McCaul Discusses Admin's Work to Secure Air, Land, and Sea at Worldwide Threats Hearing with Secretary Noem
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) — chairman emeritus and current vice chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security — questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a committee hearing titled, "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland." McCaul and Noem discussed the administration's efforts to secure our nation's air, land, and sea.
McCaul's exchange with Secretary Noem:
Chairman Emeritus McCaul: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Madam Secretary, great to see you.
This hearing reminds me of the novel "A Tale of Two Cities." The [Democrats] see it as the worst of times, but I see it really as the best of times. And what do I mean by that? Under the Biden administration, 15 to 20 million illegal aliens — unvetted as you indicated — came into this country. What I think is most disturbing is director Kent's testimony: 18,000 known or suspected terrorists got into this country under the Biden administration.
That’s why we impeached Mayorkas. I was one of the managers. He told his Border Patrol [agents]: you don’t have to pay attention to federal law when it says “shall" detain aggravated felons. He disregards our law and says: you know what? “May detain. It’s discretionary." And guess what? We have thousands of aggravated felons now … in this country today. That was the worst of times. Let me go to the best of times.
[This is] the most secure border I’ve seen in my 22 years of Congress. I’ve dealt with this for a long time, coming from Texas, being chairman of this committee. The daily crossings are 95% down from the prior administration. That’s the best of times.
Zero catch and release. My very first bill in Congress 22 years ago was to end catch and release. Twenty-two years later, we finally have achieved that goal. That, Madam Secretary, is the best of times. An all-time record low. America is safer today. ...
And when I look at the Venezuelan vessels attacked, the president had every right under the Constitution — Article II — [in] international waters, [with] cartels designated as FTOs, coming into our country to spread poison to kill Americans. If that’s not self-defense, I don’t know what is.
And then finally, Madam Secretary, thank you for taking out the shadow Iranian oil tanker headed from Venezuela to Cuba, getting around our sanctions that Congress passed. I’m finally seeing an administration flexing its muscle in this hemisphere, which has been neglected for so many years.
So air, land, and sea is your charge; it’s the military charge as well. I see the land secure. I see the maritime border as getting more secure. And I applaud you for that.
On the air [security] piece, I chair the special events task force — that’s FIFA, the Olympics, [and] the 250th anniversary. Drones are the biggest threat as I see it. I see it in Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, and I see it across our border, and I see it at these events. ... And with the new NDAA authorization to allow federal and state and locals to work together to identify hostile adversary drones, and take them down, can you tell me how that will impact your ability, Madam Secretary, to better secure these special events?
Secretary Noem: Thank you, Congressman McCaul. And thank you for your leadership. I understand you are retiring, and I’m sad about that. You’ve been a statesman. Thank you for serving with such dignity.
The counter drone and drone technology that is out there today, frankly our authorities haven’t kept up with. And so thank you for that legislation. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to truly defend the homeland. Here at the Department of Homeland Security we are going to be investing upwards to $1.5 billion into drone technology and counter drone technology and mitigation measures that we can deploy, not just across different NSC events or large scale events that we are responsible for the security on, but also that we can use to partner with cities and states for celebrations and different things that they may hold as well. So we have the responsibility at the Department of Homeland Security for FIFA and the 11 cities that will be hosting the matches here in the United States — also the Olympics, the America 250 celebrations, also other national security events that happen such as Mardi Gras and other events that are going on throughout the country.
So this program that we will have will not only work within the events that the department is responsible for, but we will be able to sign agreements with states and cities to provide measures that they don’t currently have. And we’re working with the FAA as well to get what we need to be able to operate. And we don’t want us to detect. We don’t want to just monitor. We need to mitigate. We need to take these drones down. …
Chairman Emeritus McCaul: There is so much technology out there today – counter drone technology that I have been working to get into Ukraine to protect them from Russian drones that we can deploy at these events. I’d love to visit with you on that at a later date. And thank you for your service.
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