Spencer Cox: “I want to return the thanks and congratulations to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner), the ranking member, for his…”

“I want to return the thanks and congratulations to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner), the ranking member, for his leadership and work on this important legislation. The bill that we are bringing before the House today represents the extraordinary scope of responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security. Although this is a technical corrections bill, it amends portions of the Homeland Security Act concerning the breadth of the responsibilities of the department, including critical infrastructure protection, visa issuance, first responders, the military activities of the Coast Guard, information security, training for first responders to enforce border controls within the country, war risk insurance, arming flight deck crew on commercial airliners, and enforcing the Privacy Act. Each of these subjects is touched upon in the bill, H.R. 1416, that is now before us. We are going to continue legislating and improving the Homeland Security Act itself, and we are going to continue authorizing ever more resources, both financial and information, as we fight the war against terrorism. Between last year and the current appropriations cycle, the Congress has authorized and enacted over $17 billion in funding for homeland security. We have increased funding for first responders over 1,400 percent.”