Mark Green

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4403) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make improvements to the Securing the Cities program, and for other purposes.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4403.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4403. Since 2007, DHS has operated the Securing the Cities program to help cities prepare for and respond to nuclear or radiological threats. H.R. 4403, the Securing the Cities Improvement Act will remove the requirement for a jurisdiction to be designated as a high-risk urban area by FEMA, diminishing the uncertainty for cities to be removed from the STC program. Additionally, this legislation will provide transparency by requiring the department to establish performance metrics and milestones for the STC program to track its performance and monitor its expenditures. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Carter for his work on this. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4430, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I, again, urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4403. I thank Mr. Carter, the gentleman from Louisiana, for his excellent work on this, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5969) to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to revise certain regulations to permit certain children to accompany their parents or legal guardians through Global Entry airport lanes, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5969.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5969, the Global Entry program, which is managed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, grants expedited clearance for preapproved, low-risk travelers. Millions of users are enrolled in the Global Entry program and Global Entry kiosks are deployed at many major airports throughout the United States. However, issues can arise when families are traveling with minor children who are not enrolled in the Global Entry program. Because Global Entry benefits are member specific, young children who are not enrolled in the program are not currently allowed to join their parents in the Global Entry line. H.R. 5969 would rectify this by allowing children ages 10 and younger to join their Global Entry-enrolled parents or guardian through the Global Entry lane. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Luttrell for his work on this very important bill. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5969, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Luttrell), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. I again urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5969. I, of course, thank again Mr. Luttrell for his excellent work on the bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 206) to require the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to regularly review and update policies and manuals related to inspections at ports of entry.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 206.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 206. In 2019, the Government Accountability Office issued a report which determined that U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not regularly update their inspection policies at ports of entry. In some cases, policies had not been updated in 20 years and did not accurately reflect current operating conditions, presently deployed technology, or adequately address how to handle things like fentanyl. S. 206 would require CBP to review and update policies and manuals at least once every 3 years and also provide reports to Congress on changes made by those updates. This should ensure that CBP is employing the latest and most efficient methods to stop illegal activity at the ports of entry and prevent it from entering the United States. I thank Senator Scott and Congressman Guest for their important work on this bill. I urge my colleagues to support S. 206, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Guest), the leader of the House companion bill to S. 206 and the vice chair of the Committee on Homeland Security.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. I again urge my colleagues to support S. 206. I thank Mr. Guest for his work in assisting Senator Scott, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4467.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4467. As we are all aware, the volume of migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border has increased exponentially in the past few years. As such, it has been necessary for the Department of Homeland Security to secure goods and services from contractors to care for migrants taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. These contracts have enabled our dedicated Border Patrol agents and CBP officers to remain focused on their primary mission of securing our borders. Unfortunately, in the past, DHS has had issues with respect to awarding such contracts. H.R. 4467, the DHS Border Services Contracts Review Act, directs DHS to assess active contracts for covered services performed by contractor personnel along the U.S. land border with Mexico and submit to Congress a report with recommendations and strategies to improve the procurement and delivery of services through such contracts. I thank Congressman Brecheen for his work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 4467, a very important piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Brecheen), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4467, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6174) to improve the biodetection functions of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6174.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6174. The Department of Homeland Security established the BioWatch program to collect and test air samples for biological agents likely to be used in a bioterrorism attack. However, there have been ample criticisms and questions about the effectiveness of the BioWatch program. As such, in 2019, DHS launched a new acquisition program to move into the next generation of detection of biothreats and to replace the BioWatch program with new and more reliable technology. However, DHS has not used all the resources at its disposal, including the national laboratories housed within the Department of Energy. H.R. 6174, the DHS Biodetection Improvement Act, would ensure that DHS is doing everything it can to improve biodetection research and development, including requiring DHS to explain how it plans to utilize the expertise of the Department of Energy national labs. I thank Congressman Strong for his work on this bill, and I hope all Members will support this legislation today. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6174, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Strong), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, again, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6174, and I appreciate and thank Mr. Strong for his hard work on this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.