00:00Thank you to all the senators for your participation and oversight into the Department of Homeland Security.
00:05I'm looking forward to visiting with you about all of the accomplishments that we've been able to tackle
00:09these first several months of this Trump administration.
00:14I'm also blessed to have my husband with me today, so I thank him for his support and my family's support as well
00:19as I fill this role for our country.
00:21Having previously served eight years as a member of Congress,
00:24it's my distinct honor to be on this side of the dais today as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
00:30Today I'm proud to discuss all of our accomplishments since President Trump took office
00:34and he has set us a full agenda as a priority.
00:38High on the list is the mandate and was the mandate on the very first day to secure our southern border
00:43and to start deporting illegal criminal aliens.
00:46The border crisis is the biggest problem that was facing our country
00:49and it was one that was imperative to fixing for our nation's future.
00:54We're solving this crisis at a record pace
00:57and we have delivered the most secure border in American history.
01:00We've obtained near complete operational control of the border with daily encounters down 93%
01:06since President Trump took office.
01:08And because we're fixing this biggest challenge so quickly,
01:11President Trump can focus on other priorities as well and problems that are facing the American people.
01:16Let's just look at the last 10 days.
01:18Last week, he signed a historic prescription drug reduction and pricing executive order
01:25that will slash prices for the American people.
01:27After that, he went on a trip to completely rewrite America's relationship with the Middle East.
01:33During this trip, he secured trillions of dollars of new investments in the United States
01:37with several Middle Eastern countries.
01:39He's also taking steps towards rebuilding our relationship with Syria.
01:43The last living American hostage held by Hamas, Eden Alexander, was finally released
01:48and returned home to his family.
01:50He announced major new trade deals with both China and the United Kingdom.
01:54And just yesterday, President Trump jump-started ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine.
01:59And with only the kind of leadership that President Trump could provide,
02:03we prevented the breakout of an all-out war between India and Pakistan.
02:07These historic accomplishments were possible because President Trump confronted right away
02:14the chaos at the southern border.
02:16President Trump can continue to not only make America safe,
02:19but he can also continue to work to make the entire world safer.
02:23Now, at the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump,
02:25we've already delivered a drastic turnaround in homeland security
02:29from the southern border to our Coast Guard to cyberspace.
02:33And we're just getting started.
02:34The secure border has allowed our men and women of law enforcement at DHS
02:39to zero in on fighting cartels and their illicit activities.
02:43Under President Trump, we have designated six cartels and four dangerous criminal gangs
02:48as foreign terrorist organizations.
02:50This has allowed us to take a whole-of-government approach
02:53to going after these murderers and these drug traffickers.
02:56In March, fentanyl traffic at the border fell 54 percent compared to the previous year.
03:02And once again, the United States is enforcing immigration laws
03:05to arrest, identify, detain, and remove dangerous illegal alien criminals.
03:10We're prioritizing those that are a public safety threat to people,
03:14especially those who are affiliated with the terrorist organizations MS-13 and Trende Aragua.
03:20Customs and Border Protection has worked to enforce President Trump's America First Trade Agenda,
03:25and the Biden administration's trade policies that hollowed out America's industrial base have been changed.
03:32We are no longer shipping our jobs overseas.
03:34Instead, we're using tariffs as an effective negotiating tool.
03:37The Department of Homeland Security is reforming emergency management in this country.
03:43We have the FEMA Review Council, which will be doing the work to make recommendations
03:46and also work with this body to change the department into something that actually gives more local and state control.
03:54And that first council meeting is today.
03:56We are also taking steps to defend the nation's transportation systems,
04:00which are vulnerable targets for attack.
04:02The Transportation Security Administration is responsible for ensuring all of the safety of individuals who travel.
04:09In a single day, there are 45,000 flights and nearly 2.9 million Americans and passengers in the United States.
04:17We're also fulfilling our obligation and did do so to implement Real ID,
04:22which was enacted and put in law over 20 years ago.
04:25Validated IDs secure travel, safeguard our elections,
04:29and help make sure that we never experience another tragedy like 9-11 again.
04:33And as technology advances, so do the threats to our nation.
04:37That's why cybersecurity is so crucial to our future.
04:41Countries like Communist China have the capability and the intent to infiltrate
04:46and to potentially disrupt our critical infrastructure systems.
04:50Despite these threats, the Biden administration instead used CISA to promote politics and police speech.
04:57Under President Trump, we've been working to get CISA back on its intended cybersecurity mission.
05:01The Coast Guard is the only branch of the U.S. Armed Forces
05:05that is under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.
05:08It has many missions with specialized needs.
05:12And as we secure our southern border, the cartels have shifted their activities out into our maritime borders.
05:18The Coast Guard has already surpassed fiscal year 2024's drug interdiction numbers
05:23just since President Trump took office.
05:25And they have also excelled at search and rescue while interdiction of illicit substances as well.
05:30Still, the Coast Guard is facing our greatest readiness crisis since World War II.
05:37We have a plan to reinvigorate this critical component to make sure they're ready for the future.
05:43And with Force Design 2028, we will transform the Coast Guard into a more agile, capable, and responsive force.
05:50We're making sure that they have the resources and that they have the vision to lead
05:54and to be the point of the spear in the future.
05:56Now, since I took office, one of the responsibilities that I have is in reforming the Secret Service.
06:01We've reassessed the Secret Service's needs.
06:04We've gotten recruitment away from DEI recruitment that the Biden administration was doing.
06:08And we're making sure that they're equipped and ready to take on the task of protecting our future leaders and the leaders of today.
06:15So, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and thank this committee for your time today
06:19and allowing me to get the facts out into this important issues and topics that we'll be discussing today
06:25and to visit with this committee.
06:26I'm so grateful to the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security
06:29for all the good work they're doing to serve the American public.
06:32They're examples of bravery and patriotism and dedication.
06:36It's our responsibility to continue to provide for them the resources that they need
06:40to continue doing the important work that they do.
06:43And with that, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to answering your questions and I yield back.
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