reforming emergency
    management in this country. We have the FEMA Review Council,
    which will be doing the work to make recommendations and also
    work with this body to change the department into something
    that actually gives more local and State control, and that
    first council meeting is today.
        We are also taking steps to defend the nation's
    transportation systems, which are vulnerable targets for
    attack. The Transportation Security Administration is
    responsible for ensuring all of the safety of individuals who
    travel. In a single day there are 45,000 flights and nearly 2.9
    million Americans and passengers in the United States.
        We are also fulfilling our obligation, and did do so, to
    implement Real ID, which was enacted and put in law over 20
    years ago. Validated IDs secure travel, safeguard our
    elections, and help make sure that we never experience another
    tragedy like September 11, 2001 (9/11) again.
        As technology advances, so do the threats to our Nation.
    That is why cybersecurity is so crucial to our future.
    Countries like Communist China have the capability and the
    intent to infiltrate and to potentially disrupt our critical
    infrastructure systems. Despite these threats, the Biden
    administration instead used CISA to promote politics and police
    speech. Under President Trump, we have been working to get CISA
    back on its intended cybersecurity mission.
        The Coast Guard is the only branch of the U.S. Armed Forces
    (USAF) that is under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland
    Security. It has many missions with specialized needs. As we
    secure our Southern border, the cartels have shifted their
    activities out into our maritime borders. The Coast Guard has
    already surpassed fiscal year (FY) 2024's drug interdiction
    numbers just since President Trump took office, and they have
    also excelled at search and rescue while interdiction of
    illicit substances, as well.
        Still, the Coast Guard is facing our greatest readiness
    crisis since World War II. We have a plan to reinvigorate this
    critical component, make sure they are ready for the future.
    With Force Design 2028, we will transform the Coast Guard into
    a more agile, capable, and responsive force. We are making sure
    that they have the resources and that they have the vision to
    lead and to be the point of the spear in the future.
        Now since I took office, one of the responsibilities that I
    have is in reforming the U.S. Secret Service (USSS). We have
    reassessed the Secret Service's needs. We have gotten
    recruitment away from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
    recruitment that the Biden administration was doing, and we are
    making sure that they are equipped and ready to take on the
    task of protecting our future leaders and the leaders of today.
        Mr. Chair, I want to thank you and thank this Committee for
    your time today in allowing me to get the facts out into these
    important issues and topics that we will be discussing today
    and to visit with this Committee.
        I am so grateful to the men and women of the Department of
    Homeland Security for all the good work they are doing to serve
    the American public, their examples of bravery and patriotism
    and dedication. It is our responsibility to continue to provide
    for them the resources that they need to continue doing the
    important work that they do.
        With that, Mr. Chair, I look forward to answering your
    questions, and I yield back.
        Chairman Paul. Great. You got a preview of my question----
        Secretary Noem. I did. That is good. That is all right.
        Chairman Paul [continuing]. Since I went out of order. But
    NBACC, out there by Fort Detrick, we are concerned that they
    are still doing some dangerous research out there, and it needs
    more oversight. Do you have any update for us on that?
        Secretary Noem. I do, and I want to thank the Chair for
    bringing a lot of history to my knowledge of this lab in and
    the work that it was doing, and I appreciate Secretary
    Kennedy's input, as well.
        Yes, we do have a visit planned in the future here in the
    next 10 days to 2 weeks, with Secretary Kennedy, to look into
    the work that this lab is doing and if it is appropriate for
    the Department of Homeland Security to be engaged in that.
        I think your concerns have created some oversight that is
    very helpful, and will be helpful in making sure that they are
    doing correct research that actually is beneficial and not
    research that has been abused in the past.
        Chairman Paul. The President has banned gain-of-function,
    and as you and I have discussed, it is important that someone
    can simply come forward who disagrees and says, ``Well, this
    doesn't meet the definition of gain-of-function.'' This is
    essentially what Anthony Fauci did when everybody said the
    research in Wuhan was gain-of-function. They were taking an
    animal virus. They were running it through an animal model with
    human lungs, over and over again, and adapting it to be
    infectious in humans. That is gain-of-function.
        The people and personnel make a difference. So what I would
    ask is as you ask the career people out there, who have been
    doing the experiments, you realize that their natural tendency
    is to want to keep doing what they have been doing. I think it
    is going to take scrutiny, new people, new scientists,
    consultants, to look at each one of these say, ``Don't just
    tell me you are not doing it. Give me a list of 20 or 30
    experiments. What are you doing?''
        As an example of that we have been sending records requests
    for three years and we got nothing until you came into office.
    I hope that you will be looking at our records requests. They
    are all dated and timed, some of them by five Republicans, some
    of them by Republicans and Democrats, and they were just
    routinely ignored.
        Have you had a chance to look at the chain of questioning
    here to see if there is anybody that was actually purposely
    obstructing us?
        Secretary Noem. Yes. I thank you for asking those questions
    and talking about the follow-up to Members of Congress,
    Senators and Representatives. My predecessor did not respond to
    anybody. It did not matter if you were a Republican or a
    Democrat, he did not respond to your letters and your
    oversight. I have tasked all of my people with changing that
    about our Department of Homeland Security, that we will be
    responsive to Congress.
        We have given you about 50,000 pages, I think, so far of
    information. We continue to get and gather more data and facts
    that we can return to you, so you can conduct oversight.
        What I would say is between NIH and the Department of
    Homeland Security there are no research projects ongoing right
    now today or that we have been able to find as far as projects
    they were doing together. We did have a couple of employees
    that were contracted for their specialty backgrounds that have
    done work over at NIH before. But that kind of oversight needs
    to happen, and I think it is important that we have an
    independent, outside source that also is reviewing the work
    that they do.
        Chairman Paul. As you are collecting the records, I would
    just ask that you ask the people why wasn't it given before and
    see if you can find where the chain of command ended. Were
    there people purposely not giving us the records, because they
    really should not be employed by government.
        Secretary Mayorkas told us repeatedly that there was no
    censorship going on, CISA was not doing anything, they were not
    involved with speech. We know from the Twitter files they were.
    Have you uncovered any internal communications or activities
    that contradict their technology with regard to the government
    being involved in censorship?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, sir, we have literally found thousands
    of documents that have proven that they were involved in
    censorship and policing speech. We will be unveiling these to
    this Committee and making sure we are exposing what CISA was
    doing with a vast majority of its time of certain employees.
    Some of the discussion I think we will have here today is about
    getting CISA back on mission and some of the reductions in
    staff that have been over there, and that is reflective in the
    fact that many of them were doing work that they should not
    have been doing.
        Chairman Paul. I hope you will look at our bill, the Risky
    Research Review Act. Administrations do a lot of things, and a
    lot of good things, and then they go away when the next
    administration comes in. The good thing about this legislation,
    it would be a Presidential commission of scientists to define,
    on a continual basis, what is or is not gain-of-function, to
    rule on that. It has been voted in a bipartisan way. It was a
    unanimous vote out of this Committee. It is one of the few
    things in Congress we actually, I think, have bipartisan
    support for.
        So we hope the Administration will look at that and
    considering making a public endorsement of that. That way we
    can make permanent the things you are trying to do to constrain
    gain-of-function.
        Thank you for your testimony, and with that I recognize
    Senator Peters.
        Senator Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Secretary Noem, thank
    you for being here again before the Committee today. I also
    appreciated the time we spent yesterday morning on the phone
    discussing a variety of issues, and I look forward to those
    kinds of discussions continuing in the future.
        As you know the protections for sharing information under
    the Community Information Sharing Act of 2015, confusingly
    referred to as CISA of 2015, but it deals with the information
    sharing, expires at the end of September. This is a critical
    authority that applies to information sharing across the
    Federal Government, not only to CISA, the agency, but it also
    allows the agency the ability to have robust and timely cyber
    threat information shared between public and private sectors as
    well as among private sector companies, so folks have an
    understanding of the threat landscape that is out there and
    have full awareness of what is coming at them by nefarious
    actors.
        Does the Administration support the extension of this
    incredibly important authority that I have been hearing about
    from a number of stakeholders that they are very concerned it
    is going to expire. Does the Administration support the
    extension?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, we do. Thank you, Senator Peters. It
    is very important piece of legislation, that does entend it for
    10 more years, which I think is a long enough timeframe for us
    to really make sure that we have the stability we need in this
    area to create those kinds of partnerships you were talking
    about with private industry.
        We need their expertise and their knowledge and their
    interaction with those across the world that hate the United
    States of America (USA) to come in and cooperate with us, to
    make sure we are prepared to secure our systems and our
    critical infrastructure.
        Senator Peters. Great. I look forward to your support and
    the Administration's support so we can pass this extension, the
    10-year extension, before it expires. You are absolutely right
    how critical it is.
        Secretary Noem, I am also concerned about the increasing
    number of security threats that we are seeing from drone
    incursions to public spaces, to airports, critical
    infrastructure sites all across our country, as we spoke about
    yesterday morning. Just last week, a man in Michigan was
    arrested after he allegedly tried to attack the U.S. Army's
    Tank Automotive and Armaments Command Facility at the Detroit
    Arsenal in Warren. According to prosecutors, the man flew a
    drone over the facility to conduct operational reconnaissance,
    further highlighting the need to ensure that law enforcement is
    properly resourced to deal with this growing threat.
        While I understand that there are safety concerns with the
    technology, that need to be addressed by the Federal Aviation
    Administration (FAA), I would like for all of us to work
    together to reauthorized DHS and Department of Justice (DOJ's)
    counter-drone authorities that also expire at the end of
    September, because this threat, as you know, is not going away.
    Last Congress, Senator Johnson and I introduced a bill, S. 1631
    Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posted by Unmanned
    Aircraft Systems Act of 2023 that I think is a good starting
    point.
        My question for you, Secretary Noem, is can I get your
    commitment that we can work together to not only reauthorize
    these authorities on a long-term basis but actually strengthen
    those authorities to make sure we deal with this persistent
    threat?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, Senator Peters. I will take a look at
    your legislation specifically. But we do need to reauthorize
    the authorities that we do have in order to address not just
    our homeland security day-to-day activities, but we are hosting
    some very large events in this country that will, I think,
    challenge our ability to secure that many large events at one
    time. So having those kinds of authorities and addressing what
    we can do to cooperate with States and local governments and
    cities in locations where big events happen would be very
    important to do that.
        So you are right. The expansion of those authorities needs
    to be looked at, to make sure it is appropriate, but also gives
    us the tools we need to keep people safe. We have the Club Cup
    coming this summer, the World Cup next summer, which will be 10
    million ticketed people, 22 million people that will be
    involved in the activities surrounding it, the Olympics coming.
    It is important we address this now so we can be proactive.
        Senator Peters. Yes, absolutely. I appreciate that. Senator
    Johnson and I would appreciate it. Our biggest supporter for
    our bill is actually the National Football League (NFL), who
    have real concerns about their games. We have already had games
    interrupted, and it could be more serious at some point.
        Secretary Noem, two weeks ago, during a Senate
    Appropriations hearing, you told me, very clearly, to question
    that I had, that CISA was, quote, ``back on mission,'' end of
    mission. If this is accurate, my question is why is the
    Administration proposing to cut $500 million from an agency's
    budget, an agency that is ``on mission'' right now, when those
    activities you previously described as off-mission,
    specifically election security work, cost about $20 million.
    Those folks have been let go. They are no longer there. I can
    understand a cut of $20 million, but this is a cut of $500
    million.
        If you could tell this Committee, what specific activities
    or departments at CISA does the Department plan to cut as a
    result of these very large, proposed cuts, and if you could
    please give some specific examples of offices and programs. As
    you know, the CISA statutory requirements are extensive. You
    have a lot on your plate. You have a lot to cover. You need to
    have resources to do that. But this is a pretty significant cut
    in funding, and we need to know exactly what protection will
    not be offered after these cuts go into effect.
        Secretary Noem. Yes, we will continue to fulfill all the
    statutory requirements that the Department of Homeland Security
    has and has given to CISA in the work that it does. Putting it
    back on mission means that it fulfills the responsibility of
    why it was created, and that is to be the cybersecurity agency
    of the Nation, to go out and secure our critical
    infrastructure, work with small and medium-sized businesses and
    States and localities to give them the insight and wisdom they
    need to make sure that they are not vulnerable to hackers or
    nefarious activity.
        Getting rid of censorship, getting rid of the Ministry of
    Truth at CISA, the employees that were duplicative, that were
    fulfilling roles that were not related to cybersecurity was
    something that we addressed. I would say under the President's
    budget, cybersecurity has only strengthened, and we are
    doubling down on the need to build private and partner with
    those individual industries that have the expertise and
    knowledge that we lacked for so long.
        They are looking for some more abilities to do new things
    for this country as far as giving us insight into nefarious
    activities. But they do ask that we give them some level of
    protection from liabilities. I think you are very familiar with
    some of their concerns. I want to work with you to see what we
    can do to address those needs so that we can have the
    information we need to really, truly secure the country.
        One of the biggest, alarming things--and I think I visited
    with you about this before--was that we still do not
    necessarily know how to stop the next Salt Typhoon, Volt
    Typhoon. Private industry can help us with that with their
    knowledge. They see things that we don't, and that partnership
    could be strong and make sure that we are not just spending
    more dollars with no means to an end, that we actually have an
    end that ends with a more secure United States of America.
        Senator Peters. I look forward to working with you. Thank
    you.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Johnson.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHNSON

