TESTIMONY OF CHAD WOLF ACTING SECRETARY U S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY REGARDING A HEARING ON “THE FY 2021 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY BUDGET” BEFORE THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY February 26 2020 Washington D C Chairwoman Roybal-Allard Ranking Member Fleischmann and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee It is a privilege to appear before you today to discuss the Department of Homeland Security’s DHS critical mission functions that keep this Nation safe and to present the President’s Fiscal Year FY 2021 Budget for the Department This budget will serve as a catalyst to assist DHS in maintaining pace with adversaries attempting to circumvent our laws and threaten our citizens and our way life My priorities are guided by a determination to ensure the Department is three things robust resilient and forward-leaning The FY 2021 President’s Budget is not only a reflection of those priorities but a path to achieving them DHS is comprised of eight major Components and many support Components and employs more than 240 000 men and women who stand ready to respond to a wide variety of threats in some of the most extreme and austere environments These harsh conditions include Border Patrol Agents patrolling the U S border in southern Arizona where temperatures reach upwards of 120 degrees to the crew of the United States Coast Guard Cutter POLAR STAR breaking ice as thick as 21 feet in the Antarctic Region where temperatures fluctuate between -40 to -90 degrees to conduct national security missions These men and women continue to make significant contributions to the larger homeland security apparatus as they stand watch 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year or 366 days this year given it is a leap year Our mission is to protect Americans and the homeland from threats by land air sea and cyberspace while promoting the nation’s economic prosperity through the facilitation of legitimate travel and commerce This balance to ensure security without impeding the freedom of movement is a very delicate one and the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security continue to execute it with tenacity and compassion The Department’s key budget priorities remain consistent with recent years Securing Our Borders Enforcing Our Immigration Laws Securing Cyberspace and Critical Infrastructure Transportation Security and American Preparedness However there are emerging threats that underscore the importance of the Department’s global reach This budget recognizes that fact and positions the Department to respond Though the United States has long faced isolated threats from China Iran and Russia we are at a critical time in our Nation’s history as it relates to threats emanating from these Nation states While the Administration works trade negotiations with China toward the goal of achieving a fair and balanced trade deal that both countries can call successful we must increase pressure on the Chinese government for the ongoing violations of Intellectual Property Rights IPR laws These violations continue to reduce market opportunities and undermine the profitability of United States businesses as sales of products and technologies are undercut by competition from illegal lower-cost imitations Additionally there are increasing concerns with the Chinese government’s continued investment into U S interests and their impact to national and economic security Specifically as the United States builds out capacity within the 5G network we must 2 maintain a proactive posture in addressing a multitude of cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities The increased tension with Iran forced the Department to assume an enhanced security posture particularly in the cybersecurity domain to prevent threats aimed at revenge for the recent death of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani The Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA continues to monitor an uptick in malicious activity by pro-Iranian hackers and social media users as Iran possesses the capability and tendency to launch destructive cyber-attacks The 2016 election is a stark reminder that Russia remains a significant threat to our democratic process And with a Presidential Election this November it has never been more important to increase our digital defense to prevent cybersecurity threats from influencing electoral outcomes To emphasize the variation in threats facing the Department the Coronavirus COVID-19 which originated in Wuhan Hubei Province China continues to spread to other parts of the world at a pace that has the Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC and DHS at the ready At CDC’s request DHS directed all flights en route to the U S via direct or connecting flights from China to land at predetermined airports to facilitate enhanced screenings and potential quarantine if necessary As the DHS lead for coordinating with interagency partners Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction CWMD is currently supporting these enhanced health screenings through contracts with local EMS public health and or first responders These contracts allow front line Officers and Agents to remain focused on the law enforcement mission The President used his authority to implement travel restrictions on all non-U S citizen and non-legal permanent resident travelers who have been in China in the last 14 days These actions are protecting the American people and help prevent the virus from spreading Based on current information the risk from COVID-19 to the American public remains low Nevertheless DHS responded with proactive safeguards and is prepared to increase these measures should it become necessary The FY 2021 President’s Budget for DHS includes $49 8 billion in net discretionary funding and an additional $5 1 billion for the disaster relief fund DRF to support response to and recovery from major disasters in the homeland By providing the men and women of DHS the necessary resources to execute their important and extremely complex missions the President’s Budget ensures we continue our current trajectory of reinforcing the security of our nation through enhanced border security immigration enforcement transportation security resilience to disasters and cyber security To help frame the rising threat I would like to highlight some of last year’s operational achievements U S Customs and Border Protection CBP