Laphonza Butler Knocks Republicans' 'Energy' In Attacks On Alejandro Mayorkas

5 months ago

At today's Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) slammed the Republicans' questioning of DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.

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Transcript

00:00 10-minute break if with your indulgence so we can get through this first round. Senator Butler, you're recognized for your questions.

00:05 Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the you and the ranking member for the

00:11 hearing today. Thank you, Secretary Mayorkas for for joining. It's

00:15 interesting, the

00:18 nature of my colleagues

00:21 energy and attention

00:23 when that same energy and attention seemed to lapse when there was an opportunity to do something

00:29 to provide the kinds of supports, resources, and technologies that were

00:35 requested, negotiated,

00:38 in a bipartisan

00:40 way. And so I find that energy

00:43 just interesting. Nothing for you to respond to, just a note for myself.

00:48 I do appreciate that this is a hearing about the resources that you need

00:54 and the authorities required

00:57 to execute such an expansive

00:59 role that you are performing on behalf of the United States of America. Let me just, one, appreciate

01:06 your work and your team's work

01:09 relative to last week's announcement

01:12 in the

01:14 applications

01:16 and the competitive grant process for

01:18 shelter services at our borders. I was recently in

01:25 San Diego and our San Diego

01:27 ports of entry talking with the incredible men and women who are doing this work every single day who don't

01:33 get enough credit for the difficulty and challenges that that they are facing. And your office and your team worked with us to make sure that

01:42 that application and grant process was was competitive. And so I just wanted to appreciate you

01:47 for some of the work that you're doing

01:50 in the context of the request of the president's budget

01:55 and the work that

01:57 your team is doing relative to SSP.

02:01 It seems as if there is a little bit of a disconnect that I wanted to ask you to talk to me about.

02:08 FEMA requested 130 million dollars for SSP

02:13 in FY25, yet

02:17 Homeland Security has acknowledged that the demand already exceeds the 650 million

02:23 that has been appropriated in fiscal year 24. Why is the SSP budget request so low

02:29 compared to previous years?

02:32 Senator, thank you for recognizing the extraordinary work of the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security.

02:39 I believe

02:42 we requested

02:44 130 million if I'm not mistaken, but in FY25, I'll have to

02:49 drill down on that. I should note that the

02:53 bipartisan Senate legislation would have funded

02:56 the SSP program at 1.3 billion dollars. We make very difficult

03:02 trade-offs in the context of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. There is no question that the demand

03:10 for funds exceeds the amount of funds we have been provided, and that is why we are so careful in the allocation of resources.

03:17 We issued

03:21 our first tranche under the SSP. We announced the issuance of that first tranche, and our next tranche will be under a competitive process.

03:29 Thank you, sir. We'll look forward to just following up. It could be a

03:33 simple error on our part, but we look forward to staying in touch about it. One

03:38 other piece

03:40 that I wanted to call

03:42 just to your attention

03:46 is just another hat in which you are a component of the hat that you wear on behalf of our country.

03:53 Senator Hassan

03:55 noted the incredible responsibility of keeping the American people safe. One such group of people

04:02 are our

04:05 men and women in service.

04:08 Last

04:09 December,

04:10 under Senator Blumenthal's leadership, there was a permanent subcommittee on investigations hearing relative

04:17 to the sexual assault of Coast Guard members.

04:20 And

04:22 during that hearing, we learned that the Coast Guard had an ugly history of sexual assault that dated back decades.

04:30 Even worse, we learned that leaders at the Coast Guard systematically covered up reports on the pervasiveness

04:38 of that sexual assault.

04:40 And as a result, neither the perpetrators or the leaders that covered up that abuse have been held accountable.

04:47 So, just one, are you,

04:51 are there

04:53 suggestions, requests, that are being made in your budget for authorities or resources to continue

04:59 to hold these perpetrators

05:03 accountable and to support those young women in the Coast Guard who are doing

05:09 young women and men

05:12 who have experienced such assault?

05:15 How have you taken this on and what are next steps that you are anticipating?

05:21 Senator, thank you for your question. First, the fundamental

05:25 point

05:27 that it is

05:29 a fundamental value

05:31 of our department and the U.S. Coast Guard specifically that everyone, everyone feels safe

05:37 in the workplace and that individuals who make others

05:42 feel unsafe need to be held accountable. That is a fundamental principle, a fundamental

05:48 value. I can assure you that the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard is

05:54 fully focused

05:56 on making sure that individuals

06:00 are held accountable, that everyone feels safe in the workplace,

06:03 and that the Coast Guard of tomorrow is better than the Coast Guard of yesterday.

06:08 I have complete confidence in Commandant Fagan.

06:12 She and I have met a number of times and the United States Coast Guard is working in coordination with the

06:18 Department's Inspector General to ensure accountability where it is due.

06:23 Thank you. I'll yield back, Mr. Chair.

06:26 Thank you, Senator.

06:29 I'm going to recognize Senator Ossoff for his questions. Then we're going to take a 10-minute break.

06:36 Senator Blumenthal will be back.

Laphonza Butler Knocks Republicans' 'Energy' In Attacks On Alejandro Mayorkas

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