Mary Landrieu

Our budget is below last year's budget.

This is a priority to deal with cybercrime that is being committed to try to reduce it.

Many Senators, including myself, strongly support the Jones Act, which has been a very important part of our maritime infrastructure in this country for a long time.

This Committee was very aggressive in making sure that we were screening people smartly for their safety.

Over the past 6 months, they have grown by 72 percent compared to the same time in 2013, and again, one of the increases that is troubling is unaccompanied children.

We will be almost 6 percent below where we were last year without some important priorities like Coast Guard recapitalization.

I noted in the President's budget the $400 million in Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grants was included not as a part of the base budget because of restrictions, but as part of the aspirational budget.

My office, along with many of my colleagues, has heard from many of the 5.5 million working, middle-class families facing skyrocketing flood insurance rate increases.

As a Senator from Louisiana, I did not want Hurricane Katrina to hit.

Our budget is what stands between communities either rebuilding or not.

You know that only 60 percent of the people in our country that should be compliant with flood insurance are currently compliant.

I believe starting this year, Senator Coats, that we are prepared for whatever disasters may come our way.

I appreciate that because if people cannot afford to be in the program, then you will not have a program, and the debt will increase, and the program will collapse.

This budget was put together before, Mr. Secretary, as you know our new bill had passed.

There has been story after story about the impacts one agency of this Department is having in particular: the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Johnny really stepped up as a leader in the legal community to help all of the many lawyers that were dislocated from their homes.

I was so pleased to recommend this nominee to President Obama, and I am very happy and proud to introduce him to you all today.

I think that the vast majority, or let me just say the majority of members of Congress would feel strongly about that.

I think we have done some extraordinary work in the last couple of years securing our border, building a smarter fence, not just a higher fence, but a smarter fence.

65 percent of all the border juvenile apprehensions, with 65 percent is almost--well, it is 18,500.

I think this is shocking actually--70 percent of all Southwest border apprehensions are apprehensions other than Mexican.

I am concerned about aspects of the system that may serve as magnets for additional immigration--illegal immigration.

Can you talk for a minute about your views or understanding of what these mitigation grants might be used for?

I am committed to doing what I can to see that your Department has the resources that it needs to do the job that we have asked you to do.

I thank the members for their excellent questions and review of the budget.