Kyrsten Sinema

In Arizona the State of America's border is not a new crisis. The border has been broken for generations.

The Administration's decision to suspend Title 42 will add incredible stress to Federal law enforcement, nonprofits, and Arizona communities that are at capacity.

Now Title 42 is not and should not be a permanent solution, but chaos in Arizona communities and threats to migrant safety are not viable alternatives.

What additional authorities does DHS require in order to reimburse these communities and their local services who are paying the price for Washington's immigration problems?

I have grave concerns that DHS does not currently have the capacity to respond to the influx of migrants expected to follow the suspension of Title 42.

SRP is thankful for the dedication of Senators Kelly and Sinema to deliver this legislation for the Tribe.

We write today to express our appreciation to Senators Kelly and Sinema for leading efforts in Arizona.

The caregivers program is supposed to include financial planning services, and I wanted to ask about the effectiveness of the benefit.

I am encouraged to see that the VA is changing course after feedback from veterans, caregivers, and members of Congress for over a decade.

One of the concerns that I have is how are we transitioning these caregivers who are going to be removed from the program and rely on this program for their health insurance.

I think that is one of the most important questions that has not been asked yet.

Arizonans and Americans stand with the people of Ukraine in opposition to Russia's illegal war.

Thank you. With that, we have reached the end of today's hearing. I appreciate all of our witnesses for your time and testimony and thank our colleagues for their participation.

If the CHCO Act was amended to provide more autonomy and provide CHCOs a larger voice in the development of regulations, would that alone be enough to reverse this backwards slide?

It is especially critical that Congress tackle the last part.

I do think that the CHCOs should be career employees and, if not the CHCOs, then at least the Deputy CHCOs.

Even the National Commission on Military and Public Service, the brainchild of Senator John McCain of Arizona, spent significant time discussing how to fix Federal human resources regulations and statutes.

As Congress is currently reviewing several different proposed bills, including one from Senator Carper called the Tim Hart Act, it appears much can be resolved within existing laws.

I think your Chance to Compete Act that Chairwoman Sinema has put in place, or is working to get passed, is actually something that would be beneficial to us.

I do think that it would be extremely helpful if the CHCO Council was actually chaired by CHCOs.

I am not against political appointees. I was one. But these jobs are wildly in violation of anything resembling anything merit-based.

We cannot lose sight again of those merit principles I keep talking about.

Political appointees serve at the pleasure of a President, but they are subject to the same accountability, transparency, and performance laws that apply to everyone else.

A more effective and efficient Federal Government starts with a better Federal workforce.

We recently passed my bipartisan Chance to Compete Act, which I partnered with Ranking Member Lankford to pass.