I certainly appreciate you calling this hearing and expanding it to the scope of not just ISIS and Islamic extremists but domestic terrorism as well.

Finally, last month the House passed for the second time CBP authorization language that I actually authored.

This border security bill as it is moving through is obviously critically important.

Illicit drug and migrant flows remain principle concerns of our border security agencies, and rightly so.

I always say that the largest room is the room for improvement in any agency.

It looks like there is a gap there in the system. So we should pursue that.

I want to thank the gentleman very much for his opening statement because, as this subcommittee hearing is about the outer ring of border security as we think about terrorist activity, it is stopping it, as we said, before it comes from…

Pushing our borders out gives the Nation's security professionals the time and space to interdict plots before they reach the homeland.

We learned on 9/11 and again with the Christmas day bomber that we cannot wait to act until terror plots reach our shores.

The earlier in the travel and visa process we begin to conduct security checks... the safer the homeland will be.

it is a very sober reminder of the challenges that we face.

The vetting these programs do has created an outer ring of border security which has become even more important due to the significant and growing threat that fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, pose to our Nation.

I certainly would agree that Visa Waiver is a component and as we look at the thing in the overall.

If we find that some of the Visa Waiver countries are not sharing information in the form that we need to be--to have our comfort level where it needs to be, that he has the ability to suspend these countries.

The threat that these foreign fighters pose is significant and growing in large part because the terrorists with Western passports are eligible for visa-free travel to the United States through the Visa Waiver Program.

Some--you know, and I appreciate their concern--have actually suggested eliminating this program. I am not in that posture.

The resettlement of a high number--such a high number of Syrian refugees raises serious National security concerns.

I certainly believe this was a Constitutional overreach by this administration.

I think it is--I would guess, certainly in my district, and I think most Members when they were home in their districts over the last month, we heard about this ISIS threat over and over and over being talked about.

I am also preparing a piece of legislation that would seek to clarify the authorization that I think the Department of State already has, in order to revoke passports.

I appreciate that. I would just mention that time is of the essence here, I think.

I remain committed to working with my colleagues on this committee and across Congress to help keep America secure.

I am drafting legislation currently, hope to be introduced perhaps even today, that we would clarify what the purpose of ESTA actually is.

Yes, ma'am. With as you stated, over 100 Americans that have traveled to fight with ISIL and Nusra Front and other extremist groups overseas, plus--and Western Europeans, I do believe that it could be a short-term and a long-term threat to…

We do have very robust information sharing with our counterparts in Central America, in Mexico, with the State and local partners.