        Senator Johnson Madam Secretary welcome. Thank you for your
    service. I think you have probably seen this chart. For the
    first time I have brought this chart and it is showing good
    news. For the previous four years, it described a disaster, a
    catastrophe, a clear and present danger to this country. One of
    the reasons I want to put it up here is to point out how we
    were lied to, during that entire four-year period, by the
    administration, reinforced by our colleagues on the other side
    of the aisle, saying we had to have Congress act. You know, we
    needed legislation. The fact of the matter is, no, we just
    needed a new President. We needed President Trump.
        Now, I would have been happy to pass a bill to reinforce
    President Biden's authorities to secure the border, but he did
    not want to.
        I think what is clear about this chart, you can see when
    President Biden was considering reelection, he realized the
    catastrophe at hand was becoming politically unpopular. So he
    used the executive authority that President Trump had used to
    secure the border in his first term, and he started actually
    making progress on that.
        Again, it is just important that the American people
    understand that for four years the Biden administration,
    reinforced by the folks on the other side of the aisle, lied,
    bold-faced, that President Biden did not have the authority to
    secure the border. He wanted an open border. That is exactly
    what he got.
        Now, the question I have for you off this chart is, in his
    first term, it took President Trump about 12 months to go from
    his peak of almost 5,000 encounters per day to a little over
    500. You know, Remain in Mexico, the agreements he had with the
    third countries, that type of thing.
        How could he do it so swiftly this time? This is literally
    a matter of months. In February there were 418 encounters per
    day, on average. In March it was 355. This is stunning success.
    I just kind of want to get your reaction in terms of how he
    accomplished it and how you guys accomplished this.
        Secretary Noem. I would say, Senator, that the President
    used not only the laws that were already on the books and
    started enforcing them. He also made sure that he talked about
    it and messaged it. Throughout the campaign he talked about the
    need for a secure border.
        What we need to remember, constantly, in this country is
    that the world listens to everything that we say and what our
    leaders say. He told me specifically when he nominated me for
    this position, ``I don't want you just to go and run the
    Department of Homeland Security, secure the border, and make
    sure that our agencies are back on mission. I want you to tell
    the world what we are doing.'' Because the only way they are
    going to stop coming to this country is if they know never to
    leave their home country. If they know that we are enforcing
    laws they will stop coming.
        And that is exactly what is happening. Because of our
    messaging, because of of the fact that we have actively talked,
    in Guatemala, in Honduras, in Mexico, about, ``Don't come to
    the United States anymore illegally. There will be
    consequences,'' they have stayed there. In fact, we are showing
    now in the Darien Gap that it is reverse migration, that people
    that got to Mexico, never even made it to the border, now they
    are turning around and going back home.
        When I was in Mexico visiting with the President there and
    with government leaders, she said, specifically, they think
    there could be 500,000 to 600,000 people that just stopped in
    Mexico, that turned around, that were never even countered that
    reached our border.
        I think that is why in March you saw less than 200
    encounters a day, and it was a historic low for this country in
    encounters, and it was because not only did he enforce the law
    and show there would be consequences if you broke our laws,
    which is what our country was built on.
        He also made sure that we talked to the American people
    about why we were doing it, that it was for our safety and for
    our future, and that also, to these other countries, that it
    was no longer going to be the status quo of Joe Biden.
        Senator Johnson. Of course, that is a sea change. The Biden
    administration welcomed, I mean, they encouraged incentivized
    people to come here.
        Secretary Noem. Correct.
        Senator Johnson. So this is a budget hearing. I do want to
    ask, in the first Trump administration I have best information
    we built something like 458 miles of walls, cost about $6.6
    billion, about $14 million per mile. Your budgetary request
    right now is for $46.5 billion, a lot more. That would, at the
    same price, building something more than 3,000 miles. So can
    you kind of square that circle, or circle that square,
    whatever? Can you explain exactly what are you asking for in
    that $46.5 billion? Why is the request so high when we were
    able to build so many miles in the first term for a lot less?
        Secretary Noem. Today the estimates are that building steel
    bollard wall will be over $12 million a mile, is what they are
    estimating. We have built about 70 miles of wall since the
    President has been in office, but that has been a mixture of
    permanent steel versus temporary versus a little bit of buoy
    barrier, where it is appropriate, that are waterborne.
        Senator Johnson. Again, the $12 million is less than the
    $14 million I had calculated. That would be way more than 3,000
    miles. Are you really planning on building 3,000 miles?
        Secretary Noem. The problem that we have at the border
    right now is that we have CBP cameras and towers that do not
    work. We have some authorities there with the FAA on
    infrastructure that helps us do surveillance of areas where
    there is not a wall, that is not even operational. I would say
    one out of three actually are functioning today, which makes
    the individuals that are there work even harder.
        We talk about gotaways and what happens today. The truth is
    that there are portions of this border that we still do not
    necessarily know what happens there 24/7.
        Senator Johnson. We are $37 trillion in debt. I am just
    going to ask that you and the Department sharpen your pencil on
    that wall request. I think it is more than you need. Again, I
    am happy to provide the support you need to secure the border,
    do the deportations, but we need to be very concerned about how
    much we are spending, and it needs to all be justified.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Hassan.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HASSAN

        Senator Hassan. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Madam
    Secretary. Secretary Noem, the White House Deputy Chief of
    Staff recently said that the Trump administration is actively
    looking at suspending habeas corpus. Last week you were asked
    about this, and I want to clarify your position because it is
    obviously really important to get this right.
        So Secretary Noem, what is habeas corpus?
        Secretary Noem. Habeas corpus is a constitutional right
    that the President has to be able to remove people from this
    country----
        Senator Hassan. No----
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. to suspend their right to----
        Senator Hassan. No, let me stop you, ma'am. Excuse me. That
    is incorrect.
        Secretary Noem. President Lincoln used it.
        Senator Hassan. Excuse me. Habeas corpus is the legal
    principle that requires that the government provide a public
    reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that
    protection, the government could simply arrest people,
    including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no
    reason.
        Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free
    societies like America from police States like North Korea. As
    a Senator from the Live Free or Die State, this matters a lot
    to me and my constituents, and to all Americans.
        Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that
    habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a
    public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?
        Secretary Noem. I support habeas corpus. I also recognize
    that the President of the United States has the authority under
    the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.
        Senator Hassan. It has never been done without approval of
    Congress. Even Abraham Lincoln got retroactive approval from
    Congress.
        Let us be clear. I have been asking Executive Branch
    nominees a simple question over the past few months. If the
    President orders them to break the law, I have been asking will
    you follow the law or follow the order? I want to ask you a
    more specific question here. If the President tries to suspend
    habeas corpus and a Federal court reverses the President's
    order, will you comply with the court order and uphold habeas
    corpus or will you follow the President's direction?
        Secretary Noem. We are following all Federal court orders
    and are complying with that, as is the President and every
    decision I make, as well.
        Senator Hassan. Well, that is obviously not true for
    anybody who reads the news. There are Federal court orders
    right now, including returning somebody who was deported
    mistakenly.
        But to be clear, this is about a fundamental legal right
    that ensures that we live in a free society instead of a police
    State that would have a sham legal system like Russia or North
    Korea.
        I am glad that you have now committed to following court
    orders. I am glad you believe in the basic freedom for
    Americans if ordered to do so by a court. Again, I want just to
    make clear that it is critically important that even if the
    President tries to suspend the right of people to know why they
    have been detained or imprisoned, if a Federal court reverses
    that order that you will follow that order, and I hope all the
    members of the Administration will. Because it is obviously
    critical that some of the people, for instance, who have been
    deported by mistake, who did not get due process, be returned
    in compliance with court orders.
        So now let's move on to another issue. International
    criminal organizations target Americans with sophisticated
    cybercrime, including elaborate scams that robbed Americans of
    billions of dollars, with seniors in the United States losing
    $5 billion to scammers in 2024 alone. As artificial
    intelligence (AI) improves so does the ability of criminals to
    deceive and defraud Americans. With this new technology,
    criminals can impersonate loved ones, develop advanced malware,
    or make more convincing phishing messages.
        How is DHS working to identify trends in illegal activity
    and ensure that new AI systems have safeguards in place to
    prevent their use in criminal activity?
        Secretary Noem. Yes. We are working extensively through
    CISA but in all of our agencies to make sure that we are going
    after these criminal nefarious active. I would say partnering
    with private industry is critically important so that we have
    the insight that we need to really understand the tactics that
    they use and the advancements in software.
        The AI ability that they have to adjust and to supersede
    some of our systems is incredible. So investing in those
    systems is important, but also having the knowledge of bringing
    everybody to the table and breaking down the silos between our
    agencies and our intelligence agencies is important, so we all
    have the information that we need together.
        Senator Hassan. That gets me to one final point and
    question here, because Senator Peters began to ask about it.
    There has been recent reporting that indicates that the Chinese
    government installed remote access to Chinese-made power
    inverters in the United States, raising concerns that the
    Chinese government could try to disable parts of our power
    grid. And you made a comment following up on Senator Peters'
    question about the importance of not only working with private
    industry on this issue, as you would also want to work on AI,
    but also on working with State and local governments on
    cybersecurity.
        Can you just talk to me a little bit about how DHS is
    partnering with State and local governments right now on cyber?
        Secretary Noem. Well, that is one of the core critical
    missions of CISA is to help those State and local governments
    harden their systems. We are extremely vulnerable by our
    weakest link. When you have a small State that does not have
    the resources it needs to invest in these security operations,
    then they are vulnerable to attacks and hacking attempts, and
    they can access our systems if they have a contract or a system
    that interfaces with the Federal system, it makes us
    vulnerable, as well.
        So we are responsible for 10 of the 16 critical
    infrastructures under the Department of Homeland Security and
    making sure that China cannot come in and shut down our
    electrical grid, our water systems, things that people rely on
    every day for their day-to-day lives is very important. So that
    is why we need these kinds of partnerships is to make sure that
    we are secure all the way down to our smallest actor that
    participates.
        Senator Hassan. I appreciate that and I appreciate working
    more with you on that. Thank you.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Lankford.

