Yesterday was Veterans Day, and I just want to say thank you to my fellow Americans who took the time to celebrate it. You see, Veterans Day is where we have an opportunity to thank the few who have answered their Nation's call to defend…

if we can dry up the ability to buy beans, bullets, and Band-Aids, I mean, hopefully another way to break their will to fight.

I also want to extend my condolences to the family of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil.

I want to thank the Chairman for holding this timely hearing on our efforts--both domestic and international--to contain and prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.

the value of our public health infrastructure and the cost of maintaining it.

It is incumbent upon us to work with our international partners to eradicate the virus at its origin in West Africa.

I often urge my colleagues not to use our positions of influence to promote fear in the public.

I think it is an excellent idea, and we have learned a lot from hearing what Texas has done.

I want to also express my appreciation to the Chairman and to all of you.

I hope that our discussion today can yield a step in this direction, and I also support the Chairman's comment that this disease does not see party or anything.

It is inconceivable that the Department of Homeland Security does not have a consolidated headquarters where the Secretary can meet with the component heads instantaneously.

I am very concerned that we have yet to deal with the border security issue that plagues the people I represent every single day.

Since the Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002, its core components have been dispersed in more than 50 locations throughout the National Capital Region.

These issues create problems for our security and create problems for the men and women that we have asked to protect the homeland.

I was a vocal supporter of the DHS consolidation plan when it was first presented.

The drug cartels basically own that territory.

However, Congressional appropriation of funding of St. Elizabeths continues to be uncertain as the House's fiscal year 2015 Financial Service and General Government Appropriations bill zeroed out funding for GSA.

However, Phase II and III of the consolidation project have been stalled.