Hearing of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee - Opening Statement on Business Meeting

Hearing

As submitted for the record:

Good morning.

This is our ninth business meeting to consider legislation this Congress, and once again I am
proud to say that our agenda is ambitious and reflects the hard work of members and staff to
focus on finding areas of agreement. The legislation on today's agenda, if enacted, will make
America safer, protect those who blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse, and ultimately help
build a more transparent, accountable federal government. Although we will consider more than
a dozen bills today, I'd like to highlight a few here.

Today we will consider the largest reforms to the Department of Homeland Security since its
creation in 2003. The DHS is tasked with preventing serious threats to national security and
public safety, from ISIS to international drug traffickers crossing our border. The DHS
Accountability Act of 2016 will strengthen the department's ability to protect our nation by
enacting Secretary Jeh Johnson's "Unity of Effort" reforms into law to improve cross-department
coordination. The bill also includes serious reforms to improve the department's transparency
and accountability -- including through new reporting of border security and immigration
statistics, stronger whistleblower protections, and requiring independent assessments of the state
of homeland security. I am grateful to Ranking Member Carper and his staff for working with
me for over a year now on this bipartisan bill.

As we have heard all too often in hearings before this committee, our nation lacks a
comprehensive strategy and budget for biosecurity. The Biodefense Strategy Act of 2016 will
enact key recommendations of a bipartisan Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense to ensure we
are prepared for biological threats such as Zika and others.

Today we also will consider legislation from Senator Grassley and me to reauthorize the Office
of Special Counsel. Although the office plays an essential role in protecting federal
whistleblowers, it has not been authorized in almost a decade. This legislation will ensure that
the OSC has access to documents and tools it needs to investigate agency retaliation against
whistleblowers.

We will also vote on a nominee for inspector general of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Jay
Lerner has done an exceptional job as chief of staff and senior counsel to Department of Justice
Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and I hope my colleagues in the Senate will act swiftly to
confirm his nomination.

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