I know that in order to win a discrimination complaint, there must be evidence and there must be witnesses.

The only real difference is cost.

In layman's terms, what percent cargo that is coming to the United States right now is not scanned?

There is no proof in law or fact for that assertion.

I am a pragmatic person. I was a proponent of 100 percent scanning mandate, but understood that fulfilling the requirements would be no easy task.

So your testimony to this committee is that there is no container shipment coming to the United States that we don't know what is in it?

Of course, the surest way to fail is not to try at all.

The 9/11 day of horror was partly on the watch of privatized screeners.

Today’s hearing comes at a critical juncture in the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to secure maritime cargo entering our Nation’s ports.

At this point in this hearing today, is there any shipments using your protocol that is coming to the United States that we don't know what is in it?

I appreciate you calling this hearing. I appreciate our witnesses for their participation also.

That is less than half of what we were provided this last year. To make matters worse, this package punts responsibility for the tough decisions about funding levels for each program to Secretary Napolitano. The approach taken here should…

Our mission is to keep America safe, and we have to do it, obviously within the confines of the budget.

What are we doing on the diplomatic side to engage the country they operate in to do more so that these things don't occur?

I agree with everyone here, it is a fractured country. But it is also one that is ripe for an entity like this one.

Today, we are here to examine whether the Nigerian group known as Boko Haram poses a threat to the United States.

We must not paint Nigeria as a nation of terrorists.

Now we are claiming that an attack on a United Nations building in Nigeria is an attack on United States' interests.

I cannot overstate the difficulty an additional budget cut would create on this committee's staff.

If we are serious about engaging this threat, and if the United Nations and other entities are our partners, we have to invest in it.

Without them we would not be able to fill vacancies, maintain competitive salaries or continue to offer paid internships.

As a former volunteer firefighter, I know that interoperable communications can save lives.

Despite this funding, interoperability remains a concern for State and local homeland security directors, public safety officials, and first responders.

These communication problems are not new.

I hope to learn how we can keep essential personnel and train them in light of severe budget cuts.