Kristi Noem hands out $10K bonus checks to TSA agents after 43-day shutdown

New York Post

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00:00Good afternoon, everyone.

00:01My name is Kristi Noem.

00:02I'm the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

00:05And for the last 43 days, we have been dealing with a government shutdown that has dramatically

00:11impacted the lives of the American people.

00:14And people were not just inconvenienced, inconvenienced, but they were also damaged and harmed by what

00:21Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic Party did to the American people.

00:26What I'm so proud of, though, today, and what I'm here talking about today, is the outstanding

00:31patriotism in service of our TSA officers and officials that stepped up every single

00:36day to make sure that those individuals at our airports and at our transportation systems

00:41continued to be safe and secure while they went about their daily lives and limited the

00:45impact on those families that relied so much on getting to where they needed to be on time.

00:52So today we are announcing that we are going to be handing out bonus checks of $10,000

00:57to TSOs, to agents who work for TSA who served with exemplary service.

01:03And what that means is that we are going to not only continue their paychecks like they

01:07should have received all along, but also they're going to get a bonus check for stepping up,

01:12taking on extra shifts, for showing up each and every day, for serving the American people,

01:17and taking seriously the mission that the Department of Homeland Security takes seriously and that

01:22they take seriously every single day.

01:24And that's keeping the American people safe while they go and commute across the country

01:31and while they do their work and business and take care of their families.

01:35Today we're going to talk about a couple of individuals that did incredible things here

01:40at the George Bush Airport that stepped up and took on extra challenges, extra hours, even

01:47though their families were dealing with some difficulties because of the government shutdown.

01:51They were examples to the rest of the individuals who worked with them and endured those hardships

01:56and continued to shine a light on really what is special about America.

02:01We have Rico who is with us today, Mr. Walker.

02:05And I would like to focus on Rico a little bit today because he is not only a 20-year officer,

02:11but he's also a member of the National Deployment Force, which means that he takes on extra responsibilities

02:17at TSA.

02:19He not only fulfilled every one of his hours during this shutdown, but he also was more than

02:24willing to take on extra shifts to make sure that the public didn't have any kind of hardships,

02:30delays, or security concerns during this government shutdown that was facilitated by the

02:34Democrat Party.

02:35I also have Ashley next to me.

02:38Ashley has continued to serve at TSA.

02:41I believe she came to work here in January and showed up and has been an example of an

02:48excellent employee, but she also during this time was through the process of trying to buy

02:53a home when the government shutdown.

02:56She was going to be moving and excited about undertaking that change in her life with her family,

03:01and that had to stop dramatically when her paycheck quit coming because of what was happening with

03:06Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party refusing to ensure that our security officials were getting

03:11their paychecks.

03:13I'm hopeful that she will be able to go and purchase a home soon now that that has been

03:18restored, that this bonus check will be helpful to her and her family at pursuing the American

03:24dream of home ownership, and that also, as we talk about her, that her example of optimism and cheerfulness,

03:30despite these kinds of hardships, will be something that the rest of our TSA employees can look to, but also the

03:37American people, recognizing that even when these challenges come, that we can take them on and continue to be an

03:44encouragement to people around us.

03:46So today, though, we have many other TSA officers here that I'm going to be handing bonus checks to.

03:53Every single one of these individuals served with exemplary service, which means they were an example of not only

04:02taking seriously the security concerns and measures that TSA has to every single day in the Department of Homeland Security,

04:09but also they went above and beyond.

04:12They helped individuals.

04:14They served extra shifts.

04:15They helped with transportation of people getting back and forth to work, other challenges that families may have.

04:23They were all examples of what we need, and we will be continuing to not only recognize employees across the country,

04:31but we will be looking at every single TSA official that helped serve during this government shutdown and do what we can to

04:37recognize that and help them financially with a bonus check to get them and their family back on their feet.

04:44So with that, Rico, I want to present to you a check and say thank you from the American people.

04:49Appreciate it.

04:51Ashley.

04:53Yes.

04:54And is Leo here?

04:56All right, Leo.

05:00I was kidding.

05:01There you are.

05:12Thank you so much.

05:14Take care.

05:15Take care.

05:16Take care.

05:17We go soon.

05:18Amanda.

05:20Take care time now.

05:21Nice.

05:23Are you the team?

05:24Yes.

05:25Good.

05:26Watch it.

05:28Make sure it's .

05:30Do you want to hurt us?

05:34Nice.

05:35Nice pass.

05:36Thank you so much.

05:37Yes.

05:38And we're going to say that's my arm.

05:41For you.

05:42Yes.

05:44Charlotte.

05:48I'll be on Jason.

05:50Right.

05:50Good.

05:51Good.

05:52So now?

05:53Yes.

05:56And then, thank you.

06:00Yes.

06:01I'm also incredibly grateful for everyone in this community, this airport, the private

06:25companies that stepped up and helped support these families during the government shutdown

06:28when their paychecks stopped, and I just can't say enough about the partnerships that we've

06:34been able to build in light of this tragic situation when the Democrats shut down the

06:38government that we still saw the best of America.

06:41We saw people come together and support each other, take care of each other, and go above

06:45and beyond to make sure that the mission of the Department of Homeland Security was fulfilled,

06:50that it was to keep the American people safe with honor and with integrity and that we can

06:55continue to do that.

06:56I do want to recognize our Federal Security Director, Juan Sanchez, who is with us today

07:01and thank him for his service and all of his hard work to take care of people and keep

07:05them safe each and every day.

07:07He also has two deputies, Jimmy and Jose, who help him every single day in this role and

07:13in this facility.

07:15And I also am extremely grateful for how they have partnered together with those private

07:20companies, individuals, and donations to make sure we are taking care of our frontline individuals,

07:26keeping our security measures in place.

07:28There's a lot of exciting things going on at TSA, a lot of good news.

07:32And we're grateful that we are able to not only support the families that are a part of

07:37our workforce, but that also we've been able to implement policy changes that make travel

07:41easier for those individuals who go through TSA.

07:44I think everybody is very happy about the security measures and technology that we've implemented,

07:50but then also allowed people to do different measures going through security lanes such as

07:55keeping your shoes on and still going through the technology that's necessary to make sure

08:01that we have safe transportation systems.

08:03We are implementing veterans lanes and military lanes so they can have a special screening process

08:09that's expedited for them, being grateful for their service to our country.

08:13And also, we're implementing family lanes across the country for families that may have small

08:18children, recognizing that that's a little bit of an extra challenge getting through the TSA

08:23security checkpoints.

08:24And we want to make sure we have extra help there and extra measures to help do it in a way that can be

08:29pleasant and enjoyable for that family as well.

08:32We're continuing to make sure that the investments at TSA facilitate the traveling public.

08:37They support the individuals that live in this country, but also the commerce of this country

08:42to make sure that our businesses and our families that make the backbone of America can continue

08:48to be successful and to be safe while they do that, meeting the emerging threats we may face

08:55from around the world.

08:56We're grateful for this TSA employees behind us today.

09:00We're grateful for their example, what they mean to America, the fact that they show up even

09:05on a bad day.

09:07They continue to do their work and they do it with embracing the mission of TSA, which

09:11is to serve the public and to keep people safe.

09:14Many of them took an oath to this job because they recognized the threats that America faces

09:20and they wanted to serve in this position to help keep people safe.

09:23I think that's remarkable.

09:25We need more people like that in this world today and I think they're all great Americans.

09:30Thank you for your service and with that, I will ask Juan, did you want to say a few words?

09:35I'll let you open it up to you and then we'll take some questions.

09:41You're welcome.

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