00:00Thank you, sir. Again, it is my time. 3,900 children were separated from their families.
00:06450,000 kids were lost during the Biden administration. You didn't say a word about it.
00:10Mr. Secretary, Mr. Secretary, do not interrupt.
00:12Don't you point your finger at me. Don't be a hypocrite.
00:13I will point my finger at you.
00:14Don't you be a hypocrite then. You should be as upset about the 450,000 kids that were lost.
00:20You didn't say a word about it. For four years, you never said a word.
00:23Mr. Secretary.
00:24Could you put him in his place for...
00:26You should be put in your place.
00:28I'll pay no attention to the remediation session, Mr. Chairman.
00:32I do appreciate, Mr. Secretary, your concern about the lost children.
00:38But I also want to remind people that let's not forget what was a Trump administration policy initiated by Stephen
00:48Miller,
00:49which was to let us separate children from their families at the border
00:55because this would be a way to curtail or to stop immigration,
01:03separating children from their families, how to hurt them the most.
01:08I asked and had a phone conversation with Secretary Azar at the time.
01:13I know I was in my living room with my two-year-old grandson on my lap trying to have
01:19this conversation.
01:20And I asked him if there was a way in which he had a list of how you could reunite
01:30children with their families.
01:32And he assured me that we did.
01:34You know, when you take your clothes to the cleaners, they give you a tag.
01:38And you then go back and you retrieve your clothes.
01:41When you get luggage, you go and your luggage is returned.
01:45I wish the Biden administration would have done that.
01:47Let me just say this to you, sir.
01:49Again, it is my time.
01:503,900 children were separated from their families.
01:55The 450,000 kids were lost during the Biden administration and you didn't say a word about it.
01:59Mr. Secretary, Mr. Secretary, do not interrupt.
02:01Don't you point your finger at me.
02:02I will point my finger at you.
02:03Don't you be a hypocrite then.
02:04Then you should be as upset about the 450,000 kids that were lost.
02:09He didn't say a word about it.
02:11For four years, you never said a word.
02:12Mr. Secretary.
02:13Could you put him in his place for...
02:15You should be put in your place.
02:17Mr. Secretary, if you would like four minutes for a closing statement when everybody's done, I'll give you that.
02:23But while members are on their eight minutes, I need them to have their eight minutes.
02:27I started my comments.
02:28I appreciate that.
02:29My issue is that they say this for sound bites and I'm not going to let them say something like
02:33that.
02:33What did you do just recently for sound bites?
02:35I sympathize with the 400,000.
02:38We are going to have something resembling order here.
02:41The time is the ranking members.
02:43If you would like to respond later on, there are methods to do that.
02:47But it's not a who can talk louder into the mic.
02:50It's not.
02:50So, you are recognized.
02:52Thank you very much.
02:53I will not let her sit there and lie and accuse something this ridiculous.
02:55You know, this is the legislative branch and it's my hearing and so I'm going to try to some extent
03:00to control it moderately.
03:02And do not accuse me of lying.
03:05Do not.
03:07Then don't.
03:08And I do not.
03:10I appreciate and I said to you at the outset, there is concern for children across the board.
03:17We care deeply about what's happening to children and I went to the border and I watched children in those
03:24fenced in places years ago.
03:26And what was happening to them.
03:29So, I have a long history, Mr. Secretary, in this area, 3,900 kids were separated.
03:37Secretary Azar told me he had a way to reunite them.
03:40Many of them were not reunited till today.
03:44And I don't want you to answer this now.
03:46Please, get back to us and tell us what you are doing with regard to the settlement in terms of
03:52this issue, which is out there.
03:54Which your department needs to come close to.
04:02I'll make a statement to you again, but this is fact from the bill, Mr. Chairman.
04:08The bill that the Republicans have proposed for funding the Department of Homeland Security cuts cybersecurity budget by more than
04:15$250 million.
04:16It cuts the TSA by nearly $350 million, and the Trump administration is openly advocating for privatizing TSA while trying
04:26to eliminate their collective bargaining rights.
04:30We all know what happened earlier this year.
04:32TSA workers endured the longest government shutdown in history.
04:36There was a lot of discussion and talk invoked about the long lines and the use of leverage to force
04:43through a Homeland Security bill without any reforms to what were critical ICE and CBP reforms that were necessary, that
04:51the American people wanted and were clamoring for.
04:54They didn't want to continue to see mass marauders on their streets with just harassing people.
05:04Congress eventually passed my legislation that paid TSA workers, funded FEMA, CISA, Secret Service, and the Coast Guard.
05:14And today, and it took you 79 days on the Republican side to make that decision to pay these people
05:23instead of just talking about paying this.
05:26The administration continues to walk away from the collective bargaining agreement with TSA workers, something that the federal courts have
05:35now twice said is illegal.
05:38Indeed, your testimony frames the attempt to force over 200 smaller airports in this country into a new security structure
05:48as a setting.
05:49And quote, the TSA, this is in the testimony, the TSA is on the path to privatization.
05:57My question on this issue is, given all that the Transportation Security Office did for us during a Republican shutdown,
06:05how can it be that the Department's position is that TSA workers should not be granted the same basic labor
06:13protections as federal enforcement officers?
06:16How can it be that your priority is to have them work for the lowest bidder, where the wages and
06:22the benefits of these workers will unquestionably be lower?