                 OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LANKFORD

        Senator Lankford. Secretary Noem, good to see you again.
    Thanks for your leadership and the work that you have already
    done, and there is a lot more still to do, but you all had a
    pretty remarkable start in the process, and I am very grateful.
    For four years, every single hearing we ever had with any DHS
    official was dominated by border--close it, close it, close it,
    close it--and excuses why they could't, couldn't, couldn't,
    couldn't. It is kind of fun for me, actually, to be able to sit
    here and hear conversations about FEMA, about Coast Guard,
    about all the other aspects of DHS that are out there, Secret
    Service, when all we had time to talk about was about border in
    the previous time.
        I had my team pull together just the March numbers for the
    last four years of border crossings and what happened. If we go
    back to March 2022, 222,000; 2023, 193,000; 2024, 189,000; and
    then this last March, 11,000. And to be able to see the
    dramatic difference that has happened in a very short period of
    time, and the enforcement that has actually happened, it has
    given a deep breath to the Nation. It has also given an
    opportunity for the folks at the border to catch up.
        I was in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, meeting with the
    Border Patrol folks, CBP, and Coast Guard there in San Diego
    and their enforcement around the Tijuana border, and to be able
    to see what is happening, and the morale there is just
    dramatically different, from the times that I have been there
    in the past.
        You had mentioned Coast Guard, as well, and I want to be
    able to just highlight that, and then I have a whole bunch of
    other questions I want to go through. But I just wanted to say
    thank you to you and your team for the work that has been done.
        Coast Guard folks are getting an additional pressure point
    there. Folks are getting on jet skis and panga boats and coming
    around. Coast Guard is not only saving lives, as we have seen
    in the past couple of weeks even, about some of these panga
    boats that are coming in, that are capsizing out there. Coast
    Guard is rescuing and actually removing folks at the same time,
    in the process.
        They have to have additional cameras. The different radar
    systems. They need additional people that are there. I saw some
    of the Department of Defense (DOD) personnel that are working
    alongside the Coast Guard folks to be able to assist them, from
    other agencies of DOD. They need additional folks there.
        One of the questions I wanted to ask you was about Coast
    Guard. In the plan you mentioned that, about additional assets.
    But there are radars, cameras, other things, including
    personnel, that they are going to need help on.
        Secretary Noem. Yes. I would say the Coast Guard, its
    mission set is pretty expansive, and most of the time they are
    not only just doing search and rescue. They are out there doing
    interdiction on the water. They are also participating with the
    Navy in securing projects and missions worldwide. Their cutters
    move faster and help work securing our warships and our
    aircraft carriers, and it is incredibly important the work that
    they do.
        We are grateful for that, but we also recognize that they
    have been neglected for years. They have got cutters that have
    been delayed. We are outmanned by Russia and China every day in
    the Arctic region, in the Indo-Pacific region, as well. We need
    more assets. But down on the border, specifically, you talked
    about the fact that these cartels are using faster boats with
    faster engines and jet skis to outmaneuver the Coast Guard, and
    that is how they are penetrating into the country and
    proliferating their drug use and human trafficking.
        We are going to continue to get them the assets they need.
    They need airframe. They have several that have been grounded
    because they cannot even be maintained anymore. They need
    cutters, but they also need Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems
    (C-UAS) technology. Every cutter could use that. They see
    drones every day out there on the waters, and in the work that
    they do they do that they cannot find out why they are hovering
    over their mission set, what they are doing, if they are
    weaponized, and then use that to protect our country.
        They also need satellite technology. The need new software
    systems, and to be able to interact with law enforcement. Their
    communications, I talked to one Coastie when I was out spending
    time with them on the front line, and thank you for spending
    time with them, by the way, because that does not just mean the
    world to them. I think you learn in a different way truly what
    their needs are.
        One was carrying around two radios that probably weighed
    five to seven pounds each. I said, ``Why are you carrying two
    radios?'' He said, ``Well, this one is an old one that does not
    really work, but this one is even older than that, that does
    not have some of the channels this one has. But I have to carry
    two of them to cover all my basis. I wish we could get the
    newer one. Then I could put both of these down, and it weighs
    half as much.''
        So this guy is walking around with his belt filled with not
    only all of his other equipment but also these radios, and it
    is that we cannot afford to buy him a new radio, that was
    already released 5 to 10 years ago, but we have not upgraded
    for these individuals.
        Some of that stuff could be addressed and is very important
    for us to do so.
        Senator Lankford. Thank you. Thanks for paying attention to
    that, as well. That is going to be vital for us in the days
    ahead.
        Just a quick comment on a couple of things. Our team has
    reached out to your team. There were a lot of things that the
    previous administration would never turn over to us. We are
    doing some investigations to try to get data, for instance, on
    the Parole Plus programs that were done. We could never get any
    data on that. We are trying to figure out where are those
    people, what actually happened to all of them. So we would like
    to be able to get some of that information.
        We have several pending requests with your team, just to be
    able to get those things. The other thing is, on the FEMA
    grants, based on the tornadoes and the storms that have come
    through much of the Midwest, including States like Kentucky and
    Oklahoma of late, some of the building resilience
    infrastructure in communities, some of those grants there is a
    hold on, and we are just trying to be able to figure out the
    future of that. So just some additional information would help
    our communities to be able to prepare, as well.
        Mr. Chair, thank you.
        Secretary Noem. Absolutely.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Blumenthal.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BLUMENTHAL

        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for
    being here, Madam Secretary. I am sure you have seen the recent
    reports that your agency is going to sponsor a reality show, a
    TV show, in which immigrants would compete for U.S.
    citizenship. Is DHS seriously vetting a reality show for
    immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship? Your spokesperson is
    quoted in The Wall Street Journal, and I am going to ask that
    article be in the record,\1\ Mr. Chair, if there no objection.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The article referenced by Senator Blumenthal appears in the
    Appendix on page 64.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Chairman Paul. Without objection.
        Senator Blumenthal Ssaying that, quote, ``It is in the very
    beginning stages of that vetting process. Each proposal
    undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or
    approval.''
        Secretary Noem. Sir, we have no knowledge of a reality
    show. There may have been something submitted to the
    Department, but I did not know anything about this reality
    show----
        Senator Blumenthal. So you confirm that you are not
    considering it.
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. Until the reporter reached
    out. We told him we have no knowledge of it. We do not know
    what he is talking about, and they still printed wrong
    information.
        Senator Blumenthal. Your spokesperson said----
        Secretary Noem. So that article, in fact they had to change
    it later because they lied so bad and they had us on the record
    saying I had no knowledge of a reality show, the Department did
    not. There may have been something submitted somewhere along
    the line, because there are proposals pitched to the
    Department. But me and my executive team have no knowledge of a
    reality show and it is not under consideration.
        Senator Blumenthal. I hope that your response is to confirm
    that you will not do a reality show.
        Secretary Noem. There are no plans whatsoever to do a
    reality show.
        Senator Blumenthal. And that your spokesperson was
    completely misquoted as saying that it was being vetted at the
    time.
        Secretary Noem. That article was completely inaccurate and
    false. The fact that they printed it when they knew it was
    false it was a dereliction of their work.
        Senator Blumenthal. Let me go to some of the expenditures
    that your Department is making, $200 million for an ad campaign
    fawning over President Trump's supposed accomplishments; $21
    million between January and April for transporting around 400
    immigrants to Guantanamo Bay--about half of them were flown
    back to the United States; $6 million to El Salvador to
    imprison 300 individuals in a prison known for grave human
    rights violations; and many more, including $1,000 to
    immigrants wishing to self-deport. I understand one of the
    planes left within the last 24 hours.
        Secretary Noem. Yes.
        Senator Blumenthal. None of these expenditures are in your
    present budget. Aren't you going to run out of money before the
    end of this fiscal year? The continuing resolution (CR) does
    not cover any of them.
        Secretary Noem. No, all the dollars being spent are being
    utilized as authorized, and appropriately for the situation.
        Senator Blumenthal. Well, none of them have been
    authorized----
        Secretary Noem. And that flight that left yesterday----
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. So under the continuing
    resolution, or any other way that we normally authorize monies,
    you are just spending recklessly, and it would seem wastefully,
    without authorization. That is against the law.
        Secretary Noem. Senator, I completely disagree with you. I
    am doing the job that the Secretary of Homeland Security is
    supposed to be doing, the one that the last Secretary refused
    to do, that endangered the future of our country.
        Senator Blumenthal. You may think you are doing the job----
        Secretary Noem. What I am doing is making sure we are
    enforcing our laws----
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. But you operate under----
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. And that people who are here
    that are criminal, illegal aliens----
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. Authorization that this
    Committee provides.
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. Are returned home.
        Senator Blumenthal. You think you are doing your job, but
    you also have a responsibility----
        Secretary Noem. The American people told us to do this job.
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. To follow the law.
        Secretary Noem. The American people overwhelmingly, in the
    last election, said, ``We want a secure border. We want to make
    sure that no longer----
        Senator Blumenthal. They did not tell you----
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. ``Are the scales of justice
    tipped in the favor of criminals.''
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. To act outside your legal
    authority and spend money that is not in your budget,
    authorized by this Congress----
        Secretary Noem. The money is being spent according to how
    it is authorized appropriately.
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. Or any other Congress. Let
    me ask you about the money that is being used to supposedly
    repatriate Afghan allies, refugees to this country from the
    Taliban, Ukrainians who have fled here from Russian aggression.
    Can you confirm that money is being taken from the foreign aid
    allocation?
        Secretary Noem. Are you talking about the Temporary
    Protective Status (TPS) Program?
        Senator Blumenthal. Correct.
        Secretary Noem. Yes.
        Senator Blumenthal. The repatriation supposedly of those
    individuals here under the Temporary Protective Status Program.
        Secretary Noem. Yes. So we do have thousands of individuals
    that are here that have been participating in the TPS Program.
    That has been reevaluated to see if that program is still being
    utilized the way that it is supposed to be, as intended by
    Congress when it was laid out.
        Senator Blumenthal. But there are documents that have been
    publicly reported that say the Administration is going to use
    money from the Foreign Aid Program, AID, to send those people
    back to countries where they will be persecuted, tortured and
    perhaps killed.
        Secretary Noem. We are encouraging----
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. That the Afghan allies
    would be--let me finish my question, ma'am.
        Secretary Noem. Sure.
        Senator Blumenthal. Where they will be potentially killed,
    tortured, Afghan allies who served us during our wars there,
    saved lives of American soldiers and diplomats, are going to be
    sent back to the Taliban using foreign aid money. Can you
    confirm that is the plan that has been reported in The
    Washington Post this morning?
        Secretary Noem. No, I will not confirm that because that is
    not true. Those individuals have an opportunity to apply for
    asylum and other programs where they will be protected if their
    lives are in danger from the government that is in their
    country.
        Senator Blumenthal. There is a plan to send back anyone who
    can't----
        Chairman Paul. The time has expired. Senator Moody.

                   OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MOODY

        Senator Moody. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome. Thank you
    for being here.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you.
        Senator Moody. I think I can speak for everyone in this
    room and everyone in this country that you are a welcome
    addition as the head of DHS. In fact, you heard time and time
    again, from everybody that has been questioning you, they
    sought repeatedly documents from that agency. I litigated, as
    Florida's Attorney General (AG), against DHS and Secretary
    Mayorkas, and sought documents. As part of that--and I hate
    that it took litigation to uncover what I believe was the most
    destructive cover-up in our nation's history.
        But I uncovered plans by DHS when the border was overrun to
    just step back and let everybody come in and facilitate that,
    plans to push quotas into the interior daily, plans to build
    illegal programs to bring more and more people directly here
    from out of our country here, plans to illegally release people
    into the United States that had been brought here for
    prosecution, solely for prosecution for drug crimes from
    outside our country, and when they finished their decades-long
    prison sentence as drug traffickers, instead of historically as
    they would have been deported they put them back into the
    community in which they were prosecuted and released them.
        The premeditated calculation that went into destroying our
    borders and pushing barely vetted, oftentimes dangerous people
    into this Nation, I believe was something that we will look
    back on as a nation and say that was the moment, as a country,
    we stopped taking seriously protecting the sovereignty of our
    Nation, our security, and making sure, first and foremost, we
    were keeping an eye on the plans of our enemies and the
    weaknesses that we had as a country.
        I cannot thank you enough for stepping up and coming back
    to work, coming to D.C., having been home in your State, coming
    back to the swamp to try and reverse the damage that was done.
    In fact, we have been talking a lot about cover-ups and things
    that were kept from the American people in the last
    administration. Your predecessor sat here and testified to
    Congress, time and time again, while I was busy litigating as
    an AG, uncovering the real plans, ``The border is secure. The
    border is secure. The border is secure.'' Time and time again
    he lied.
        In terms of someone that needs to be held accountable for
    perjuring themselves, it is not just about not providing
    information. It is about lying to the American people, as he
    systematically made our country weaker and put their lives and
    their families in danger. I think that is abhorrent. I cannot
    believe a person was allowed to be trusted with the
    responsibility he was given, and I am so glad that you are
    willing to be here and take questions and provide documents
    about that.
        The Coast Guard is one of the things I think you said in
    your testimony, it has been neglected for years. Our service is
    out-manned. We need cutters. I can tell you, in Florida, under
    the last administration, we kept seeing people, many times
    criminals, coming to our shores. We are a maritime border,
    obviously. We had to surge resources. Thankfully, President
    Trump came in on day one and asked that we do that so we were
    able to surge resources there.
        But I just wanted to give you some sort of example. In the
    last year we saw 13,500 illegal aliens stopped from entering
    Florida, almost 700 vessels that we kept from coming onto
    shore. It is so important that we get the Coast Guard cutters,
    get those ships built, ramp up assets. Thank you for that
    commitment. I am concerned that we might, and trying to do
    that.
        Quickly, much needed, that we give foreign nations or
    companies outside the United States contracts. Do I have your
    word you will look at how we can readily increase our Coast
    Guard assets, like our Coast Guard cutters, but using American
    businesses?
        Secretary Noem. Absolutely. That is one of the things that
    Force Design 2028 focuses on, is making sure that we are
    building those kinds of partnership to meet the needs that the
    Coast Guard has. I would say our greatest asset is our people.
    I am so thrilled with the fact that Coast Guard recruitment is
    at 108 percent of its recruitment goal, just because of the
    excitement to serve in a fleet that gets to do its mission
    again, and recognizes that it has been neglected for too long.
    But there is a focus and a recognition of the important work
    that they do.
        Senator Moody. And certainly Florida has participated a lot
    with partnering not only with Texas, at our Southern border--we
    sent assets there--but we are ramping up our own assets to
    complement what was not provided to us in the last
    administration. Thank you for your dedication to making sure
    that is provided to us so we can secure our own maritime
    border. I appreciate that.
        Secretary Noem. Absolutely. Thank you.
        Chairman Paul. Perfect five minutes. Thank you. Senator
    Kim.

