We still have barriers to the sharing of absolutely vital information.

It is inevitable that terrorist groups are going to link up with the Mexican drug cartels to smuggle either terrorists into this country using well-known successful smuggling routes or perhaps a weapon of mass destruction of some sort.

The cartels' trafficking and the associated violence demand increased attention at the Department and across the Federal Government.

The 2009 National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy noted an even greater threat to our homeland security, and that is, the possibility of collaboration between drug cartels and terrorist groups.

I believe it is imperative that we build a baseline of capabilities all across this country.

It is crucial that the Department can identify, measure, and assess what this money has bought and what future investments are needed.

So I hope that as we appropriately, in response to the Mexican cartel problem, focus resources and efforts on the southwest border, we do not create a new vulnerability on our northern border.

As Senator Lieberman has indicated, we wrote the law that restored the administration of the grant programs to FEMA.

We have worked for so many years to change the culture in the Federal Government to one of sharing essential information.

Our Nation's homeland security grant programs are a vital part of enhancing our capacity to prepare for, protect against, and respond to a full range of natural disasters and manmade hazards.

I applaud FEMA for being responsive to the needs and concerns of stakeholders, but I am concerned that this pilot... is not acceptable.

I think if we are talking about ensuring high-quality, needed equipment, personnel, training, that having some sort of match... is absolutely essential.

The horrific bloodshed that has resulted in the deaths of thousands in Mexico is not constrained to the southern side of the border.

This is no time to rest, no reason to pause, in our efforts to protect our country from terrorist attacks.

The manual will become a textbook for those seeking to penetrate aviation security, and he described the leak as serious.

I would say to my colleagues that there is a page with a picture of what an ID for a U.S. Senator looks like.

We have been seeking agreements with countries so that they share more information with us on potential terrorists.

That does not strike me as a very good sign that 2 years later we still do not have agreements with that many countries.