00:00Speak for everyone in this room and everyone in this country that you are a welcome addition
00:07as the head of DHS. In fact, you heard time and time again from everybody that's been questioning
00:14you. They sought repeatedly documents from that agency. I litigated as Florida's attorney general
00:22against DHS and Secretary Mayorkas and sought documents and as part of that. And I hate that
00:29it took litigation to uncover what I believe was the most destructive cover-up in our nation's
00:33history. But I uncovered plans by DHS when the border was overrun to just step back and
00:41let everybody come in and facilitate that. Plans to push quotas into the interior daily. Plans
00:50to build illegal programs to bring more and more people directly here from out of our country
00:55here. Plans to illegally release people into the U.S. that had been brought here for prosecution
01:01solely for prosecution for drug crimes from outside our country. And when they finish their
01:07decades-long prison sentence as drug traffickers, instead of historically as they would have
01:11been deported, they put them back into the community in which they were prosecuted and
01:16released them. The premeditated calculation that went into destroying our borders and pushing
01:28barely-vetted, oftentimes dangerous people into this nation, I believe was something that we
01:37will look back on in a nation and say that was the moment as a country we stopped taking seriously
01:45protecting the sovereignty of our nation, our security, and making sure first and foremost we
01:54were keeping an eye on the plans of our enemies and the weaknesses that we had as a country. And I
02:00cannot thank you enough for stepping up and coming back to work, coming to D.C., having been home in
02:05your state, coming back to the swamp to try and reverse the damage that was done. In fact, we've been
02:11talking a lot about cover-ups and things that were kept from the American people in the
02:14last administration. Your predecessor sat here and testified to Congress time and time again while
02:20I was busy litigating as an AG, uncovering the real plans. The border is secure. The border is secure.
02:28The border is secure. Time and time again, he lied. And in terms of someone that needs to be held
02:34accountable for perjuring themselves, it's not just about not providing information. It's about lying to the
02:40American people as he systematically made our country weaker and put their lives and their families in
02:45danger. I think that is abhorrent. I cannot believe a person was allowed to be trusted with the
02:51responsibility he was given. And I am so glad that you're willing to be here and take questions and
02:56provide documents about that. The Coast Guard is one of the things I think you said to testimony. It's been
03:03neglected for years. Our service is outmanned and equipped by Russia, China, and the cartels. We need
03:09cutters. I can tell you in Florida under the last administration, we kept seeing people, many times
03:16criminals, coming to our shores. We are a maritime border, obviously. We had to surge resources.
03:22Thankfully, President Trump came in on day one and asked that we do that so we were able to surge resources
03:27there. But I just wanted to give you some sort of example. In the last year, we saw 13,500 illegal aliens
03:34stopped from entering Florida, about almost 700 vessels that we kept from coming onto shore. So
03:41important that we get the Coast Guard cutters, get those ships built, ramp up assets. Thank you for
03:48that commitment. I am concerned that we might and trying to do that so quickly, much needed, that we give
03:55foreign nations or companies outside the United States contracts. Do I have your word you will look
04:02at how we can readily increase our Coast Guard assets like our Coast Guard cutters, but using American
04:09businesses? Absolutely. That's one of the things that Forest Design 2028 focuses on, is making sure that
04:16we're building those kind of partnerships to meet the needs that the Coast Guard has. And I'd say our greatest
04:20asset is our people. I'm so thrilled with the fact that Coast Guard recruitment is at
04:25108% of its recruitment goal, just because of the excitement to serve in a fleet that gets to do
04:31its mission again, and recognizes that it's been neglected for too long. But there's a focus and a
04:36recognition of the important work that they do. And certainly Florida has participated a lot with
04:42partnering with not only in Texas at our southern border, we've sent assets there, but we are ramping
04:47up our own assets to complement what was not provided to us in the last administration. Thank you for your
04:52dedication to making sure that's provided to us so we can secure our own maritime board. Appreciate that.
04:56Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you.
04:58Perfect. Five minutes. Thank you. Senator Kim.
05:02Thank you, Chairman, Madam Secretary.
05:04A press release came out.
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