                    OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR KIM

        Senator Kim. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Madam Secretary. A press
    release came out from the Department of Homeland Security a
    couple of days ago. It said that Members of Congress in New
    Jersey that went to the Delaney Hall U.S. Immigration and
    Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Facility, quote, ``could
    have just scheduled a tour.'' I guess I would just like to hear
    from you, if you can confirm that you understand that Members
    of Congress, by law, are allowed to show up unannounced to
    conduct oversight visits of ICE detention facilities.
        Secretary Noem. Yes. They can conduct oversight, but
    Senator, what I would ask is that they understand that that
    does not mean they can show up with a mob, with the intention
    to break in and assault law enforcement officers. That is what
    happened at Delaney Hall last week.
        Senator Kim. You are familiar with----
        Secretary Noem. Those individuals and those Members of
    Congress were surrounded by criminals, creating criminal and
    perpetuating criminal acts.
        Senator Kim. You understand that they were already within
    the facility.
        Secretary Noem. When you show up and ask for a tour we
    facilitated every single tour that every Member of Congress has
    wanted. We have always done that. And we have to, when we have
    a tour, also make sure that we have addressed security concerns
    and have enough staff and all of that, and we were
    accommodating that when those individuals showed up, and they
    decided instead to break in.
        Senator Kim. You know that they were already on the ICE
    premise, already facilitating into having the tour, when they
    arrested the mayor. They were not breaking into----
        Secretary Noem. They had broken through the outer fence,
    and they were in the interior, on Federal property, when a
    crime was committed.
        Senator Kim. They were invited in by ICE, as ICE was
    preparing to give them a tour.
        Secretary Noem. That does not give them an excuse to start
    punching law enforcement officers.
        Senator Kim. But you understand that they were not storming
    the fence.
        Secretary Noem. Well, I do not understand. Are you making
    excuses for their behavior that day?
        Senator Kim. I am just trying to clarify what exactly
    happened.
        Secretary Noem. Oversight is an important part of what
    Congress does and what you provide to our Department, and we
    welcome it. We give tours when Members of Congress ask for it.
    We just ask that they not be politicized, that they actually
    are there to provide the oversight that is needed to ensure
    that we are doing due diligence in our job.
        Senator Kim. If I were to show up at an ICE detention
    facility unannounced, I would be let in.
        Secretary Noem. Yes. I would ask that you would allow us to
    secure the officers that we need to give you an appropriate
    tour, that we would be able to cover the other bases and posts
    that they would have to leave to come and facilitate that. We
    may have to call other people in to help cover, because of the
    extra responsibilities, but we can do that.
        Senator Kim. I have done this before. I just wanted to make
    sure I heard that from you.
        I wanted to just go back to something that was raised
    earlier about habeas corpus. Can you confirm to us that you
    understand that any suspension of habeas corpus requires an act
    of Congress?
        Secretary Noem. President Lincoln executed habeas corpus in
    the past, with retroactive action by Congress. I believe that
    any President that was able to do that in the past, it should
    be afforded to our current-day President. This President has
    never said he is going to do this. He has never communicated to
    me or his Administration that they are going to consider
    suspending habeas corpus. But I do think the Constitution
    allows them the right to consider it.
        Senator Kim. How many times has habeas corpus been
    suspended in our country?
        Secretary Noem. Once that I know of.
        Senator Kim. Four times.
        Secretary Noem. I am not certain if those----
        Senator Kim. The instance that you are referring to is one
    where the court subsequently showed that Congress is the one
    that has the ability. Do you know what section of the
    Constitution the suspension clause of habeas corpus is in?
        Secretary Noem. I do not, no.
        Senator Kim. Do you know which article it is in?
        Secretary Noem. No, I do not, sir.
        Senator Kim. Article I. Do you know which branch of
    government Article I outlines the tasks and the
    responsibilities for?
        Secretary Noem. Yes.
        Senator Kim. Which one?
        Secretary Noem. Congress.
        Senator Kim. Yes. Stephen Miller has said that he is
    actively considering that there is active consideration of
    habeas corpus. Have you had a conversation with Stephen Miller
    about suspending habeas corpus?
        Secretary Noem. I have not.
        Senator Kim. When it comes to FEMA, this is something that
    I am concerned about, being from New Jersey. We have had
    challenges with Superstorm Sandy and others in the past. I was
    alarmed when I saw some reports that the acting head,
    Richardson, said last Thursday that he is about 80 to 85
    percent done with the hurricane season plan, given that we are
    just days away from hurricane season beginning.
        I just wanted to ask you, is he done with his hurricane
    preparedness plan?
        Secretary Noem. He is working diligently with the employees
    at FEMA and are prepared for hurricane season. What you
    referenced----
        Senator Kim. Have you seen this plan?
        Secretary Noem. Yes. I have been actively engaged in the
    hurricane response and preparation. We are prestaging people,
    prestaging equipment, and we are making sure that we have
    tabletop exercises. We are running through with all of our
    regions on what their response will be. It has been very
    extensive how we have laid out this plan.
        Senator Kim. Will you be able to share that plan with this
    Committee?
        Secretary Noem. I will check and make sure that I can.
        Senator Kim. Yes, if you could check on that.
        Secretary Noem I would think that we would be able to do
    that. I cannot see any reason that that would be.
        Senator Kim. Just one last thing. A couple of weeks ago you
    said that you were considering restarting in-person training at
    the National Fire Academy. I just wanted to ask if you are
    prepared to tell this Committee that you are moving forward
    with restarting in-person trainings.
        Secretary Noem. Yes. The plan is to do that again.
        Senator Kim. That has been approved to restart it?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, it has been.
        Senator Kim. OK, thank you, and with that I yield back.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Scott.

                   OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SCOTT

        Senator Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, thanks,
    Secretary Noem, for being here today. I want to take this
    opportunity to thank you and President Trump for returning the
    Department of Homeland Security to its core mission of securing
    the homeland and making communities safe again.
        We had an increase in threats under Biden and a completely
    open border. You have prioritized our border. Daily border
    encounters have plunged 95 percent since President Trump took
    office. Is that correct?
        Secretary Noem. That is correct.
        Senator Scott. You are finishing the border wall, and in
    100 days DHS already has 85 miles of new construction either
    planned or under construction. Does that sound right?
        Secretary Noem. That is correct, yes.
        Senator Scott. The Trump administration has reunited nearly
    5,000 unaccompanied children with a safe relative or guardian
    after the Biden administration completely lost track of over
    300,000 of these vulnerable minors. Does that sound right?
        Secretary Noem. That is correct.
        Senator Scott. The United States Customs and Border
    Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard have seized nearly 232,000
    pounds of fentanyl and other illicit drugs, stopping them from
    ever reaching American communities or Florida shores. Sound
    right?
        Secretary Noem. That is correct.
        Senator Scott. And you are bringing accountability to the
    agency. It is incredible what we can do with a willing partner
    like you and President Trump, who actually want a secure border
    and enforce our laws.
        Secretary Mayorkas testified repeatedly before this
    Committee and lied to my face saying that our border was
    secure. Clearly it was not. Worst, the Biden administration
    dismantled every process and system we had in place to secure
    the border and allowed millions of illegal aliens, including
    hundreds of known terrorists, to come into our country
    unchecked and unvetted, wreaking havoc and bringing drugs. They
    were welcomed into our country by Mayorkas and the Biden
    administration.
        Secretary Noem, you have been working for months to fix the
    mess your predecessor left behind. Is the border secure?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, it is.
        Senator Scott. Besides additional resources, what would you
    clearly need, what legislation fixes do you need from Congress
    to maintain a secure border?
        Secretary Noem. Senator, thank you for the question. This
    border is the most secure border that we have ever had in the
    history of the United States of America. But what we need to do
    is address that are still vulnerable, and those areas require
    technology, wall infrastructure, more individuals, at time, we
    need surveillance equipment, camera equipment to be fixed. Only
    one out of three CBP cameras are really functional right now.
        So the reconciliation package is incredibly important for
    us to have the resources we need at the border but also to make
    sure that CBP can continue to do their work that they at our
    ports of entry (POEs), assessing tariffs and collecting duties,
    all of that. But beyond that, reconciliation has needed assets
    for other areas of our national security portfolio.
        The fact of the matter is that the Department of Homeland
    Security is one of the largest agencies with one of the
    smallest budgets, and the task that we have taken on has gotten
    more and more complicated all the time. As things move online,
    cybersecurity bad actors get more sophisticated. Now we have
    let these dangerous terrorists and cartel members into our
    country, in the interior of our country, that threaten the
    American public. They need to be removed and taken out, and we
    are fighting a court system, at times, as well.
        So that reconciliation package makes sure that we are able
    to do due diligence in the work that we do and really assure
    the American people that we are on watch for them.
        Beyond that, Remain in Mexico policy to be codified would
    be incredibly important, to make sure we have stability in that
    policy going forward. Some clarity and credible fear would be
    wonderful to have if this body would choose to tackle that.
    That would help us not have to deal consistently with court
    challenges and tie us up fighting that battle when we really
    should be addressing security concerns.
        Senator Scott. Miami is one the 11 U.S. cities hosting
    matches for the upcoming World Cup. Can you discuss how DHS is
    preparing for that, how DHS is working with the State and
    locals to make sure they have everything they need for a
    successful and secure event?
        Secretary Noem. Yes. We are working diligently with FIFA
    and other entities to ensure that cities and States have the
    assets that they need. This will be an unprecedented world
    event. It will take place in three different countries and many
    cities across our country but also Mexico and Canada. It will
    take place over a month. It is the equivalent to 10 different
    Super Bowls, and we will, at times, have 11 different matches
    going on in the country on the same day. And making sure we are
    supporting security operations in all of these cities is
    imperative.
        So having conversations now. There are meetings happening
    almost every single day between our Department, the White
    House, the Federal Government, and FIFA, and these cities to
    ensure that we have the protocols in place, the guidelines in
    place, universal approach to how they are going to be applied,
    and then what we can do to secure not just the ground and
    territory and access to these events but also the airspace
    above it. We need counter-drone technology. We need to have
    jurisdiction to be able to make sure that we are dealing with
    those threats as they present themselves, but also make sure
    that we have the men and women that are trained and prepared to
    secure them going forward.
        It will be safe, and it will be secure. It is a lot of work
    because we have never done anything like this before, though.
        Senator Scott. Thank you for all your hard work and your
    team.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you. I appreciate it.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Slotkin.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SLOTKIN

