I am pleased that the subcommittee's first hearing of the 116th Congress is focused on the state of the Nation's emergency preparedness.

FEMA's poor response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico highlighted how far behind we are in emergency management.

DHS's failure to integrate this kind of information into its tiering methodology is particularly troubling because communities along a chemical facility's fence line tend to be poorer and have first responders who may not be well-resourced…

I will remind everyone here that we have only until April 2020 to reauthorize this important program.

As Chairman, I am committed to getting a CFATS reauthorization package across the finish line.

As a former volunteer fire fighter who fought to include first responder information access provisions in the CFATS Act of 2014, I am disturbed that gap still exists nearly 5 years after the West, Texas disaster.

The perspectives we will hear today are often underrepresented in conversations about how to improve this important anti-terrorism program, and I am proud we have given them a seat at the table.

I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren) for yielding. Mr. Chair, before I close, I would like to thank Speaker Pelosi, Chairwoman Lofgren, and Mr. Sarbanes for all the work they and their staffs have done to bring this…

I am confident that under the Chairwoman's leadership, this subcommittee will do great work on behalf of the committee and the American people.

I thank the gentlewoman from California for giving me the time. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1. Last Congress, House Democrats sought to address Russia's meddling in the Presidential election. Unfortunately, the…

I continue to have doubts about CBP's decision making as it tries to address its hiring struggles.

I am encouraged CBP came to its senses and issued a partial stop work order on the contract.

Clearly, oversight of the Trump administration's border policy is long overdue.

Real border security cannot be achieved by building a wall on the Southern Border, blocking asylum seekers, or separating children from their parents.

What the American people have heard from the Trump administration is misleading at best.

The practice of impeding or metering persons outside of our borders in Mexico undermines the enforcement of immigration law.

If it is a bad policy, then change it.

Let me be clear--I am prepared to use the tools at the committee's disposal to obtain the information if the Secretary fails to comply.

No amount of verbal gymnastics will change that she knew the Trump administration was implementing policy to separate families at the border.

Are we still putting children in cages?

By any metric, the spate of mass shootings in the last many years has killed more Americans than ISIS or any other group.

Unfortunately, not one of my Democratic colleagues voted for that.

We should not be wasting resources on fabricated threats such as a fake National Emergency.

I had hoped to work collaboratively in the last Congress, as we did in 2014, to give CFATS a long-term reauthorization.

I was extremely troubled by a report GAO released last year showing that first responders and emergency planners are still not getting the information they need to respond to an incident at a CFATS facility.