Brian Higgins

You are 3,000 times more likely to be killed by an American with a gun than a terrorist.

The literature since 9/11 has clearly established that the New York City Police Department counterterrorism intelligence is probably the most effective in all the world.

There are almost 200,000 civilians in the six U.N. peacekeeping bases and many of them would not be alive today if not for the U.N.'s presence.

We should give law enforcement professionals and leaders fast track authority in developing common-sense, common-sense gun control.

Today, only a few days from the fifteenth anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001, we now know, unfortunately, that information sharing is an integral part of our Nation's security.

I understand the Second Amendment, but the Framers of the Constitution could never have anticipated the kind of hell that was inflicted on innocent people in Orlando, in Newtown, in these other places where we have had gun violence.

Why would any law-abiding citizen that invokes a Constitutional right to bear arms as a responsible citizen... defend someone that has terrorist activity in their history to purchase a gun legally?

But I just can't help but conclude our big problem is guns.

Many of the issues that come before this committee are and have been mainstays in the public discourse since the terrorist attacks of September 11.

Hearings like this allows us to stay engaged in the fight against terrorism, engage the dangers terrorist organizations pose in regions throughout the world.

Violent extremists in Southeast Asia are not a new phenomenon. For decades, Separatist movements have committed bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations in the region.

Hearings like these allow us to stay engaged in the fight against terrorism and gauge the dangers terrorist organizations pose in regions throughout the world.

Combating these terror financing operations must be among our top priorities as doing so is a key component to our efforts to counter these groups globally.

The only way that you build in reliability and predictability is to build in capacity.

This is not a challenge. This is a crisis.

But this project has been delayed substantially because of lack of interest, lack of will, on the part of the U.S. Government to contribute.

Yet, from what I am reading, there doesn't seem to be any U.S. financial commitment to the building of this critical international border.

I am amazed when I read this story about the new international bridge being constructed between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, and the fact that the entire project is being financed by the Canadian Government.

If there is a sense that there are delays there because of lack of infrastructure, because of poor staffing strategies, people adjust their economic behavior to avoid the cross-border movement.

That is a problem in terms of morale--morale and just the importance of that relative to recruitment of Officers.

Congress has 2 responsibilities here: One is budgetary and the other is oversight.

The Honorable Brian Higgins, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York:

Unfortunately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Field Operations continues to be understaffed at ports of entry based on the agency's own staffing model.

Cross-border travel, the efficient flow of goods and people across the border, and the security of our ports of entry are vital to the communities I am privileged to represent.

I was greatly encouraged by the announcement made last month by President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau regarding the program.