Political Quotes

“Let me just indicate that I have just arrived and I wanted to support all of the bills, including yours. If I might just make one comment about the preclearance bill, which we have all worked very hard on. I want to thank Mr. Payne and Mrs. Brooks for their leadership, and just make the point that we have worked in a bipartisan manner in Homeland Security very effectively. I also wanted to make mention in particular of the bill that I worked on extensively, H.R. 3488, the Preclearance Authorization Act, and to indicate that this is a bill in which the Secretary of Homeland Security may establish and conduct preclearance operations. It is imperative, as we seek to push out our Nation's borders. So we have had a vigorous discussion about how you utilize these preclearance sites. I think it comes to mind with some of the sites in the Middle East. And in light of where we are today, with TSA having to put in place new requirements because of the potential threat, I think this is a very positive step, as I do of all the bills, including ones dealing with interoperability, which we dealt with during the tragedy of 9/11. I want to again thank Ranking Member Payne and the full committee chair and ranking member for their leadership.”