processed and cared for an unprecedented number of migrant families and children Encounters and apprehensions totaled more than 851 000 along the U S Southwest Border SWB alone This total included more than 76 000 unaccompanied children and approximately 474 000 family units This was a 110 percent increase over FY 2019 apprehension totals 404 142 They inspected over 410 million travelers arrested almost 13 000 wanted individuals and prevented nearly 299 000 inadmissible travelers from entering the United States Additionally their combined efforts with CBP’s National Targeting Center NTC the Immigration Advisory Program and the Regional Carrier 3 Liaison Group prevented the boarding of almost 19 000 high-risk travelers from boarding flights inbound to the United States AMO executed nearly 93 000 flight hours and more than 33 000 float hours in balancing law enforcement and humanitarian operations This effort included 300 flight hours during a two-week period to provide relief to Bahamian citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and 3 600 flight hours dedicated to the migrant caravan surge along the SWB The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA worked tirelessly alongside Federal State and local election officials leading up to the 2018 mid-term elections and in preparation for the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election Over 500 CISA employees supported election security preparedness nationwide including providing technical cybersecurity assistance information sharing and expertise to election offices campaigns and technology vendors this included staffing a nationwide virtual watch floor As part of Active Shooter Preparedness CISA also provided information to the critical infrastructure community and general public to help prepare emergency action plans and education on steps to increase incident survivability Specifically 39 in-person workshops with over 3 600 participants were conducted nearly 87 000 people successfully completed an online course and a website focusing on active shooter training was viewed more than 937 000 times by the public United States Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS naturalized 833 000 new citizens an 11-year high in new oaths of citizenship The number of refugee applicants interviewed nearly doubled from FY 2018 to 44 300 from 26 000 These interviews supported the admission of 33 000 refugees to the United States which was a 32 percent increase over last year USCIS also completed 78 580 affirmative asylum applications and experienced a six percent rise in credible fear cases processed to 103 235 The Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA deployed over 12 300 FEMA personnel and 519 FEMA Corps personnel in support of 99 major disaster declarations including Hurricane Dorian 22 emergency declarations and one Fire Management Assistance Grant declaration across 45 States tribes and territories United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE removed nearly 268 000 individuals from the United States and arrested over 143 000 individuals Homeland Security Investigations made nearly 50 000 arrests approximately 80% of which were criminal arrests including over 4 300 gang leaders members and associates These gang arrests included 452 Mara Salvatrucha MS-13 gang members The Transportation Security Administration TSA screened approximately 839 million passengers 1 9 billion carry-on items and 510 million checked bags in FY 2019 This was a 4 3% increase in checkpoint volume which equates to an average increase of over 95 000 passengers per day They enrolled over 2 1 million new individuals in TSA’s PreCheck Application Program which is designed to increase security throughput by expediting trusted travelers and reducing security screening times The United States Coast Guard USCG through their search and rescue efforts saved 4 335 lives and prevented over $41 million in property loss Over 400 of those lives saved were during Hurricane Dorian response efforts Simultaneously while executing their law enforcement 4 responsibility they removed over 458 000 pounds of cocaine and 63 000 pounds of marijuana with estimated wholesale value of $6 2 billion The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction CWMD Office completed 155 surge deployments of the Mobile Detection Deployment MDD Program enhancing interdiction efforts and expanding law enforcement partners’ ability to protect the Nation from a Weapon of Mass Destruction threat This was an increase of over 115 percent from FY 2018 72 deployments Additionally CWMD conducted more than 100 training exercises training events and informational briefings with partners and stakeholders to develop doctrine create training curriculum and validate readiness The United States Secret Service conducted protective advances for nearly 6 500 visits and traveled overseas with protection details on 395 foreign visits The Secret Service seized $369 million in counterfeit U S currency an 81% increase over the previous year Finally the Secret Service closed 1 718 Cyber Financial Crime cases an increase of 160 percent over FY 2018 and experienced an 18 percent rise in Cyber Financial Crime cases opened while the Cyber Financial Potential Losses Prevented increased by 36 percent $5 2 billion to $7 1 billion during the same year Last year’s operational achievements serve as a baseline from which to determine the incremental growth of threats to the homeland in the coming years Analyzing the previous year’s statistical achievements also allows DHS to plan for future threats accordingly The FY 2021 President’s Budget for DHS is an opportunity for Congress to provide the men and women charged with executing complex missions with the necessary prevention response and recovery resources The security of our Nation’s borders remains a primary focus area for the Administration and this Department Border security is national security as any nation’s sovereignty begins with its ability to secure its physical borders Securing the border is extremely complex and requires a multifaceted approach The Department has long executed a defense-in-depth model when it comes to border security There are 5 000 miles of border between the United States and Canada and over 1 900 miles shared with Mexico The President’s Budget is a step toward enhancing border security through investments in staffing infrastructure and technology Without a strategy that involves these key investments