Bennie Thompson

The homeland security grant programs, also commonly referred to as preparedness grants, were created nearly 20 years ago after the September 11 terrorist attacks revealed gaps in our Nation's emergency preparedness.

I am glad that former President Trump's proposed cuts to existing preparedness grants funding failed due to bipartisan opposition from Member of Congress.

The committee has always prioritized oversight of Homeland Security Grants and I am glad that the subcommittee is starting this Congress with such a critical hearing.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Let me say before I give my formal talk how happy I am that the 2 ladies from Florida are running the show.

We also do not have to sacrifice border security to treat vulnerable unaccompanied children with basic decency. We can do both.

It is simply unconscionable that some would try to bring back the Trump administration's inhumane policy of returning vulnerable children back to the dangerous conditions they fled.

When there was a surge of families and children at the border in 2018, President Trump tore children from their parents.

This challenge is not new. We have seen increased arrivals of unaccompanied children and others at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Inspectors general must not shy away from the politically sensitive topics or allow political considerations to affect their work.

There is no question about it, and what you see there is a classic political response to a minority party. We have to secure the Capitol. The Capitol at this point is not secure.

We have to secure the Capitol.

There cannot be any movement back from it.

However, it cannot be expected to repair in a matter of weeks everything President Trump destroyed over 4 years.

I look forward today to hearing from Secretary Mayorkas about his vision for the way forward on homeland security.

What we must not do is return to the morally bankrupt policies of the last administration toward children.

Let me be clear, the Trump administration's cruel, shortsighted policies directly contributed to the situation at the border now.

The first case brought by Mississippi Congressman Betty Thompson.

The insurrection was direct, intended, and foreseeable result of the defendants` unlawful conspiracy, it was instigated as part of a common plan, that the defendants pursued since the election held in November, 2020.

Our collective failure to make cybersecurity a central component of our national security and invest in it accordingly contributed to the success of the campaign and the difficulty we face in understanding its impact.

We must do everything in our power to defend this digital sphere and forecast to our adversaries that we at least are no longer asleep at the wheel.

I believe the time has come to take concrete action to actively defend our Nation from foreign cyberattacks just as forcefully and with the same resources as we would if the instrument of attack were physical or kinetic.

I`m looking strictly at the people who showed up on January 6th, broke into the Capitol, put all our lives at risk, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers.

Well, his assessment is absolutely wrong.

The risk of dying from COVID is nearly 7 times higher for Hispanics and 5½ times higher for African Americans than for others.

Long waits for appointments at under-resourced local public health departments, older people trying to navigate a patchwork of overwhelmed private pharmacy websites to get a shot.