U.S. Senator Katie Britt Questions DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Amid DHS Funding Shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Subcommittee, attended a Senate Judiciary hearing with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. As the lead Senate negotiator throughout the Democrat-led DHS funding lapse, Senator Britt discussed the importance of this funding, specifically to clean up the mess left behind by the Biden-Harris Administration's open border policies and to secure our homeland and strengthen national security.

Senator Britt addressed the horrific consequences caused by the Biden-Harris Administration's open border policies, asking Secretary Noem for her commitment to protect American citizens: "I believe we had about an average of 5,000 people a day that came over the border during the Biden administration … We know many of these children have been trafficked into our interior. You mentioned … that 30% of women … that came across our border were most likely raped in the process. The 4,000 people that died, the inhumane circumstances that were created and the enriched cartels as a result, as a result of four years of the Biden administration, the cartels were stronger and more prosperous and unfortunately had a greater grip on our interior.

She continued, "It is your job to make sure that we unwind that, that we keep American families safe, that we abide by the law, that we enforce the law the way we do it matters. We have to do it the right way. There are countless families sitting behind you who have either had a loved one injured or lost, because of the lack of enforcement of the previous administration. Do you commit to me today that you will ensure that no family has to go through this again, that you will use the tools at your disposal the right way to protect American citizens?"

The Senator then asked Secretary Noem about the massive influx of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) under the previous administration and the Trump Administration's efforts to reunite them with their families: "How many children do you think are in our interior unaccompanied for? Are they being trafficked? Labor trafficked? Where are they? And how many have you found? And what is your plan to find all of them? Every one of those children deserves to be seen, deserves to be found. And I appreciate the President's commitment to making that happen. I want to know what you're going to do to follow through with it."

Noem responded, "We're going to continue to do our work. We found 145,000 of those children so far, identified them … returned them back to their loved ones and taken care of them. We will continue until we find every single one of them."

Senator Britt also highlighted several of the notorious criminals that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) under Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at (DHS) has captured and held accountable: "Let's actually talk about HSI … When we are looking at finding child predators, when we're looking at finding people who are exploiting children, when we're looking at cybercrimes, human trafficking, when we're looking at drug smuggling, weapons smuggling, HSI does the hard work, do they not? …

"I want you to see behind me. These are some of our most notorious and high-profile criminals in recent years. Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, El Chapo, R Kelly, Jared Fogle, Josh Duggar, The Merchant of Death, Victor Bout. And what do all of these criminals have in common? All of them were brought to justice with the help of ICE HSI … This sounds like an agency that is working for the American people, who is taking bad actors off the streets and is doing the hard work for our most vulnerable."

Finally, Senator Britt asked about the real implications on hardworking Americans of DHS going unfunded: "So, when we are looking at the department having gone unfunded now for 17 days, I'd like to know what are the real implications of that? … We look at the border, you know, Customs [and Border] Protection, people coming through, making sure, whether it is weapons being smuggled or whether it is drugs, that that those things are caught by those men and women there at the border.

"Then we look at the other missions that that fall in the Department of Homeland Security, our courageous men and women and the Coast Guard. You look at those serving in FEMA … You look at the center for Domestic Preparedness, for example, in Anniston, Alabama, which I hope I have your commitment to continuing to make sure that our law enforcement officers are trained there in the event of something unthinkable …

"You have people like a TSA officer [who] went without pay for 43 days in the previous Democrat-led shutdown. And here they go once again, the financial insecurity that comes from that is tremendous. We heard reports officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on a second job to make ends meet. Some are just recovering from the financial impact of the 43-day shutdown, and many are still reeling from it. We cannot put them through another such experience."

You can watch the Senator's full remarks here.

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