Ratcliffe Questioning at Border Security Hearing with Secretary Kelly

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Kelly, welcome, and let me join others in saying that I'm very excited that President Trump selected someone with your experience and leadership to take the reins at the Department of Homeland Security and to implement his agenda for safety and security for all Americans. We've heard a lot about border security today, but the folks that I represent in Texas have heard a lot of tough talk for a long period of time with, frankly, little to show for it. They've seen a border security bill that was enacted in 2006 but never implemented. So many have rightfully, I think, lost faith in the federal government on this issue, and I will tell you that, for me, it's personal. As U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, I led an effort to arrest over 300 illegal aliens in a single day who were committing Social Security fraud and identity theft to steal jobs from hardworking Americans. My fear then is the same as it is today, that after criminal aliens are deported from the United States, let's say on a Tuesday, there's very little right now that stops them from coming back across that imaginary unsecured line on a Wednesday. And the fears with respect to that are not hypothetical. Last year, I had to console my constituent, Courtney Hacking, when her husband, Peter, a fire captain, and their four-year-old daughter, Ellie, and their two-year-old son, Grayson, was killed by an illegal alien that had been previously deported. So heartbreaking and so real, unlike the fake tears of one of our Democratic colleagues last week in calling for compassion for folks trying to come to this country from terror hotspots, I think we need to finally start showing compassion for people who are already here with real border security. So I'm grateful. From everything that you've said today, it's very clear to me that we finally have an eager and willing partner at the Department of Homeland Security to fulfill the fundamental role of the federal government to provide for the common defense. Now let me shift gears, Secretary Kelly. Besides the threats coming across our physical borders, Americans, as you know, face grave threats every day that are coming across our digital borders. And I think you might agree with me that that is, frankly, more difficult to defend. We can't simply build a wall or erect some barrier to fix that problem. Cybersecurity is, in my opinion, the national security issue of our time because weak cyber defenses affect our economy, they impact our critical infrastructure, and they impact the integrity of Americans' most sensitive personal information. So I think we need a sustained strategic attention to this issue. And I will tell you, Mr. Secretary, that I frankly don't envy you in the role that you're stepping into here. As you've learned, the Department of Homeland Security cyber mission is immense under current law. You've got responsibility for coordinating the operational security of our federal systems, and you're tasked with overseeing federal efforts to coordinate the protection of our critical infrastructure, and that's only part of your mission. And you're taking over an agency that has, while made great strides in some respects, still suffers from a credibility issue with many members in Congress and many members of the public. So that's, to say nothing of the broader policy issues. I know that what I'm relating to you is not news to you. I want to take the opportunity here as the chairman of the, in your first House appearance as chairman of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Subcommittee here in the House to tell you that our subcommittee is willing to pedal as fast as you would like and are willing to tackle this critical national security issue. So I know you've only had a couple of weeks to settle in, but I want to get a sense of how things look to you so far in this respect. And the biggest question, Secretary, that I'm getting from stakeholders, they keep asking me, and it's something I'm hoping you can shed some light on, is do you anticipate the Department of Homeland Security maintaining the role it's currently tasked with under the law with respect to maintaining the .gov domain? Yes, sir. On your last question, I would say yes. That said, President Trump has ordered a complete top-to-bottom relook on cyber, and that will include all stakeholders, and hopefully we're going to bring in, we have been successful I think already in bringing in the private community, because the one thing, the thing about cyber that a lot of people get, you certainly do, but others don't, is that it knows no bounds, it knows no boundaries, it knows no law, it knows no regulations. We do. Privacy issues, legal issues, all that kind of thing. So we have to, the threat is changing faster than we're keeping up with it. The good news is, you know, in overseas, we can do things to protect ourselves as a nation. I can't, but others do. And I was a beneficiary of a lot of that, you know, I know what we can do to people overseas, we obviously can't do that and should not do that internally in the United States, but there is a way, I believe, to break down a lot of the boundaries within the law, and particularly working with our private partners, because they've got huge equities in it. But again, I'm very sensitive to this, because I was one of the five million or so Americans who had all of their information stolen, and the best I got out of the federal government a couple of years ago was, you know, General Kelly, all of your data has been stolen with the OPM. Good luck. We've got to do better than that, and we will. So look forward to working with the congressman. Well, again, I'm so excited about your appointment and grateful for the chance to work with you. So with that, I'll turn it over to you.