Chairman Michael McCaul Delivers Annual “State of Homeland Security Address”
“Our country is less secure than it was eight years ago.”
Secure the Border Once and for All
“We are going to build the wall. Period. In the process, I will stand side-by-side with the Trump Administration to throw out President Obama’s reckless immigration policies and start enforcing our nation’s laws.”
“We will put in place a historic, multi-layered defense system so that drug cartels and terrorists don’t slip through the cracks. That means more Border Patrol agents, new authorities, aerial surveillance, sensors, and other technology to protect our territory. We will take a military-style approach to the problem by giving agencies the real command-and-control they need to get a handle on the situation.”
Aggressively Enforce Our Immigration Laws
“…We are a nation of laws, and we cannot enforce them selectively. Doing so harms our democracy, and it undermines our way of life.”
Shut Down All Terrorist Pathways into the United States
“…We must begin ‘extreme vetting’ of foreign travelers. There are many ways to reach our shores, including as a tourist, student, immigrant, or refugee. Terrorists have exploited every single one of these routes, so we need to ramp up security for all of them.”
“Our goal should be to identify and exclude individuals who have ties to terror, who advocate Islamist extremism, or who support the overthrow of our government and Constitution.”
“We should immediately suspend immigration from high-risk countries where we cannot confidently weed out terror suspects. This includes Syria.”
Keep Islamist Terrorists From Recruiting and Radicalizing in Our Communities
“We need to repeal and replace President Obama’s failed, politically correct ‘Countering Violent Extremism’ policies. Our programs should focus on more than generic violence prevention. They should target the specific threat we face from radical Islamist terror.”
“We must also aggressively counter-message jihadist propaganda. The government has failed to empower local, credible voices to push back against the narrative of our enemies. Now is the time to get off the bench. We should be helping NGOs fight back and keep more people from going down the path to terror.”
Defend Our Networks and Bring Cyber Attackers to Justice
“We cannot allow foreign governments to interfere in our democracy. When they do, we must respond forcefully, publicly, and decisively. … The United States should respond to cyberattacks in a way that will make our adversaries think twice about doing it again.”
Fix the Broken Bureaucracy at DHS
“It’s time to undertake wholesale reform at DHS, including eliminating bureaucratic bloat, scrapping failing offices, and cutting through the red tape. … We must make sure DHS stays ahead of our enemies and that it leverages private sector innovation to deal with emerging threats from drones, IEDs, and beyond.”
Read Chairman McCaul’s full remarks as prepared, here.