        Senator Slotkin. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for being
    here. You know, Michigan is a border State so we need each
    other. We have a very big bridge that is being inaugurated,
    ribbon cut, in September. We need that to be fully staffed. We
    have a lot going on in Michigan as a Northern border State, so
    we need each other.
        But what I am concerned about is that you have taken the
    mandate to close off the border beyond going after, as you say,
    the, ``most dangerous illegal immigrants.'' I am a Central
    Intelligence Administration (CIA) officer. I worked my entire
    life to protect the homeland. If someone is here illegally,
    they need to not be here. They have committed a crime by being
    here, they need to go back to wherever they are from.
        But my concern is that either through sloppiness or intent,
    you have gone far beyond going after the, ``most dangerous
    illegal immigrants'' and gone into legal immigrants who were
    given the ability to be here, and even American citizens. When
    I think about that, there are lots of people in this country,
    including me, who have families who fled this kind of
    environment where they have no rights, where they have no due
    process, where they do not have habeas corpus.
        While I will be the first to say, coming from a State that
    was won by Trump, that there is a mandate to do something about
    the border, I think it is absolutely dangerous overreach to go
    beyond that and start picking up American citizens and people
    who have the legal right to be here, lawful immigrants who have
    done everything right.
        So first and foremost, do you acknowledge that your
    Department has made some mistakes, any mistakes, in going after
    either American citizens or legal immigrants here, in the time
    that you have been in office?
        Secretary Noem. We have not deported any U.S. citizens.
        Senator Slotkin. Detained?
        Secretary Noem. People get interviewed. If they get
    interviewed and they go through that process and we find that
    they are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants, they stay in the
    United States. We have to go through a vetting process.
        Senator Slotkin. Have any American citizens, including
    children, been deported during your time in office?
        Secretary Noem. We have children that mothers have chosen
    to keep with them, so those----
        Senator Slotkin. By my count you have 10 American citizens,
    including children with cancer, who have been deported out of
    the country. I understand you are saying it is their choice.
        Secretary Noem. But the mother----
        Senator Slotkin. It is hard to imagine a small child having
    a choice. But have you gone after legal immigrants? Again, your
    standard, in your opening statement, was the most dangerous
    illegal immigrants. Does that include Ph.D. students and
    master's students at colleges across the country, unarmed? Are
    they the most dangerous illegal when they have status and no
    weapons?
        Secretary Noem. I do not decide who gets status through a
    student program. The Department of State decides that and we
    enforce it.
        Senator Slotkin. Oh, come on.
        Secretary Noem. That is what our Department of Homeland
    Security does.
        Senator Slotkin. I just would offer this.
        Secretary Noem. Those student programs----
        Senator Slotkin. Again, I have no qualms with going after
    folks who are here illegally. That is not my concern. That was
    part of my job was to prevent people from coming here
    illegally, in a former life. My concern is you are sending a
    chill down the spine of America by going after people who
    either have legal status or American citizens. When my
    colleagues asked you about habeas corpus, and you said,
    literally--we can review the tape--that you believe it is right
    the President has, you sat here in front of all of us and swore
    an oath to the Constitution, and that is not at all what habeas
    corpus is. It is a right that we all get, that American
    citizens get, that people who are in the United States legally
    have.
        My concern is it is complete overreach. I do not think
    American citizens, even those who voted for Trump, believe that
    you should be able to just grab someone off the street, sloppy,
    who has the legal right to be here and certainly an American
    citizen. I just am concerned that while you say you are going
    after the most dangerous folks, what you are actually doing is
    going after folks for political reasons, right? A Ph.D. student
    is not----
        Secretary Noem. We are absolutely not doing that. We are
    not deporting U.S. citizens, and we are not deporting people
    who have legal status here.
        Senator Slotkin. Well, 10 American citizens have been
    deported.
        Secretary Noem. If children have gone with their parents it
    is because their parents wanted them with them.
        Senator Slotkin. Let me ask you another question about
    cybersecurity. You have cut $500 million from the budget. What
    specific programs are you cutting? Because there are programs
    that really aid States and locals, that we depend on for
    cybersecurity. We know that right now, while we may have good
    security in the Federal Government, if you are a local State
    official, you are depending on the Federal Government. So have
    you cut the ISAC program, the program to States and locals on
    cybersecurity?
        Secretary Noem. The President's recommended budget has a
    reduction in $491 million.
        Senator Slotkin. Does it cut that program? I have heard the
    talking point.
        Secretary Noem. What it is doing is putting CISA back on
    mission. And it is ensuring that----
        Senator Slotkin. You cannot say that----
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. Cybersecurity is going to be
    strengthened.
        Senator Slotkin. You cannot say it is the most cyber secure
    administration if you are cutting the program to my State, and
    to your State. If you look on record, that is what you have
    cut. I yield back.
        Chairman Paul. The time has expired. Senator Hawley.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HAWLEY

        Senator Hawley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Secretary
    Noem, good to see you. Welcome. Congratulations on securing the
    border in a record amount of time. The last administration came
    and sat where you are sitting for four years and told us it
    could not be done, the border was just an intractable problem,
    it would take years to do it. You did it in the space of,
    really, 30 days, and now the United States' Southern border is
    secure. So thank you for your tremendous work on that.
        I want to begin, however, with the situation in St. Louis,
    which I am sure you are aware of. On Friday afternoon and
    evening, major storms ripped through the St. Louis area, as
    well as southeast Missouri. I am going to put a picture\1\ up
    over my shoulder here. An F-3 tornado cut right through North
    St. Louis. What you are seeing here is pretty typical, I am sad
    to say, of the damage. We lost five people in St. Louis. We
    lost another two in Scott County, which is down in southeast
    Missouri, there to the south, a couple of hours south of the
    city.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The picture referenced by Senator Hawley appears in the
    Appendix on page 63.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        I spent much of the day yesterday just walking these
    neighborhoods and talking to residents, and this, what you are
    seeing over my shoulder, is what these neighborhoods all look
    like. These are areas that families have lived here--in some
    cases, I talked to one individual, one gentleman, and he said
    that his family had been there since his great-grandmother came
    to that neighborhood in 1919. So it is that kind of a
    community, and they are totally devastated.
        Yesterday afternoon, my Governor requested an emergency
    disaster declaration to expedite FEMA funds to help the State
    just cleanup, I mean, just cleanup the kind of rubble now that
    you are seeing behind me.
        You have been a Governor, until very recently. You know how
    important this is. Can we get your help to expedite the
    consideration of that request? Again, it was just made
    yesterday. We need it as quickly as possible. Will you help us
    expedite that?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, absolutely. I have spoken with your
    Governor and did the day that this devastation happened. We
    have promised and pledged to get that expedited as soon as
    possible for him, so he can have the resources that he needs to
    respond to his people. That is one of the failures that FEMA
    has had in the past, is that people that incur this kind of
    damage and lose everything, then they sit there for months,
    sometimes years, and never get the promised critical response
    that they believe they should be getting from the Federal
    Government. That is why President Trump believes that this
    agency needs to be dramatically reformed.
        Senator Hawley. I am glad to hear you say that, and you are
    exactly right. We have had this situation in Missouri in years
    past, where we have had individuals who have qualified for FEMA
    aid, including individual assistance. In some cases they have
    been awarded the assistance, and then FEMA has come in and
    clawed it back, or never paid it out, or never sent teams to
    help.
        So to have your commitment to expedite this is tremendous.
    That will be welcome news to the residents of St. Louis. We
    also have, the State has, pending three requests for major
    disaster declarations from earlier storms. We have lost over a
    dozen people. Actually, if you count the folks we lost just on
    Friday, we have lost almost 20 people now in major storms, just
    in the last two months in Missouri. It has been a terrible
    spring for us.
        Here again, can I ask for your help? Will you commit to
    helping, for those three major disaster declaration requests
    that are pending, will you help expedite those, Secretary Noem,
    and get those in front of the President, get those approved? We
    are desperate for the assistance in Missouri.
        Secretary Noem. Yes, absolutely.
        Senator Hawley. Thank you.
        Secretary Noem. I will make sure that application gets to
    the White House as soon as possible.
        Senator Hawley. Fantastic. Thank you. Can I also have your
    commitment that if and when the President approves a major
    disaster declaration for this storm that just happened on
    Friday in St. Louis, will you expedite, as much as possible,
    FEMA individual assistance for those who qualify for it in the
    St. Louis area?
        Secretary Noem. Yes.
        Senator Hawley. I want to tell you just how important that
    is, because as I toured these streets and walked and talked to
    the residents, what I heard over and over is many of these
    folks do not have insurance. Many of these folks, they either
    got their homes from a family member or they bought them from a
    family member so they do not have a mortgage on the property
    and therefore they do not have homeowner insurance.
        So as you know, having been a Governor, in many instances
    FEMA assistance is going to be the only assistance that they
    are going to get. I just had a hearing in this Committee and
    our Subcommittee, Senator Kim and I last week, where we talked
    to major insurance companies who routinely scam people by
    refusing to pay out the full policy awards that they are due. I
    know we are going to be fighting that in Missouri. We have got
    to have the Federal Government, where there is individual
    assistance that people qualify for, we have to have people be
    able to get that. Otherwise, we are never going to be able to
    rebuild these neighborhoods.
        So you just committed, I think, to expediting that. I
    appreciate that. Thank you for your help in all of this.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you.
        Senator Hawley. Then the last thing I will say is, can you
    commit, also, to making sure that the FEMA communication, with
    the State and with individuals, is open, is clear, is
    transparent? You referenced the fact that FEMA is notorious for
    giving bad information, for slow-walking residents, for
    confusing intake forms that nobody knows how to fill out, for
    not getting back to people.
        Can you commit to, as we deal with this disaster in St.
    Louis and others around the State, that under your leadership
    FEMA is going to act with expedition, they are going to be
    clear in their communications, and they are going to follow up
    and give people the awards that they need if they qualify for
    it.
        Secretary Noem. Yes. That has been the biggest challenge of
    FEMA in the past, is just the delayed response. People are
    counting on the assistance and it never comes through. The
    paperwork is too complicated for an individual many times to
    complete on their own. They need help and assistance. So that
    is part of the reforms that the FEMA Review Council will be
    undertaking, and we have people that are our frontline
    responders across the country that are serving on that council.
    We will take your insight, as well. But we will continue to
    expedite what we can with the framework we have in front of us,
    but do better diligence than the last administration on how we
    take care of people.
        Senator Hawley. Fantastic. Everything you said today is
    going to be very welcome news in St. Louis and the rest of
    Missouri this morning. Thank you for being here. Thank you for
    your service.
        Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Fetterman.

                 OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR FETTERMAN

        Senator Fetterman. Thank you. Secretary, hi. Hello. As you
    may know, I am from Pennsylvania. I occupy perhaps a unique
    position. I have been very pro-immigration, but I early
    identified the serious problem about the border, the security.
    I have said this publicly, and I will say it now, that my party
    failed to secure our border, and we deserve to pay a political
    price for that. I have been trying to move forward on those
    things.
        I voted for you, not because you and I agree on a lot of
    political things and we are in different parties, but you are
    the Secretary and I am a Member of this Committee, so I believe
    we have to find a way to work forward together. I am not here
    for fireworks or to try to create like something to be clipped
    on TV. I am honestly coming and asking for your help about a
    situation here.
        So now, I have a constituent. His name is Ramin. He is an
    Afghani who served alongside our servicemembers there in the
    war. He is a resident of Philadelphia. Now he is a surgeon, and
    he saved American lives, and now he is waiting to be approved,
    like a green card. He helped evacuate our forces through an
    airlift. And his two brothers, of course, we cannot name them
    due to their concerns, but they are trapped in Pakistan, and
    the risk for removal for Afghanistan, they face torture and
    death because of their commitment for a free and democratic
    Afghanistan. They have saved American lives, and they have
    defended our forces.
        And now, here, that is part of my concern right now, and I
    am looking for help, honestly, and that is one of the reasons
    why I voted for you, because we want to try and find a way,
    because not all immigration is just about securing our border.
    We know. But it is about helping people that deserve to come to
    our nation after serving in such an amazing, great risk.
        So there is the President's Executive Order suspending
    refugee resettlement, but again, they kind of got caught up in
    the middle of that. Honestly, I am not here looking for the
    theater. I am just here to come because I think I believe they
    deserve to be here for the sacrifices and what they have put at
    risk. I am asking if we are able to get some kind of working
    with my office, please, to find a way to bring these Afghani
    heroes, that saved American lives during that war, because
    things maybe got caught up in these Executive Orders. So that
    is really all I am asking today.
        Secretary Noem. Yes, Senator, we will certainly work with
    your office on those specific cases. We have 8,000 individuals
    that have been granted asylum since President Trump has been in
    office, looking at cases much like you have. These individuals
    that are here, that may have been on a different program like
    TPS that is no longer going to be in place in a couple of
    months, we have the opportunity to work with them to get them
    qualified.
        Many of the concerns with some of these countries, when you
    are talking about interacting with them and giving them status
    and green cards here in the United States, is the ability to
    vet them. It sounds like the individuals that you know have
    been thoroughly vetted and in partnership with the United
    States. So that is something that we will look at and we will
    certainly work with you on, recognizing their service to our
    country.
        Senator Fetterman. Yes. I would be profoundly grateful if
    my office can work with your team and perhaps even with State,
    as well, too. So that is all this is about, too. It is a
    political truth that we have to find a way to work together,
    because there are truths and it is not owned by one side or the
    other.
        I look forward to finding a solution here. Thank you. I
    yield.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you, sir.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Moreno.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MORENO

