DHS Headquarters Reform and Improvement Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3572, the Department of Homeland Security Headquarters Reform and Improvement Act of 2015, which I introduced with my colleague from Mississippi, Ranking Member Bennie Thompson.

This important, bipartisan legislation reforms and streamlines DHS headquarters so it can more effectively focus on its core mission of better protecting national security. At the same time, this bill saves millions in taxpayer dollars and reins in unnecessary bureaucracy.

DHS headquarters plays an important role in providing direction and oversight to the Department's 22 components; yet, over the years, Department management has become bloated and unwieldy.

DHS has established, reorganized, and expanded offices and programs without the approval of Congress, created new assistant secretary positions, and spent billions of dollars on acquisitions that don't meet the needs of our men and women on the frontlines securing the homeland.

This bill helps to get DHS management on track by mandating multiple efficiency reviews to ensure taxpayer dollars are not wasted but, instead, directly linked to protecting the homeland. It also requires DHS to increase transparency with Congress, to hold acquisition programs accountable, and to better communicate with industry when making major acquisition decisions.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee Chairman Scott Perry and Ranking Member Bonnie Watson Coleman for their leadership in conducting much of the oversight and research that informed the bill, especially their work to reform DHS' troubled acquisitions process. I am grateful for their tremendous efforts.

In addition, this bill eliminates unnecessary assistant secretary and director positions, abolishes unproductive, idle offices, consolidates offices to streamline functionality, and prohibits the Department of Homeland Security Secretary from creating any new assistant secretary positions without prior congressional approval.

In short, Mr. Speaker, this bill ensures that the Department of Homeland Security is a leaner, less bureaucratic, and more efficient organization focused on the mission and getting the job done.

While H.R. 3572 addresses waste, fraud, abuse, and a lack of transparency at DHS headquarters, it is just one part of a larger suite of legislation that this committee has passed this year dedicated to reforming and improving the Department overall.

To date, we have passed by voice vote more than 40 bills addressing similar shortcomings at CBP, TSA, FEMA, Secret Service, NPPD, and S&T, just to name a few.

I am very proud of our success in passing specific targeted bills dedicated to reining in bureaucracy, saving taxpayer dollars, providing much-needed congressional guidance, and protecting national security.

I am grateful to all the members of this committee and to the staff on both sides of the aisle whose hard work and bipartisan commitment to the priority of keeping America safe helped to make all of this legislation possible.

My committee approved this bill unanimously last month, something you don't hear of every day in this Congress.

In conclusion, I urge all Members of the House to join me in supporting this bipartisan bill that will help DHS to operate more efficiently and effectively in protecting the American people.

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

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I will be brief.

I think it is an excellent bipartisan bill. I want to thank Mr. Higgins from New York for his presentation here today and support, and I want to thank the other side of the aisle for working with me and continuing to work with me in a bipartisan way to get things done for the country. I think that is how most committees should work; and certainly for one that involves protecting the American people, I think it is paramount that we work together, both Republicans and Democrats.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3572.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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