José E. Serrano: “last night and most of yesterday we saw a very unfortunate situation take place on the House floor: discussions, anger…”

“last night and most of yesterday we saw a very unfortunate situation take place on the House floor: discussions, anger, tempers, and very little on the substance or the bill or the work of the committee. I rise today to remind us of the work this committee has done in a bipartisan fashion before we came to the floor. I have been a member of the Homeland Security Committee since it was formed. So has Mr. Price, Mr. Edwards, and Ms. Roybal-Allard. I know for certain that on the other side the former chairman and ranking member, Mr. Rogers, has been a member since the creation of the committee. From day one, the committee has taken its work very seriously. This year, under new leadership, the committee continued to take its work seriously. We held 20 hearings plus a couple of field hearings, over 50 hours of public hearings. Decisions, information was not gathered in private. These were public hearings. Over 70 witnesses came before us both from government and those who have the knowledge to advise us on these issues. During those hearings, every member was treated fairly. In fact, one of the highlights, I think, was the way in which Mr. Price worked with Mr. Rogers and the way that Mr. Rogers continued to play such an important role in these hearings in presenting his views, his knowledge and his expertise. That kind of bipartisanship, that kind of presentation, that kind of work led to the bill that we have before us.”