Bennie Thompson

Well, and I, just for the record, want to compliment the Chairman on voting against the Budget Control Act.

It is fundamentally unfair to send hard-working Federal workers home on furlough; expect these same hard-working employees to work overtime without being adequately compensated for doing so.

In my personal military judgment formed over 38 years, we are living in the most dangerous time in my lifetime right now, and I think sequestration would be completely oblivious to that and counterproductive.

These are not scare tactics. These are real numbers affecting real people that jeopardize the safety and security of the United States of America.

I maintain my disagreement with this harsh measure.

The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security:

On March 21, 2013 Rep. Bennie Thompson, Rep. Eric Swalwell and Rep. Cedric Richmond, along with 133 other Members of Congress sent Administrator Pistole a letter expressing concern about the changes in the PIL.

That is why it is so important for this committee to pass comprehensive cybersecurity legislation.

It would be prudent to expect the future to bring new, more sophisticated attacks.

Just last week, President Obama raised the issue of cyber attacks with the Chinese president.

Our top Government officials are going on the record about state sponsors of aggressive cyber activities.

The list of significant cyber intrusions against our critical infrastructure keeps growing.

With less Federal support available, State and local governments are struggling to maintain the capabilities achieved over the past decade.

Communities across the country are proud of the preparedness capabilities that they have worked to develop over the past 10 years.

The preparedness grant programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency help build critical disaster response capability in every Congressional district.

I would like to thank you for holding this hearing, as well as our Ranking Member, Mr. Payne, also.

It is a little bit of both, in all honesty. For the most part, we want certainty.

Getting a document out there in final form will relieve a lot of the uncertainty.

This legislation requires TSA to formally engage key stakeholders through the Aviation Security Advisory Committee when developing policies that impact millions of passengers and stakeholders.

If anyone doubts the potential danger of small knives, I hope that Tuesday's tragic event at Lone Star Community College will serve as a wake-up call.

Do you train people to fly who are on the no-fly list? The answer I would assume is yes.

So, are you prepared to tell the committee that since we can train somebody to fly who is on the no-fly list, it is your recommendation that that person not be allowed to fly unless they are first pre-cleared to not be on the no-fly list?

I guess I am not trying to do semantics, Mr. Pistole. Right now, some of us see that as a problem, that we can still train people to fly who are on the no-fly list.

But right now, we can train a person to fly who is on the no-fly list. There is nothing to prevent us from training.

I would like to have the clerk put on the screen a situation that occurred in 2010 in Austin, Texas, what happened when a plane hit buildings like that.