John Carter

Mr. CARTER

Mr. CARTER. The authorizers have indicated that they oppose this amendment that's being proposed by my friend from New Jersey. I'm reluctant to oppose it. So I just wanted to make the statement that the authorizing committee is opposed to this. We've had a debate almost ad nauseam on the State of Louisiana, with exactly the same amendment. I think everything that's been said about this flood program has been said, so I'm not going to continue that debate. I just wanted to make a note that although I'm not going to officially oppose it, I will state that the authorizers were supposed to be here to oppose. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Chairman, I do not oppose this gentlelady's amendment. It is my understanding that it's a restatement of current law. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARTER. Before I make a motion, Madam Chairman, I would like to thank all of the employees of the House for being willing to extend the time tonight so that we could get those Members who have been waiting for 4 or 5 hours finished. I want to apologize for the inconvenience, but we appreciate the efficiency that it allowed us. Madam Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. CARTER. We will accept this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARTER. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CARTER. Madam Chair, on this I would like a recorded vote, please.

Mr. CARTER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARTER. I rise in opposition, reluctantly, to the gentlewoman's amendment. This is very similar to the amendment that was raised earlier this evening. I expressed my opinion then, and I don't change my opinion. I have a great deal of concern about the issues that have been raised by my good friend from Tennessee--in fact, from Williamson County, Tennessee, and I'm from Williamson County, Texas. I am going to recommend to my ranking member that we look into these allegations of misuse of law enforcement, or of the presumption of law enforcement. We are going to talk to Mr. Pistole to try to get to the bottom of this stuff, but I don't think what the gentlelady is trying to accomplish with this amendment is appropriate at this time without our holding hearings and discussing some of these issues and trying to examine the statutes and make sure that they are operating within the statutes. So for that reason, I think this is not the time, and I am going to have to oppose this amendment. I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price).

Mr. CARTER. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CARTER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARTER. Madam Chairman, we accept this amendment, and I yield the balance of my time to my colleague, Mr. Price.

Mr. CARTER. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CARTER. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARTER. Madam Chair, we support this amendment, and I yield to my colleague, Mr. Price.

Mr. CARTER

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Chairman, at this time I'd like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter), who is the chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Subcommittee of the full committee.

Mr. CARTER. At this time I yield 2 minutes to a very distinguished member of our subcommittee from the great of State of Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann).

Mr. CARTER. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished member of our subcommittee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent).

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt), a former chairman of this subcommittee and currently chairman of the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Agriculture.

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield 3 minutes to my colleague from the great State of Texas, (Mr. McCaul), the chairman of the full Committee on Homeland Security.

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who is the former founding chairman of this subcommittee and a former great prosecutor from the State of Kentucky.

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. It was 69 years ago this Thursday that more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded during the D-day invasion in Normandy, France. That courageous operation, as well as the sacrifice of so many brave individuals, serves as a sobering reminder that freedom and security are, in fact, not free. It is with this solemn commitment to both freedom and security that I respectfully present to the people's House the fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Similar to our subcommittee's work over the past 3 fiscal years, this bill demonstrates how we can fund vital security programs and enforce the law while also reducing discretionary spending overall. So this bill is about our security and fiscal priorities and getting them right. The President's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal for DHS presents a harmful budget for our frontline homeland security agencies, diminishing their operational workforces and undermining mission capabilities. The end result of the President's budget proposal would, undoubtedly, be a less capable DHS. That's why our subcommittee, on a bipartisan basis, strove to significantly improve the flawed budget request through this bill before the House today. First, this bill targets the very programs and systems displayed during and after the recent horrific attack at the Boston Marathon. It does this by a nearly 20 percent increase above the request for FEMA's first responder grants; substantial increases above the request and last year's level for CBP's targeting, TSA's Secure Flight, and ICE's visa enforcement programs, including the phase-in of 1,600 additional CBP officers; doubling the Department's Bombing Prevention program, substantially increasing counter-IED training and applying the lessons learned from our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and a nearly 40 percent increase in the program If You See Something, Say Something. In addition, the bill restores virtually all of the unjustified proposed cuts to DHS' operational programs, to include restoring the cuts to ICE's mandated 34,000 detention beds and vital investigative programs; restoring cuts to the Coast Guard's operational expenses, including aviation and flight hours, as well as restoring the President's truly harmful cuts to recapitalization and acquisitions of cutter and aviation assets; restoring the proposed cuts to CBP air and marine operating hours and procurement, as well as mission support functions; restoring the proposed long-term cuts to Secret Service staffing and financial crime investigations; and providing these restorations while also strongly supporting the Department's disaster relief, cybersecurity and research programs, including the full-year construction increment for the National Agro-and Bio-Defense facility in Kansas. This bill also considers our Nation's fiscal crisis by invoking real fiscal discipline and efficiency, including a more than $613 million-- or more than 1.5 percent--reduction below fiscal year 2013 to the Department's annual budget; a 15 percent cut below the request to DHS headquarters staffing; a nearly 25 percent cut below the request to departmental administrative expenses and bureaucratic overhead; denial of the President's request to increase bureaucracy by creating three new headquarters offices; termination of funding for ineffectual offices and programs and substantial oversight requirements, ranging from withholding funds to statutory mandates to reporting requirements on everything from major acquisitions to ammunition inventories, purchases, and usage. Mr. Chairman, this bill does not represent a false choice between fiscal responsibility and security. Both are urgent priorities, and both are vigorously addressed by this bill. I must note that DHS did a shameful job in complying with statutory requirements enacted into law FY13. Those failures are certainly addressed in this bill. We are serious about compelling the Department to both enforce the law and comply with the law, and we will not tolerate further failures in this regard, a point I think we make clear in this bill through 50 percent withholdings to the Department's executive offices and 50 percent reductions to offices that are delaying the review and submittal of needed, factual information requested by Congress. On a final and regrettably sober note, my staff and I have been regularly talking with our dear friend and my classmate, Tom Cole, and doing all that we can to help the good people of his Oklahoma district get back on their feet from the devastating tornado that hit the town of Moore and surrounding communities. So, in addition to the nearly $11 billion that is currently in FEMA coffers, this bill fully supports the known requirements of $6.2 billion for the disaster relief fund in FY14. These funds, combined with our continued oversight, will help ensure disaster assistance rapidly gets to those who've lost so much. Mr. Chairman, we send Tom and his constituents our sincere condolences and wish them a speedy recovery. In closing, let me first thank Ranking Member Price for his statesmanship and partnership. I sincerely thank him and his dedicated professional staff for their input and notable contributions to this bill. In addition, let me thank the thoughtful Members of this body. We received program submissions from 222 Members, and their input was critical to our oversight work over the past few months, as well as the production of this bill. I know that my staff and I made every effort to accommodate virtually every Member's submission we received, and that has only made this a stronger product. Finally, I must thank the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the full committee, Chairman Rogers and Mrs. Lowey. Their input and support for the bill is genuinely appreciated. I sincerely believe this bill reflects our best effort to address our Nation's urgent needs: security, enforcement, and fiscal restraint. I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time. [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.003 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.004 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.005 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.006 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.007 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.008 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.009 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.010 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.011 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.012 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH05JN13.013

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the consideration of H.R. 2217 and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. CARTER

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 9 a.m. today.

Mr. CARTER

Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.