Gary Peters

Do you commit to reviewing any outstanding congressional inquiries and requests for information and then reporting back to this Committee on the status of those?

Citizens in those areas, particularly in Puerto Rico and its neighboring islands, are in dire need of assistance.

First and foremost in DHS's mission is to safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.

In the PIPES Act of 2016, I worked hard to include text designating the Great Lakes as an 'Unusually Sensitive Area'.

I would appreciate it.

What are the resources, what are your budgets?

And, make no mistake, I think that some of the darkest elements in our society have become emboldened.

I think that some actions by the administration, such as the travel ban as well as some very divisive rhetoric that we have heard coming out of the administration, have consequences, and sometimes very significant consequences.

Yet the President's budget plans to cut critical TSA programs at a time that we cannot afford to let up when it comes to security measures.

That is why I am so concerned about some of the budget choices made by this Administration.

I am worried that we have--and this Committee is a good example. We have had multiple hearings on the threat of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as it relates to homeland security.

We have had 62 incidents since September 11, 2001 (9/11) and 106 fatalities by the white supremacists, anti-government, and other violent extremists.

The boldness and the outspokenness of something that is so evil, proudly marching under a Nazi flag, is something that I think many of us did not think we would see in this country, but now we have seen it.

Those Americans are very deserving of whatever it takes for us to address the crisis, the humanitarian crisis that is impacting 3.5 million American citizens in Puerto Rico as we speak today.

You had contractors there scamming the government. I am sure there are employees within those companies that saw that and were outraged by it. We want to make sure that they are protected to come forward so we can take action.

I would welcome that. In fact, as you know, we had in a full Committee hearing talked about the Lifeline program and where you have individual companies that were claiming that they had customers when, in fact, they did not, which is…

This is ridiculous that this kind of thing is happening.

We have not looked specifically at sort of whistleblowers' cost savings, but definitely support strong programs to allow employees to come forward.

We have to figure that out because that is going to be a part of analyzing what we may have here.

Does the DOD have an epidemic of wasteful spending in March every year similar to what we are hearing may be happening in September?

If such spending is indeed wasteful, what can be done to reduce it?

Regardless of when it occurs, wasteful spending is simply inexcusable, and I appreciate the opportunity to gather experts today to search for solutions and to do what we can to protect taxpayer dollars.

We have to make sure they are protected.

This is something the Committee should look into.

We have got to make sure this program is administered properly so the individuals who rely on this service continue to have it.