06:28Well, actually, it was the Democrats that voted every time to shut them down.
06:32Republicans voted every time to open them up.
06:34Pass, just give me an answer to my question.
06:35We didn't shut them down.
06:35You shut them down.
06:36Answer my question.
06:39What are you doing?
06:40Why are you moving?
06:41And I answered your question.
06:42You were the one that shut them down.
06:43The Democrats shut down.
06:44How many times did you vote to shut them down?
06:46You know, these people come to us to get funding for their, for the work that they do.
06:51And we are-
06:52I'm actually factually correct.
06:54I'm factually correct.
06:55You voted to shut them down.
06:57Republicans voted to open them over and over and over again.
07:00Your vote clearly stated that you voted to shut us down.
07:02But they finally did.
07:03It wasn't until it became popular.
07:05And then, by the way, ICE agents came there and helped bring the lines down.
07:08The same people that you also kept shut down for a hundred days.
07:10Mr. Secretary.
07:11I'm answering the question.
07:12No, you didn't.
07:12I thought you said you answered it.
07:14The floor is hers.
07:16My dear.
07:17Actually, I gave it to her.
07:19You know, there is a chairman of a committee.
07:20That's me.
07:21I gave it back to her.
07:23She's got it.
07:23There's something about who these folks are and everybody on this panel.
07:27You have another question, Madam Ranking Mayor.
07:28Well, yeah, no, I do.
07:29But I didn't get an answer to a question.
07:31So the record will still reflect.
07:33Please ask your next question.
07:34Okay.
07:34And I will.
07:34This has to do with FEMA.
07:37Simple question.
07:38And I want to start where I left off with Secretary Noem last year.
07:42FEMA.
07:43Simple yes or no.
07:44Do you support eliminating FEMA?
07:48Do you support eliminating FEMA?
07:50There's portions of FEMA that he's been back at State.
07:53Do you support eliminating FEMA?
07:53There's no yes or no question on that.
07:55There's portions that need to go back to the State.
07:57Do you support eliminating FEMA?
08:01The record will reflect the response.
08:04The record will reflect the response.
08:07Is there another question?
08:08Yeah.
08:09Because let me just say, in April of 2025, the Trump administration prematurely, I'm glad
08:25because Secretary Noem said, yes, she and the president wanted to eliminate FEMA.
08:30The gentleman said that he said it should be reformed.
08:34And the next day, he was fired.
08:37Let it show that the secretary believes that we should shut FEMA down.
08:41April 2025, the administration prematurely, unlawfully ended FEMA's BRIC program.
08:50He intentionally halted roughly 2,000 active infrastructure and disaster mitigation projects
08:57across the country, including one in downtown New Haven, Connecticut.
09:01A coalition of 22 states in D.C. sued FEMA.
09:06A federal judge ruled in favor of the states in December, mandated that FEMA restore the
09:12over $3.6 billion in canceled funding.
09:16At the beginning of March, the judge had to order FEMA to comply with that ruling.
09:22Three months ago, the day after you took over as secretary, FEMA formally announced a, quote,
09:28new and improved BRIC program.
09:31Yet, almost all of these communities are still waiting for their BRIC funding to be restored.
09:41Tell me, Mr. Secretary, when can communities with halted projects expect to receive their BRIC funding?
09:49We actually restarted that when I first came in, and we did 24 or 25 of them.
09:53So, you've done 24 of the 25 of the 2,000.
09:57Let me clarify that.
09:58So, 2024 and 2025, they sent out the notice of notifications that everybody can now submit,
10:05and those projects that were already submitted for those times period will be evaluated.
10:09How many projects are there?
10:10We can get you the details.
10:11Please.
10:11There were 2,000 that we started with.
10:13The secretary also provided direction for 2026 to get the NOFOs out on that,
10:18and that'll come out sometime in September.
10:20The secretary has done more to get the...
10:22I don't...
10:22I do not need your...
10:23You do not need to...
10:25I just want to make sure you're clear.
10:26Well, please.
10:27Okay.
10:28Spare us.
10:29You know?
10:29Just give me the facts.
10:31I did.
10:31Just give me the numbers.
10:32Let me just conclude, Mr. Chairman.
10:35And thank you.
10:35I would like to work in an open and transparent way,
10:40because that BRIC funding for New Haven, Connecticut,
10:43which I probably will not get because I'm in a blue state,
10:47that the BRIC funding for New Haven, Connecticut is important,
10:51which is why we support the programs, bipartisan support for the BRIC program.
10:56So, please, let's get the NOFOs out as quickly as possible
10:59and get the money to the communities that need them.
11:02My final comment to you is I'd just like to go back a second.
11:06We need to go back to the issue of deaths in custody.
11:09It doesn't do anyone good to deflect,
11:12talk about what's happening in a criminal system in Illinois or in Oklahoma.
11:16What we need, what we need, because 54 deaths are 54,
11:22and what is civil detention,
11:25we need a plan to address the fact that 54 people in your department
11:32has had, they were in civil detention,
11:35it's not criminal detention, are dead.
11:37They should not be.
11:39We need to hear from you.
11:40I don't need an answer.
11:41Now there is no time.
11:43I've taken an enormous amount of time.
11:45Get us a policy, a plan,
11:47in a timely fashion that says,
11:49how are we going to deal with these issues?
11:51I yield back and I thank you, Mr.
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