border security would be unattainable The President’s Budget includes $2 0 billion for the construction of approximately 82 miles of new border wall system This funding supports real estate and environmental planning land acquisition wall system design construction and oversight While a physical barrier alone does not solve all border security concerns it remains foundational to a strategy for achieving operational control of the SWB A physical barrier is a proven deterrent as well as a mechanism for channeling activity to predetermined points along the border which allows DHS to allocate response resources with much more precision Domain awareness is a vital component to border security and complements a physical barrier by providing increased opportunities for actionable intelligence especially in remote areas with little infrastructure To complement the physical barrier the budget includes $28 million to 5 increase domain awareness through the deployment of 30 Autonomous Surveillance Towers formerly Innovative Towers across the Southwest border The towers are designed to provide persistent electronic surveillance in remote areas of the border without the need for a permanent Border Patrol Agent presence The data derived from these sensors will be relayed in real-time to the Air and Marine Operations Center and local Border Patrol Stations and or Sectors for processing threat determination and response execution The President’s Budget seeks funding for a number of CBP’s airframe and sensor modifications conversions and or upgrades These platform improvements are multi-purposed as they provide increased levels of domain awareness and are instrumental in interdiction and humanitarian operations They include $15 5 million to convert an Army HH-60L to CBP’s versatile UH-60 Medium Lift Helicopter configuration UH-60s are the only assets in CBP’s fleet that have medium lift capability and are rugged enough to support interdiction and life-saving operations in extreme or hostile environments desert extreme cold or open water The Budget includes $14 3 million to upgrade a DHC-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft These aircraft operate under broad operational spectrums including coastal maritime boundaries in the Caribbean and Latin America The Budget also requests $13 0 million for the replacement of obsolete out of production aircraft sensor integrated mission systems Systems requiring replacement include non-High Definition HD Electro Optic Infrared EO IR sensors outdated mapping systems video displays recorders and data links that facilitate real-time data exploitation While technology plays an important role in the Department’s day-to-day missions our most critical resource remains our personnel As the Department remains focused on threats from those attempting to circumvent existing laws we cannot lose sight of the year-over-year increase in the volume of legitimate trade and travel This volume increase can limit the time CBP has to conduct necessary threat analysis down to minutes or seconds without impacting the legitimate movement of people and goods The President’s Budget seeks funding for additional personnel within several Departmental Components including $161 million for 750 Border Patrol Agents and 126 support personnel with an additional $54 million to sustain 250 Agents hired in FY 2019 and FY 2020 $544 million for ICE to add an additional 2 844 law enforcement officers and 1 792 support personnel and $3 5 billion to fund 47 596 Transportation Security Officers which supports the projected 4 percent increase in volume The FY 2021 Budget also accounts for a 3 percent pay increase for the uniformed men and women of the Coast Guard a 1 percent civilian pay increase and an additional 1 percent increase in award spending along with annualizing the 3 1 percent civilian pay raise in 2020 The majority of these personnel increases are targeted for frontline Agents and Officers However across the Department there will be staffing increases in various support positions U S Border Patrol for example will use Processing Coordinators to perform non-border security non-law enforcement officer activities such as support activities related to processing or providing humanitarian support This additional increase will allow frontline Agents and Officers currently assigned to perform administrative duties out of necessity to focus more time on operational responsibilities 6 DHS is committed to enforcing immigration laws across the nation including the interior of the United States Our priority is to identify detain and remove criminals from the United States that are here illegally with particular attention focused on those individuals posing a threat to public safety The Department does not intend on stopping there those employers who knowingly break the law for the self-serving purpose of cheap labor will be identified and brought to justice FY 2019 apprehensions between the ports of entry along the Southwest border increased 115% when compared to FY 2018 This unprecedented spike in illegal crossings drove a corresponding increase in the ICE average daily population ADP The resulting effect was an increase in historical occupancy levels within DHS detention facilities Forecasting models reinforce the need for an increase in ICE’s detention beds to 60 000 55 000 adult and 5 000 family The budget includes $3 1 billion for this capacity increase and ensures ICE is able to maintain pace with projected migration flows and enhance enforcement activity within the interior of the United States We must continue to increase our digital defense as cybersecurity threats grow in scope and severity The FY 2021 President’s Budget is poised to continue investments in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA to assess evolving cybersecurity risks and protect Federal Government information systems and critical infrastructure CISA continues to work tirelessly to ensure cyber-attacks are unable to compromise or disrupt Federal networks With the November Presidential Election fast approaching CISA is also working with State and local organizations in all 50 states to ensure American elections are decided by Americans without outside interference Accordingly the President’s Budget seeks $1 1 billion in CISA cybersecurity operational costs and investments for programs to include the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation CDM program and the National Cybersecurity Protection System in order