        Senator Moreno. Secretary Noem, thank you for being here.
    Thank you for your work. I just want to reiterate for the
    record, 93 percent drop in border encounters. Is that accurate?
        Secretary Noem. That is correct.
        Senator Moreno. Are you aware that during the Biden-Harris
    administration we had 4,000 aliens that died along the journey
    to come to America?
        Secretary Noem. I was not aware of that specific number,
    but it does not surprise me. It is a dangerous trip.
        Senator Moreno. It is a dangerous trip. The Darien Gap,
    which is right near where I was born, in Colombia, went from
    being a supposedly uncrossable border to hundreds of thousands
    of people making that journey. Who benefited from our open
    borders policy under Biden?
        Secretary Noem. Oh, I would say Joe Biden certainly did.
        Senator Moreno. And the drug cartels that made tens of
    billions of dollars.
        Secretary Noem. Yes.
        Senator Moreno. And who was the victim? Certainly American
    citizens.
        Secretary Noem. American citizens, but those who chose to
    come to our country at that time, believing that they could
    come without any consequences.
        Senator Moreno. Obviously the drug cartels are drug
    cartels, that became human traffickers, at scale, and used that
    human trafficking as a disguise to allow illegal fentanyl to
    come into our country. What has been the ramifications of that?
    What have you seen firsthand when you go to the border? What do
    the agents tell you about the fentanyl that is coming across
    the border?
        Secretary Noem. It is devastating. Luckily, we have the
    ability now to enforce our laws with this President, and
    fentanyl traffic has been down 54 percent since he has been in
    office, because of that.
        Unfortunately, what is happening is these cartels, foreign
    terrorist organizations, are now moving to our maritime
    borders. They are moving and getting much more sophisticated.
    So we need to adapt and have the resources to be able to
    interdict them before they come in and kill off our next
    generation of Americans.
        Senator Moreno. Yes. It is not hyperbole to say that tens
    of thousands of Americans have not been killed with fentanyl
    because of the drop.
        Secretary Noem. Correct. Absolutely.
        Senator Moreno. It is important to just reflect, not for
    political reasons but just for moral reasons, to say that what
    happened over the last four years is just despicable. We should
    never have allowed that to happen. There was no outcry about
    the situation, and yet it was allowed to happen.
        Now, it is a lot easier to enter America than it is to be
    deported from America. Can you talk about that for a minute?
        Secretary Noem. That is true. When you have a President in
    the White House that is openly saying our laws will not be
    enforced and is facilitating this invasion that happened over
    our Southern border, we had millions of people come, and not
    just people looking for new opportunities and the American
    Dream. You had people coming that were criminals, murderers,
    rapists, traffickers, terrorists. Now to remove them is much
    more complicated, difficult, and expensive. For us to deport
    someone, that we have to go out and find that individual,
    arrest and detain them and remove them from the country, it
    costs upwards to $17,000, if there aren't more delays than the
    normal process.
        That is why we are encouraging people to self-deport. If
    you are here illegally, we recognize that you may have been
    here for a period of time. But if you want to leave and have
    the chance to come back someday, leave on your own. We will
    facilitate that. We will buy you a plane ticket. When you land
    we will give you $1,000 that you can get started with and
    provide for your family. That cost of self-deportation is
    $4,500. So much cheaper for the American taxpayer in how we
    make sure that we really are following our laws, and that the
    people here in this country, the American citizens, are treated
    with respect that they are due, by coming here through the
    legal process and being a part of our future.
        Senator Moreno. Yes, I think it is just important, and I
    hope my colleagues, especially on the other side of the aisle--
    I look at Senator Gallego whose family came here from another
    country, his mom from Colombia, his dad from Mexico--that we
    honor and respect those of us like myself, my five brothers, my
    sister, my mom and dad, that followed the legal process, which,
    by the way, is hard. It is a privilege to come to America. It
    is not easy. You have to go through a process.
        But over the last four years, what we did is we made it so
    that if you hired a drug cartel, brought you to the border, and
    then raised your hand when you got to the Border Patrol and
    said, ``Asylum,'' or ``Asilo, asilo,'' that that got you a free
    ticket into the country, free housing, free health care, free
    education, to the detriment of Americans. I think that should
    be something we unite about. Senator Fetterman talked about
    asylum seekers. Those are not asylum seekers. They are people
    who want a better life. They are economic migrants, and we
    empathize for them. But we have to have a process that we honor
    the people who are following the rules.
        For example, the Afghanis that he is talking about, well,
    they have to wait in line behind millions of fake asylum
    claims, and I think we have to, once and for all, acknowledge
    that this the case.
        I was proud to introduce something called the Refugees
    Using Legal Entry Safety Act (RULES Act). Unfortunately, the
    Democrats blocked that very commonsense bill, which would have
    said, hey, if you come across our border illegally and claim
    asylum you cannot claim asylum at an undesignated port of
    entry, and you are immediately returned. That is something that
    is commonsense.
        I want to ask you just a few other just technical
    questions.
        Chairman Paul. Time. We are going to do another round in
    just a few minutes.
        Senator Moreno. OK. Do you mind if I just ask one quick
    question?
        Chairman Paul. One quick question.
        Senator Moreno. OK. I want to just encourage you to
    continue to do what you are doing, which is to enforce the law,
    which is that the agencies within DHS purchase products in the
    United States of America. I applaud you for doing that.
        Secretary Noem. Yes, thank you for that.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Gallego.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR GALLEGO

        Senator Gallego. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Secretary
    Noem, for attending today. Let me start by also agreeing with
    Senator Moreno on some things, and I think it is positive that
    the Trump administration has provided stronger border security
    to keep illegal border crossings as close to zero as possible.
    We definitely have seen that in Arizona.
        My concern is it is not sustainable. It is expensive. That
    is why I recently released a commonsense border security that
    would make it sustainable and would actually do it over long-
    term solutions.
        But let me get to my first question. Your Department is
    overspending right now. It is on track to run out of money
    again by mid-July to support a mass deportation campaign that
    cannot be afforded. At the same time, though, you recently
    requested a $50 million allotment for a private Gulfstream jet.
    That is $50 million of taxpayer money to subsidize some of your
    national tours that you have been going on.
        Meanwhile Republicans are about to kick another 13 million
    people off Medicaid to fund taxes for the rich on the backs of
    working class Americans. How can you justify spending $50
    million on a jet while your Department is definitely
    overspending and Republicans in Congress are about to strip off
    healthcare from millions of Americans?
        Secretary Noem. Senator, thank you for the question. We are
    spending our dollars appropriately and will be on budget. With
    reference to the airframe, that was the requested dollars were
    put in for, that is for the Coast Guard. It is to replace an
    existing jet that is over 20 years old and is beyond its usable
    hours. The Coast Guard for many years has been neglected and
    has many airframes that have been grounded because they cannot
    even be maintained anymore. The suppliers, that give us parts
    and repairs and maintenance for them, have said that they will
    no longer support that kind of a mission.
        We have cutters that have not been completed, that have not
    been deployed out across the world, and then we also beyond
    that are asking for a request to build out the number of Coast
    Guard members that we need in place. We are asking for 1,500
    more to complete the mission.
        Senator Gallego. Are you going to have access to that $50
    million Gulfstream jet that the Coast Guard is going to supply?
        Secretary Noem. The Coast Guard will use that jet exactly
    how it uses the jets that it has today, exactly in the same
    manner that it uses the ones it has in place today.
        Senator Gallego. Would you consistently be using it to
    travel?
        Secretary Noem. I do not know if I would use that one or if
    I would use the other one. I have no idea. But I do spend time
    out there with our components, making sure that they are, know
    that they have a Secretary that is engaged with them that is
    visiting with them, seeing what their needs are. No sir, they
    are not photos. They have meant the world to the individuals at
    the Department of Homeland Security.
        Senator Gallego. We have seen the Instagram photos. I have
    seen some of them especially some really bad weapons handling.
        Secretary Noem. They have meant the world to our ICE
    agents, our border agents, who ask me to be out there with them
    so we know what their lives are like.
        Senator Gallego. Speaking of that, talking to some law
    enforcement besides those under DHS, we have also seen some law
    enforcements that have been pulled away from investigations,
    such as child porn, sex trafficking. We have had some agents
    pulled in that were doing investigations on bank fraud that are
    now provisional ICE agents. I think creating and making them do
    this type of work is also making us more and more dangerous
    because they are not actually doing these long-term
    investigations.
        On the other hand, I have talked to some border chiefs and
    sheriffs repeatedly, and they have been highlighting the danger
    associated with cartels targeting teenagers in border
    communities through social media apps, and recruiting them to
    participate in smuggling operations. One of the bills I
    introduced with several colleagues here, actually, is the
    Combating Cartels on Social Media Act, which will help DHS
    counter this threat.
        Arizona communities cannot wait for the legislative process
    to play out on this. What is DHS doing to solve this problem
    and help keep American children and communities safe from
    cartel criminal activity, and recruitment too.
        Secretary Noem. That is the problem that we have. The
    longer that they are here the more established they become and
    the more they recruit individuals who may live in this country,
    U.S. citizens or even our kids, to be a part of their
    operations.
        Senator Gallego. Some of them are actually on the other
    side, too, so it is both sides.
        Secretary Noem. What do you mean, on the other side?
        Senator Gallego. Some of the cartels are using social media
    on, let's say, Mexico Web.
        Secretary Noem. Yes, definitely they are.
        Senator Gallego. So it is back and forth.
        Secretary Noem. Yes. They definitely are. But they also are
    infiltrating our country still by recruiting our children to be
    a part of their network.
        Senator Gallego. That is the problem, yes.
        Secretary Noem. We are working with not just the experts
    that we have withing CBP and ICE but also using our other
    components to address some of the sophistication that we have
    seen in these apps, as far as CISA and partnerships that they
    may have with private industry that can give us insight in what
    we can do to deploy our own counterterrorist activities and
    applications to those systems, what we can do to make sure that
    we are stopping their ability to communicate with our children,
    and bringing awareness.
        The Department of Homeland Security has programs in
    different areas, such as the Know2Protect and the other
    programs you may be familiar with.
        Senator Gallego. Have you been able to work directly with
    the social media companies, though, not just through the
    legislative process?
        Secretary Noem. We have had conversations with the social
    media companies.
        Senator Gallego. By the time we get around to doing it we
    are losing more and more people. So like having a very direct
    conversation and a concentrated effort to actually have
    outcomes is going to be quicker, because they have the option
    to do it. We do not have to come in and do it. They just choose
    not to because they would rather make more money than anything
    else.
        Secretary Noem. That may be, but I found them very willing
    to come to the table. I have had, myself, spent dozens of hours
    with them, and my team has spent hundreds of hours visiting
    with them on what we can do to be much more proactive. They
    have some solutions that we can pursue. We will be coming to
    you with some of those ideas. But I think it is important that
    we use their knowledge of this way of communication and
    recruitment to help protect our children.
        Senator Gallego. I yield back.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Ernst.

