[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S191-S192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NOMINATION OF ALEJANDRO NICHOLAS MAYORKAS

  Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, I stand before you and my colleagues today 
to speak in support of the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as 
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
  There is no question that Ali Mayorkas is qualified for this 
position. He previously served as the Director of U.S. Customs and 
Immigration Services, then as Deputy Secretary at DHS.
  Today, I want to tell you about Ali Mayorkas's story. I want to tell 
you why he is the right pick for this position. And I want to tell you 
why we can achieve what we need to with Mr. Mayorkas leading the 
Department of Homeland Security.
  During his hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs Committee, my fellow committee members and I had a 
chance to hear from Mr. Mayorkas and hear his family history.
  He told us the harrowing story of his family fleeing persecution, 
traveling to a new country in search of freedom, acceptance, and a safe 
place to call home.
  During the Holocaust, Mr. Mayorkas's mother lost her paternal 
grandparents and seven of her uncles simply for being Jewish--simply 
because of the faith they practiced. His mother and his maternal 
grandparents fled, but they fled in order to survive.
  But the story of Mr. Mayorkas's family was far from over. His parents 
fled Cuba during Castro's revolution, bringing Mr. Mayorkas and his 
sister here to the United States in 1960. They came here as refugees 
searching for freedom, searching for acceptance, searching for safety.
  Ali Mayorkas is an American success story. He came here as a child. 
His family made a life here. He pursued an education. He dedicated his 
life to public service. He worked hard to give back to the Nation that 
gave his family so much.
  And now, Mr. Mayorkas has volunteered to serve his country once 
again.

[[Page S192]]

In this new role, he will work to keep our Nation safe and secure while 
ensuring that we treat all human beings with dignity and respect.
  Under the last Presidential administration, we saw unimaginable 
cruelty--family members separated from each other, children taken from 
their mothers' arms. We saw a total disregard of the struggles of 
refugees facing persecution in their home countries and making the 
heartbreaking choice to leave and make the dangerous journey to the 
United States.
  I know that under the leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, our 
Department of Homeland Security will strive to uphold the values of our 
Nation. He will also bring much needed stability to the Department. He 
will work to reverse the cruel and heartless policies of the previous 
administration. He will work to protect Dreamers and TPS holders. He 
will work on smart solutions to secure our border. And he will work 
with Congress to finally pass comprehensive immigration reform. That is 
not all he will do at the DHS.

  Under Mr. Mayorkas's leadership, he will work to ensure the safety 
and security of our homeland--the homeland he was brought to as a 
child, the homeland that he and his family have made their own. I spoke 
of the persecution that Ali Mayorkas's family faced during the 
Holocaust--a threat of anti-Semitism and White supremacy. Well, it 
still persists today, and it is growing right here in the United States 
and everywhere across the globe.
  Last year, a DHS assessment concluded that ``racially and ethnically 
motivated violent extremists--specifically white supremacist 
extremists--will remain the most persistent and lethal threat in the 
Homeland.''
  We have seen that violent extremism in action. We saw it on January 6 
in this very city against this legislative body and in this very 
Chamber. When I asked Ali Mayorkas about this issue during our 
committee hearing, he made clear that he understands the threat that 
White supremacy, anti-Semitism, and extremism pose to the health of our 
Nation and to the health of our democracy.
  If we are going to fight hatred and violent extremism, we need 
someone leading the charge who understands and takes seriously the 
threat to all Americans--the threats to our children, to our schools, 
to our workplaces, and to our places of worship. He is committed to 
addressing online radicalization and strengthening the Nonprofit 
Security Grant Program to ensure that houses of worship and other 
nonprofit organizations are kept safe from potential terror attacks.
  So whether it is combating extremism, foreign or domestic terrorism, 
cyber attacks, or adversaries from abroad, Mr. Mayorkas expressed a 
clear commitment to keeping our Nation safe and is fully prepared and 
qualified to serve as the head of DHS.
  Ali Mayorkas is the right pick to lead this Department, and I urge 
swift confirmation so that he can get to work immediately for us and 
our country. I will vote for Ali Mayorkas, and I urge my colleagues to 
do the same.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.

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