to strengthen the security posture for government networks and systems The budget also includes $157 6 million for the Emergency Communications program which enables improved public safety communications services throughout the nation This program also manages funding sustainment and grant programs to support communications interoperability and builds capacity with Federal State local tribal and territorial stakeholders The Coast Guard is a unique Component given it is the only branch of the U S Armed Forces within DHS As a military service and a law enforcement organization with a regulatory responsibility they possess broad jurisdictional authorities and flexible operational capabilities This combination necessitates an inherent need to ensure they are postured for rapid response to a variety of missions with a modernized fleet that supports these requirements The President’s Budget includes $555 million to support the Polar Security Cutter PSC program management and to fund the construction of PSC 2 This acquisition recapitalizes the Coast Guard’s heavy polar icebreaker fleet to support national interest in the Polar Regions and provide assured surface presence in ice-impacted waters The Budget also includes an additional $153 million for existing airframe modernization combines $88 million for Fixed-Wing Aircraft and $65 million for Rotary-Wing Aircraft These improvements will help ensure the Coast Guard fleet is appropriately equipped for the complex missions they are charged with executing 7 This modernization effort aligns the Coast Guard’s recapitalization of airframes with the Department of Defense Future Vertical Lift acquisitions to create additional acquisition efficiencies Finally $564 million is included for the Offshore Patrol Cutter OPC This funding supports the production of OPC #3 and Long Lead Time Materials for OPC #4 along with technical and program management costs The FY 2021 President’s Budget includes $96 million in additional resources distributed across several Components to fund the Targeting Violence and Terrorism Prevention TVTP program This program is designed to support early detection and prevention of radicalization of individuals prone to violence by interrupting those efforts with appropriate action by leveraging civic organizations law enforcement and community organizations The Department’s investment includes Components vested in research and development early detection and response What makes the United States great is its resiliency in the face of adversity and hardship Throughout our storied history there are dozens if not hundreds of examples of that resiliency displayed And though the people of this country are resilient by nature it is important that we as a Department appropriately plan ahead for things we know are coming including hurricanes earthquakes and fires One of FEMA’s strategic goals is to Ready the Nation for Catastrophic Disasters The FY 2021 President’s Budget helps FEMA achieve this goal by funding numerous initiatives aimed at preparedness and disaster recovery FEMA continues to invest in State and local governments to increase preparedness and resiliency The budget includes $2 5 billion to support State local tribal and territorial governments in the form of non-disaster grants and training These funds are key in sustaining and building new capabilities to prevent protect against respond to recover from and mitigate high consequence disasters and emergencies in our Nation’s high-risk transit systems ports and along our borders In addition the Nation’s transportation systems are inherently open environments Part of TSA’s mission is to protect these systems to ensure the free and secure movement of people and commerce U S transportation systems accommodate approximately 965 million domestic and international aviation passengers annually that number is in the billions when you factor in over-the-road buses and mass transit systems Ensuring effective screening of air passengers remains a top priority for TSA In an effort to balance the need for increased security without impeding freedom of movement for legitimate travelers the President’s Budget includes $28 9 million to expand TSA’s Computed Tomography CT Screening capability CT Screening is the most impactful property screening tool available today Not only is it more effective against non-conventional concealment methods but it eliminates the need for passenger to remove electronic items from carry-on bags This combination improves security and expedites the screening process to increase passenger throughput efficiency To offset TSA operations a $1 00 increase is proposed in the Aviation Passenger Security Fee This minimal increase would generate approximately $618 million in additional revenue and help defray the increasing cost of aviation security Finally the FY 2021 President’s Budget proposes to transfer the U S Secret Service USSS functions personnel assets and obligations along with the functions and responsibilities of the 8 Secretary of Homeland Security related to the Secret Service over to the Department of the Treasury I have only touched on a handful of priorities included in the FY 2021 President’s Budget for DHS This is not intended to convey a message of less importance for those Components resources or initiatives not highlighted DHS executes its vast mission responsibility using a defense-in-depth strategy and much of DHS’s success is predicated on this approach to execution Components within the Department have individual mission responsibilities however they cannot disassociate themselves from one another as their daily activities are intertwined to close gaps in security resiliency and economic prosperity Accordingly those Components resources or initiatives not listed remain just as important I continue to be amazed by the professionalism dedication and tenacity displayed daily by the men and women of this Department Their resolve and genuine commitment to the complex homeland security mission is above reproach and we should all sleep better at night knowing they are on duty Despite their continued commitment they cannot safely nor effectively execute their mission without the proper resources Therefore I ask for your support in providing them the resources needed to keep our families safe through the FY 2021 President’s Budget Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and discuss the Department’s FY 2021 Budget submission and I look forward to taking your questions 9