                   OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ERNST

        Senator Ernst. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Secretary Noem, thank
    you very much for being here today. I really appreciate it.
        During your confirmation process I had shared a story with
    you, and it was a heartbreaking story about one of my
    constituents, Sarah Root. Sarah was killed by an illegal
    immigrant that was drunk driving with three times the blood
    alcohol content of the legal limit, three times over the limit.
        Using a loophole in the Federal law, that killer, he fled
    the country and he vanished for years. But thanks to your
    leadership and the work of many of the brave men and women of
    DHS and the State Department, Sarah's killer was arrested in
    Honduras in a matter of days--after our conversation, and was
    extradited back to the United States. He is in Omaha, Nebraska,
    now, and he is going through the court system there. Believe
    you and me, Sarah's mother, Michelle Root, her father, Scott
    Root, and her brother, Scottie Root, thank you, day in and day
    out, and President Trump for having the wherewithal to follow
    through to bring her killer to justice. So thank you. Thank you
    for that.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you for telling Sarah's story. I know
    you had to for many years. That was the first time Honduras
    actually extradited someone for homicide. I think it is very
    important, the precedent we set, the relationship that we built
    there, so that we are able to get some justice for Sarah's
    family. Thank you for being passionate about her, and that just
    proves that telling your story and telling her story does not
    fall on deaf ears with this Administration.
        Senator Ernst. It certainly does not. I want to take this
    time just to point out the difference in the administrations.
    After this killer fled from prosecution in the United States,
    he was on ICE's Most Wanted List. That was in the Trump
    administration. When President Biden came into office he
    actually took this killer, Edwin Mejia, off of the Most Wanted
    List. They were not actively trying to find him. They did not
    care about Sarah's plight nor that of her parents.
        President Trump came back into office, and again, within
    that first month of President Trump being in office, and you
    being sworn in, we had located him in Honduras, and was able to
    negotiate for the extradition of this killer back to the United
    States. This family deserves justice, and I am glad that they
    are getting it. So thank you, Secretary Noem.
        Just a few moments ago you said that you have provided the
    Committee, with ``50,000 pages from COVID and the origins.'' I
    haven't seen any of those pages yet. Will you commit to
    ensuring that I am able to see those 50,000 pages?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, certainly. They were given to the
    Chair at his request, and I will certainly forward those to
    you, as well.
        Chairman Paul. Yes, and those documents are up, and your
    staff does have access to them.
        Senator Ernst. OK, great. Thank you. I appreciate that. I
    know that the Biden administration had blocked us from seeing
    that information, so I think it is really important that those
    of us on the Committee that have pursued the origins of COVID
    have the opportunity to review those documents. So thank you.
        Just in the remaining time that I have I want to talk a
    little bit about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
    work that we have going on, and you have been a very good
    partner with DOGE. I want to commend your recent efficiency.
    You have enhanced election integrity and you have saved
    taxpayer dollars. In October 2024, my home State of Iowa
    uncovered over 2,000 cases of non-citizens registering to vote,
    or voting, after self-identifying as non-citizens at the
    Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV). This happens every day,
    folks.
        The previous administration, again, Joe Biden's
    administration, obstructed Iowa's request for immigrant
    verification records in the days before our Federal election.
    This is unacceptable, and I am grateful that you tackled this
    issue immediately.
        Some people may say, ``Two thousand people? No big deal.''
    But I will remind you that in one of our congressional
    districts, in the case of Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is now
    a Congresswoman, she won her race by six votes. It matters.
    Thank you, Secretary Noem, for doing the right thing, and I
    yield. Thank you.
        Chairman Paul. Thank you. We are going to try to do a quick
    round of five minutes, one more time. I am going to gavel at
    five minutes so the Secretary knows, everybody knows that is
    the end and we are going to try to move on to the next person
    to get you out of here.
        We talked a little bit about the wall earlier. The
    Administration has asked for $46.5 billion for the wall. The
    border on the Mexican border is about 1,950 miles. We have
    fenced or walled about 700 of it. That leaves about $1,200
    miles. There are 200 or 300 miles of it that probably are never
    going to have a fence on it. It is mountainous or just
    impossible to fence or wall.
        I would say, realistically, you have under 1,000. But let's
    say just there are 1,000. You really want a wall on 1,000. CBP
    says it is $6.5 million per mile. Your response today was $12
    million per mile. That means $12 billion for 1,000. We are off
    here by a factor of three or four, with $46 billion. Where is
    the rest of the $46 billion? The Administration says they want
    $46 billion for a wall. You could pave all of it and still have
    $34 billion left over. What is the $34 billion going for?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, Senator, thank you for the question.
    We do have 702 miles of wall today, and 598 of that are steel.
    The rest of that is temporary that is in place. Since the
    President has been in office, over 70 miles has been erected.
    We have 11 contracts that have gone out and allocated. We also
    have five more that are pending.
        Based on the dollars that have been requested it is not
    just the infrastructure that would be built. It would be the
    actual wall construction. It would be also surveillance
    equipment----
        Chairman Paul. The number is way off. You can do 1,000
    miles for $12 billion. You are asking for $46 billion. I am one
    who is not impressed and would have to see more detail as to
    where the rest of the money is going. We cannot just throw $30
    billion out there and say things cost a lot.
        Secretary Noem. I agree. We will get you the specifics on
    that.
        Chairman Paul. With regard to the drones and all the
    preparatory work that DHS does and the government does for the
    NFL and for FIFA, does NFL play DHS for the work you do?
        Secretary Noem. Boy, not to my knowledge.
        Chairman Paul. I mean, here is my point. The NFL makes
    billions of dollars. We are $2 trillion in the hole. I do not
    care if government shares their technology and government helps
    out the World Cup. But they ought to pay.
        Secretary Noem. Yes.
        Chairman Paul. People are paying hundreds of dollars for
    tickets, I mean thousands of dollars for the NFL for Super Bowl
    and things. They are also paying for FIFA. These people ought
    to pay. I am the one holding up these authorizations, and I
    will let them go forward, but I want people to pay. I mean, it
    is ridiculous that the average taxpayer, who could never afford
    to go to an NFL Super Bowl, has got to pay for their security.
    Should the government help, if we have technology and they do
    not? Perhaps. But they ought to pay.
        The NFL, FIFA, I think they all ought to pay, and we will
    be insisting on trying to put language in that. If you are a
    for-profit entity and the government is helping you, you ought
    to pay for it.
        With regard to TSA Quiet Skies and Tulsi Gabbard's
    situation, I suspect there are going to be other people that
    were caught up in this thing, as well. I am horrified by the
    idea that we took a former Congresswoman and we are surveilling
    her and riding on jets with her. There was another story of an
    air marshal was following another air marshal or his wife. I
    want to hear the story of what happened. I want to hear that
    people have been let go, that they are no longer doing this. If
    there were abuses of Tulsi Gabbard's liberties I want to hear
    from that.
        I want repercussions to come from this. I think you said
    something is coming. Please let us know, and let us know how
    the program, the destruction of civil liberties, can be
    minimized. I, frankly, probably have trouble with the whole
    program, but let's see if there is some way. We need
    significant reform. If it needs legislation, please come to us
    with that.
        Thank you for your testimony today.
        Secretary Noem. Thank you.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Peters.
        Senator Peters. Thank you again, Secretary Noem, for being
    here. I just want to follow up briefly with Chair Paul's
    questions about the cost of the wall, the billions of dollars
    that are going to be put forward. We do have to have accurate
    numbers so that we can look at that for funding it. But I hope
    you would also take a look at all of the costs of the wall,
    because there are a lot of other secondary kinds of defenses
    you have to put forward.
        I was at the wall. I have been with security folks. They
    tell me that a lot of the cartels have designed very
    sophisticated technologies to get over the wall. They are
    called ladders and they are called ropes. So a wall does not
    really do the job if there are not a lot of other background
    technologies there. You just cannot put on a cost for the wall.
    That is money that is not going to be as effective without
    everything else. Let's have a discussion about that.
        For the first time in U.S. history, the Federal Government,
    at the direction of President Trump, is moving immigrants
    apprehended and detained in the United States on civil
    immigration charges to Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, which I
    know you are very familiar with. In March, I traveled to
    Guantanamo Bay with several colleagues to have a firsthand
    examination of the detention operations underway, and I
    certainly have serious concerns about the costs involved there.
    Today, can you tell us the total cost for detaining individuals
    at Guantanamo Bay?
        Secretary Noem. You want the cost per individual?
        Senator Peters. Do you have that?
        Secretary Noem. I do not have that with me today, sir. I
    can get that for you.
        Senator Peters. I do have a number. Do you know how much it
    costs to hold an immigration in ICE detention facility in the
    United States? Do you have that number?
        Secretary Noem. Are you talking per day? I believe the last
    estimate that I got was $142 a day, around in that
    approximately, per day.
        Senator Peters. Yes, but it is close to, what I am
    understanding, I understand it is $165 per day, so it is in the
    range.
        I am still waiting for detailed financial information from
    this Administration from my time at Guantanamo Bay. In fact, we
    wrote a letter with Chair Paul and the Ranking Member together.
    We wanted more information on the cost there.
        When I was there, the 2-month cost estimate for operations
    was $43 million, when we were down there talking to the
    officials there, and that does not include transportation to
    and from the island. We find that people are sent to the island
    and then they are sent back to the United States again before
    they are sent out. I am not sure why we have all those costs.
    We have plenty of ICE facilities to keep them here, why you
    have to send them there and back.
        On the day that I visited there were 87 people in custody,
    and my understanding is that is a pretty normal number, at that
    time, at least. So my back-of-the-napkin calculation--we are
    waiting for your numbers--is that it is costing about $100,000
    a day to keep someone at Guantanamo Bay. Man, this is like ripe
    for DOGE. Why is DOGE not down there, that we are spending
    $100,000 a day to keep someone at Guantanamo? And we fly them
    down there, we keep them there a while, then we fly them back
    to the United States. Or we could keep them here for $165 a
    day. I think that is kind of outrageous.
        I am concerned by the staggering cost of this, and I would
    hope, Secretary, you could commit to providing this Committee a
    detailed breakdown of the total cost of that operation there.
    There was just a sea of empty beds. There were all sorts of
    security folks, and nobody in those beds, which is why it is so
    expensive.
        Chair Paul will probably use this on his Festivus Report
    later, I am sure, of outrageous government spending, and I will
    look forward to seeing that.
        Secretary Noem, are you familiar with Section 872 of the
    Homeland Security Act of 2002?
        Secretary Noem. It sounds familiar, sir. You will have to
    remind me the topic, yes.
        Senator Peters. Section 872 requires you, as Secretary, to
    provide a 60-day notice to Congress of any creation, deletion,
    consolidation, or alteration of organizations within the
    Department that are not required, in statute, which must
    include an explanation for the rationale behind any charges. It
    also prohibits you from making any changes to offices in the
    status.
        My question for you is why have you not provided notice to
    Congress of the changes you are making at the Department, and
    will you be doing so in the near future, and will you include
    intended reduction in forces in that. For example, you have
    already terminated virtually the whole Civil Rights and Civil
    Liberties Office staff without any communication to Congress
    about your intent, and the only letter yesterday claiming all
    of the statutory responsibilities would be met, you sent a
    letter but it conflicts certainly with the whistleblower
    discloser that I received last week.
        So please explain to the Committee why you are not
    following this law.
        Secretary Noem. Senator, we are following that law. Those
    offices that you referenced are still open and functioning and
    providing their duties as required, but they have been
    rightsized. Many times the Office of Civil Rights and Civil
    Liberties, or the Ombudsman Office, which you and I visited
    about before, had grown quite expansive. They were used as a
    political tool, suing and attacking each other and censoring
    individuals and not doing the job for which they were created.
    So we have rightsized them, put them back on mission. If there
    would be an instance to where notification is required, I
    certainly will follow that.
        Chairman Paul. Time has expired. Senator Moreno.
        Senator Moreno. Thank you again, Secretary. Following up on
    the themes that were just brought up, it seems to me that the
    most commonsense answer and the least expensive way to house
    criminal aliens in the country is to not allow them to come
    here in the first place. Right? So whether it is $160 a day,
    $100,000 a day, it should be zero per day. I hope that my
    Democratic colleagues, let's just codify what President Trump
    has done and prevent criminal aliens, or anybody, from entering
    this country illegally. That seems like the most fiscally
    conservative thing.
        I hope when you are talking about these questions with the
    Secretary that we just say let's just stop allowing people to
    come into the country illegally. By the way, that does not mean
    we do not want people to come here legally. That is the
    hypocrisy I just do not understand, when you are decrying the
    cost of housing criminal aliens. But you turned a blind eye
    when we had 10 million people coming into this country
    illegally.
        Shifting gears real quick, you were a Governor. Would it
    surprise you to learn that you are rated one of the top five
    most fiscally conservative, frugal Governors in America last
    year?
        Secretary Noem. No, it would not surprise me. I worked hard
    at making sure we were accountable to our taxpayers.
        Senator Moreno. So you are going to commit, and I think it
    would be obvious, that when you are appropriated money through
    the reconciliation process to help you do what you need to do,
    that you are going to be as fiscally prudent with that money.
    Correct?
        Secretary Noem. That is correct.
        Senator Moreno. All right. Let's talk about what they need.
    Certainly there is a wall, but a wall by itself, to Senator
    Peters' point, does not accomplish the mission. There are all
    kinds of advanced technology. I was visiting Anduril. They have
    some incredible technology for detection that makes the Border
    Patrol agents [unclear]. You are looking at technology like
    that, right?
        Secretary Noem. Oh, absolutely. That is one of the
    discussions that we have had quite often with Members of
    Congress and in these Committee hearings, is just the wall will
    look very different based on where it is, plus the wall was
    never finished even where you have a steel bollard wall. Many
    times they erected the steel bollard wall but did not build out
    the technology to support it and to keep individuals from
    throwing ladders and ropes over them. There is a whole system
    that was designed to operate together, and even when the wall
    was built President Trump was never given the opportunity to
    complete the system that would actually secure it much better
    than just simple infrastructure.
        Senator Moreno. Sure. So physical barriers, title
    detections- some of these technologies can determine the
    difference between an animal and a human, can direct Border
