Hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Michael McCaul, Markup on H.R. 4176, H.R. 4227, H.R. 4467, H.R. 4627, H.R. 5074, H.R. 5079, H.R. 5081, H.R. 5089, H.R. 5094, H.R. 5099, AND H.R. 5131

Hearing

This morning our Committee will markup 10 important pieces of legislation to strengthen the
security of our homeland in several key areas.

When Americans pick up the paper or turn on the news, they are constantly reminded of the many
dangers that confront our country. They come from Islamist terrorists, radicalized individuals here
at home, nation states engaged in cyberwarfare, and many other nefarious actors.

As these threats become more lethal and varied, we must exhaust all efforts to stay one step ahead.

Over the last few years we have seen terrorists shift their tactics to kill innocent people in the West.
Cities across Europe -- London, Stockholm, Barcelona, Nice, and Berlin have all been the location of
attacks by vehicular homicide. Unfortunately, these attacks have not just been relegated to foreign
cities.

Last October, eight people were killed in New York City after a terrorist drove a pickup truck along a
crowded bike path. Less than two months later, another terrorist set off a pipe bomb by the Port
Authority bus terminal. Jihadists are clearly answering Sheikh Adnani's call to kill by any means
necessary wherever they are.

The threats to our homeland do not end there, however. We know from the airplane bombing in
Sharm El Sheikh in 2015 and the sophisticated plot to take down an airplane in Australia, that our
aviation sector still remains their crown jewel of targets.

We also know that nations states engaging in cyberwarfare are constantly hacking away at our
critical infrastructure including our electoral process. Russian attacks during the election of 2016
were meant to create division among the American people.

We cannot allow any adversary to undermine our democratic institutions. If we allow a foreign
government to sow discord in America, we are letting them achieve their goal. Foreign interference
in our elections must never be tolerated.

We must do more to protect ourselves from these invisible attacks. Fortunately, we are taking
action on all of these fronts.

Today, the bipartisan legislation that our Committee will consider will help strengthen our aviation
and cargo security, protect the public from vehicular terrorism, and bolster our ability to respond to
dangerous cyberattacks.

These bills will also take important steps to better secure our surface transportation systems and
enhance the capabilities of our fusion centers.

This Committee has set a high bar for others to follow. Currently, we have 68 bills sitting in the
Senate and 6 public laws. I am very pleased to report that our Senate counterpart committee is
marking up our DHS reauthorization bill as we speak.

I am also hopeful they will begin to consider more of our legislation at future markups.

I'd like to thank everyone who has worked hard on the bills we are considering today and I look
forward to working with each of you as we fight to keep our homeland safe.

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