Donald Payne

The $100 billion in funding for rail projects included in this monumental law is a game changer for communities nationwide.

I am pleased that our Senate counterparts advanced bipartisan rail safety legislation yesterday which addresses both blocked crossings and long trains.

Damage from the 2017 natural disasters broke records and made last year the costliest year for disaster-related damage in American history.

The idea of cutting financial support around school security amid the uptick in violence in and around schools is unconscionable.

I have introduced legislation (H.R. 3613, the Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2017) to address neighborhood violence and keep weapons off the streets.

I implore the administration to submit a responsible budget that recognizes the connectivity between various important S&T research programs.

Such vague explanations are little justification for setting a disruptive reorganization in motion.

I hope the witnesses here today will help me understand why the Department rushed to reorganize--without Congressional authorization--at a time when permanent leaders were in place in only one of the impacted offices.

To be clear, working with the administration to make DHS operate better is a bipartisan priority.

I would like to express my disappointment that the Department chose to circumvent Congress and unilaterally reorganized its activities related to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) defense pursuant to Section 872 of the…

I stand with you. Instead of letting senseless actions take place, it is long overdue that we do what makes the most sense and take significant action to stop this from ever happening again.

It is clear to me that something in our National preparedness doctrine has failed.

Every first responder I have ever spoken to has told me that the key to interoperability is not technology, it's governance.

I commend Administrator Fugate for accepting the FEMA National Advisory Council's recommendations.

We must do better.

Our country can be better than this.

I hope that when we return to Washington this week--with only 5 legislative days remaining before a 7-week recess--the House will do something meaningful about law enforcement relationships with diverse communities.

Our legacy response doctrine... has not kept pace with cyber threats.

A hack of any one of these targets could have devastating cascading effects.

I am worried it is only a matter of time before the hackers are successful.

Cyber threats are the new frontier of disaster response.

I am concerned about the administration's proposal to cut the existing homeland security grant programs.

We cannot afford to balance the budget on the backs of our first responders.

These grants are essential to making New Jersey a safer place for families to live and work, and they are critical to bringing economic security to the State.