Official website of the Department of Homeland Security
Good morning Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Peters, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Peters, and distinguished members of the Committee:
On August 6th, Acting Secretary Chad Wolf will be testifying at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke today released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Kirstjen Nielsen as the sixth Secretary of Homeland Security.
There is an urgent and compelling need for cybersecurity legislation – to strengthen our ability to protect the American public, American businesses large and small, and the federal civilian .gov system.
I strongly support the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (S.1869) that was approved unanimously by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday under the leadership of Chairman Ron Johnson and Ranking Member Tom Carper.
Last night the Senate voted 81-1 to confirm Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger, the current Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, to be the next Administrator of TSA. Admiral Neffenger understands the challenges we face, and I know he is ready to take them on at TSA. During his 30-year career in the Coast Guard, Admiral Neffenger proved himself to be an effective operator and commander. I have utmost faith in Pete Neffenger, and I am confident he will be a strong leader of TSA.
Effective immediately, Melvin Carraway, the Acting Administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, will be reassigned to serve in the Office of State and Local Law Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. Acting Deputy Director, Mark Hatfield will lead TSA until a new Acting Administrator is appointed.
Today, Congress passed H.R. 2252, a bill that ensures fair treatment for our dedicated Border Patrol personnel. After the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act of 2014 passed last year, the Office of Personnel Management advised DHS that the bill required certain legacy pay mechanisms for our personnel to end before the intended replacement regime could fully come into effect. This was contrary to the intent of the legislation, and I directed the Department to take all legally allowable actions to mitigate the impact on our Agents. Among other steps, we worked with Congress, in a spirit of bipartisanship, to clarify the law in order to protect our Agents from financial hardship.
Today the Senate confirmed Russell C. Deyo as Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security, by a vote of 95-2. As Under Secretary for Management, Russ will be the number three official in this Department, and oversee my continued Unity of Effort initiatives and bring greater effectiveness and efficiency to the manner in which we pursue our homeland security mission for the American people. I have known Russ Deyo going back over ten years, when I was in private practice and he was Vice President for Administration at my client Johnson & Johnson. I am very grateful that Russ agreed to step out of retirement to do this important public service.