    Patrol agents safely, let them know what to expect when they
    are there. So those are all the technologies.
        Let's talk about another part of what I would call the
    wall, which is the human element. How was the moral of the
    Border Patrol agents when you got there, when you took over,
    day one, when you visited them. Kind of describe briefly what
    that was like.
        Secretary Noem. They were very discouraged. If you
    remember, many of us----
        Senator Moreno. I think you are being kind with
    ``discouraged.''
        Secretary Noem. They were not allowed to do their jobs.
    They hired on to Border Patrol, and ICE, I would say, it is the
    same story, to do a job and they were not allowed to do that by
    the last administration.
        Senator Moreno. So there were recruitment challenges.
        Secretary Noem. Oh, there was, but not anymore.
        Senator Moreno. We have to make sure we pay them properly,
    so that is part of the money, right, that we have raises for
    them.
        Near and dear to my heart is the automobiles that they use
    there. Describe the insanity of the kinds of vehicles that
    Biden and Mayorkas were giving. These are the most rugged
    terrains in America, boulders and rocks and hills. They were
    sending F-150's out there with 17-inch wheels. How many of the
    fleet was down just because of total and complete inability to
    accomplish the mission?
        Secretary Noem. At times it was upwards to 30 to 40 percent
    of the fleet was just unusable, not able to be maintained.
    There were times the percentage would increase, based on the
    conditions to which they were deployed, as well.
        Senator Moreno. I know you and I have talked about this,
    but I just want to reinforce it on the record. We have a great
    company that builds cars in Ohio called Jeep. They make a
    Gladiator that would put giant tires and wheels on a car, and
    they would be an amazing Border Patrol agent. I think even the
    Chair would love to see new automobiles so that the Border
    Patrol agents can do their job, and that is certainly part of
    the funding. Would that be something that you would look at?
        Secretary Noem. Yes. It is something that we need to
    address. We have to. In order for them to do their jobs they
    have to have the right equipment.
        Senator Moreno. Last question. Is there anything else that
    we might not have asked you that you think is important for
    this Committee to know?
        Secretary Noem. I think that you have covered a lot of the
    components. We have not discussed the Secret Service, and I
    know that has been a big topic for this Committee in the past.
    I have the ability and the responsibility to oversee the Secret
    Service, and I just want you to know that we have gone away
    from the DEI recruitment directive that the Biden
    administration has utilized to recruit agents and what their
    purposes are, and we have made sure that they have the ability
    to do their job and protect the most powerful.
        One of the statistics I think you would find to be helpful
    is we have an over 200 percent increase in applications to work
    for the Secret Service, because of the work that Sean Curran
    and his team have done to really tell the mission and story of
    what they do every day and how important it is.
        Senator Moreno. Thank you.
        Chairman Paul. Senator Blumenthal.
        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. Secretary Noem, on May 5th
    the Customs and Border Protection, quietly rescinded--I am not
    sure it has even been reported--their, ``Processing of Pregnant
    and Postpartum Non-Citizens and Infants,'' policy, which was
    issued on January 28, 2022, citing it as, ``obsolete or
    misaligned with current agency guidance and immigration
    enforcement policy.''
        That January 28th policy memorandum followed years of
    inadequate care, documented by a report from the Inspector
    General of the Department of Homeland Security, showing that
    the treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women, and
    infants, was just horrendously and horrifically inadequate. A
    recent site visit by Senate Judiciary Committee staff confirmed
    that this problem is continuing, that pregnant women being
    detained do not have access to adequate health care.
        Do you agree or disagree that babies and pregnant women
    within CBP and ICE custody should receive care that are
    tailored to their specific needs, and why, in God's name, would
    that policy be rescinded providing that care?
        Secretary Noem. Well, Senator, I will look at the specifics
    of that policy and what was changed as of May 5th. I would say
    that everybody that is incarcerated or is brought into custody
    and is in a detention center is receiving appropriate care, and
    that we are making accommodations for individuals that have
    different physical situations or pregnancy.
        Senator Blumenthal. But as a matter of fact, it is not
    happening.
        Secretary Noem. I will look at the specific policies as to
    why one of the requirements may have been changed or adapted.
    If you have a specific to point out that would be fantastic.
        Senator Blumenthal. You do not know about this policy
    change?
        Secretary Noem. I do know about the policy change, but I
    have looked at the guidelines of how we handle individuals----
        Senator Blumenthal. But you know about the policy change.
    How could you allow it to happen?
        Secretary Noem. Sir, what are you finding wrong with what
    we do with individuals who are pregnant that are in our
    detention centers? Are there concerns I should be addressing?
        Senator Blumenthal. Women who are pregnant or who have just
    had a child and their infant babies are not receiving adequate
    medical care.
        Secretary Noem. Everybody receives medical care.
        Senator Blumenthal. Aren't you concerned?
        Secretary Noem. Everybody receives medical care that is in
    our custody, and even if they are going to be returned----
        Senator Blumenthal. Why was the policy rescinded then?
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. Even if they are going to be
    returned back to their home country, we are making sure that
    they have medical care in their home country before they are
    sent there. So that is something that we do very diligently, is
    to make sure that anybody who has a medical issue, a concern,
    something that needs to be addressed is taken care of in those
    detention centers.
        Senator Blumenthal. What you are telling me right now is
    factually untrue.
        Secretary Noem. No, it is actually followed through with
    every single day.
        Senator Blumenthal. But more important, you permitted a
    policy to be rescinded that provides for adequate care, because
    it was, ``obsolete or misaligned'' with your agency's guidance
    and immigration enforcement priorities. How can you sit here
    and tell us that caring for pregnant women or infants or women
    postpartum is misaligned with your priorities? It boggles my
    mind.
        Secretary Noem. Yes, everyone who is in our care and in our
    detention centers receives medical care that is appropriate----
        Senator Blumenthal. But is your policy not to care for
    them.
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. To them and their specific
    condition. Absolutely, that is happening.
        Senator Blumenthal. You are about to lose a fifth of your
    workforce in FEMA. Correct?
        Secretary Noem. Yes. There are individuals in FEMA that are
    no longer working with us. They may have taken early retirement
    or deferred retirement.
        Senator Blumenthal. How are you going to meet the needs of
    our constituents, in Missouri or Connecticut, which suffered
    floods recently. I saw FEMA in action then as I have seen them
    over the years. They are dedicated, vigorous public servants.
    They appear and spend hours and days and weeks caring for
    people. You are losing a fifth of them, including most of the
    leadership. What is your plan to replace them?
        Secretary Noem. We have many people in FEMA that do very
    good work every day, taking care of people that are in a crisis
    situation, that are experiencing the worst day of their lives.
    The problem is that over the years, and under the Biden
    administration, they failed the American people.
        Senator Blumenthal. You are not answering my question,
    Madam Secretary.
        Secretary Noem. Oh, I absolutely am.
        Senator Blumenthal. How are you going to replace a
    workforce that is absolutely essential----
        Secretary Noem. You cannot convince me that any Federal
    Government agency does a better job----
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. To helping the
    constituents in Missouri----
        Secretary Noem [continuing]. Just because it has more
    people.
        Senator Blumenthal. You just committed to help them.
        Secretary Noem. More people does not equal a better job.
        Senator Blumenthal. You are not going to be able to help
    people in Connecticut----
        Secretary Noem. A better job is accountability to people
    and making sure we are taking care of them.
        Senator Blumenthal [continuing]. In Missouri, or anywhere
    in the country if you do not have the dedicated public servants
    in FEMA, and you are losing them.
        Chairman Paul. Time has expired. Senator Kim.
        Senator Kim. Thank you, Chair. Madam Secretary, I saw the
    proposed budget, and it showed a decrease for FEMA non-disaster
    grants. It was a proposed cut of about $646 million. But it did
    not clarify what programs you thought that needed to be cut. I
    guess I just wanted to ask, is the Nonprofit Security Grant
    Program (NSGP) one that you are considering cutting?
        Secretary Noem. We are having discussions with the White
    House on grants that will be continued in the future. The
    President firmly believes that FEMA needs to be eliminated as
    the way it stands today, that it needs to be reformed, and that
    States and local governments should do emergency response with
    the support of the Federal Government.
        He believes it should not be in the long-term recovery, 20
    years later still waiting to make claims to go out, and many of
    the grant programs within FEMA were moved over into climate
    change priorities. They were moved over into building bike
    paths and shade infrastructure and planting trees, when really
    if it is a disaster and if we need to mitigate something
    happening in the future we should be building better roads and
    bridges and putting in bigger culverts in areas that need to be
    addressed, not necessarily planting shade trees in parks with
    disaster recovery dollars. That is what people need to remember
    is all of these dollars that come from these grants, many times
    they are pulling out of that disaster recovery fund.
        I think this evaluation of every single grant is
    appropriate. Many of them, after they are evaluated or found to
    be appropriate they are deployed. But that examination is
    something I take very seriously, that I need to do to make sure
    it is on task for why that grant was established.
        Senator Kim. Look, I will just say point blank, I think the
    answer should have been a clear no, and I think that there is
    very strong bipartisanship here in Congress, especially in the
    Senate, to protect the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. It is
    literally the best tool that people in New Jersey are telling
    me is needed to be able to counter antisemitism. I cannot tell
    you the number of synagogues and temples that are lined up to
    try to get this type of funding. In fact, given the rise of
    antisemitism that we have in our country right now, we should
    be surging resources, not cutting.
        I would hope that you would have a more declarative no in
    that vein, because, I will be honest with you, I have been
    trying to see if we can dramatically increase funding to the
    Nonprofit Security Grant Program, to try to fight this scourge
    of antisemitism.
        I guess I just want to ask you, would you be open to
    supporting an increase in funding to the Nonprofit Security
    Grant Program if I am able to work with some of my colleagues
    to be able to do that?
        Secretary Noem. We definitely have seen the value in that
    program and are willing to discuss this with you. What I would
    say is that we have to do an evaluation to make sure those
    dollars are going to the appropriate entities that they were
    intended. So they have been important for many different people
    in different communities, and I recognize that. This
    evaluation, and working with you on how that program can be
    improved will be very important.
        Senator Kim. I want to engage with you on this further,
    because when we are hearing this language about abolishing FEMA
    and whatnot, one of the elements that people have raised most
    concerns about is what does that mean for the Nonprofit
    Security Grant Program? I really do urge you to work with me
    and this Committee to have a declarative stance on that, so
    people, especially those concerned about antisemitism, can have
    clarity on what comes next.
        You did raise the FEMA Review Council, which you said is
    going to be meeting for the first time today. I just wanted to
    see, because we have talked about this before, about what comes
    next, I wanted to see if you would commit to working with this
    Committee and hearing our perspectives as part of the council's
    work and giving us an opportunity to engage before the
    Committee concludes their work and finalizes recommendations.
    Is that something you can commit to?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, absolutely. There are several things
    that FEMA does that need your input, statutory requirements.
    This is a reform process that most certainly will include you
    and this Committee.
        Senator Kim. Yes, that is something I know we talked about
    before you were confirmed, and I hope we can follow upon that
    because I think it is incredibly important. Everyone here
    recognizes that reforms are needed----
        Secretary Noem. Right.
        Senator Kim [continuing]. But now the question is just how
    is that situated. I certainly have some thoughts I want to
    reflect from the folks in New Jersey.
        As mentioned earlier, hurricane season is upon us. Do you
    have a sense of when the White House is going to announce a
    full nominee for FEMA Administrator?
        Secretary Noem. It should be soon, but I am not going to
    put a timeframe on President Trump.
        Senator Kim. Again, we want to have confidence that we have
    the leadership in place to be able to do this.
        Secretary Noem. We do have a leader in place, and I can
    connect you with him, as well. Dave Richardson is the Acting
    Administrator.
        Senator Kim. I will make sure we follow up, but it would be
    good to have that formal nomination.
        The last thing, and maybe we will just do this in a
    question for the record (QFR), but there has been a cut,
    reports of cuts to the national database tracking domestic
    terrorism. DHS cut the funding. I just wanted to ask you, is
    that correct, and is there any way that you could reconsider
    that and see if we can make sure we are tracking domestic
    terrorism rise in the country?
        Secretary Noem. Yes, I can follow up with you on that and
    get you that information.
        Senator Kim. OK. Thank you, Secretary.
        Chairman Paul. You are almost done. You have outlasted
    everyone but me. You do not necessarily have to answer this.
    You can comment if you want. But I think one of the problems I
    have always had with discussion of the border is that people
    who often are conservative and talk about fiscal conservatism,
    once we start talking about the border then it is all out the
    window.
        So the estimates on the wall I think are important. I do
    not think it is a very conservative estimate. It is more like
    $30 million a mile as opposed to, CBP says six, you said 12 for
    current. It is somewhere in there.
        I also would say that you are controlling 95 percent of the
    border without a wall right now, so that is an argument that
    maybe you do not need a wall. You need willpower. I give
    President Trump great compliments for what he has done and what
    you have done. I mean, 95 percent under control. No new bill,
    no new money.
        I am not saying no new money is needed. I think you need
    more Border Patrol and you are going to need more money for
    that, but I think it should be within reason.
        Now, if I were in charge of the border, though, and I
    wanted immediate control and I was not quite there yet, I would
    put 100 helipads down, concrete, about 50 yards by 50 yards,
    and I would put 100 helicopters on the border every 10 miles,
    and I would simply use technology to patrol the border, and I
    would pick anybody and everybody up who crosses the border
    illegally with the helicopters. I think you could do that, and
    you could probably do it for $500 million versus $46 billion.
        I know the wall has great symbolic value, but I think we
    should reassess both the cost, what we want to do and how much
    it costs, since we are controlling 95 percent of the border. I
    think part of it is you have moved some money forward that
    needs to be replaced. I am not against, or calling for no
    money, but I do think that the $46 billion is not justified
    unless we see something else from the Administration.
        Secretary Noem. OK.
        Chairman Paul. Thank you for your time today and your
    commitment to work with the Committee. The hearing record will
    remain open until 5 p.m., May 21, 2025, for the submission of
    statements and questions for the record.
        The hearing is adjourned. Thank you.
        [Whereupon, at 11:40 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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